A research project out of the University of Windsor aims to inspire the next generation of female leaders one volleyball serve, dance step, and yoga stretch at a time.

Kinesiology professor Sarah Woodruff is studying how a locally developed program, Girls Organizing and Learning Sport — shortened to GOALS, can help build confidence and leadership skills. She and education instructor Barb Pollard have received a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and a donation from Courtright, Ont.-based company Trillium Distributing to train students to deliver the program and conduct research on how to improve it.

“GOALS can provide the opportunity for girls to build confidence, self-efficacy, resilience, and leadership skills, as well as improve their mental and physical health,” said Dr. Woodruff. “These positive traits and skills can carry forward in their lives into personal, academic, and professional contexts.”

According to yearly reports by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Windsor consistently ranks as one of the worst cities in the nation to be a woman. The independent think tank bases its ranking on a number of gender-equity factors, including the number of females in political leadership and senior management roles.

“Another study found Windsor’s working women have a difficult time viewing themselves as leaders, applying for promotions, and asking for additional training or pay increases,” Woodruff said. “These women do not lack competence, but rather the confidence to succeed.”

That’s where GOALS can play a part, said Dr. Pollard.

“We know that if we can help girls boost their confidence and leadership skills through sport and physical activity, that can transfer to other contexts.”

A sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education and a former elementary school teacher, Pollard helped develop and is teaching a first-time course which sends students out into the community to deliver the GOALS program. The students have picked an activity they’d like to lead and are learning how to use that activity to teach girls to not ruminate on mistakes, to counter negative thoughts, and to overcome challenges.

“The students in the class are mostly young women, so they can also benefit from these techniques,” Pollard said.

The GOALS program will be offered for five weeks on Friday nights beginning Oct. 7 at nine locations throughout Windsor and Essex County. Offerings will include strength training, camp games, Pilates, yoga, general fitness, and volleyball. Run out of the gymnasiums at John Campbell, Ford City, Roseland, Queen Victoria, Forest Glade, David Maxwell, Glenwood, Anderdon, and Kingsville public schools, it will be offered for free to any elementary-school girl aged six to 14 in Windsor and Essex County.

GOALS has been offered on a small scale in the past through the Leadership Advancement of Women and Sport, a local non-profit group founded by Marge Holman, professor emerita in the Faculty of Human Kinetics. Greater Essex County District School Board teacher Lisa Voakes, who has delivered the GOALS program through LAWS, is collaborating on the project.

As part of the research portion of the expanded program, Woodruff is leading a team of research assistants from the Faculty of Human Kinetics who will survey the participants and leaders before and after the courses. The research will assess the program’s effectiveness and find ways to refine it.

“Our goal is to develop a good, evidence-based program that can be offered throughout Southwestern Ontario, and maybe all of Canada,” Woodruff said.

The COVID screening feature of the Safe Lancer Mobile App is no longer necessary to enter campus buildings, but it boasts plenty of other functions that can increase security of persons and property, says Campus Community Police director Matthew D’Asti.

“I encourage every member of our UWindsor community to download the app and become familiar with its wide range of services,” he says.

Among its suite of features are:

• One-touch access to Campus Police and Windsor Police, both emergency and non-emergency numbers
• Personal “blue light” button for pedestrians on campus to contact Campus Police immediately
• Virtual Walk home features enabling Campus Police or a friend to follow walkers online to their destination
• “Chat with Campus Police” dispatcher directly
• National Weather Service and Environment Canada alerts
• Push notifications from UWindsor Alert for campus emergencies
• Report-a-Tip to Campus Police
• Access to all campus emergency plans and procedures
• Geo-located map of reported crimes
• Access to on- and off-campus support services
• Quick links to Campus Police social media platforms

The app is available for Android or Apple devices. Download the Safe Lancer Mobile App.

Beyond the app, Campus Police maintains 270 emergency call boxes across campus, including downtown — two-way speakerphones programmed to dial the service directly when the button is pushed any time of the day or night, 365 days a year.

Blue Light Emergency Poles

There are 27 outdoor emergency blue light poles located on campus, allowing users to reach Campus Police directly. The user remains in direct verbal contact with the telecommunicator until police arrive. The flashing blue lights serve as a beacon to responding officers and others in the vicinity.

Stainless Steel Emergency Call Box

This emergency box functions very similarly to the emergency blue light pole: pressing the red emergency button will notify Campus Police and keep you in direct verbal contact with the telecommunicator until police arrive.

