DailyNews Issue for Thursday, Apr 25th, 2024

The University of Windsor will confer degrees on nearly 900 graduating students during its 102nd Convocation ceremonies Saturday.

Pomp promised for weekend graduation ceremonies

Oct 16th, 2014

The University of Windsor will confer degrees on nearly 900 graduating students during two sessions of its 102nd Convocation ceremonies Saturday, October 18, in the St. Denis Centre.

Yifeng Li, a doctoral graduate of the School of Computer Science, will receive the Governor General’s Gold Medal, given annually to the student who achieves the highest academic standing at the graduate level. Read more on this distinguished individual in the related story “Computer science grad a gold-medal winner.”

The Fall Convocation schedule begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, when degrees will be conferred on the graduating classes in the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Nursing, Faculty of Science, and Inter-Faculty Programs.

At the 3 p.m. session, degrees will be conferred on the graduating classes in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Faculty of Education; Faculty of Human Kinetics; Faculty of Law; and the Odette School of Business.

Computer science grad a gold-medal winner

Oct 16th, 2014

Computer science graduate Yifeng Li, who received his doctoral degree in June 2014 with a 96 percent grade point average, has achieved the highest academic standing at the graduate level among his cohort and will receive the Governor General’s Gold Medal at the first session of Convocation on Saturday, October 18.

Dr. Li completed his dissertation, entitled “Sparse machine learning models in bioinformatics,” under the supervision of professors Alioune Ngom and Luis Rueda. He received graduate scholarships from 2009 to 201 and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship in 2011 and 2012. He is the author of seven publications in refereed journals, 20 conference proceedings papers and a book chapter, as well as several software packages.

Currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia, Li is serving as the local arrangements chair of the IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, the largest event of its kind, to be held in Vancouver in 2016.

He will deliver the free public presentation, “Multi-Class Feature Selection in Deep Learning,” as part of the School of Computer Science Colloquium series, at 10 a.m. Friday, October 17, in room B04, Odette Building.

Also centred out for recognition during the University of Windsor’s 102nd Convocation ceremonies will be winners of the Board of Governors Medals, awarded to the graduating student with the highest academic standing in each program:

Civil and Environmental Engineering: Yanting Liu
Electrical and Computer Engineering: Wesley Joseph Perdu
Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering: Salem Mohammed Jabr
Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering: Yiteng Liang

These medallists are in-course and will not graduate this fall:

Arts: Hannah Robinson
Social Sciences: Rebecca Pillon
Business Administration: Colin Poulin
Engineering: Alex Michael Smith
Law – JD : Jillian Mulroy
Law – Dual JD: Daniel Conrad
Human Kinetics: Paige Coyne
Nursing: Li Wang
Science: Mohamad Harb
Inter-Faculty: Daniel Tarade

Therapy groups for students to promote mental wellbeing

Oct 16th, 2014

The Psychological Services and Research Centre will host weekly sessions for two therapy groups to help with mental health and wellbeing.

Students wanting to learn about how to better cope with their emotions are invited to join the group therapy session Ride the Waves: A Group for Emotion Regulation. The group will meet Mondays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the centre, starting October 27.

Also at the centre will be group meetings for anyone with symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Group meetings for help with OCD will take place Thursdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. beginning October 30.

To attend either of the free group therapy sessions, sign up by calling 519-973-7012 or by e-mailing ridethewavesgroup@gmail.com for the Monday sessions and beautifulmindsgroup@gmail.com for the Thursday sessions.

— by Darko Milenkovic

Rookie forward Dylan Denomme of the no. 9 ranked Lancer men’s hockey team makes a move past goalie Keith Hamilton of Guelph during the team’s season opener.

Three Lancer teams among country’s top-ranked

Oct 16th, 2014

Strong performances by the Lancer men’s hockey and football teams have won them recognition in the top-10 rankings released Tuesday by Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The programs joined the men’s cross-country team, currently fifth and consistently among the nation’s top 10.

Men’s hockey, defending Queen’s Cup winners as Ontario University Athletics champions, have opened the season with three straight wins, earning the squad ninth place in the national rankings. Windsor will host the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday and the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday; both games at South Windsor Arena at 7:30 p.m.

With a win in its final regular season home game October 10 to go 5-1, Lancer football clinched a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive year and won a spot as No. 10 in the CIS poll. The team’s final two games are on the road—Saturday in Ottawa against the Carleton Ravens and October 25 in London against the Western Mustangs, currently ranked fourth.

The OUA named running back Beau Lumley its offensive player of the week in football, after he ran for 91 yards and added 99 receiving yards in Friday’s victory over Ottawa.

The league also recognized Krystin Lawrence of the Lancer women’s soccer and hockey teams as its female athlete of the week. She played two games in each sport over the weekend, backstopping the soccer team to a win and a shutout draw, and scoring the game-winning goal in Saturday’s hockey contest against the nationally-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks.

The cross country team will next see action in the OUA championship meet, October 25 in Kingston.

Both women’s and men’s soccer have secured post-season berths but are looking to secure their positions in their final weekend of regular-season play. They will travel to Toronto for a game Saturday against the York Lions and then play the Gryphons in Guelph on Sunday. One win would give the women fourth place to open the playoffs at home. The men could finish as high as third or as low as fifth.

Women’s hockey will face off against the Western Mustangs on Saturday in London to start a series of five straight games on the road. The squad returns home November 7 to host York at South Windsor Arena.

Lancer volleyball opens its season this weekend, with both men’s and women’s teams taking on the McMaster Marauders in Hamilton on Saturday, and the women heading to St. Catharines on Sunday to play the Brock Badgers.

Rounding out varsity action, the golf team will tee off in the OUA championship tournament, Sunday in Oshawa.

Campus community called on to provide eyes for accessibility

Oct 16th, 2014

Helping to make the campus accessible requires the vigilance of students, faculty and staff, say the organizers of a campaign to keep Facility Services informed as issues arise.

If You See It, Report It is a project of the University’s Accessible Customer Service Committee. The awareness campaign calls on members of the community to report conditions that may present barriers to accessibility, such as out-of-service elevators, non-functioning door actuators, or bicycles locked to wheelchair ramps.

“The goal is to engage the entire campus community in being the eyes for accessibility,” says committee chair Beth Oakley, director of the Student Success Centre. “Everyone benefits when issues are reported promptly to minimize delays associated with building and grounds issues that may arise.”

Residence Life team leader Sandra Davis serves on the committee. She says the campaign encourages students to be respectful and compassionate citizens.

“We’re hoping to empower our students to be aware of their surroundings and mindful of how things can impact their friends, peers and fellow students,” she says.

To report an issue, phone maintenance dispatch at 519-253-3000, ext. 2850, or e-mail repair@uwindsor.ca.

Certificates recognize work to promote academic integrity

Oct 16th, 2014

A culture that values integrity requires support from across the entire campus, says academic integrity officer Danieli Arbex.

“This effort rests not just with our office, but with the instructors and others who support us and join the work of promoting academic integrity,” she says.

The Office of Academic Integrity has issued certificates of appreciation to 55 individuals who have helped to promote academic integrity on the UWindsor campus.

“It is a small way for us to show that we value their support in educating students about the importance of honesty and responsible behaviour,” says Dr. Arbex. “I am very grateful for the support we receive from our University community.”

The current awards recognize work in the 2013/14 school year. See the full list of recipients on the Academic Integrity website.