Visit to University Of Waterloo

Last week I was on an CIA accreditation panel visiting the University of Waterloo.  I was an enjoyable, interesting and educational trip.  A few quick take aways from  my perspective.

1. I was jealous of their resources.  With their large faculty Waterloo has the luxury to cover topics on a regular basis that we at UofR can cover in an occasional directed reading course. 
2. There are advantages to being small!!  The class sizes at Waterloo are a challenge for the faculty - 150 in the fourth year classes is typical.  The sheer bulk size prevents the instructors from using some of their preferred teaching techniques such as project work, student presentations and group work.  These are techniques that the smaller class sizes at UofR allow us to use on a regular basis.
3. It was nice to hear about a UofR grad - Will Du - from a co-worker of his who was on the panel.  Will's working at SunLife in Waterloo and it sounds like he's doing very well there.  It ways a lot for the UofR program that Sun hired Will over Waterloo grads just a few miles away.  Great West and ManuLife have also hired UofR grads over students from the big programs.