The University of Windsor's leadership team is holding a special Community Conversation Thursday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m. to answer questions from students and members of the University community about recent diplomatic developments between the governments of Canada and India and the student experience at UWindsor. 

The event will be held in the CAW Student Centre Alumni Auditorium, located on the second floor, and include refreshments. 

President Rob Gordon and leaders from various University offices will be present to listen to and answer questions from students, faculty and staff.  

The event will be live-streamed, offering a platform for remote participation, with a particular focus on accommodating parents and family members of international students who wish to actively engage in the conversation. Virtual attendees can log on here on the event day. If you do not have TEAMS on your computer or mobile device, you can download it for free. 

During the event, UWindsor's leaders will discuss the resources, services, and other initiatives to support international students. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with University officials and staff. 

The University of Windsor is dedicated to providing a welcoming, safe, and inclusive learning environment and fostering a global community of scholars. We take pride in our ongoing practice of admitting, welcoming, and wholeheartedly supporting international students. Our commitment to research and partnerships involving India remains strong, as we actively promote scholarly collaborations and diverse learning opportunities. 

The University encourages participation in this meaningful conversation, creating an opportunity for the UWindsor community to come together, share, and learn collectively. Please register for in-person or virtual attendance where you can also submit questions in advance to inform the discussion. 

By conservative estimates, one in five women report experiencing an attempted or completed sexual assault while at University in Canada. Effective prevention programs are few and far between, with the gap often filled by quick but superficial online training modules that lack a proven track record.

The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) sexual assault prevention program (aka Flip the Script with EAAA^TM), developed by Charlene Senn, a professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies, Canada Research Chair in sexual violence, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is the only intervention proven to significantly reduce sexual assaults experienced by women university students.

It is a 12-hour in-person training program which helps undergraduate women resist acquaintance sexual assault by debunking myths, enhancing risk assessment skills, increasing confidence and trust in their own judgement, and providing effective tools for verbally and physically resisting sexual coercion and sexual assault. Participants are half as likely to experience an assault than those who did not complete the program.

Nonetheless, though the in-person format of the program has yielded positive outcomes, it has been challenging to equip universities with required staff resources for the implementation of the program.

Dr. Senn and her colleague Sarah Peitzmeier, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing, have drawn on the expertise of UWindsor’s Office of Open Learning to adapt the EAAA program for online synchronous delivery.

Together, they are exploring whether a novel online iteration of the program, known as Internet Delivered EAAA (IDEA³), holds comparable efficacy in curbing incidents of sexual assault among young women. Other researchers on the team also include Paula Barata, a professor in psychology at the University of Guelph, Katie Edwards, a professor in educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Misha Eliasziw, an associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University.

Spearheaded by a substantial $2.5 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research — the largest ever received by the University of Windsor — this team of researchers has just launched a clinical trial of IDEA³ across four North American universities, two each from Canada and the U.S. The multi-institutional endeavour is set to include more than 1,900 first- and second-year women-identified students.

The project was propelled by pilot studies involving over 70 women at the University of Michigan. The online program demonstrated effectiveness, leaving a strong impact and garnering positive feedback from participants. Notably, participants reported an increase in their confidence in both verbal and physical self-defence skills.

“The funding from CIHR gives us an opportunity to address an urgent problem on North American campuses,” said Senn. “Obtaining evidence that we can retain the effectiveness of EAAA while making it accessible to more students regardless of where they reside or study would change the landscape for comprehensive campus sexual violence prevention efforts.”

Vice-president of research and innovation Shanthi Johnson agreed.

“The adaption and expansion of the proven EAAA program to an online format ensures increased accessibility regardless of location, empowering women across North America,” she said.

The study is currently enrolling participants for the fall sessions. Interested students may visit the webpage at idea3project.ca to find out more and complete the screening survey to learn whether they are eligible.

One out of four adult Canadians suffers from obstructive sleep, and a team of UWindsor researchers is hoping to learn more.

Jalal Ahmed from engineering and Anthony Bain from human kinetics are leading a multidisciplinary team working to develop a wearable sensor to measure the breathing of sleeping subjects.

“We engineered breathing sensors that can give us complete metrics of different breathing-related signs and patterns,” says Dr. Ahmed. “Breathing is aligned with a lot of our well-being: it regulates our blood pressure and our heart rate and can impact our mental health.”

Body movement, pressure, temp, comfort, and environmental factors are other issues that arise when studying sleep. The next steps for the researchers are to add more sensors, more metrics, and to conduct another sleep study.

Dr. Bain’s lab in HK is set up for sleep studies and Ahmed’s for building sensors.

Their joint study is supported by a Sustainability Grant of $50,000 over two years. Launched by the dean of engineering in 2022, the grants foster collaboration across faculties.

—Naomi Pelkey

World Migratory Bird Day, Oct. 14, falls almost exactly at the mid-point of Campus Sustainability Month, making it the perfect time to remind the UWindsor community about efforts to create a bird-friendly haven, says sustainability officer Nadia Harduar.

“We launched a citizen science project in the spring to help us identify windows prone to causing bird collisions and so far, we have received many reports from campus staff, faculty, and students,” she says.

“Please help us to continue our efforts to ensure bird-friendly windows by being our eyes on the ground to help prioritize high-risk areas which may need decals to make glass more visible so birds do not fly into it and injure themselves.”

To report a collision, fill out this form and submit a photo of the bird and the surrounding area.

The form was developed with the assistance of Alysha Riquier, a graduate student of integrated biology, who notes that fall migration is reaching its peak.

“It’s a great time to show people how diverse our campus is in terms of bird species, even though we aren’t in the most natural area,” Riquier says. “Many passerines use the main campus green areas as part of their migration route.”

Suzanne Friemann, executive director of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory, shares the excitement about the work to date.

“We are thrilled that the University of Windsor has starting a campus-wide initiative to engage students, staff, and faculty to make the University area a bird-safe campus,” she says. “Windsor can only be truly bird friendly when multiple stakeholders and partners initiate concrete actions to save our urban and migratory birds and the University of Windsor is off to a great start.”

Learn more about this and other activities planned for Campus Sustainability Month on the sustainability website.

The University of Windsor will confer three Board of Governors Medals during its 120th Convocation, today at the Toldo Lancer Centre.

The medals are awarded to the graduating undergraduate student with the highest academic standing in each program:

• Civil and Environmental Engineering — Stefano Paolo Kerr
• Electrical and Computer Engineering — Gian Mario Favero
• Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering — Spencer Matthew Todd

Awards in all other programs are conferred at Spring Convocation ceremonies.

In today’s competitive job market, effectively presenting yourself to potential employers or clients is paramount. “Connect For: The Art of Branding Yourself” will explore the art of personal branding through modern resumé resources and the creation of a compelling portfolio.

Whether you’re an art student, an aspiring professional, or simply eager to enhance your personal branding skills, expert panellists will provide invaluable insights and tips to help you stand out.

The event is Monday, Oct. 30, at 5 p.m. at the Green Bean Café. Find details and register on the EPICentre website.