A public open house on Friday, December 1, will celebrate the pending opening of the downtown buildings to house the School of Creative Arts.

Both the Freedom Way building on the former site of Tunnel Bar-B-Q and the Windsor Armouries building will open to community tours from 2 to 7 p.m.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to visit the new home of SoCA to experience the remarkable transformation of these spaces.

Buses will shuttle participants from the main campus to downtown, leaving Vanier Circle from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., and returning to campus every 15 minutes until 3 p.m.

The Department of Human Resources requests that, where possible, supervisors be flexible in accommodating employees who wish to attend this open house.

Vocalists Pia Lampitoc, Lilly Korkontzelos, and Parker Schaefer will perform songs made famous by Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr. during the fall concert of the University Jazz Ensemble, Saturday, November 25, at the Capitol Theatre.

Director Robert Fazecash will lead the big band through selections from Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, and more.

The concert gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the theatre, 121 University Avenue West. Admission is $15; $5 for students. Learn more on the event website.

The University of Windsor has been ranked among the top universities in the world for the second straight year in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018.

UWindsor is one of only 26 Canadian universities that Times Higher Education rates among the best in the world. There are 96 universities in Canada. In all, 1,000 universities — out of about 20,000 institutions worldwide — qualified for the Times Higher Education 2018 list.

Times Higher Education rankings are the only global university performance table to judge world-class universities across all of their core missions — teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. UWindsor made the list of London, England-based Times Higher Education for the first time last year.

“It is nice to have the University of Windsor recognized by the THE rankings for the second year in a row,” said president Alan Wildeman. “It is a recognition that is made possible only because of the contributions of everyone on campus.”

In its 2018 report, Times Higher Education again cites UWindsor for its diversity, research and location along the Detroit River.

“The university has a history of accepting large numbers of international students, and provides avenues for students to get involved in research in their chosen field of study,” it notes. “Aside from this, students at the university also have access to the sights and sounds of the Canadian city of Windsor and the American city of Detroit, both of which provide a huge amount for students in terms of nightlife and recreational activities.”

The University Players production of The 39 Steps, a comic adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic spy thriller, opens in Essex Hall Theatre this weekend.

The play will run November 24 to December 3; on Sunday, November 26, a “Talk Back” discussion with members of the cast will follow the performance.

Order tickets online at www.UniversityPlayers.com or phone 519-253-3000, ext. 2808.

Watch a video trailer of the production:

User Acceptance Testing, commonly referred to as UAT, will begin shortly for the University of Windsor’s new financial information system, UWinsite Finance.

UAT is the last phase of the testing process for the implementation of a new system. During UAT for UWinsite Finance, actual users of the new system will test real-world scenarios to make sure required tasks can be completed according to specifications.

“UAT is a critical step on the journey to launching UWinsite Finance successfully,” says Gillian Heisz, university controller and lead for UWinsite Finance. “The project team wants to thank all UAT participants and their teams in advance for their support and patience during this testing period.”

UAT for UWinsite Finance is expected to run from November 27 through December 22. UAT participants are currently being contacted.

Training for UWinsite Finance will begin after the holiday break. Varying training opportunities — from instructor-led classroom sessions to online videos and user materials — will be available. More information will be provided in December.

The launch of UWinsite Finance on February 1, 2018, is the first phase in the transformation of the University’s technological backbone. The new financial information system is part of the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will also see the current student information system (SIS) replaced and a student engagement system introduced.

The Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility at the University of Windsor is seeking presenters for Accessibility Awareness Day 2018. The theme for this year is “More than Meets the Eye.”

The event will be held on March 28, 2018, in the CAW Student Centre. The organizers of this free event are issuing a call for presenters to those who wish to share their expertise particularly relating to raising awareness of accessibility for those with invisible disabilities.

The day will provide an opportunity for members of the University community as well as members of the broader Windsor-Essex community to come together to learn about and discuss a wide variety of accessibility issues.

Each session is to last one hour; presenters should prepare 45 minutes of material and allot 15 minutes for questions from the audience. The call for presenters will close on January 19, 2018.

Visit the Accessibility Awareness Day website to complete the survey http://www.uwindsor.ca/ohrea/135/accessibility-awareness-day.