Administration Newsletter - December 18, 2009
Shipping/Receiving:
Effective immediately, Robarts dock is closed and signs have been posted to direct deliveries to the
Dental Sciences Dock. This will cause some issues which I will address:
1. It is the responsibility of the individual groups (labs) to get their items to the dock in order for
them to be shipped out. Large pieces of equipment that cannot be moved by Robarts personnel
will require contracted services to move them to the dock. Campbell Brothers can be used to
provide this service. If you have items of this nature that need to be shipped, please contact me
so that I can collect the charges to an appropriate account.
2. Sensitive/perishable materials that are received at the D.S. Dock and can be stored there in the
appropriate environments to preserve the contents, however, their capacity to store these
items is extremely limited. The dock will notify our Robarts contacts that the delivery was made
and can be picked up. If you are expecting these types of sensitive shipments you may want to
have a person from your area stop by and check periodically for these items.
3. Courier shipments our will need to be delivered to the DS dock as well.
4. This note is not intended to address all of the concerns that you may have regarding shipments
in and out of the building so please contact me with your specific concerns and we will address
them.
We appreciate your patience while we work through the issues regarding shipping/receiving in the
building. Thank you.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - December 11, 2009
Administration:
1. Building Caretaking – we have a replacement for the caretaker who was terminated recently.
The new person has been in place this week and will begin working days on Monday. We should
be able to address some of the restorative cleaning requests that we have received very soon.
2. Space Requests Reminder – you must gain approval for renovations that are to be done in your
areas or for use of space outside of your authority from the Space Committee. This includes
renovations for CFI requests. Please forward your requests to Linda Chapman.
3. Holiday Festivities – The holiday door decorating contest will take place on Thursday, December
17th with prizes and refreshments at 3pm in the first floor atrium.
4. Vacation System – please remind your staff to update their vacation use in the system for time
taken around the holidays. Any errors with the vacation system or questions regarding vacation
balances can be addressed to me.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - December 4, 2009
Administration:
1. Dr. Chakma’s Early Closing Memo - it will be left to the discretion of individual PI’s to determine
whether their staff will be released at 1pm on December 24th.
2. Caretaker Cleaning Frequencies – in order to meet the needs for restorative cleaning and other
cleaning that is outside of the normal caretakers’ schedules, we are instituting the following
changes to their daily routines. Beginning Monday, December 7th garbage will be collected twice
per week in the labs and administrative areas rather than daily as is the current routine. This will
free up caretakers time to clean floors, carpets and complete other restorative projects that are
being requested by different groups. If you have perishable garbage in your area that cannot
wait to be picked up, please put in one of the central trash collection points in the hallways –
white bins. This new routine will be reviewed and evaluated after a few months to determine its
efficiency. We appreciate the patience that you have shown over the last month during the
absence of one of our caretakers. That prolonged absence has resulted in the employee’s
termination but we expect to have a replacement in place starting Monday.
3. Office Moves – You may notice a number of moves taking place next week. Once they are
complete, the new locations of Institute personnel will be communicated.
4. Holiday Events – In case you missed recent announcements, the Angel Tree is set up in the main
lobby. Please encourage your staff to bring non-perishable food items, toys, clothing and
children’s books for donations. Also, there will be a door decorating contest with judging taking
place on Dec. 17th complete with refreshments and prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd best doors.
5. Elevator Equipment – a number of people have complained about the placement of elevator
equipment in the 1st floor atrium. I have spoken with the contractors and they are trying to keep
the sprawl of materials contained so as not to block access paths.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - November 27, 2009
1. Building Caretaking: The absence of one of our caretaking staff looks as though it will be an issue for
even longer than we had anticipated. We are making efforts to get coverage for the absence but could
experience some cleaning issues into the near future. In the interim, it would be greatly appreciated if
you could empty perishable garbage (if it is accumulating) into one of the central collection point
containers in the hallway. If you are unsure of where these are, please contact either Ron Vander or Ron
Noseworthy.
2. E.S.A. Inspection – An inspection by the Electrical Safety Authority will take place in the Institute on
January 14th, 2009. This inspection will focus on equipment and genral electrical safety. Please ensure
that your equipment has the proper CSA compliance sticker on it since this will be reviewed by the
safety officer. If you are unsure about this compliance please contact Ron Noseworthy. Equipment that
does not comply with proper regulations could be locked out of use. Also, please remember that
extension cords are not to be used as permanent power supply sources. A list of review points will be
circulated closer to the inspection date.
