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to UWindsor’s graduate community, as well. Susan Lester, director of
Alumni Affairs at the University, says about half of UWindsor’s nearly
65,000 graduates remain in the region, where they work in areas
ranging from hospitals to governments to business. They also become
involved in, and often lead, worthy causes and organizations such as
the Windsor Symphony Orchestra.
Alumni also benefit the university by supporting its sporting
events and lectures, participating in the co-op program, hiring
students after they graduate and pledging financial support, she says.
Where does the university go from here?
Alan Wildeman, in his installation
address as president, noted that, “It is
not easy to align the concept of the ivory
tower with the concept of economic return
on investment, since we must not forsake
the need for intellectual pursuits.” He
added: “The University of Windsor must
play an ever-greater role in reaching into
the Windsor-Essex County community
around us… our industries, our social and
cultural organizations, our health sector,
and more.”
Francis said the University has been
moving in the right direction. The Windsor
mayor points to the new $24-million
medical school and the upcoming
300,000-square-foot, $110-million Centre
for Engineering Innovation as “job
generators” and examples of the important
roles that both UWindsor and St. Clair
College play in being able to “drive the
knowledge-based economy” of the future.
He says the two institutions are playing “very important roles
in a very critical time” and the types of programs they develop
will lead to developing the skill sets needed to diversify the
local economy.
His counterpart in Essex County, Warden Santos, says that
post-secondary institutions are “key” to the “future potential” of
the region. He adds that the agricultural sector offers plenty of
opportunity for the University. With the largest concentration of
greenhouse vegetable production in North America on its doorstep,
Santos says the University can position itself on the leading edge
of such areas as plant production and new technology in agriculture,
from GPS monitoring to highly monitored greenhouse heating
systems.
The University and its community are poised to break new
ground in who they are and what they can be to each other, within
and outside the region. This is a positive story, says Francis, and one
that needs to be told more loudly and broadly. About that, there is
growing agreement.
n
v
“RATHER THAN AS AN ‘ENGINE’ OF
DEVELOPMENT, THEN, THINK OF
THE UNIVERSITY AS AN ECOSYSTEM
OR INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A
KNOWLEDGE-DRIVEN, CREATIVE
ECONOMY. THE KEY TO THE FUTURE
LIES IN BUILDING STRONGER
BRIDGES BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES
AND THEIR SURROUNDING
COMMUNITIES. THE OLD TOWN-
GOWN BOUNDARIES MUST DISSOLVE
UNTIL IT BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO
SEE WHERE THE UNIVERSITY ENDS
AND THE COMMUNITY BEGINS.”
RICHARD FLORIDA, AUTHOR OF
THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS;
GLOBE AND MAIL,
FEB. 8, 2008
