Supporting the Annual Giving Program sends an important message, says nursing professor Deb Dayus, a volunteer canvasser for the faculty, staff, and retiree fundraising campaign.

“It shows everyone that we are passionate and proud of our University,” she says. “These gifts enhance the overall student experience and ensure that our current and future students have the added resources to help them succeed.”

Dr. Dayus has been a member of faculty for more than 30 years, and earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing at the University of Windsor (BScN 1979, MScN 1997). She says that donating to the University is a way to “give back” to an institution that has fostered her career.

“It’s our chance to make a financial investment in the place we work,” she says.

She adds that she sees up close the impact of her contributions.

“Those extra monies that have been generated has enabled nursing to grow,” says Dayus. “Our clinical learning centre gets equipment coming through the door due to these donations.”

It’s a message echoed by Sydney Murray. A relatively recent UWindsor alumna (BA history 2015), she co-ordinates the Ignite, peer advising, and volunteer internship programs in Career Development and Experiential Learning.

“Whether it’s students accessing a service or a new building going up, you can see where your money is going,” she says. “You know you’re making a difference at the end of the day.”

Murray recalls that she benefited directly from donor generosity, as a scholarship recipient herself.

“I am a perfect example of how support can make a difference,” she says.

Calling herself a big supporter of education and student success, Murray points out that students are the first priority for all UWindsor staff and faculty.

“If you’re working here, you care,” she says. “I am so proud to be involved in philanthropy even though I am just starting out. And with payroll deduction, the Annual Giving Program makes it so easy and convenient.”

Mitchell Nascimento (BSc 2015, MSc 2018) says the support he received as a student allowed him to work in a lab when he would otherwise have been working a part-time job to pay tuition. The experience he got as an Outstanding Scholar helped him to qualify for awards during his undergraduate and graduate studies.

“UWindsor has afforded me so many amazing opportunities, and it’s all connected to the giving program,” says Nascimento. “Financial support really does equal giving opportunities to students.”

And third-year mechanical engineering major Jessica Chesu says she enjoyed calling potential donors during the annual alumni phone-a-thon.

“It’s more about building relationships with our grads,” she says. “You feel part of something to develop the University.”

Annual Giving Program co-ordinator Nicole Broderick says UWindsor employees across campus have received pledge cards. To learn more about how you may direct your gift to support the campus cause most dear to you, contact her at 519-253-3000, ext. 4279, or Nicole.Broderick@uwindsor.ca.

A University of Windsor criminology professor will be giving a keynote address in Ireland later this month on the seminal Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The conference, hosted by Ireland’s Maynooth University Department of Law, will bring together academics from around the world to celebrate and commiserate the 70-year-old landmark document of human rights.

“The Universal Declaration was really the first major widely accepted statement for human rights in the world,” said Randy Lippert.

“I’ll be talking about privacy as a human right, which is increasingly becoming more important.”

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and was the first step in creating the International Bill of Human Rights.

Dr. Lippert said when the declaration was first drafted, a lot of thought wasn’t given to privacy rights but with the explosion of social media, it’s more important than ever.

His talk will also examine how privacy rights are sometimes “used a way of doing things besides ensuring that people have privacy.”

“If the government doesn’t want to release information to the public they will sometimes cite privacy concerns to keep things under wraps,” Lippert said, adding that privacy regulation is often very weak.

While the Declaration has been celebrated for doing great things around the world and preventing tragedies like genocide, Lippert said there are challenges with enforcement.

Lippert has two relevant books, both supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grants, that will be released in 2019.

The first is Condo Conquest: Urban Governance, Condoization, and Law in New York City and Toronto and the second, with Kevin Walby, is A Criminology of Policing and Security Frontiers.

The conference, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy; A Review of Successes and Challenges, runs from June 20 to the 21^st.

By Dylan Kristy

Six engineering students will spend the summer in the United Kingdom improving their research skills in water treatment and renewable energy technologies.