3. Building Access Reminder – Please do not lend your ID card to anyone to access the building. We have
had to confiscate several cards in the last few weeks due to unauthorized people entering the building.
4. Odour in the Old Building – the source of the foul odour in the old building has been located and
removed.
5. Business Development Scam Alert – There have been a number of instances over the last few weeks
in which offshore companies have sent invoices to the Institute or to individual researchers asking for
payment to proceed with patent applications. If you receive invoices like this, please forward them to
me so that I can review them and then send them to the appropriate authorities. The invoices will often
have the words “Patent Trademark Register” or “Register of International Patents” along with a billing
amount and payment instructions.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - November 20, 2009
1. Credentials Committee – will meet Dec. 16, 2009. If you have not already submitted your C.V. to Linda
Chapman, please do so as soon as possible.
2. Shared Equipment – there will be a memo issued soon from Linda Chapman explaining the
responsibilities of the Institute vs. the responsibilities of the individual labs with respect to shared
equipment.
3. Traffic Delays - Please see the following link for updates on lane closures and traffic delays on
Western Road
4. Timekeeping Audit – there is a requirement for supervisers to ensure that vacation accumulation is
managed within the appropriate guidelines in the appropriate employee agreement (PMA or UWOSA).
Next week, you will be receiving a summary of the accumulated vacation of employees under your
supervision with instructions how to address the cases where employees are carrying more than
maximum allowable accrual of vacation days as allowed by their respective employee groups. The
guidelines will be clearly explained as will the corresponding action required on your part (if any). Any
questions that you have can be addressed to me.
5. Building Caretaking – we are still experiencing some issue with building caretaking due to the
prolonged absence of one of our caretakers and will try to have these addressed as soon as possible. It
has been frustrating but I appreciate your patience.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administrative Newsletter - October 30, 2009
1. Update on Fan - we have received word that PPD was here today to fix the building fan which has
been making the temperatures so uncomfortable in several areas of the building. We’re hoping that the
fans will be on today and providing some relief. The work that is being done represents a temporary
“fix” until new parts arrive but should allow for the operations of the fans until then.
2. Expense Report Approval Chains – we are in the process of correcting the online expense report
approval chains which will reduce the number of reports that certain individuals are receiving in their “in
baskets”. This should be corrected by early next week. Janice Koenig has been seeing all of the receipts
for the last week and this is going quite well. She reviews them on a daily basis and, often, several times
a day to keep them moving through the system.
3. Robarts Celebration of Science Dinner, Nov. 4th – one last reminder to please RSVP for this event if
you have not already done so. We are looking forward to a great evening.
4. Cheques for Online Expense Reports – we still have individuals who receive cheques for the
reimbursement of online expenses. Please ensure that you have these funds “direct deposited” to your
bank account since the frequency of cheque runs is going to decrease. The plan is for Accounts Payable
to no longer print these cheques daily but to move to every two weeks.
5. 2009 Children’s Festive Party - will be held at the Children’s Museum on Sunday, November 29th.
This was the subject of an earlier communication from Dawn Telford. Please contact her if you have
questions about this event. Deadline for registration is Monday, Nov. 2nd.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administrative Newsletter - October 23, 2009
1. ROLA II – We attended a meeting this week in which John communicated many of the concerns that
we had about the new system. The development team is going to go back and address a number of
these issues that have to do with the overall “usability” of the system. John has also produced a
document entitled “How to get a Grant Proposal into the Rola II System”. If you have not received a pdf
of this helpful document, please let me know and I will forward it to you.
2. Robarts’ Celebration of Science Dinner, Nov. 4th – Please remember to RSVP by Friday Oct. 30th for
the dinner at events@uwo.ca or at ext. 80412.
3. Canned Food Drive – Robarts will be holding a canned food drive in support of The London Food Bank
next week. Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the front lobby of the building. Please see:
http://www.robarts.ca/robarts-food-frive .
4. Reminder – Canadian Permanent Resident process presentation will take place in Social Science
Centre, room 3116 on Friday, Nov. 13th, 2009. The presentation will be conducted by a representative
from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Faculty and staff in your areas who are on work permits are
encouraged to attend. If you are planning on attending please contact Scott Rumas, srumas@uwo.ca .
5. Corporate Antivirus Update – Trend Officescan, our free corporate antivirus, has been updated and
now supports Windows 7. If you do not have it installed already, it can be downloaded at:
http://itcentre.robarts.ca/downloads/win/OfficeScan32.exe (32 bit) or
http://itcentre.robarts.ca/downloads/win/OfficeScan64.exe (64 bit).
