By Roger Lauzon

 
 
Happy Holidays, everyone!       

The WURA Fall AGM, planned for Nov. 23, 2022, was postponed due to technical difficulties and was then combined, once again like last year, with the virtual Holiday Luncheon on Friday, Dec. 9^th.  The original Agenda had both the Presidents of the University and WUFA scheduled to address the WURA members.  With the change in date, neither were available -- President Gordon having a Board of Governors Meeting -- as keynote speakers. 
  
As was also done at last year’s AGM, Reports from the both the University and WURA Committees were prepared and distributed beforehand for WURA members to review.  The University Area Reports were from Human Resources and Student Awards and Financial Aid.  The WURA Reports were from eight WURA committees, as well as the President’s and Treasurer’s Reports.  The Report from the Nominating Committee recommended the slate of WURA Executive and Committee positions for 2023, and WURA members will be asked to vote online on this WURA Slate of Officers in the coming month.  An update on the new Constitution process was also provided.  As a thank you for his nine years working as the WURA Representative on the Board of Governors Pension Committee, Ihor Stebelsky was given a Book Award.   

This year, the WURA Executive has met monthly to deal with issues for its members.  The Communications Committee has put out five e-Bulletins this year, our new WURA e-Bulletin.  In response to the University Strategic Plan process, the Executive has met with a University VP’s group about our concerns, primarily treating WURA members as more a part of the campus community and asking whether the UWindsor plans to join the growing group of ‘Age-Friendly Universities’ (AFUs). More information on the AFU group will appear in future issues of the e-Bulletin.  Look for the WURA Executive to continue to meet with the VP’s group in the New Year.  Also, work on the new Constitution should be completed next year, hopefully with an open discussion with the WURA members, before getting 2/3 approval possibly at the Fall AGM.  
      
As I leave the WURA President’s position, thank you to all the WURA members, especially the VP’s, Executive and Committee members who have assisted me over the last 4+ years.  I know you will assist and support Gwen as much as you have supported me. 

On behalf of WURA, I would like to wish you and your families, Happy Holidays and a Safe and Healthy New Year!
 
Roger Lauzon 
President, WURA

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Compiled by Jake Soderlund

 
Barry Adam: Research Completed

Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Kiffer G. Card, Jake R. Novick, Graham, W. Berlin, Nathan J. Lachowsky, Barry D Adam, David J. Brennan, Jordan M. Sang, Syed W. Noor, Joseph Cox, David M. Moore, Daniel Grace, Cornel Grey, Emerich Daroya, Trevor A. Hart. 2022. “The relevance of communal altruism for sexual minority men in contemporary contexts” Journal of Community Psychology https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22923

David J. Brennan, Maxime Chariest, Aaron Turpin, Dane Griffiths, Barry D. Adam, John Maxwell, Keith McCrady, and Robbie Ahmed. 2022. “‘It’s a win for the clinic, it’s a win for the frontline, but, most importantly, it’s a win for the client’” Sexuality Research and Social Policy https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00721-y

JP Armstrong, David Brennan, David Collict, Maya Kesler, Tsegaye Bekele, Rusty Souleymanov, Daniel Grace, Nathan Lachowsky, Trevor Hart, and Barry D Adam. 2022. “A mixed methods investigation of the relationship between blood donor policy, interest in donation, and willingness to donate among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Ontario, Canada” BMC Public Health 22 (1):849. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13229-2

Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Joseph Cox, Nathan J. Lachowsky, Allison L. Kirshbaum, Graham W. Berlin, Mark Gaspar, Barry D. Adam, David J. Brennan, David M. Moore, Herak Abelian, Jordan M. Sang, Jody Jollimore, Daniel Grace, Cornel Grey, and Trevor A. Hart. 2022. “Minority stressors and connectedness among urban gay, bisexual, and queer men” Psychology of Men & Masculinities 23 (2):245–256.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/men0000388

Mark Gaspar; Marshall, Zack; Adam, Barry D; Brennan, David; Cox, Joseph; Lachowsky, Nathan; Lambert, Gilles; Moore, David; Hart, Trevor; Grace, Daniel. 2022. “‘I was just doing what a normal gay man would do, right?’: The biopolitics of substance use and the mental health of sexual minority men” Health, an Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 26 (5):643–662.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459321996753

Sean Colyer, Nathan J. Lachowsky, Axel J. Schmidt, Barry D. Adam, Dana Paquette, Trevor A. Hart, David J. Brennan,  Martin Blais, and Abigail E. Kroch. 2021. “Measures of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Canada and demographic disparities among those at elevated likelihood for HIV acquisition” AIDS and Behavior 25:3638–3650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03336-3

