Operations Update - November 2013

Chief Operating Officer

Dwayne Martins

• I want to thank everyone for your contributions to the budget process. As you all know we in a time of constraint and therefore focused on strategic investments. The fall budget is a reflection of these realities.
• I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Best wishes to you and your families.
• A number of administrative departments are moving locations throughout December. Here is a run-down of the moves, the timing and the new locations:
• Members of the STC Team moved the week of November 25 to CSB, Second Floor
  Peter Flanagan, Deborah Tiezser
• Admissions Team, moving on December 3 to HSA 103
  Trish Ashbury, Laurie Craik. Rob Hammond, MaryAnn Kennard, Kathy Sadler
• Alumni and Development Team moving on December 6 to CSB, Second Floor
  Ellen Brown, Helena Coelho, Barbara Ferguson, Mark Foresi, Vicki Hayter, Anne Shatkin
• Communications and Marketing Team on December 11 to CSB, Second Floor
  Emily Leighton, Crystal Mackay, Jasmin Neil, Jennifer Parraga, Kristin Tate, Kathy Wallis
• Graduate Studies on December 12 to CSB, Second Floor
  Janelle Cobban, Eric Simard, Andy Watson
• Schulich Medicine & Dentistry Research Office on December 13 to CSB, Second Floor
  Mariel Angus, Stacy Dinel, Denise Figlewicz. Mady Hymowitz, Peter Kleinstiver, Kevin O'Neil, Mary Ann Pollman-Mudryj, Michele Vanderspank, Greg Vilk.
• Please note: Melanie Katsivo will remain in her current location, in the Global Research Office, Health Sciences Addition, HSA H041F.

Project Management Office/Strategic Technology Commons

Dale Shelley

• The PMO is offering a two-day 'Focus' workshop (Process Improvement & Management Methodology & Tools). One has already taken place on December 4 and 5. Space is still available in the January and February workshops. Please email PMO.Inquiry@schulich.uwo.ca to register.
  • December 4 & 5 - full
  • December 12 & 13 - full
  • January 21 & 22 - a few seats available
  • February 3 & 4 tentative - open
• Check out Resources & References on the PMO Website for additional process and project material that has been recently posted.
• Deb Tieszer has developed and offered a half-day workshop on how to write Standard Operating Procedures using the new School template. Additional workshops will be offered in January. To register or find out more, please email stc@schulich.uwo.ca

Basic Medical Sciences

Dr. Doug Jones

Basic Medical Sciences Undergraduate Education (BMSUE)
Dr. Candace Gibson

• Dr. Sarah McLean and Tom Stavraky (Physiology and Pharmacology) are offering a morning teaching workshop on January 15 from 9:00-11:30 a.m. in MSB 282. The workshop will focus on technology and non-technology based teaching innovations used by faculty from our basic medical science departments. Faculty and graduate students from any of the basic medical science departments are welcome and encouraged to attend.
• In preparation for the Intent to Register (ITR) period in February, OWL sites are in development for students in Medical Sciences 1, and students in Years 2 and 3 of the BMSc Program. Podcasts and videos will be used to disseminate information to students about ITR, courses, modules, adjudication and registration.
• Additional activities this month include the editing of the Academic Calendars, finalizing of timetables, and updating data (enrolment, averages, evaluations) for undergraduate basic medical science courses and modules.

Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Dr. Andy Watson

• We are very pleased and excited to welcome a new staff member to the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office. Eric Simard will take on the role of Graduate and Postdoctoral Recruitment & Event Coordinator. Eric began on Monday, December 2.
• The Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office will be moving to the second floor, Clinical Skills Building December 12, 2013.
• Please save the date - January 16, 2014 - for our Graduate Studies Preview Day in the Mustang Lounge (UCC). Our 17 graduate programs will be participating in this event, as well as other faculties from across campus. Please come visit us 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Communications

