Community projects by students in her course Social Responsibility and Sport have far exceeded her expectations, says sport management and leadership professor Sarah Gee.

“This is the first time that this course has been offered and the students have taken complete ownership of making a difference through various initiatives,” says Dr. Gee. “This experience has pushed students to apply conceptual and theoretical knowledge about social responsibility and employ an array of skills that they have learned through other sport management courses — marketing, communication, strategic planning — to create, plan, organize, communicate, and carry out projects that have had a direct and indirect social impact on our community.”

Fourth-year sport management students worked in pairs or on their own to engage in a semester-long experiential learning activity called the “Make a Difference” project. The primary purpose of this assignment was to encourage students to take ideas from the course and put them into action outside the classroom in a way that makes the world a better, more socially responsible, place, says Gee.

“It gave students an opportunity to connect with a sport team, league, event, or athlete of their choice and create and deliver a social responsibility initiative.”

Using their own network contacts, students partnered with sport organizations including: the Windsor men’s Croatian soccer team; Windsor Junior Spitfires AAA U13 team; South County Bandits volleyball club; Jerry Marentette and the Power Pit Gym; Windsor Aces hockey team; a group of St. Clair College athletes; Hi-Way Bowl in Sarnia; the Unified Hearts Organization in Ghana; and Lancer volleyball, men’s hockey, basketball, and football teams.

Their projects ranged from collecting donations of clothing and food to raising funds, promoting environmental sustainability practices, and creating awareness on such social issues as mental health, inclusivity, men’s health, sexual violence against women, and homelessness.

The projects assisted local, national, and international non-profit and charitable organizations to the tune of $1,480, as well as 364 food items, 450 clothing items, and 27 items of sports equipment. Beneficiaries included the Downtown Mission, Drouillard Place, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Hiatus House, Street Help, New Life, the Movember movement, Canadian Tire Jumpstart, #TeamSeas, and the Remar Christian Children’s Home in Ghana.

“Through these partnerships and the nature of their projects, the sport management students have instilled the importance of being socially responsible citizens to other members of our community,” says Gee. “These projects were fantastic.”

Student Ryan Barbosa calls the course an amazing experience: “It felt great to be able to make a positive impact in the Windsor-Essex community.”

Classmate Christian Mcbride adds that participating in the Make a Difference project provided a new perspective.

“It opened my eyes to the positive impact sport teams can have on our community through social initiatives, and how it enforced that social responsibility is bigger than sport,” he says.

A new newsletter produced by the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strives to build a culture that reflects the diversity of the University of Windsor and the greater Windsor-Essex community.

It centres bold, unapologetic, and forthright stories of excellence, advocacy, community building, challenge, and change that impact our community and inspire a more equitable and just world, says Clinton Beckford, acting vice-president of equity, diversity, inclusion (VP EDI).

“The EDI in the 519 newsletter is an important educational resource for our campus,” Dr. Beckford says. “It will showcase the things we are doing as an institution to be more inclusive and just and inform about the broader external EDI landscape. I am excited to see the inaugural issue published and available to the campus and broader community.”

Jeremiah Bowers, a political science student and projects assistant for initiatives against anti-Black racism, says that the newsletter creates an expansive space where EDI issues are centred and celebrated.

“If we do not capture these stories, no one else will. They will not be heard or seen,” he says. “These stories tell us how far we’ve come and the potential of where we can grow as a community.”

Bowers promises the newsletter will capture stories on EDI initiatives across campus with regular content related to mental wellness, anti-Black racism, womxn, and 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy. It will feature a spotlight on people, events, and efforts advancing EDI in the broader community, as well as a campus-wide EDI events calendar.

The EDI newsletter offers an opportunity for the University of Windsor community and its readers of all backgrounds to work collectively to reduce racism, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, notes Samalia Williams, a graduate student in administration education and leadership and a projects assistant in the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, Diversity.

“The unequivocal impact of this university newsletter, focused on promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, justice and decolonization, can be observed not only in students, staff, and faculty but across Windsor-Essex,” she says. “I look forward to witnessing transformational change advanced by the EDI in the 519 campus newsletter.”

Read the EDI in the 519 Newsletter.

The School of Computer Science Demo Day will feature more than 20 presentations on Friday, Dec. 10.

Research projects by students at the undergraduate and graduate levels will follow four streams:

• artificial intelligence and machine learning;
• database, network, and cloud computing;
• augmented reality and mobile apps; and
• software engineering.

The virtual event promises networking opportunities for students, faculty, and industry partners.

Attendees can cast votes for awards in such categories as peoples’ choice award and best project. In addition, all registered participants will have a chance to win a door prize.

The program will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Find a full agenda on the event website. Register here to attend.

Engineers must have the ability to solve complex problems, but Norm Becker (BASc 1967, PhD 1970) taught they should be equipped with a full heart too.

The University of Windsor alumnus always found ways to use his profession to help others — from his pro bono work everywhere from rural China to the town of LaSalle, to establishing four scholarships for UWindsor students following in his footsteps.

Dr. Becker died in spring 2021 and now, thanks to a memorial scholarship established by his wife, Mary Ellen, he will continue to inspire the next generation of aspiring engineers.

“Norm always had great empathy for students,” says Mary Ellen Becker. “He mentored them gladly, began scholarships to support them and included them on some of his many projects when he could. I believe that this scholarship in his name is a very fitting tribute to his memory."

The Dr. Norbert K. Becker Scholarship in Engineering will support upper-year undergraduate students in civil and environmental engineering based on academic excellence, scholastic potential, good character, and community involvement on campus and beyond.

