Daily News

April 18, 2001

The new McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) will now likely open in January 2002. The $34 million building — funded mainly by past, present and . . .

April 18, 2001

We wish to inform MUSA employees who returned to work on April 9 that a special pay for the period April 9 to 15 will be deposited into your bank accounts on Thursday, April 19. This deposit is an estimate of your net pay for the five working days included in this period. Your May 15 pay deposit and statement of earnings will be adjusted to reflect this special pay as well as, for those who receive a mid-month advance, the April 30 mid-month advance. (END OF STORY)

April 17, 2001

Two students in the Arts & Science Program are leading the call for McMaster to adopt a comprehensive environmental policy. Kate Parizeau and Michael Law, . . .

April 17, 2001

Two McMaster students are helping distribute a survey produced by the Harvard Centre for Cancer Prevention that aims to educate students about cancer. Nada Albatish . . .

April 17, 2001

The goal for McMaster's new Software Quality Research Lab (SQRL) is to become a leading source of expertise on software quality assurance. A team of researchers, software professionals and graduate students will work together to: 7 conduct academic research related to software quality 7 provide courses for developers on how to inspect and test software 7 cultivate personnel who are highly trained by supporting graduate theses on software quality assurance 7 provide software quality assessment with and for industry on a contract basis 7 perform joint research with developers. SQRL will include testing experts who will make their expertise available to the quality assurance projects and conduct research on new testing methods and tools, says David Parnas, director of the software engineering program. Security will be a high priority for research, Parnas said. "One only has to follow the TV news to recognize that high quality software must be secure against attempt to misuse a system, deny service to legitimate users, or steal information from a system," he said. "Research in this area has been extensive but, except for work in cryptography, little of it has helped industry."

April 16, 2001

Senate approved two new fields of study for the Department of Civil Engineering's master's and PhD programs and two new graduate diplomas in electronic commerce at its meeting on Wednesday, April 11 . The Senate approved: the Department of Civil Engineering's decision to offer master's and PhD program degrees in computational mechanics and water resources/environmental engineering. These two fields of study, in addition to structural engineering, represent the Faculty's main research areas. The Department of Civil Engineering has four faculty members with expertise in computational mechanics and most of the faculty use computer applications in their research, the majority using computational mechanics. The decision to offer graduate degrees in water resources/environmental engineering was made after the department received permission to hire an additional 1.5 faculty members in the water resources area. According to Graduate Council's report to Senate, this field of study has a long history at McMaster and was previously offered as a graduate program in 1993. two new graduate diplomas in e-commerce. The diplomas will give students the opportunity to study the technology and management of e-commerce. They will be open to students who have completed at least their first year of an MBA program and have some computer programming experience. The two graduate diplomas will build on each other. changes to the way the Faculty of Engineering designates its master's degrees. Starting November 2001, master's degrees requiring a thesis will be changed from Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) to Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.). Non-thesis master's degrees in the Faculty of Engineering will retain the M.Eng. designation. (END OF STORY)

April 16, 2001

The following items are highlights from the April 11 Senate meeting: President's Report on Labour Dispute University President Peter George gave Senate an update on . . .

April 11, 2001

Payroll services will be providing, as soon as possible, a special advance to MUSA members who returned to work on April 9. "We understand that many of our employees who came back to work on Monday may be experiencing financial hardship and we are working hard to ensure that they can be compensated in advance of our normal payroll dates," says Bob West, director, financial services. The special advance will be based on an estimate of what each employee would net in five days' pay (representing the work period April 9-15). Staff will be notified next week of the exact date that this pay will be deposited into their bank accounts. In addition to the special advance, the regular mid-month advance will be deposited on Monday, April 30 into the bank accounts of all MUSA employees who normally receive this advance. MUSA staff who returned to work on Monday were not included in the April 12 payroll deposit. "There are two reasons we just couldn't do this," says West. "First, we had to transfer the deposit early due to the Good Friday holiday so we could meet the bank's deadline. Second, significant and highly specialized programming changes were required to include these staff. Our system is not built in a way that allows us to make significant modifications on such short notice." West says programming changes must also be made to implement the special advance and as soon as this is done staff will be advised of when they will receive the advance. Payroll considered issuing manual cheques but determined it was unable to do so under the current configuration of the system.

April 11, 2001

C is for concentration: Students at McMaster University are busy writing exams this week as the exam period began Monday. The exam schedule extends to . . .

April 11, 2001

The Ontario Labour Relations Board will conduct a vote on the University's final offer on Monday, April 23. Polling times and locations follow: Poll 1: . . .

