Migrant workers picking strawberriesA forum April 26 at the University of Windsor will discuss ways to improve the health of migrant farm workers.

Forum to consider health of migrant farm workers

Today — Monday, April 22 — is the final day to register for the Migrant Farm Worker Health Forum, to be held in Windsor Hall on Friday, April 26.

Nearly 40,000 migrant farmworkers come to Canada each year to work in the agriculture industry, including 6-8,000 in Essex County.

Organized by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers in partnership with the University of Windsor, Friday’s forum will explore a theme of “From barriers to bridges: collaborating to improve the health of migrant farm workers.”

UWindsor professors Kathryn Edmunds and Tanya Basok serve on the planning committee.

“Temporary agricultural workers are often geographically and socially isolated, and it can be easy to overlook their significant contributions to our region, as well as the challenges and barriers they face,” says Dr. Edmunds, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing. “This conference is an important opportunity to learn about current research, community partnerships, and innovative programs regarding the health of temporary agricultural workers living in our communities.”

Dr. Basok, a professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, notes that Canada wins international praise for its administration of agricultural migrant worker programs, particularly the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, but the reality is often different from their idealized portrayals.

“Researchers and activists have documented numerous problems that these workers encounter and called for policy changes,” she says. “By bringing together researchers, practitioners, growers, and activists, the forum will help in identifying the major issues and ways to move forward in an equitable fashion that will allow farms to remain competitive while being respectful of the migrant farm workers’ rights.”

Windsor Hall, home to the University’s social work program, is located at 167 Ferry St. Find a full conference program as well as registration details on the forum website.

Kayla SmithWindsor Law student Kayla Smith re-appeared before a Senate committee considering how to encourage young Canadians to volunteer in their communities.

Windsor Law student appears before Senate committee

In the midst of preparing for her final exams, third-year Windsor Law student Kayla Smith re-appeared before the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector in Ottawa for its last meeting.

In roundtable discussion with senators and officials from non-profit organizations, Smith provided testimony and developed strategies on how to move forward in the voluntary sector. A particular topic she addressed is the role the federal government could play in encouraging younger Canadians to volunteer in their communities.

Smith was first invited to appear as an individual witness before the committee in May 2018. She was the youngest person in the room and the only student in attendance.

“I'm really grateful to the Senate, and to the co-chairs, Senator (Terry) Mercer and Senator (Ratna) Omidvar in particular, for showing us that there is essential value in the perspectives, opinions, and leadership of millennials and our rising youth,” Smith said. “I am very much looking forward to the policy changes to come that will strengthen Canada’s charities and non-profit organizations.”

The Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector met for the final time on April 8 to address the impact of public policy on charities and non-profit organizations. There are approximately 170,000 registered charities and non-profit organizations in Canada, which in 2015 reported $251 billion in revenue.

—Rachelle Prince

Presenters at the 2018 Canadian Undergraduate Computer Science Conference discuss their research.Presenters at the 2018 Canadian Undergraduate Computer Science Conference discuss their research.

Undergraduate conference to explore the future of computer science

A national conference will showcase undergraduate student research in computer science and related disciplines this summer on the UWindsor campus.

Organizers of the Canadian Undergraduate Computer Science Conference, July 25 to 27, have issued a call for participation. They invite submissions in three forms:

  • research papers on topics demonstrating significant work;
  • short abstracts on research topics reflecting knowledge and passion; and
  • pitches of business ideas for practical and well-formed solutions to key projects.

Conference chair Noah Campbell calls CUCSC 2019 the premier venue for undergraduate students across all disciplines.

“Whether your interests lie in the fields of computer science, business, chemistry, biology, psychology, and everything in between, we have something for you,” he says.

Campbell is proud to secured partnerships with leaders in industry as well as on campus.

The event will connect undergraduate students from across Canada to leaders in academia and industry working at the cutting edge of technology. It will also welcome faculty and students from across the border, as well as members of the general public.

With a theme of “The Future of Computer Science,” presentations will focus largely on such topics as mobility, artificial intelligence, and informatics, though work in any field will be considered.

Find more information, including submission guidelines and registration details, on the conference website.

man appearing to work on microchipIT Services will conduct systems maintenance work in the early-morning hours from April 23 to May 5.

IT Services to perform daily maintenance during semester break

Maintenance of information technology systems will result in outages to some services in the early-morning hours from April 23 to May 5. IT Services selected this period because it is a time of reduced student activity and reduces the impact of service outages.

IT Services will use daily service windows to perform deferred maintenance and make required system configuration changes. The maintenance activities and affected systems will be announced via the IT Services System Status feed — and, if needed, targeted e-mails to affected parties. All services will be fully available each day by 8 a.m.

Critical or broad-reaching system changes are scheduled for the regular Thursday maintenance windows, while minor and less disruptive changes will occur Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. IT Services is aware that there are still some academic activities occurring until Apr 26 and will take care to avoid impact to those events.

Anyone who has a special event scheduled during this break requiring the affected services to be operational before 8 a.m. must contact the ServiceDesk at 519-253-3000, ext. 4440, so that IT Services can conduct maintenance activity around the event.