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The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is located in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the three satellite campuses of the University of Waterloo[1], a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.[2]
Established in June 2009[3], the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is part of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo. With a focus on digital media, the campus was established to provide programs that focus on future careers in digital technologies, content creation and user experience. [4]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is coeducational and attracts students from around the world who are pushing the boundaries of digital media technology and its creative applications.
On October 16, 2006, the city council of the City of Stratford authorized Mayor Dan Mathieson to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Stratford Festival and the University of Waterloo to explore the possibility of having a liberal arts college located in Stratford.[5]
The Province of Ontario granted $10 million to the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus on March 26, 2008. [6] The following day, Waterloo-based enterprise software company OpenText announced that they had committed $10 million to the project.[7]
On January 22, 2009, the federal government announced that it was pledging $10.7 million over five years for the Corridor for Advancing Canadian Digital Media - now known as the Canadian Digital Media initiative under the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) – a joint initiative between Communitech and University of Waterloo Stratford Campus.[8] In June of the same year, the first ever Canada 3.0 forum in Stratford, ON was hosted by the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus and CDMN. The event was the official launch of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus.[9]
The official opening of the campus took place on September 20, 2010 at its temporary location at 6 Wellington St., Stratford, Ontario.[10] The first class of the Master of Digital Experience Innovation (MDEI) – an interdisciplinary, professional one-year program - began at the temporary campus the following year.[11]
On October 1, 2011, Ginny Dybenko, the former Dean of the Wilfrid Laurier School of Business & Economics, began work the Executive Director of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus.[12]
In January 2012, a part-time Master of Digital Experience Innovation option was added. The program integrated a Project Management Professional certification component into the curriculum for all students. [13]
The first class of the Global Business and Digital Arts program began their studies on September 5, 2012 at the new campus located at 125 St. Patrick St. On October 16, 2012 the building was officially unveiled to the community. [14]
On November 15, 2013 it was announced that the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus would receive approximately $1.75 million in federal funding to strengthen the Stratford Accelerator Centre over the next five years. The centre provides mentorship and coaching for tech-related startups, including those launched by University of Waterloo Stratford Campus faculty and students. It helps the startups connect to the resources they need to grow their fledgling businesses. The Accelerator relocated to the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus in spring 2014.[15]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is located at 125 St. Patrick Street. Built by Bondfield Construction and designed by ZAS Architects, the building is a three-storey, 42,000 square-foot, state of the art creative environment that features digital media labs, fully equipped sound and video editing suites, project rooms, bright open collaboration spaces and cutting-edge software for design, video production and web development. [16]
The centrepiece of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is its Christie MicroTiles wall, the tallest display of its kind in the world. Three-storeys high, it incorporates 150 MicroTiles that can reproduce 115 percent of the NTSC colour gamut, exceeding typical LCD flat panels by more than 50 percent. [17]
The MicroTile wall serves as a showcase for student content, highlighting creative accomplishments and providing a unique open source canvas for digital media research.[18]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus’ MicroTile wall was the Gold Winner in the Education and Healthcare category of the 2013 Apex Awards. [19]
Located in the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, the Engage Lab is a digital media sandbox equipped with technology for exploration in UX and gamification. It is a research area for students and faculty working on industry products that was created to inspire new ways to enrich audience or user engagement. This interactive digital media lab features the latest equipment and technology designed to encourage research, experimentation,prototype development and commercialization. It is open to local digital media entrepreneurs and industry partners looking to explore new understandings in audience engagement. [20]
Situated at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus beginning in spring 2014, the Stratford Accelerator Centre is focused on accelerating the growth and maturation of early stage technology and digital media companies. The centre brings like-minded entrepreneurs together under one roof, delivering world-class mentoring, coaching, and programming services. The centre accepts clients through a competitive application and intake process, and works toward accelerating clients’ growth from vision through to early market success. [21]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is home to the School Within A University (SWAU) initiative. Launched in February 2013, it is a partnership between the Avon Maitland District School Board and the campus that gives eligible university-bound high school students a valuable glimpse of the post-secondary experience that awaits them. Students spend their mornings at the campus where they take English and business courses taught by Stratford Central Secondary School teachers. They are exposed to the facility as well as the campus’ equipment and resources.[22]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus operates under the same bicameral system as the University of Waterloo; a system that consists of a Board of Governors and a Senate, as legislated by the University of Waterloo Act, 1972. Similarly, the campus shares the same Principal, President and Chancellor as the University of Waterloo. [23]
The Office of the Chancellor is held by Prem Watsa[24], who has held the position since 2009. In March 2011, Feridun Hamdullahpur was announced as the sixth President of the university, having been interim president since October 2010.[25] The Executive Director of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is Ginny Dybenko and the Director of Academic Programs is Christine McWebb. [26]
The Advisory Board at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is made up of leaders and thinkers in the field of digital media, representing academia, industry and government. The following people are members of the Advisory Board[27]:
John Baker - Founder and President of Desire2Learn, an eLearning or Learning Management Systems (LMS) company and a former systems design engineering student at University of Waterloo.
John Baker of Desire2Learn is one of the members of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus' Advisory Board.
Gary Bartholomew - Creator of over 15 startup companies and currently Managing Partner at Galt Global Capital.
Doug Beynon - Chair, CEO and President of Unisearch Associates Inc, a manufacturer of spectroscopic instruments for environmental monitoring and process control.
Tony Chapman - Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Capital C, a branding and advertising agencies.