Becker founded and led the Becker Engineering Group of consulting companies and spent more than 50 years contributing to engineering projects spanning North America, the Middle East, Africa, South America, the Caribbean and China.

He never lost touch with the University and as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Engineering, he mentored and even hired dozens of UWindsor students. He was also known to invite students and cover their expenses on his pro bono projects across the globe. While creating water filtration systems for villages in the Chinese province of Shandong, Becker and his team of volunteers took time to rebuild a fire-damaged medical clinic that sat unused for more than a year.

“Every school-aged child in the village inspected our work daily and charmed us with their smiles,” Becker said in a 2018 interview for WE Magazine. “I think a few of them may aspire to become engineers themselves.”

As a councillor with Professional Engineers Ontario, he developed a comprehensive pro bono action plan focused on mobilizing licensed professional engineers to become more active in donating their professional services to help charities, service clubs, and non-profit organizations implement community projects. He was recognized as an outstanding philanthropist in 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and in 2011 received UWindsor’s Clark Award, which recognizes individuals who have raised the profile and reputation of the university.

Becker was one of 13 students who graduated from the University of Windsor’s civil engineering program in 1967. The close-knit group that still meets to this day established the Class of 1967 Civil Engineering Scholarship in commemoration of their 50th anniversary in 2017 under Becker’s leadership.

“Norm was widely respected not only in the Windsor area but also across Canada and internationally,” says his classmate and friend Harold Horneck. “He made a point of giving back to the community and to the engineering profession.”

Horneck recalls a time when Becker undertook repairs and an expansion of a local church.

“He jokingly said that he was doing it to make sure he had all his bases covered,” Horneck says. “Kidding aside, numerous worthwhile projects would not have been possible without his generous support of providing pro bono engineering services.”

Horneck and his classmates made memorial donations to the Class of 1967 Civil Engineering Scholarship in memory of Becker when they heard of his passing. The group plans to meet in 2022 to celebrate their 55th anniversary.

“We will raise a glass in memory of Norm and the others who are no longer with us. We are proud to say Norm was our classmate.”

Donations to the Dr. Norbert K. Becker Scholarship in Engineering can be made by contacting Katie Mazzuca, the Faculty of Engineering’s major gift officer, at 519-253-3000, ext. 5959, or katie.mazzuca@uwindsor.ca.

—Kristie Pearce

This article was featured in the latest issue of WE, the Faculty of Engineering’s annual magazine. To receive WE and UWindsor Engineering’s quarterly e-newsletters, join the faculty’s mailing list.

The Campus Community Garden has wrapped up another productive growing season.

UWindsor students and local community members participated in activities including berry picking, tending to the compost pile, harvesting produce for donation, and winterizing plots in preparation for colder weather, led by Jenna O’Brien, the project’s volunteers and events co-ordinator.

“Several gardeners grew garden plots entirely dedicated to donation and donated over 95 pounds of fresh produce to local organizations such as the Downtown Mission, Brentwood Recovery Home, and the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women,” says O’Brien. “The garden was able to give back to the local community and help promote food security in the City of Windsor.”

O’Brien says it provides a meaningful volunteer experience and allows students to learn more about sustainability and organic urban gardening.

The events were sponsored by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and the UWindsor Graduate Student Society.

For those interested in participating in the 2022 gardening season, contact organizers at communitygarden@uwindsorgss.ca or visit the website at uwindsor.ca/campuscommunitygarden.

The Continuing Education course “Introduction to Microsoft Excel” dives into fundamentals of using Microsoft Excel and provides practical lessons for daily use. Emphasis is placed on practicality by employing tutorials and using the framework for a business case to illustrate the real-world application of the course content.

In six sessions, participants will demonstrate a basic understanding of Microsoft Excel’s functionality, apply Excel functions in a given business scenario, and employ tools to present and analyze business data. Learners will also explore the basic syntax of Microsoft Visual Basic within the context of macro code and develop the skills to record and write simple code for macros.

Participants can expect to complete a combination of short assignments and activities during the course. Regular online participation is also required for successful completion.

The course is instructed by Connor Hasegawa, a second-year law student at McGill University. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor and conducted research on leadership and organizational behaviour within innovative teams throughout the course of his degree. Hasegawa has participated in substantial Excel-related course redesign at the Odette School of Business and has developed and taught several courses on Excel.

Working professionals and students alike are encouraged to complete this course to build in-demand skills to navigate this universal, widely-used software program, and apply it to any personal or professional setting.

The course is online, and runs Mondays and Wednesdays, Jan. 17 to Feb. 2, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The course fee is $175+HST and is eligible for the OSAP 2021-22 Micro-credentials Application. UWindsor alumni, staff, and students are entitled to a discount. Visit the Continuing Education website or email continue@uwindsor.ca for details.

The Office of Open Learning reminds faculty that the deadline for submitting proposals for the 2022 eCampus Ontario Virtual Learning Strategy Grants is rapidly approaching.

Draft applications should be submitted to the Office of Open Learning by Dec. 17 so its team has time to work with individuals and groups on finalizing their applications before the institutional submission on Jan. 10.

Funding in this round focuses on creation of open content, especially to replace commercial resources and thereby reduce costs for students. It also supports projects exploring possibilities for using extended reality (XR) in teaching.

A drop-in session to share ideas and ask questions is available on Monday, Dec. 13, at 1 p.m. Register for the event on the open learning workshop portal.

Up to $105,000 is available per project, depending on the category. More information is available about the categories on the eCampus website. The application template, which is a maximum of five pages, is available online, along with the evaluation rubric.

For more information, or if you have questions about VLS grants, contact Nick Baker, director of the Office of Open Learning, by email nbaker@uwindsor.ca or on Teams.