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - October 16, 2009
1. Animal Care Protocol Forms – these forms have been greatly simplified and now available to be
downloaded directly. ACVS has committed to maintaining these forms without changing them and are
working towards an eventual “online submission” capacity, however, this will require additional
program work. The forms are in Word format and are available at:
http://www.uwo.ca/animal/website/AUS/Content/Forms.htm
This link has also been added to the Scientist Portal on the website.
2. 2009 United Way Campaign – Several fundraising and campaign awareness events will be announced
shortly. The Institute appreciates your participation and support for this campaign which has taken on
even greater importance under the current economic climate.
3. Pandemic Planning Documents – have been forwarded to your respective areas shortly. Please make
every effort to return the completed forms to Natalie Brown as soon as possible.
4. ROLA II – problems are still being experienced with the new system. We have flagged our concerns
and issues to Research Services in order to have them corrected.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - October 9, 2009
1. John P. Robarts Award for Innovative Medical Research – this is awarded annually from an andowed
fund held by Robarts. We are calling for candidates for this award at this time who meet the following
criteria:
“Awarded to a postdoctoral researcher who is working at Robarts Research Institute under the
supervision of a scientist whose primary appointment is with Robarts Research Institute. Robarts
Research Institute Group Directors and Scientists may nominate potential candidates, and the recipient
will be selected by the Director, Robarts Research Institute by lottery from qualifying postdoctoral
researchers. Candidates should be nominated based on research achievement and degree of innovation
of the candidate’s work, specifically: overall research promise of the individual, quality of the proposed
research and financial impact of the award on the recipient.”
Please forward your nominations to Tara Kenney at tkenney@robarts.ca.
2. New Online Tool to Track Absences- faculty, staff and students who are sick are asked to use new,
online self-reporting tools for absences due to flu-like illnesses. View here.
3. The 2009 United Way Campaign is kicking off at the university and Robarts pledges will be reported as
part of Schulich’s total. Natalie Brown is the United Way representative for Robarts for the 2009
campaign which I am sure will be very successful. Additional information will be the subject of future
communications.
4. I am pleased to say that there has been an increase in the number of applications for P-Cards for
purchases. Although the purchasing card has some limitations, it is still a quicker alternative to
traditional purchasing methods for a number of different supplies. Please contact me if you have any
questions related to the P-Card purchasing rules or the application process.
5. Space - Please remember that all requests for space must be submitted to Linda Chapman. Please do
not move into areas that look as though they are vacant. Thanks.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - October 2, 2009
1. Canada Summer Jobs – the funding for the program has been received from the government and has
been distributed back to the labs (grants) that participated in the program in the form of a journal entry.
2. Pandemic Preparedness Memo - "Individuals experiencing symptoms of an influenza-like illness
(including runny nose, sore throat, malaise and a fever) are encouraged to stay home until their fever is
gone and they are feeling better. Individuals with influenza-like illness who work in health care settings
should stay home for at least seven days and then return only if they are feeling better."
3. Privacy in Research – Everyone is invited to attend an open forum featuring Debra Grant, Senior
Health Privacy Specialist, Office of the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner on Tuesday,
October 9th, 2009 at the following times and locations:
Parkwood Hospital
Parkwood Auditorium
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
St. Joseph's Hospital
Hession Room (A2-523) - videocast
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
University Hospital
Auditorium A
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
4. Renting Vehicles for University Business – Prior to booking your vehicle rental, it is important to
register the rental with the Corporate Insurance office for the vehicle rental to be covered under the
University’s Non-Owned Auto Insurance Policy. This is required for each vehicle rental. The steps for
registering the vehicle, along with other important information, can be found in the “Vehicle Rental”
section of the Corporate Insurance Website at:
http://www.uwo.ca/humanresources/facultystaff/insurance/rentals.htm. Any questions regarding this
policy should be directed to Pina Acton, Corporate Insurance Administrator, UWO, (85631).
5. Off-site Storage – Campbell Bros, 55 Midpark Cr., London, is available to provide off-site storage.
Please contact Ron Vander or myself for an estimate of the monthly costs and charges associated with
using this facility if you are interested in storing equipment etc. outside of the Institute.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - September 25, 2009
1. Pdf’s of the Robarts “Discovery” magazine for 2009/10 are available on the Robarts website.
2. The ROLA II system has been “live” for a week now and a few bugs have been identified. The ROLA
team is aware of many of these issues and thanks you for your patience while they address them.
3. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help with “Doors Open” last weekend. Robarts hosted
over 200 people from the London community on guided tours through DNA Sequencing, Respiratory
Imaging, the Cuddy Wing and the Dekaban lab. Visitors also had a chance to watch some Robarts videos
from our YouTube Playlist and taker home a copy of the new Discovery magazine. Thanks again to the
volunteers: Glenn Jennings, Marcia Steyaert, Tara Kenney, Ravi Menon, David Rudko, Jean-Guy
Belliveau, Andrew Curtis, Bev Napier, Gerry Barbe, Greg Dekaban, Miranda Kirby, Stephen Choy, Ryan
Kraayvanger, Lindsay Mathew, Hassan Ahmed, Sonali De Chickera, Brian Au, John Barrett, Kemi
Adeyanju, Lianne Dale, Ryan Buensuceso, Laura Wilson and Shannon English.
4. We had an informative talk from Paul Paolatto, Executive Director of WORLDiscoveries, at the
Scientists Meeting yesterday. For those of you unable to attend, I encourage you to visit the website at
www.worldiscoveries.ca. This office is comprised of individuals with significant technology transfer and
business experience who combine to form a wealth of knowledge with respect to commercialization.
5. I want to take this opportunity to thank Natalie Brown for organizing this afternoon’s social event in
the 1st floor atrium. The refreshments were wonderful as was the slideshow. We had a great turnout
and look forward to more of these types of events in the future.
6. Reminder – Linda Chapman sent a note earlier regarding the installation of new emergency showers
and eye wash stations on Tuesday, Sept. 29th on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Please contact Linda if you
have any concerns since they will be drilling into the concrete floors to install drains. At times, the noise
levels and vibrations could be quite high.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - September 18, 2009
1. ROLA II is now live. This communication was received from Shannon Woodhouse:
“It is with great pleasure that the ROLA Team announces that ROLA II enhancements are now live and
invite you to utilize this new tool to obtain institutional approvals for your next grant application. All
Investigators who currently hold or have held grants at Western have been grandfathered in and will not
need to request access to the system.”
You may access ROLA here: http://www.uwo.ca/research/rds/ROLA/ROLAFrameset.html
NOTE: The system is now in production and we ask that you not use ROLA to create test Proposals,
contact rolahelp@uwo.ca for assistance if required.
Information Sessions are still available to anyone interested, as well as ROLA Live Labs. Registration can
be accessed at: http://www.uwo.ca/research/rds/resource/rds_resources_registration.html
2. Robarts will be one of the sites that plays host to “Doors Open London” this weekend. Visitors to the
Institute this weekend will be taken on guided tours of areas of the facility. Please see
http://www.doorsopenlondon.ca/2009/ for more details about this event.
3. An Institute “Social Hour” will be held next Friday, Sept. 25th in the 1st floor atrium at 2:00pm.
Refreshments will be served and there will be a draw for a few prizes. This will be a great opportunity to
get together in a “social atmosphere”. This will be the subject of an Institute-wide communication soon.
4. Schulich Medical Students are hosting a blood donor clinic on Sept. 30th in the Health Sciences
Addition, Room H101. Please see the following link for appointments:
http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/news/index.php?article=000834
5. For those of you with weekly employees, please forward their timesheets to Janice or myself as soon
as possible after they are completed. Thanks.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - September 11, 2009
1. Please be advised that Linda Chapman must be informed of any potential hirings of any nature before
any commitments are made to candidates. The proper procedure must be followed before Robarts and
the university can enter into type of employment contract/agreement with an employee. This procedure
includes getting the Provost’s approval for the position. Any commitments that are made outside of this
formal structure risk not being honoured and corrective action being taken.
2. The security team at Robarts received the distinction of “Site of the Month” from Stinson Security
services.
3. Remember that Thursday, Sept. 17th there will be an Alzheimer’s Society of Canada Annual Coffee
Break fundraiser in the 1st Floor Atrium – 8:30 to 11:30 am. Coffee and pastries are available for a
donation and raffle tickets will be sold.
4. Dr. Rorabeck, Council Chair for Robarts, will receive an honorary degree from UWO during the 294th
Convocation in October. Please see view the story here.
5. Since Labour Day has passed, the operating and advisory committees of the Institute are being reengaged after a brief summer break.
