Organizers of Campus Technology Day, May 17 in the CAW Student Centre, have extended its call for proposals to Friday, March 16.

With a theme of “Opening Doors with Technology,” the interactive event brings together faculty, staff and students to discuss the impact technology has in enhancing learning, teaching, research and building community on campus.

Presenters will share their expertise and experiences with colleagues, through:

• individual or group presentations in one of the salons of the Ambassador Auditorium;
• panel discussions involving multiple participants and inviting questions from the audience;
• poster presentations displayed and discussed in the Commons area during lunch and coffee breaks; and
• new this year, Birds of a Feather, an informal gathering over lunch to discuss issues of interest to participants. These sessions are a great way to discuss topics of shared interest among conference attendees.

The organizing committee invites students, faculty and staff to submit proposals using its online form. For more information, e-mail Anna Galka at agalka@uwindsor.ca.

New signage premiered at Friday’s open house won approval from UWindsor faculty and staff and presented a professional image to guests, says assistant provost Dave Bussière.

“We have had phenomenal buy-in from areas across campus,” he says. “So many people have come up to express the pride they feel when they see these materials.”

The new signs included retractable banners for each faculty, used to promote programs at the information fair, and large flags planted around the perimeter of campus and outside key sites for visitors.

“Facility Services was up at 4 a.m. helping us put these banners up,” Dr. Bussière says. “They suggested placement that really maximized the visual impact.”

Zora Savic, events coordinator in the liaison office, says the signage will appear at future events, ensuring continuity in the University’s image. The purchase of these materials was underwritten by the Strategic Priority Fund as an investment in student recruitment.

“These signs send a message to prospective students and their families that they are welcome, that we prepared for their visit because they are important to us,” she says. “We are offering a professional event created just for them to get the information they need to make the decision of where they will begin the next stage of their educations.”

Mother Helen and daughter Sidney Marentette, a senior at Harrow District High School, speak with greeter Victoria Turner on Friday after registering for open house at the Welcome Centre.

Grad student Stanislav Veinberg tosses a frozen balloon to touring high schoolers during the Chemistry Magic Show.

Tour guide Sara Kox, a kinesiology major, leads a group through the Toldo Health Education Centre.

Education professor Andrew Allen joins members of the Teachers for Tanzania for a presentation on their recent trip to Africa, during the fifth annual Social Justice in Education conference, Friday, March 9.

The Lancer women’s track and field team claimed its fourth straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship Saturday in Winnipeg. Windsor’s 87 points put it just ahead of Guelph’s 82-point total.

The Lancer men finished third overall. The team total of 73.5 was behind Western’s 90 and Guelph’s 77.

Read all the details at goLancers.ca.

Women’s basketball headed to national title tournament

The Lancer women’s basketball team defeated the Ottawa Gee Gees 58-55 Saturday to win the CIS East Regional tournament and earn a spot in the Bronze Baby tournament, March 17 to 19 in Calgary.

Miah-Marie Langlois with 20 points and Jessica Clemençon with 18 led the Windsor attack.

Read “Lancers claim CIS East Regional Final with win over Ottawa.”

Loss ends men’s hockey season

A 5-3 loss to the UQTR Patriotes in the Ontario University Athletics bronze medal game brought an end to the season for the Lancer men’s hockey team, Sunday in Trois-Rivières.

Evan Stibbard scored two goals for Windsor; DJ Turner added a single. Read the full story on goLancers.ca.

From what he has learned about Paul Vandall, says earth and environmental sciences professor Phil Graniero, Jeff Mastronardi is the perfect recipient of an award in his memory.

“When I first met Jeff, I was quickly struck by his personal need to understand why things work the way the do, and not just how,” Dr. Graniero says. “He had a desire to put the natural-physical and human-social aspects of environmental problems into a bigger context.”

Mastronardi received the Vandall Memorial Award on Thursday, at a reception honouring top students in inter-faculty programs. The award commemorates a long-time UWindsor professor who helped to establish its geography programs. It grants $1,000 annually to the graduating student with the highest academic standing in the environmental studies program.

The possibility of winning the honour helped to motivate him in his studies, says Mastronardi.

“I heard about the award earlier in my career and I knew I could qualify for it,” he says. “It was a really good motivator.”

Thursday’s event recognized dozens of students in inter-faculty programs – arts and science, forensic science, or environmental studies – who received awards and scholarships or qualified for academic honour rolls.