Jim de Wilde - Educator and venture capitalist who focuses on the issues of global competitiveness and the commercialization of knowledge through activities in both the private sector and the public sector
Arlene Dickinson - CEO of Venture Communications, she is a 20-year veteran of Canada's marketing industry.
Ginny Dybenko - Executive Director of the Centre for Digital Media at the Stratford Campus of the University of Waterloo.
Tracey Jennings - Canadian Leader of PwC Technology, Information, Communications and Entertainment and Media Practice and also the Entertainment & Media (E&M) Sector Leader for Canada.
Carol Leaman - CEO of Axonify with more than 20 years of leadership and technology executive experience to our board along with Gamification industry insight.
Gary Maavara (Honourary) - Vice President and General Counsel for Corus Entertainment Inc., overseeing all legal and regulatory affairs associated with the company's operations in radio, television, programming, films, books, music, toys and websites.
Mayor Dan Mathieson - Mayor of Stratford since 2003 and serving on Council since 1995 as a Councilor and Deputy Mayor.
Don McDougall - President & CEO of Rambri Management, a real estate development company and eJust Systems, a software firm focused on the justice sector.
Tom Parisi - Regional Vice President for RBC Royal Bank in the Huron, Perth and Oxford Markets.
Douglas Peers - Dean of Arts, University of Waterloo.
Alan Quarry - Chairman, CEO, Quarry Integrated Communications.
Paul Salvini - Chief Technology Officer, Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.
Kevin Tuer - Managing Director, Canadian Digital Media Network and Vice-President, Digital Media for Communitech.
John Wilkinson - President & CEO, Wilkinson Insight Incorporated and former Ontario Cabinet Minister.
Gary Wreford - Vice President, Central Processing Technology, Scotiabank.
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus’ main focus is on career preparation. Students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are immersed in a rich, technology-driven environment where theory and practice, science and commerce, creativity and innovation merge to advance the area of digital media.[28]
Students are brought together with researchers, cultural organizations, business and entrepreneurs. Through transdisciplinary coursework and project-based learning, students gain the skills and knowledge that is required to become mindful leaders and transformers of 21st century business, government and culture.
Only offered at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, this program began in fall 2011. It is made up of both recent university graduates and working professionals looking to expand their skills. geared for people who have just graduated from university, or working professionals looking to expand their skills. MDEI is a professional degree that offers project-based learning and interdisciplinary courses, complete with the education portion of the Project Management Professional certification. The MDEI is offered on a full-time or part-time basis. The full-time program occurs over three consecutive terms: fall, winter and spring, while part-time students take two courses per term over 24 months, with a final project in the last spring term of their program. [29]
Bachelor of Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA)
The Global Business and Digital Arts program began in the fall of 2012. The first program of its kind in Canada, it focuses on digital media and is a blend of creativity, technology, and business. Students are involved in hands-on projects with industry partners and have access to the latest digital technologies. In addition, they experience a paid practicum and have the chance to earn the Certificate in Associated Project Management accreditation.[30]
The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus brings together opportunities for strategic, forward-looking research in the digital media space. It works with industry partners to find independent content creators, digitizers, and disseminators to foster new research in the field of digital and new media and the arts. Current research projects include the Christie MicroTiles Wall; Engage: UX + Gamification Research Lab; and MARGOT, a long-term research project devoted to publishing fully searchable editions of either generally inaccessible texts from the French Middle Ages and the Early Modern period (the Ancien Régime) or of texts in connection with a specific project from the same time period.[31]
Students live off-campus in the Stratford community. The University of Waterloo Off-Campus Housing Office provides resources to all students including a list of accommodations available in Stratford. [32]
In 2008, the inaugural Canada 3.0 conference was hosted by the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus in Stratford, Ontario with over 1,500 attendees discussing how to make Canada a world leader in the digital economy. The conference brought together industry leaders, researchers and students to discuss digital media in Canada. [33]
Discovering Digital Media Days is an annual program that delivers interactive programming for high school students who aspire to be leaders in Canada's growing digital economy. Students interact with industry experts, develop their own digital designs, build business skills and discover the creative and commercial potential for digital media.[34]
Geared to both academics and industry, Gamification 2013, hosted by University of Waterloo Stratford campus, discussed the value of gamification in health care, marketing, education, and entertainment. There were academic research presentations, talks on gamification implementation and commercialization, workshops, and demonstrations of successful gamification initiatives.[35]
Hosted by University of Waterloo Stratford Campus in 2013, uXperience Design Camp was an experiential User Experience (UX) bootcamp that focused on creating viable solutions to real life problems utilizing the principles of UX design. Working in teams throughout the weekend, software developers, engineers, computer scientists, psychologists, designers, UX professionals and students leveraged the experience of mentors and usability testers to acquire the knowledge they needed to pitch their demos to a panel of judges. The winning idea was provided support to commercialize the solution.[36]
The campus was a host site for the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE) "appathon" from February 28 to March 2 2014. It was where participants from across Canada turned federal Open Data into interesting and beneficial applications. The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus hosted Inspiration Day with an information session on the use of Big Data and the power of combining it with Data Visualization to communicate and inspire.[37]
The Accelerator Centre located at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus provides lunch and learn sessions on relevant topics such as how to secure funding for your business and public relations.[38]
Communitech File:Partners cdmn-200x72.pngThe Canadian Digital Media Network is one of the organizations that partners with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus to mentor and work with students.
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