Yellow Emergency Call Box

Just as with the Stainless Steel Emergency Call Box, pressing the red emergency button will notify Campus Police and keep you in direct verbal contact with the telecommunicator until police arrive.

Blue Emergency Button

Pressing the red button will notify Campus Police to respond to the location of the button.

Members of the campus community can also contact Campus Police at any time for an escort.

“Campus safety is our priority and we all have a duty to be aware and take precautions,” D’Asti says. “Our officers, the Safe Lancer app, and these associated programs are here to assist.”

He encourages anyone to report suspicious activity to Campus Police so the service is aware of any and all concerns.

Singers and choral conductors will tell you that the same choir, singing the same music, will sound different depending on who is conducting.

That was the premise for a experiential presentation “Singing the Gesture” given by Bruce Kotowich, associate professor and acting director, School of Creative Arts, and his research partner L. Brett Scott, professor of music at University of Cincinnati, last month during the World Choral Expo in Lisbon, Portugal.

“With the interpretation remaining the same, the timbre of the sound changes drastically depending on who is conducting,” Dr. Kotowich says. “Our research is to find out why this occurs. So, everything from body shape, body size, engagement, personality, all sorts of factors, will be considered.”

A lot of this has to do with how singers react to a different conductor. How does their vocal technique change? How does their breath technique change? How does their attitude toward a piece of music change?

“One of the first exercises during our session was to have three different people conduct the exact same section of an Anton Bruckner motet,” Kotowich says. “The choir was made up of some of the attendees who volunteered to take part.”

After each conductor took a turn at the podium, the researchers led a discussion by the singers and audience on the differences.

“It made conductors think about their physicality, not just technique, while conducting,” says Kotowich.

The two received a lot of positive feedback from colleagues, noting their presentation could have been longer: “It’s given us more encouragement to continue with this line of research.”

The World Choral Expo attracted choral conductors and choirs from across North America, Europe, and Africa. Sessions and concerts were held at a variety of venues around Lisbon, Sept. 3 to 7.

The University of Windsor has formally started a search for its next University Registrar by engaging the services of KBRS, a leading strategic talent advisor to universities and colleagues across Canada.

A recent external operational review of the Office of the Registrar has helped to identify opportunities to improve business processes, leverage technology, reimagine service delivery, and better understand the resources required to achieve goals and support the team in the Registrar’s Office.

As recommended by this review, the successful incumbent will report directly to the Provost and Vice-President Academic, ensuring the portfolio's academic focus.

This organizational change provides an opportunity for Chris Busch, associate vice-president, enrolment, in close collaboration with the deans and academic leadership, to advance the institution’s recruitment, enrolment, and internationalization efforts, with an enhanced focus on student retention.

Provost Patti Weir will chair the search committee, comprising a diverse group of stakeholders including faculty, staff, and students, with a target of concluding its work by the end of the year.

Are you interested in learning about law school and the application and admissions process?

Join an in-person session on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to learn more about what sets Windsor Law apart, and to connect with staff and students from the law school. It runs 5 to 6 p.m. in the Alumni Auditorium, CAW Student. Register here for the in-person Windsor Law Information session.

For those unable to attend the in-person session, an online session will run 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19. Register here for the virtual Windsor Law Information Session.

The Students Igniting Vaccine Confidence team, supported by WE-Spark Health Institute, in collaboration with the University of Windsor and St. Clair College, organized an art installation to boost vaccine confidence.

“Vaccine confidence is the trust people have in vaccines, the healthcare providers who administer them, and the health system from which they come,” said campaign lead Loretta Sbrocca, a UWindsor research associate.

“Art is a unique communication tool; it provides a chance for people to meet, experience, discuss and think in person. Also, effective communication needs to be tailored to resonate with specific audiences — that is why the art was created by students, for students.”

The five artists — Elyssa Biscocho, Aya El-Hashemi, and Ruqayyah Faizan of the University of Windsor and St. Clair students Isabel De Zubiria and Gillian Marocko — gathered Oct. 2 at two locations on the main college’s campus.

They chalked messages on sidewalks, encouraging passersby to gain confidence in inoculation.

“I joined the Sparking Vaccine Confidence project in hopes of employing my artistic and creative lens in an effort to build vaccine confidence within underrepresented and minority groups,” said El-Hashemi, an MSc. candidate in translational health science.

DailyNews, the University of Windsor’s e-newsletter, will publish just one edition during Reading Week.

Its sole publication will come out Wednesday, Oct. 12, resuming a daily schedule Oct. 18.

“Please plan your submissions accordingly,” advises editor Kevin Johnson.