Protecting themselves and others from the coronavirus and hoping to speed social recovery from the pandemic are the most common reasons cited for getting vaccinated by the first week’s winners of the Get Social about the Jab to Win! contest.

Typical was first-year psychology major Paige Sajtovich.

“I got my vaccine to protect myself and especially others who are more vulnerable than I am in the community,” she posted to her personal Facebook page. “I want us all to be able to enjoy the things we used to enjoy again. We are all in this together.”

Haesung Ahn, a doctoral candidate in civil engineering, told his Instagram followers he misses previous normal student life.

“I got my vaccine,” Ahn added. “I think it could be the most effective way to prevent spreading the virus.”

Sajtovich and Ahn are among five initial winners who will receive a #TakeAJabUWindsor T-shirt, a $10 Tim Horton’s gift card, and assorted swag. Others are master of electrical engineering student Muhammad Annas Aziz, fourth-year forensic science student Athena Cox, and MHK candidate Samantha D’Agonstino.

Winning a tuition voucher or Amazon e-card worth $500 are third-year communications student Ashley Jun, fourth-year business major Dylan Nickolson, chemistry master’s candidate Parzhin Ziyaei Naghshbandi, and Siu Ling Le, marketing co-ordinator for Continuing Education.

The contest continues with weekly draws through Sept. 17. To enter, “like” a post on the UWindsor Facebook or Instagram accounts with the #TakeAJabUWindsor or #KOCOVID hashtag, explaining why you decided to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Entry in a grand prize draw offering a choice of an iPad Air or Apple Macbook or Microsoft Surface or $3,000 tuition voucher is available for sharing a photo, video, or text message supporting the #TakeaJab campaign.

Find details, including contest rules and eligibility, an entry form, and a calendar of prize draws, on the “Get Social about the Jab to Win” website.

A host of faculty, alumni, students, and staff are among the cast and crew of a unique theatre experience coming to downtown Windsor.

The University of Windsor is the lead sponsor of Contact, an immersive “musidrama” originally created by Parisian musical director Samuel Sené and his team. The local show is produced by Contact Show Canada and the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association, with Aria Entertainment and WEF Productions.

Born out of the COVID period, Contact is an innovative piece that marries mobile technology with live theatre. Audiences listen to a beautifully orchestrated track that shares the thoughts of the characters, played by live actors, as they walk the streets of downtown Windsor.

Drama professor Meaghen Quinn (BFA 2001) is one of the lead actors. She calls herself privileged to perform in this professional production of “a show that was able to bring light to multiple countries during these dark days.”

Not only will it bring theatre to the streets of Windsor, it encourages audiences to engage with their surroundings and support local businesses, she says. The project will also enhance Quinn’s work in the classroom and as an artist.

“I am currently teaching a series of movement for the actor classes, and through this gig I am looking at how the body can support the story and the pre-recorded track,” she says. “As my mentors taught me, the body is an amazing communicator and experimenting with gesture, eye behaviour, shape, tempo, and architecture can help the actor surrender to the work while also engage the audience as they are transported into the story.”

Besides Quinn in the lead role of Sarah, the show has employed the talents of staffers Kristen Siapas (BFA 2005) as publicist and Valerie Bonasso (BA 1996, MBA 2019) as stage manager, and drama student Melody Pigeon, business major Alexandria MacLellan, and music alumnus Austin DiPietro (BMus 2018).

Performances begin Thursday, Aug. 19, and run each weekend until Sunday, Sept. 19. Admission for this limited five-week run is capped at 20 tickets per show to ensure a fully immersive and intimate experience and adhere to social distancing protocols.

Tickets to the 45-minute show are $39.99, with an early bird discount of 20 per cent for the first two weekends of performances. They can be purchased online at CONTACT Windsor using the code: EBirdWindsor. A 10 per cent discount is also available to seniors and students for the remaining three-week run.

Kenneth Pickthall helped to build the University of Windsor, and his legacy will continue to support students even after his death in February 2021.

Pickthall’s career with Eastern Construction saw him play a role in the design and building of many campus facilities. The Pickthall Family Memorial Scholarship Trust he established will provide $5,000 annual awards to three full-time undergraduate students: one in each major of business, engineering, and computer science.

His nephew, Douglas Pickthall, remembers his uncle passing on his love for learning to his family.

“My Uncle Kenneth never married, but he was instrumental in affirming the importance and value of higher education that his brother Harry and sister-in-law Irene — my parents — instilled in me and my brothers,” he said.

“He would be so proud to know that the fund will be used to support candidates in their studies.”

The endowment is valued at $400,000.

Provost Patti Weir said the University of Windsor is “absolutely thrilled” at the generosity of Kenneth Pickthall.

“The scholarship he and his family have established will make a difference in the lives of our students for generations to come,” she said.

Visitors to uwindsor.ca may notice a subtle change starting Thursday. The primary corporate brand typeface, DIN, will replace the current Tahoma font and it will now feature a UWindsor blue overlay on the left-most part of the image with white text. This change better aligns the site with the University’s branding and makes the site more accessible.

“Our IT Services Web Services group has worked collaboratively with the Public Affairs and Communications team and the web governance committee to improve the user experience, enhance accessibility for persons with disabilities, ameliorate mobile navigation, and modernize the look,” says Mike Fisher, manager of web services and systems support. “These changes will also see us through to the planned Drupal 9 migration.”

Bradd Bezaire, team leader in web services, points to a slight change in the size of banner images.

“Our campus website content editors will see the carousel image aspect ratio slightly change,” he says. “They will be able to fit more text over top of the image and make use of the sub-headers both of which will help with accessibility.”

Another feature will be added to the image carousel in the coming weeks; visitors will be able to play and pause the carousel on the UWindsor and faculty homepages.

“Our homepage is our virtual front door. Whether you are visiting from a desktop or mobile device, we want the experience as welcoming as possible,” Fisher says. “It is essential that our users can navigate our site and get the most vital information easily.”

Campus content editors can receive support by opening a ticket with ITS Web Services Group.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning is celebrating another milestone, as it recently surpassed 2,000 support sessions in its Bb Café, a virtual drop-in for users of the Blackboard learning management system.

Anoop Gupta, an instructor in the Faculty of Education and Department of Psychology, was the 2,000th visitor to the Bb Café and received a $50 Amazon gift card to mark the occasion.

Dr. Gupta appreciates the assistance he has received in the Bb Café.

“Bb Café has been an invaluable resource through the COVID-19 pandemic,” he says. “It has added octane to my teaching.”

Staffed by helpful co-operative education and part-time Ignite students, the Bb Café has continued to be the backbone of Blackboard support since its inception in March 2020 as part of the emergency response to COVID-19.

Instructors and their assistants can access the Bb Café at uwindsor.ca/bbcafe during the extended exam hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. After Aug. 23, hours return to Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For more information on accessing the Bb Café or other helpful workshops, visit the COVID-19 Preparedness Workshops wiki page.

Lancer Gaming will host tryouts for its new teams competing in Rocket League or Valorant, Aug. 25 and 26. Sessions will run on Discord from 6 to 9 p.m.

Students in any programs interested in representing the University of Windsor this fall are invited to sign up at www.uwindsor.ca/success/lancergaming/2021tryouts.

Qualifying students that make the team will receive a financial award of $1,500 — $750 per semester.