The University of Windsor’s Place of Promise fundraising campaign has been launched with a new, dedicated website — PlaceofPromise.ca.

The new website outlines the University’s priorities for support — Students, Campus, Community and Impact — as well as the goals and initiatives of individual faculties.

President Alan Wildeman announced that fundraising efforts would be recast around the Place of Promise theme in his annual address to the campus community earlier this year.

“We cannot create this place alone … the University of Windsor will always be the creation of the people who work and study here, our community, our alumni and friends, our governments,” said Dr. Wildeman.

“Whether gifts are made for the support of students, for the campus learning environment, for our community integration, or for helping our research have greater impact, they all contribute to helping promise be fulfilled. Place of Promise is an opportunity to unify the reason to give with the call to give.”

The Place of Promise campaign also has as one of its central themes the celebration of champions — particularly alumni and friends of the University of Windsor who continue to contribute and who remain strong voices when it comes to why the University has meant so much to them.

Place of Promise will be a public campaign and, in addition to PlaceofPromise.ca, there will be new themed material used by major gift officers and staff in Alumni Affairs and Donor Communications.

The Place of Promise campaign will run until Spring Convocation at the end of May 2018.

Outsourcing can be an integral part of a manufacturer’s strategy. However, by outsourcing production, manufacturers distribute their intellectual property into supply chains they may not be able to fully control.

Hubert Pun will consider the costs and benefits of contracts to protect intellectual property in a free public lecture Friday, April 21, in the Odette Building. Dr. Pun is a professor of management science at Western University’s Ivey Business School.

His presentation, “Intellectual Property Theft: An Economic Analysis of a Supplier’s Incentive to Copy,” is part of the Topics in Management Science Research series at the Odette School of Business. It will begin at 10:30 a.m. in room 321, Odette Building. RSVP your attendance to Linda Ingram at lingram@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext. 3883.

Out of the lab and into the streets: recent policy changes have caused heightened worry among scientists, say organizers of the March for Science, April 22 on Windsor’s waterfront and in more than 400 cities around the world.

Physics professor emeritus Bill Baylis and biology professors Dennis Higgs, Kirsten Poling, Lisa Porter and Tanya Noel are among the speakers scheduled to address the event, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday in Assumption Park near the foot of Askin Avenue.

On the agenda are science-based activities for children and vendors offering refreshments. Find a full rundown on the event Facebook page.

The UWinsite Project, UWindsor’s new campus-wide resource planning system, has been making significant progress over the past several weeks as project teams have now shifted efforts to support implementation, says its executive director, Ryan Kenney.

“It is an exciting time for both the project and the campus as we look to bring improved functionality and new features for core student and finance systems,” Kenney says. “Teams have been actively engaged in the project over the past several months and general support from the campus has been tremendous.”

He highlights several key developments: 

• As a result of a thorough procurement process, the University has selected Oracle (PeopleSoft) as its solution provider and Deloitte as its implementation partner.
• Project teams have been ramping up activities since early March and are currently working to complete visioning and planning activities as part of what is being referred to as “Fit-Gap,” where teams are seeking to identify and better understand “gaps” between current state and potential future state the new solution offers.
• Project teams are holding information sessions for students, faculty and staff to further promote and communicate key project activities and other important updates. The main focus of these sessions to date has been updates regarding the roll out of new processes, technology and training.
• In parallel, project teams have conducted a number of pre-implementation workshops focused on change readiness to ensure a shared vision for success and an enthusiasm for where the University is headed.
• As part of the overall change management strategy, project teams have also been developing change and communications plans to help all stakeholders be successful on this journey and stay informed.

“We recognize that one of the most important elements of our ability to be successful with the implementation of UWinsite will be campus commitment to and support for adopting this transformative change,” says Kenney. “To this extent, we will continue to utilize the UWinsite website to provide critical information, collect feedback and answer any project related questions.”

Kenney adds that project teams will also make use of such communications channels as the DailyNews, focused update meetings and town halls, and targeted e-mail messages to keep the campus informed.

Registration is now open for the Transnational Criminal Law in the Americas conference, May 4 and 5 at the UWindsor Faculty of Law.

Organized by the Transnational Law and Justice Network, the program includes:

• a keynote address by professor Robert Currie of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University;
• panel discussions on drug trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, emerging transnational crimes, and domestic responses to transnational crimes;
• a Spanish-language panel; and
• a panel focused on the Detroit-Windsor border.

While the conference is free and open to the public, organizers ask that all attendees register in advance. For more information and to register, visit the conference website: bit.ly/TLJN2017.

Friends and colleagues of UWindsor retiree Cecil Houston will gather to celebrate his life at a drop-in reception 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 23. Dr. Houston died in September 2016.

He came to the University of Windsor as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in July 2002, became acting director of the School for Creative Arts in July 2012, and held the position of professor of political science until his retirement in July 2015.

Sunday’s memorial is set for the second floor of the Kildare House, 1880 Wyandotte Street East.