Beatriz Alvarado, Jorge Martinez-Cajas, Barry Adam, and Trevor Hart. 2021. “Effectiveness of a prevention program for immigrant Latino men who have sex with men in Canada” Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 30 (3):  318–328. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2020-0054

Daniel Grace, Mark Gaspar, Benjamin Klassen, David Lessard, Praney Anand, David J. Brennan, Nathan Lachowsky, Barry D. Adam, Joseph Cox, Gilles Lambert, Jody Jollimore, and Trevor A. Hart. 2021. “Stepping Stones or Second Class Donors?: A qualitative analysis of gay, bisexual, and queer men’s perspectives on plasma donation policy in Canada” BMC Public Health 21:444. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10480-x

David J. Brennan, Maya Kesler, Nathan J. Lachowsky, Adam Davies, Georgi Georgievski, Barry D. Adam, David Collict, Trevor A. Hart, Travis Salway & Dane Griffiths. 2021. “Sociodemographic and psychological predictors of seeking health information online among GB2M in Ontario: Findings from the #iCruise Project” International Journal of Sexual Health 34 (2):337-350. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2021.20000­87

Mark Gaspar, Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Barry D. Adam, David J. Brennan, Nathan J. Lachowsky, Joseph Cox, David Moore, Trevor A. Hart & Daniel Grace. 2021. “‘You’re gay, it’s just what happens’: Sexual minority men recounting experiences of unwanted sex in the era of MeToo” Journal of Sex Research 58 (9):1205-1214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1962236  https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459321996753

Linwei Wang, Nasheeda Moqueet, Anna Simkin, Jesse Knight, Huiting Ma, Nathan Lachowsky, Heather Armstrong,  Darrell Tan, Ann Burchell, Trevor Hart, David Moore, Barry D Adam, Derek Macfadden, Stefan Baral, Sharmistha Mishra. 2021. “Mathematical modelling of the influence of serosorting on the population-level HIV transmission impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis” AIDS 35 (7):1113-1125. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002826

Beatriz E. Alvarado, Jorge Luis Martinez-Cajas, Hector F Mueses, Diego Correa Sanchez, Barry D. Adam, and Trevor A. Hart. 2021. “Adaptation and pilot evaluation of an intervention addressing the sexual health needs of gay men living with HIV infection in Colombia” American Journal of Men's Health 15 (1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988321989916

Trevor A Hart, Syed W Noor, Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Samer N Lazkani, Sandra Gardner, Bob Leahy, John Maxwell, Rick Julien, Scott Simpson, Malcolm Steinberg, and Barry D Adam. 2021. “GPS: A randomized controlled trial of sexual health counselling for gay and bisexual men living with HIV” Behavior Therapy 52:1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2020.04.005

Mark Gaspar, Zack Marshall, Ricky Rodrigues, Barry D. Adam, David J. Brennan, Trevor A.
Hart & Daniel Grace. 2021. "Mental health and structural harm: A qualitative study of sexual minority men’s experiences of mental healthcare in Toronto, Canada" Culture, Health & Sexuality 23 (1):98-114. 
 
Krishan Duggal: Research Completed
“Pseudo Cauchy Riemann and framed manifolds with physical applications.” 2020. International Electronic Journal Geometry 13 (1): 2-14.

“A New Class of Contact Pseudo Framed Manifolds with Applications.” 2021. International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences.

(Editor's Note: It is with great sadness that we report that Dr. Duggal passed away on December 1.)
 
Susan Gold Smith: Research Completed    
 
Sadly, I must report the “moving on” of the One ten park project in community engaged culture production. The collaboration, Jardinières urbaines, will continue as well as several other projects that formed through One ten park (see nobelpeaceproject.com). These projects embody what has been learned through these ten years of working together.   

The Studio’s final summer project, Pollinators for Peace, was an international mailart exhibition that included an installation from Jardinières urbaines in One ten park: Windows on Windsor. One ten park was subsequently invited to the international pop-up exhibition Ocean between in Berlin, Germany in August.

Reflecting on the decade of activity in One ten park, we find that artists involved were able to create value that was beyond market value. Ways were found ways to be productive and make a positive difference in retirement. The work continues.

Ihor Stebelsky: Research Completed (for Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine – date submitted):
 
“North Crimean Canal” - March 6, 2022
“Crimea” – June 30, 2022

Ihor Stebelsky: Research in Progress:

Crimean cities
 
Adrian van den Hoven: Research Completed  (in search of a publisher)

AN ANALYSIS OF SARTRE’S  PLAYS PUBLISHED IN THE PLÉADE EDITION.
Jean-Paul Sartre. Playwright. Introduction. Followed by an analysis of thirteen plays:
Bariona, The Flies, No Exit, The Victors, The Respectful Prostitute, The Devil and the Good Lord, Dirty Hands, Nekrassov, Kean, The Condemned of Altona, La Part du feu (Cutting One’s Losses), Le Pari (The Wager),The Fake Noses.
 
 

WURA DUES: Doing its part for the Canadian economy!

by Jake Soderlund

 

On a chilly and cloudy December 9^th, a colourfully dressed and cheerful group of well over 20 retirees met on Zoom for a combination WURA Fall Annual Meeting and Holiday Luncheon (which unfortunately for the second year in a row was self-catered).

Roger began the Meeting by explaining why the President of the University and the President of WUFA would not be joining us as keynote speakers (technical problems with Zoom at the originally scheduled time for the AGM in November and a conflicting Board of Governors meeting today), and yet again, why a long awaited in-person Holiday Luncheon will have to wait until next year (in this case, Covid-19 was assigned most of the blame). He asked for a moment of silence to remember Wilf Innerd and Krishan Duggal, both of whom had recently passed away. He also thanked Amica, for the two gift baskets which they had donated as prizes to lucky winners at this meeting.

The meeting proceeded with discussions of University Reports by Cheryl Paglione and Marian Doll. Cheryl reported on a busy year in HR, and indicated that revised texts of our pension plans were being prepared. She received accolades from WURA members for her hard work on our behalf. Marian reported that the recipients of this year’s WURA Scholarships had been selected and their names would soon be announced. There was a question regarding getting the University Scholarship Website changed to provide a direct link to contribute to the WURA Scholarship Fund. As well, there was a discussion of the possibility of increasing both the number and amounts of WURA Scholarships -- and this seemed possible. Marian was thanked for her dedicated work on the WURA Scholarships, which are our major contributions to on-going university programs.

Reports from WURA’s President and Treasurer were presented, the first reassuring members that WURA had indeed survived as an organization over the years of the pandemic; and the second, reporting that WURA was flush with cash, some of which could go to the Scholarship Fund at the end of the year.

In discussion of the Reports of the 8 WURA Committees, a number of issues emerged which members should be aware of: 

David Palmer reviewed the Slate of WURA Officers for 2023 and added some additional names to the Nominating Committee’s Report. An online election ballot will soon arrive in your Inbox—Don’t forget to vote! 

Larry Glassford moved, and John Meyer seconded a motion to thank David Palmer for his years of service to WURA, both a President and Chair of the Nominating Committee. – Approved.
Ihor Stebelsky was given a book award for his 9 years of service on the Board of Governors Pension Committee. Ihor briefly reported on the book he received, which was an account of life in a Russian occupied area of Ukraine.

Kate McCrone and Larry Glassford were announced as the randomly selected winners of the Amica Gift Baskets.

David Palmer moved, and Gwendolyn Ebbett seconded a motion to thank Roger Lauzon for his skillful leadership in getting WURA through the years of Covid-19 Pandemic. -Approved

At 1:10 Jake Soderlund moved, and Lucia Yu seconded a motion to Adjourn. Approved

The Zoom link remained open for about an additional 15 minutes for casual chit-chat.
 
 

 

Bruce Elman

 

It’s big! Very big! I am referring to the Auditor General of Ontario’s “Value-for-Money Audit”, entitled Financial Management in Ontario Universities. Well, not all Ontario Universities; just four – Algoma, Nipissing, Ontario Institute of Technology, and the University of Windsor. Why this audit and why these schools? For the Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk, the answer is simple: The AG wanted to determine “whether any of the operational, financial, or oversight issues that contributed to Laurentian University’s financial decline may be affecting other comparable Ontario universities.” Why these universities? Because they all performed below the 2020/21 provincial average in four of seven financial health indicators established by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. 
 
Now, why does this Value-for-Money Audit matter? It matters because the four schools audited have an enrollment of approximately 32,400 students, employ about 1,240 full time faculty members and academic support staff, 67 Senior administrators and Deans, as well as about 1,810 support workers, and they receive, collectively, $220 million in provincial funding each year. Now, think of the Laurentian nightmare! Program cuts, lost jobs, students unable to graduate in their chosen programs, family dislocation, and more. You can readily see why all Ontarians have an interest in the collective financial health of these institutions. If these universities were to fail, as Laurentian did, the ramifications, with its consequent disruption and dislocation, would be extremely serious.
 
