A new course, designed by students for students, will help first-year students transition to university.

Intended to eliminate some of the navigational barriers to finding support, it will help students identify their needs and select corresponding modules. Incoming undergraduates in all disciplines will be automatically enrolled in the online course with the ability to opt out.

The course development has been spearheaded by Chris Busch, associate vice-president, enrolment management, as a collaborative effort leveraging expertise across campus. The team includes Cindy Crump, director of the Student Success and Leadership Centre; Beth Oakley, director of the International Student Centre; Phebe Lam, acing associate vice-president student experience; and Ashlyne O’Neil, learning specialist in the Office of Open Learning.

It has consulted extensively with campus stakeholders across support and academic units, and with $74,730 in funding from the eCampus Ontario Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) grant, hired four student partners to offer their perspectives with more recent transition experiences.

Hiring students to partner in the development of the course was critical to the success of this project, says O’Neil, who is leading the effort.

“It is really important to not only listen to and amplify student voices, but to actually involve them in the creation of content and curriculum,” she says. “Not only are they our key stakeholders, but they offer valuable insights into student needs and the ways in which students engage with support programs.”

Student partner Vanessa Reka, a master’s candidate in education, reflects on the many things she wishes she had known when she started post-secondary study.

“Our aim with this course is to help answer those questions that students may not even realize they have,” Reka says. “It will act as the first steppingstone for their academic journey and is filled with information and tips that will guide them along the way.”

The experience of working on the course has furthered her own education, says Master of Education student Samantha Szcyrek.

“I have acquired more profound knowledge on accessibility and inclusivity, expanded collaborative learning experiences, and established new connections inside and outside the University of Windsor,” she says.

Watch a video providing a sneak peak at some of the course components set to pilot with new students beginning their studies in Winter 2022.

More information about the VLS projects is available on the Office of Open Learning website or by contacting openlearning@uwindsor.ca.

A new Faculty of Engineering measure aims to elevate underrepresented minorities in engineering to propel a culture shift in workforces that better reflects the communities the profession serves.

The faculty has increased its undergraduate entrance scholarships for Black, Indigenous, and female students as well as for students who identify as non-binary genders — including but not limited to gender fluid, non-binary, trans-man, trans-woman, and two-spirited — to $5,000 and topped them off with a guaranteed summer research position in the Faculty of Engineering following the completion of their first year, valued at an additional $10,000 and unique among Canadian universities.

The University of Windsor is offering to match up to $500,000 in donations to the scholarships. Help elevate these students to new heights in their journey to become engineering professionals. Find more details at uwindsor.ca/engineering/elevate.

• Black Students in Engineering Entrance Scholarship + Elevate $15,000
• Indigenous Students in Engineering Entrance Scholarship + Elevate $15,000
• Women and Non-Binary Genders in Engineering Entrance Scholarship + Elevate $15,000

To be eligible for consideration, students must complete the UWinAward Profile/Application. Information on how to apply can be found under the Awards for 1st Year Entering Students tab on the Student Awards - Entering Students webpage.

With the recent success of the University’s first-ever hybrid open house, the Office of Enrolment Management is excited to show prospective students and applicants once again why the University of Windsor is an exceptional choice for academic opportunities, campus life, and student support.

Virtual Open Day — Thursday, Dec. 9 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. — presents guests with a chance to see the campus, meet current students and staff, and decide whether UWindsor is the right fit for them, all from the comfort of their sofas.

During this completely digital event, domestic and international students will have live access to chat with the recruitment team about all things UWindsor. Faculty and campus partners will exhibit their programs and services through a series of pre-recorded videos, accessible 24/7 on demand for 30 days following the live event.

For more event details, visit the Virtual Open Day website.

UWindsor faculty and staff can help to promote the event by adding the graphic at left to their email signatures and linking it to future.uwindsor.ca/virtual-open-day/.

Watch a video inviting prospective students to register:

“Cities are over” — headlines during the early stages of the pandemic sounded variations of this theme as people abandoned offices and public transit and shared tales of moving to rural work-from-home paradises, says Shawn Micallef.

“As it turns out, cities are, in fact, not over and instead became places of resiliency during the pandemic but also where long-simmering inequities became starkly apparent,” he says. “Long-delayed or near-impossible policy changes took place quickly and public space became more important than ever.”

The journalist and educator will explore cites and the pandemic — and thoughts on how Windsor fits into all this — in a public presentation entitled “Long Live the City,” on Microsoft Teams at 12 noon Tuesday, Nov. 30. Register to attend the free event, hosted by the Humanities Research Group.

Micallef is the author of Frontier City: Toronto on the Verge of Greatness; Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto; and The Trouble with Brunch: Work, Class and the Pursuit of Leisure. He is a weekly columnist at the Toronto Star, and a senior editor and co-owner of the independent, Jane Jacobs Prize–winning magazine Spacing.

Micallef teaches at the University of Toronto and was a 2011-2012 Canadian Journalism Fellow at its Massey College. In 2002, while resident at the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab, he co- founded [murmur], the location-based mobile phone documentary project that has spread globally to more than 25 cities.

An online event Thursday, Dec. 2, aims to answer questions from local young adults and overcome their hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Sparking Vaccine Confidence among Students of Windsor-Essex will feature a panel that includes a science expert, a frontline worker, and students from the University of Windsor and St. Clair College.

Biomedical sciences professor Dora Cavallo-Medved, lead researcher on the Students Igniting Vaccine Confidence Program, touts the approach of having students reach out to understand the motivators and barriers of those averse to vaccination.

“Our team of students have taken the lead to identify reasons why students and young adults in our region are hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine and are developing evidence-based strategies to educate and empower this target population,” she says.

“Through student-led discussions, they hope to address some of these hesitancies and build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines by sharing their own experiences.”

The event, hosted by WE-Spark Health Institute in collaboration with the University of Windsor and St. Clair College, will run 6 to 7 p.m. on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. Admission is free but requires advance registration; sign up here.

One of the organizers, fourth-year biomedical sciences major Jaclyn Ruta, hopes for a good turnout of her young adult peers.

“The webinar is a great chance to hear unique perspectives of students and healthcare experts, and join in on the conversations we have opened up,” she says.

A collection of Socks and Bottoms for donation to local charities will continue through Dec. 10, the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion has announced.

Its staff set up a drop box in the student centre Friday next to the information desk.

Organizers are seeking contributions of socks, underwear, children’s diapers, adult incontinence products, toilet paper, gloves, toques, and sleeping bags for distribution to agencies across Windsor-Essex.