Windsor Law professor Jasminka Kalajdzic wrote the book on class actions. Now she is heading up a law clinic — the first of its kind in North America — dedicated one of the most high-profile and far-reaching legal procedures in the Canadian justice system.

The Class Action Clinic will focus on class members: people who are part of a large civil lawsuit launched on their behalf by representative plaintiffs and class counsel. With start-up funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario, it is staffed by Kalajdzic as clinic director overseeing a team of students who will provide summary advice, assistance with filing claims in settlement distribution processes, and representation in court proceedings.

“The ultimate objective of the clinic is to provide substantive access to justice to class members and in doing so, better fulfill the access to justice promise of the class action regime,” says Kalajdzic. “Class counsel do not have a traditional lawyer-client relationship with class members, as a matter of law and practicality. The Class Action Clinic will provide legal support to this unique group of litigants.”

She co-authored the 2015 text The Law of Class Actions in Canada and published Class Actions in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Access to Justice in 2018.

The clinic will maintain offices in Windsor Hall, from which it will provide services in person, by telephone or videoconference, and online. In addition to its legal services, it will maintain a database of class action lawsuits and their outcomes, and educate the public about this type of litigation.

Find more information on the Windsor Law website.

—Rachelle Prince

A symposium Oct. 26 at the University of Windsor is aimed at educating students with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in leadership positions on campus.

“Students take up roles on university and departmental committees such as faculty and departmental councils and Renewal, Promotion, and Tenure committees,” says Simon du Toit, program co-ordinator for leadership development in the student success centre.

“Because this training will directly benefit the departments in which the students will serve on committees, we are asking that they sponsor the students who will attend.”

AIM Symposium attendees will receive training in: professionalism, employment equity, maintaining confidentiality, rules of order, conflict resolution, communication, and more.

Lionel Walsh, interim director of the School of Dramatic Art, says these skills will help students fulfill their roles as participants in the future of the institution.

“I feel it is important for students involved in University Governance to know their rights, duties, and responsibilities on the various committees on which they serve,” he says. “I have found that they often feel they do not have permission to voice their opinions or feel they must follow their professors’ leads in decision-making.”

Departments wishing to send may their student leaders to the symposium may submit their names to leadership@uwindsor.ca until Oct. 11. Starting on Oct. 14, students will be able to register themselves; participation will be capped at 160 students. Registration costs $35.

A new speakers series highlighting women’s accomplishments is free and open to the public.

Hosted by the Windsor Jewish Community Centre, the Women of Valour Series will feature Sara Diamond as the first presenter. She is the president of OCAD University, founder of Banff New Media Institute, an artist, innovator, and author. The event is in collaboration with the Humanities Research Group, Windsor Law, and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.

In 2014, Toronto Life magazine described Diamond as one of “Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People.”

Her address begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. Parking is available in the Bell Media lot at 1640 Ouellette Ave. A free shuttle service for students will leave from Vanier Circle at 6 and 6:30 p.m., returning to campus at 8:30 and 9 p.m.

—Dana Roe

The Wellness Outreach Office has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to provide a year of free suicide prevention training through a grant from the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health.

Campus Mental Health Day 2019, Oct. 8, starts off the year of free training with leaders that support our larger campus community. More training will be available to all students and further faculty and staff following this date.

“We appreciate the concern faculty and staff have for the well-being of students and recognize the central role that they play in linking students to campus resources,” says Ashley Vodarek, mental health and wellness co-ordinator.

This first day of training has been reserved for faculty, staff, and student staff as they are often a critical factor in helping students resolve problems that are interfering with daily functioning and academic achievement.

To further support faculty and staff in their efforts to support students in distress, the Wellness Outreach Office has created a webpage of helpful resources which can be used inside and outside of the classroom, including an infographic on how to have a supportive conversation about any concerns, Blackboard posts and PowerPoint slides containing wellness resources, and links for further reading. View this site made especially for faculty and staff here.

Faculty, staff, and student staff may join the project on Campus Mental Health Day by signing up for these two offerings:

1. safeTALK: Suicide Prevention (offered 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m.)
   A three-hour certificate training facilitated by the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex that prepares helpers to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources. This presentation covers the TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe.
2. Identifying and Supporting Students in Distress (offered 10 a.m. to noon)
   A two-hour training session presented by Mohsan Beg, executive director of the Student Health, Counselling and Wellness Centre, that prepares faculty and staff to recognize mental health concerns and support students by connecting them to resources on campus and in the community. This presentation covers the prevention and action model on how to ask, support, refer, and follow up.

To sign up for training times and to view further details about these trainings, visit the registration page. For more information on these training opportunities, contact: wellness@uwindsor.ca or call 519-253-3000, ext. 4635.

The head of UWindsor’s political science department brought a Canadian perspective to a research conference held in Texas last week about North American trade and immigration.

John Sutcliffe was part of a panel discussion about migration, workforce, and the integration of labour markets. Drawing on the book he co-authored with Bill Anderson, director of UWindsor’s Cross-Border Institute, Dr. Sutcliffe compared immigration and migration policies in Canada with those of the United States.

The conference, entitled “Forging a New Path in North American Trade and Immigration,” was hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. About 200 industry and financial leaders, academics, and diplomats from Mexico and Canada attended.

Sutcliffe was the only Canadian invited to speak.

“It was a great honour to be invited to participate by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,” Sutcliffe said. “The primary focus of the conference was on Mexico-US relations so it was good to be able to remind the audience that Canada has different policies and approaches and is also an important part of North America.”

—Sarah Sacheli

Senior students of social work will discuss their experiences in field placements in poster presentations on Thursday, Oct. 3.

The presenters are students in a fourth-year seminar course led by instructors Filipe Duarte, Debra Jozefowicz, and Kristen Lwin. The class integrates academic learning with practice in the field.

The public is invited to view the displays, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the first floor foyer of Windsor Hall, 167 Ferry St.

Rajasi Upadhyay, a student computing consultant in Information Technology Services, won the UWin Day trivia contest in Monday’s DailyNews and its fabulous prize of a Google Home device. Find the answers on the UWin Proud website.

Celebrations today — Wednesday, Oct. 2 — include free cake in the student centre and a prize draw for people wearing blue and gold in the Student Courtyard. A full list of activities is available on the UWin Day 2019 website.