As part of the Canadian Queen Elizabeth (QE) II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships program, the third-year mechanical and civil engineering students will spend three months abroad collaborating on two separate projects with Aberystwyth University and the University of Surrey.

Ankit Bhat, Shreya Patki, and Damir Ferhatovic will travel to Guildford, Surrey, to work with Martand Singh on a project that focuses on using concentrated solar power for sustainable water desalination — the removal of salts and minerals to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation.

“I find it very interesting to be working on something that will be used in our generation,” says Bhat. “Water scarcity is a major issue. If we can convert salt water to clean drinkable, potable water using sustainable energy, we can solve one of our world’s biggest problems in providing clean water around the globe.”

Laura George, Jonathan Byensi, and Abdul Abdul will venture to Wales to work with Sreenivas Ravella at Aberystwyth University on producing biofuels from low-value biomass.

The students will work at Aberystwyth University’s BEACON Pilot Plant Facility with multi-stage bioprocessing equipment configured with steam explosion, centrifugation and filtration to produce a feedstock which can be fermented to ethanol.

Jerald Lalman, a faculty member in UWindsor’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, says this is an excellent opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience with biomass to fuel conversion processes.

The students leave the first week of June and return early September.

“I’m excited about the environmental aspect,” says Patki. “It’s different than the regular mechanical stuff we work on and we get a chance to learn more about engineering in general.”

Kristie Pearce

The Workplace Wellness Committee and the Department of Human Resources are encouraging employees to eat well, be active, and get enough quality sleep, as these are key for long-term health and well-being.

The 3 Keys to a Healthier “U” campaign consists of eight information sheets and four lunch-and-learn sessions designed to highlight the benefits of sleep, physical activity, and healthy eating — and offering practical tips for each.

Sleep is required for the body to heal after all it has endured during the day, a healthy and balanced diet is needed to fuel the body, and regular physical activity is essential to burn off any unnecessary fats and sugars and keep organs, muscles, and bones strong.

This summer, the Workplace Wellness Committee is organizing the Passport to Wellness Trivia Walk on July 16 and the Walk Across Canada Challenge, July 16 to August 10, to encourage employees to add more physical activity into the workday.

Committee member Frank Jeney, assistant Forge and fitness co-ordinator in the St. Denis Athletics and Community Centre, shares some tips for being more physically active at home.

“Be sure to focus on activities that you enjoy doing,” he says. “For example, if you enjoy talking to friends and family, rather than sitting to talk, go for a walk together. If you enjoy listening to music, go for a run or bike ride to enjoy your favorite artist. And when watching TV, stretch or do some yoga to alleviate tightness and soreness.”

To download a copy of the information sheets and for more details about the lunch and learn series, the Passport to Wellness Trivia Walk, and the Walk Across Canada challenge, visit the campaign website at uwindsor.ca/3keys.

A team developing a strategy to cultivate mental health and well-being among UWindsor students has prepared a draft for review and comment by members of the University community.

Over the course of a 15-month period, staff, faculty, and a small number of student researchers under the guidance of a multi-disciplinary steering committee have been meeting, consulting, surveying, and crafting the Student Mental Health Strategy.

The near-final draft includes 39 proposed recommendations — prior to finalizing it and embarking on its implementation over the next five years, the committee has posted it along with an online feedback tool on the website of the Office of Student Experience.

Comments can be provided on the strategy until the close of business June 22.

A bundle of three T-shirts in the Campus Bookstore enables purchasers to show three times their pride in the University of Windsor, says marketing co-ordinator Martin Deck.

The item bundles 100 per cent cotton T-shirts in each of three colours: white, navy blue, and grey, bearing the words “University of Windsor” screen printed across the chest.

“They’re pre-shrunk and ring-spun, perfect now that the hot summer weather is rolling in on us,” Deck says.

Each bundle of three costs just $26.95 in the store, located on the lower level of the CAW Student Centre.