April 10, 2001

MUSA members will have the opportunity to vote on the University's final contract offer. The Ontario Labour Relations Board this afternoon (Tuesday) agreed to the University's request to hold a supervised vote. The vote will be held Monday, April 23. "A vote on the final contract offer gives all MUSA members the opportunity to make their own choice," says McMaster President Peter George. "We hope they will take the opportunity to become fully informed about the final offer before casting their ballots." The University requested the supervised vote after MUSA indicated it would apply for compulsory arbitration. George believes "the vote on the final offer provides for a more timely and speedy resolution to the labour dispute. It enables employees to enjoy sooner the improvements in wages and working conditions that it offers." The University considers compulsory arbitration to be a less preferred option since it would mean a third-party resolution to issues by individuals who are not as familiar with the University. Full details of the vote and how it will be held will be made available as soon as they are finalized. The University final contract offer can be found at the following web site http://hr.mcmast er.ca/data/hrinfo/emprel/

April 9, 2001

Human Resources has posted a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the return to work this week of University employees who are members . . .

April 6, 2001

Meningitis Information Clinic If you missed the Meningitis Information Clinics held April 4 & 5 in Hedden Hall, and would like to receive more information, . . .

April 6, 2001

CANCELLATION OF EXAM IN HUMANITIES 2CO3 (Dr. Hitchcock's Section only) Since the Office of the Registrar has not received a final examination for Dr. Hitchcock's . . .

April 6, 2001

The McMaster university student who is in hospital with bacterial meningitis is improving, the Hamilton Spectator reports. To read more, go to Student suffering from . . .

April 5, 2001

The bargaining teams from the University and the McMaster University Staff Association (MUSA) met again today (April 5). The University's team, with Karen Belaire, vice-president, administration, met with MUSA's team in the morning to exchange articles and clarify issues. In the afternoon the University moved forward with a final offer.

April 5, 2001

LABOUR STUDIES COURSES Please note that the Labour Studies Program has made the following arrangements regarding final examinations in Labour Studies courses: 1AO3; 1ZO3EVE; 2CO3EVE; 3DO3EVE. The format of these exams has been changed to a "take-home exam." Students will be able to choose one of the following options in order to complete these exams: (1) pick up a copy of the exam on the picket line at the beginning of the scheduled time of the exam; (2) download the exam via e-mail beginning at the scheduled time of the exam; (3) pick up a copy of the exam at the location and time of the registrar-scheduled exam indicated on the Undergraduate Examination Timetable. Students who choose this last option can take the exam away with them and submit the completed exam as indicated in the instructions on the exam paper; OR sit and write the exam at the designated location and for the prescribed time. In all cases, a set of possible exam questions will be circulated a few days in advance of the exam; the actual exam questions will be a sub-set of these questions and will be revealed on the scheduled date and time for the specific exam. Regardless of which option is chosen, all students in each course will write the same examination. Any questions should be directed to the respective instructors of these courses. The length of the exam will not exceed the original scheduled alloted time. (END OF STORY)

April 4, 2001

Status of Bargaining The bargaining teams from the University and the McMaster University Staff Association (MUSA) will return to the table today (April 4) to . . .

April 4, 2001

A McMaster student is in hospital with a confirmed case of bacterial meningitis. The student came in to Student Health Services yesterday morning (Tuesday, April 3) and was taken to the hospital. "Our first concern is for the health of the student. Her family is with her and we are working with the Hamilton Public Health Department (Communicable Disease Control Branch) to ensure that we are following public health protocols with regard to anyone who might have had contact with her," said Mary Keyes, associate vice-president, student affairs. "Bacterial meningitis is a very serious disease but it is not highly contagious. We have been told that high-risk activities include kissing, sharing cigarettes or toothbrushes or drinking from the same containers. Essentially, it is saliva-to-saliva contact that places anyone at risk." Students who live in Hedden Hall, the residence of the student, have been given information about the disease and are talking to public health nurses today. The public health nurses will be available tomorrow (April 5) as well. In addition, information about meningitis may be obtained by calling Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Public Health at 905-546-3500. Friends and family of the student who is ill have been identified and interviewed by public health to determine their risk for the disease. "We are confident that we are taking all measures necessary to ensure that people have the information they need about meningitis," said Keyes. "I would encourage everyone to read the information posted to this page on the disease and take steps to reduce high-risk activities." Meningitis Information Sheet END OF STORY

April 4, 2001

The University has started the process with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to hold a supervised vote on the University's final offer. This means that, if the OLRB approves the request, all members of the McMaster University Staff Association (MUSA) will have the opportunity to vote on the University's final offer that was tabled on Thursday, April 5. "The University has chosen to ask for the vote because we believe that all staff members should participate in a decision about whether to accept or reject the offer," said Karen Belaire, vice-president administration. "The University is also concerned about the length of time that a Compulsory Arbitration Board might require before resolution. We believe that the staff are entitled to as rapid a resolution as possible and one they control." MUSA has requested a Compulsory Arbitration Board (CAB) from the OLRB. A decision as to whether a CAB would take place would be handed down within 15 days. If a CAB is granted, there is a risk that the process could run for a lengthy period of time. Without a resolution, no part of the University's final offer could be implemented in that period, including those articles that both parties have already signed off on. Should the OLRB agree to the University's request for a supervised vote, it could take place as early as April 23. The MUSA negotiating team advised its members in an e-mail today to return to work on Monday, April 9. "We're pleased that MUSA has directed its workers to come back and we look forward to their return to work on Monday," says Belaire. (END OF STORY)