Now, an astute observer of the University of Windsor will note something else about these numbers noted above – Windsor makes up slightly over half and perhaps as high as 60% of the student enrollment of these schools, 72% of the faculty and academic support personnel, 39% of the senior administrators and Deans, and 49% of the support staff. So, if Windsor were to fail, the dislocation and disruption would be considerable – as great as the other three combined!
 
So, it’s big! The Report runs to 115 pages with (sigh) two columns per page. The good news is that it contains lots of tables and graphs to break up your reading. And, it is particularly “big” for the schools that were audited.  “Big” because it says to these schools: “there are serious financial risks with how you are currently managing your affairs and you need to change your model to ameliorate those risks.” In the case of the University of Windsor, the AG has 15 Recommendations to lessen the University’s risk. Here are some that caught my attention:
 
Recommendation #1: Long-Term Debt: The Recommendation here is straight forward and seemingly obvious: “Establish a formal capital debt policy approved by the Board” and “Monitor and adhere to the debt limits in the policy”. What catches one’s eye here is not the Recommendation (which seems eminently sensible) but the debt itself: $236.7 million as of April 30^th, 2021 -- one of the highest debt-to-student ratios in the province. The good news is that, even without a policy, the University is monitoring “aggregate debt levels”, in the form of the “interest burden ratio” and the “viability ratio”. These are presented to the Board for review.
 
A major component in the AG’s Report -- and the subject of three Recommendations -- deals with International Students. Here is the background: International students have become a very important part of the University’s financial balance sheet. Between 2016/17 and 2020/21, the University increased both International student enrolment and revenues. This was not serendipitous. The University increased International enrolment precisely to increase revenue. Enrolment rose by 33% and the proportion of revenue generated by International students rose from 9.6% to 20.9%. International students were making up an ever increasing percentage of the student body prior to 2016/17, when it stood at 19% but, by 2020/21, International students accounted for 23% of the student body.
 
In fact, it appears that International student enrolment has had the effect of ensuring the University’s financial stability. The AG, however, questions whether this stability is risk-free. Her concerns are the following: (1) The University is recruiting and enrolling students mainly from India (60%) and China (12%). The AG sees this as an overreliance on students from one country or region and that carries with it the risk that geopolitical events could disrupt the intake of International students, upon which the University relies; (2) The University did not keep an active and up-to-date record of International students’ post-graduation progress or location, thereby hindering the University’s ability to adjust its program offerings and its recruitment efforts; and (3) Questions were raised about the quality of the International students being recruited. Graduation rates for International students are consistently lower than for domestic students. This prompted the AG to scrutinize the way in which the University incentivizes its International recruiters.  Between 2016/17 and 2020/21, the University paid its recruiters $17.1 million to enroll 11,000 International students or $1555 per student. It appears to have been (and may still be) a straight-up per student fee. The AG points out that, consequently, there is no incentive to recruit better students and this is worrying.
 
The above scenario led to three Recommendations. Recommendation #5: Mitigate Geopolitical Risk: Avoid the over-reliance on one country or geographical area by: (1) regularly completing a financial sensitivity analysis to determine the impact of losses of students from various regions; (2) diversify recruiting of students from different geographical regions; and (3) focus on recruiting students from priority countries identified in the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy 2019 -24, namely Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, Turkey, France, and Ukraine. Recommendation #6: Track the Grads: To better understand the contribution of International students to the Canadian workforce post-graduation, including their career progress and location of residency, the University needs to keep better track of these students. Then, the University will have some basis in the data to adjust recruitment efforts and academic programs.  Recommendation #7: Target Students with Higher Scholastic Achievement: The University should apply a fee structure for recruiters that encourages recruiters to target students with higher academic performance.
 
When I sat in Senate as the Dean of Law, many of you expressed concern about the University’s ever-increasing reliance on the recruitment of International students (and that was back in the 2000 - 2010 years).. To be honest, I paid very little attention to this (recurring) debate because it had no relevance to the Law school where every seat was filled by an exceptional Canadian student wanting to be a lawyer. Mea culpa! Mea culpa! It is clear from the Auditor General’s Report that the recruitment and enrolment of International students is not without its drawbacks and risks including, I would suggest potential damage to the reputation of the University. It may be time for a reboot on this issue. Perhaps, the University will now take up this challenge.
 
Next Installment -- Part II: The Profitability of Academic Programs plus Governance and Partnerships (What does CSIS have to do with UWindsor?) Don’t miss it!

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