6. A fire drill for the Institute will be held on Thursday, October 8th. The time of the drill is not known. If
you are planning any experiments etc. that will be disrupted by this drill, please let Ron Noseworthy
know so that we can provide that information to the Campus Fire Safety Team.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - September 4, 2009
1. Please take notice of the “No Parking” signs that have been added to the Dental Circle. The signs state
that unattended vehicles will be ticketed for $100 and that the area is being actively monitored. I have
discussed this with security and they have confirmed that it is being actively enforced.
3. Alzheimer’s research gets boost at Robarts: Please see
http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/alzheimer%27s_research_gets_boost_at_ro
barts_20090903444737/
4. Please pay close attention to the communications regarding Pandemic Planning and the information
that is required from your labs.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - August 28, 2009
1. Due to the strain on building services resources, the moves of lab furnishings such as tables, boxes
and other “non-scientific equipment” items must be completed by lab staff.
2. The new website is still on target to be launched in September. The link to the test site will be sent
out soon so that everyone can take a look. I am sure that you will be impressed with both the content
and the layout.
3. “Readers of six prominent national magazines will soon see advertisements profiling some of the ways
Western students, faculty, staff and alumni are making a difference in the world. The six ads feature
stories that cover several faculties and profile areas of strength identified in the university's strategic
research plan. Teaching and research happening in Arts and Humanities, Engineering, Law, Social
Science, Ivey Business, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and Robarts Research Institute are all
represented in some form within the ad campaign. The plan is to develop a new series of ads next year.”
Please see Western Communications for the full story.
4. I recently attended one of the ROLA II (Research On-Line Administration) training sessions and
encourage you, once again, to attend one of these sessions if you have not done so. The system
represents a significant improvement to the whole research account process. Please visit:
http://www.uwo.ca/research/rds/resource/rds_resources_registration.html#ROLAII.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - August 7, 2009
1. Please remember that the disposal of crates, old equipment, furniture and other large garbage items
are the responsibility of the labs. All items must be taken to the loading dock and a speedcode must be
provided to Randy Hall for the cost of the removal. Please do not place garbage in the hallways.
2. Please contact Ron Vander if you would like to make use of the additional freezer to do maintenance
on freezers in your area.
3. Training sessions for ROLA II (Research On-Line Administration) are available. These sessions will
provide attendees with a view of the ROLA II world including "Proposal", which will replace the
RDAF/RFRA forms currently used by RD&S. You will be shown how ROLA II will help to simplify the
process and provide you, the user, with more "bang for your buck" in this new and improved tool.
Please visit www.uwo.ca/research/rds/resource/rds_resources_registration.html#ROLAII.
4. It has come to my attention that some labs have been receiving calls from vendors asking about
payments. The delay of payment to a vendor can take many forms from missing invoices, inability to
match a purchase order to the invoice or a lag in the amount of time to process it through Accounts
Payable at UWO. If you are unsure as to why payment has not been made please direct these inquiries
to me.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - July 31, 2009
1. I am sure that many of you have noticed a measurable decrease in the amount of spam/junk mail that
you have been receiving over the past week. Robarts IT made some changes to some of the mail entry
rules and filters which have helped a great deal.
2. Some of you have probably noticed, or have heard that the Coke machines have been removed from
the building. This was a decision made by the vending company based on poor sales. Other options for
vending machines may be available through the university’s contract and I will explore them should we
want to replace the machines.
3. The vacation system was updated a few weeks and is correct for the most part. Please check your
record on the system when you have a chance. If your vacation entitlement is not correct, please
contact me and it can be updated.
4. The back-up freezer has been delivered and will be in service soon. Details will follow shortly.
5. We are pricing warehouse space off-site that will be compliant with the university’s insurance policy.
If you are interested in off-site storage contact me or Ron Vander to discuss.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator
Administration Newsletter - July 17, 2009
1. The Business Development Office has been moved from the 5th floor to the the 1st floor of the new
building (Office # 1232A) which was the office previously occupied by Melissa Sutherland. The office on
the 5th floor that has been vacated by BDO will now be used by the UWO Neuroscience Program.
2. There have been an alarming number of -80C freezer breakdowns in the last month. In response to
this problem, the Institute has decided to purchase a “back-up” freezer that can be moved to be used to
store the contents of freezers that break down. The freezer will also be available to store items in order
for routine maintenance to be done on freezers throughout the building. More information will follow
once this purchase is made.
3. The Research Resource Committee and the Finance Committee have been merged into a single
committee which is now called the “Resource Committee”. Any requests that will bind the Institute from
the standpoint of finances, additional costs or space must be approved by this committee. All issues
regarding space in the Institute must be forwarded to Linda Chapman.
Dalton Charters
Business Administrator