Since moving to a model of canvassers approaching their colleagues directly, the Annual Giving Program has more than doubled the rate of UWindsor employees supporting the campaign.

A June 6 reception in the Student Courtyard reported on the results of the 2012/13 effort, themed “Plant a Seed: Here we grow again.”

About 37 percent of faculty and employees made a donation to the University in the last year, up from 17 percent before the launch of the Facetime approach four years ago. In those four years, employee contributions to student scholarships, academic programs and campus improvements have topped $1 million.

UWindsor president Alan Wildeman said the metaphor of planting a seed was appropriate, reminding him of the line from Stan Rogers’ song The Field Behind the Plow.

“The seeds you are planting are putting another season’s promise in the ground,” Dr. Wildeman said. “Collectively, you are helping to deliver on the promise we are making to our students.”

Lorie Stolarchuk, a learning technologies educational consultant in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, won a draw that gives her naming rights to a commemorative bench on the UWindsor campus.

She was excited for the prize, but acknowledged that her motivation to give lies elsewhere. She and her colleague Jonathan Sinasac contribute to a fund to provide scholarships to students with learning disabilities.

“I hope that we can give students just a little break, offering them the opportunity to believe in their successes,” she said.

Lorie Stolarchuk, a learning technologies educational consultant in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, won naming rights to a commemorative bench on the UWindsor campus during a June 6 reception for donors to the Annual Giving Program.