Jennifer Parraga

• It's only a few months until April, and we are gearing up to launch the first new websites as part of the School's redevelopment project. By the end of December, we are aiming to have completed all the site maps for the Phase 1 participants, and we expect that all teams will have completed their training. We move forward with Phase 2 in January. Stay tuned for more updates in The Pulse and through the Operations Report.
• If you haven't had a chance to check out the new Signage featuring all our Awards of Excellence recipients, take a walk down the hallway leading from Medical Sciences to Dental Sciences. This is a great tribute to all the past award winners. We will continue to update the signage each year with the new recipients.
• Four joint School/Hospital branding presentations were made to clinical teams across the School. The goal was to provide the most up to date guidelines to assist people in their work and the management of branding in administrative documents.
• A great deal of work has been undertaken with Robarts Research Institute leading to the creation of a new communications strategy. We are excited to begin launching a number of key tactics in January.
• Work is underway on a number of new initiatives including but not limited to a Grad/Postdoctoral newsletter, Dentistry research video, 75th anniversary celebration for Microbiology and Immunology, as well as some returning projects including London Health Research Day, the Awards of Excellence, and See the Line.

Education

John Ruicci

• The Windsor Program research initiative began on November 18 with the first event jointly sponsored by the Windsor Program and the University of Windsor's Faculty of Engineering. Undergraduate Medical Education students were offered a variety of presentations and open forum discussion to learn about several joint collaborative research projects.
• Postgraduate Medical Education's first iteration of the Medicine sub-specialty match occurred November 13. Of the 31 Western residents who applied, 29 matched (93.5%) in Canada and of those, 19 matched to Western (65.5%). Second iteration will have four sub-specialty and two Critical Care Medicine positions available and will occur on December 18, 2013.
• Admissions participated in Western's Fall Preview Day on Saturday, November 16. 600 participants attended Dr. Rob Hammond's Admissions presentation.

Facilities

Kevin Inchley

• The resolution of deficiencies at The Western Centre for Public Health and Family Medicine are ongoing with the elevator work underway.
• Facilities is assisting with the move of six administrative groups through the month of December.
• The fit-up of the General Anesthesia suite in Dentistry ongoing.

Information Services

Sergio Rodriguez

• As of December 2, 2013, all email inquiries including requests for Audio/Visual (AV), video conference, video and classroom technology support are to be sent to the Information Services Helpdesk at helpdesk@schulich.uwo.ca to provide one point of email contact for all technology support inquiries. Please do not send these requests to tts@schulich.uwo.ca moving forward.
• In mid November, the Schulich Medicine & Dentistry GroupWise email servers were upgraded to the latest version (2012). Aside from performance and security enhancements, this upgrade brought a new version of GroupWise WebAccess which has a much improved interface including the ability to access the WebAccess system from a mobile device like an iPad. There is also a new version of the Windows GroupWise client (i.e.. program), which also has new features and improvements. Planning for the upgrade of the GroupWise client is currently in progress, stay tuned for further targeted emails in the next few weeks.
• In mid November, Western University submitted a package of results from the licensing review to Adobe for the installation and licensing of their products on campus. Western is still waiting for a response from Adobe about next steps. In the meantime, if you have Adobe products installed on your University owned computer(s), please be prepared to provide proof of licensing and purchase upon request.

Media Relations

Kathy Wallis

• The visit by actor Martin Sheen to Robarts Research Institute prior to the Leaders in Innovation Dinner was a big hit with local reporters. We had 14 media outlets represented. Here are a few samples of the coverage: CTVtwo, London Free Press, London Community News
• Minister of Health and Long-term Care, Deb Matthews, will be at the Robarts Research Institute on Friday, December 13, at 9:30 a.m. to announce Ontario Research Fund grants to six recipients at Western. Dr. David Holdsworth will be showing the Minister the new 3D printer he's using for research. He received $1.3 million from the ORF this last round which leveraged another $2 million dollars from the CFI.

• On December 11, my office is moving to the second floor of the Clinical Skills Building.

Research

Mady Hymowitz