First-year arts and science student Amanda Hawkins earned an entrance scholarship as well as an Outstanding Scholars award. She says she appreciated the event.

“I really liked it. It’s nice to get some recognition,” Hawkins says. “I know a lot of other programs don’t do this.”

View the reception's program, including a full list of honorees.

The Council of Ontario Universities welcomed an announcement Thursday that the provincial government is extending for one year a cap of five per cent on overall tuition fee increases at its colleges and universities.

COU chair Alastair Summerlee said the move will enable universities to protect the gains that have been made through the government’s major investments in higher education.

“We welcome and appreciate the commitment to the quality of higher education that has been made by maintaining the current tuition framework for the coming year,” he said. “This allows universities to meet the needs of a growing number of students and provide them with the quality education and services they deserve.”

Thursday’s announcement by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities also pledged consultation with institutions, organizations and students on a new multi-year tuition policy to be in place for fall 2013.

Read the announcement “Tuition cap extended, new fees frozen.”

Read Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray’s statement, “Tuition framework extended for colleges and universities.”

Read the COU release, “Ontario universities appreciate government’s support for postsecondary education.”

The English Undergraduate Student Association presents a public reading from the poetry of Irving Layton as part of nationwide celebrations of the Canadian icon’s centenary, Monday, March 12.

One of Canada’s best-known and prolific poets, Layton won a Governor General’s Award for his 1959 book, A Red Carpet for the Sun. In 1981, Italy and Korea nominated him for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in 2006 at the age of 92.

Monday’s event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Oak Room, Vanier Hall.

Two reports in the last month suggested reforms to Ontario’s social assistance system: a commission created by the 2009 Poverty Reduction Act and the Drummond commission on the reform of public services.

Anti-poverty activist Marion Overholt, a staff lawyer at Legal Assistance of Windsor, will discuss how these reports fit into the reality of the shrinking middle class in Ontario, increasing rates of poverty, assumptions about people living in poverty, and our disappearing social welfare system at noon on Monday, March 12, in the law building’s room G101.

Her talk, entitled “The social assistance review, the Drummond report, and the disappearing middle class in Ontario,” is free and open to the public, but space is limited; RSVP to Thuy Shiu at shiu@uwindsor.ca.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Ms. Magazine, a panel discussion will take a look back – and forward – at the world of Canadian feminist publishing. Attendees are invited to share their favourite magazine memories Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. in room 203, Toldo Health Education Centre.

“Celebrating Women’s Voices: Canadian Feminist Publishing” will feature:

• Michelle Kay, feature editor of Shameless magazine, on “Staying political in independent Canadian publishing”
• Gisèle Harrison, social worker and feminist activist, on “Reading up and growing up on feminist magazines”
• Renée Bondy, adjunct professor of women’s studies at the University of Windsor, on “Reading feminist history in Canadian magazines”

A question-and-answer period will follow the discussion; this event, sponsored by the Friends of Women’s Studies, is free and open to the public.

More than 200 candidates from across Canada entered the Toronto FC Dream Job Contest and of the 15 who advanced to the next round, five are from the University of Windsor.

“To have one-third of the candidates from the University of Windsor is truly a remarkably feat,” says Ryan McConnell, one of six graduate students in business professor Vincent Georgie’s advertising management course who have been promoting the contest.

At stake is a one-year contract with Toronto FC, the professional soccer franchise owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. The club promises a high-profile position that includes involvement in game broadcasts, hosting matches and promotional events, and travel with the team.

The five remaining UWindsor contestants are human kinetics student Vincenzo Liburdi, digital journalism student Kate Du Toit, business student Gary Chauhan, criminology student Andrina Slegers, and Megan Shaw, a recent graduate of the communication, media and film program.

Their next step is the production of personalized videos; fan voting will select five finalists.

“To get the candidates into the top five we will need the support of the Windsor community,” McConnell says. “We want to ensure our candidates receive a lot of votes to show the Toronto FC selection panel that these candidates have the support of their peers who know they can do a great job in this position.”

He encourages members of the campus community to view the videos and vote at facebook.com/TorontoFC. Balloting continues through Friday, March 16.

The closure of the student pub has resulted in the relocation of the Speed Dating for Charity event, Tuesday, March 13.

The event, a benefit for the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, will begin with registration at 7 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Ambassador Auditorium. Thanks to sponsorship by the Alumni Association, the Organization of Part-time University Students, and the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance, admission is free for UWindsor students.