Today is the first day of fall classes for students at the University of Windsor.
Welcome Week has been ongoing since Monday, with numerous events happening around campus to welcome new and returning students back ahead of the new school year.
Dr. Shetina Jones, Associate Vice-President for Student Experience, says it's already been an exciting week thanks to those events and early success from the Windsor Lancers football team.
Jones says it's important to get the students out and involved in events centered on getting connected to the community, the campus, and each other before the focus shifts to life in the classroom.
"To help our students get acclimated to UWindsor the Windsor-Essex community. They've also had an opportunity to meet with their respective faculty as well, so they have had program orientations and they are learning the things that they need to be successful on campus both in and out of the classroom," she said.
Jones says their hope is that they will see an increase in their enrolment numbers, but as they've still had students arriving over the last few days they don't have exact numbers just yet.
She says a big focus during the first week is making sure students start to become familiar with the local community by making sure they're getting out and taking things in.
"Understand how to find community within this community, and that's something we value as being part of the broader Windsor-Essex community," Jones continued. "Encouraging our students to either volunteer in the community, or just to understand where you're at, the lands and the grounds that you're on, and how to have an impact."
Jones says while it does feel like just yesterday classes were letting out for the summer, a lot of work has gone into making sure the fall is a success.
"So to see this come to fruition is always a beautiful experience. And for us to stay up long days and long nights, it's all worth it when you see the joy on student's faces and see how they are connecting to our campus."
More events around the University of Windsor campus are also slated for today, as well as Friday.
- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi