Convocation is almost here! UPEI employees and faculty are invited to attend the Convocation exercises being held from May 14 to 17, at 10:00 am each day at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. Each ceremony is preceded by a procession of graduates across campus. 

• May 14—Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Nursing
• May 15—Faculty of Business and Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
• May 16—Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Graduate Studies (Master in Global Affairs only)
• May 17—Faculty of Science

Although the format of four ceremonies allows more flexibility in terms of seating, guests are asked to present invitations to be admitted to the Sports Centre. Staff/faculty members can reserve a spot by contacting Christine Greening at cgreening@upei.ca. Those who RSVP will be advised when invitations are available to be picked up. Guests must present their invitations to be admitted to the Sports Centre. Each ceremony will also be available to watch via livestream at upei.ca/live.

Faculty members who have regalia and wish to participate in the Academic Procession are asked to line up with the graduates in the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering building concourse 45 minutes before each ceremony. 

For those faculty members who would like to order regalia online through UPEI’s official gown supplier, GradCo, they are encouraged to do so ASAP at https://www.gradco.ca/upei/ The deadline for ordering is Sunday, April 28, at 11:59 pm. 

Any faculty members who wish to purchase their regalia may contact GradCo at info@gradco.ca for information.  

For more information about Convocation 2024, please visit: upei.ca/convocation.

As of Sunday, April 28, the Chi Wan Young Sports Centre and Fitness Centre hours will be as follows until Sunday, September 1:

Monday to Friday: 6:00 am--9:00 pm

Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 am--6:00 pm

The UPEI Department of Music presents "Swing Into Spring" with the 18-member Charlottetown Jazz Ensemble, who will showcase its big-band mix of contemporary and classic jazz tunes from the books of jazz giants like George Gershwin, Count Basie, and Maynard Ferguson, along with works by contemporary composers like Frank Mantooth and Carlos Eiene. 

The concert will take place on the SDU Stage, Dr. Steel Recital Hall, Steel Building, on April 26 at 7:40 pm. Accessible parking is available, and the theatre has an accessible entrance via elevator. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, payable by cash at the door.

The UPEI Department of Music welcomes two members of Ensemble ArtChoral (Janelle Lucyk, soprano/violinist; and Kerry Bursey, tenor/lutenist) to perform their concert "The Nine Maidens" as part of their coast-to-coast-to-coast tour.

Their program will feature music from Nova Scotian folklorist Helen Creighton's Maritime folk song collection, alongside early music and other traditional English and French songs. Through voices, plucked strings, and some violin, the duo performs old music in an intimate manner, with ayres and ballads recounting the transience of good fortune in the life of a voyager.

This event will take place on the SDU Stage, Dr. Steel Recital Hall, Steel Building, on April 25, starting at 7:30 pm. Accessible parking is available, and the theatre has an accessible entrance via elevator. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for students, payable by cash at the door.

June 1 is the deadline for additions, modifications, or drops of software on UPEI machines in labs and classrooms.

Please send requests to Steve Mahar at smahar@upei.ca before this date.

A list of current software is available on our website.

If you have any questions, please contact Steve or Amy at amfitzgerald@upei.ca

Presenter: Dr. Todd Mullen, candidate for the tenure-track position at the UPEI School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences

Teaching talk: Friday, April 26, 9:30--10:30 am, Cass Science Hall 101

Research talk: Friday, April 26, 1:45--2:45 pm, Cass Science Hall 101

Title: Graph Dynamical Systems

The study of graph dynamical systems is the study of movement within a network (graph), or often times, flow through a network (graph). In this talk, I will discuss many different dynamical systems on graphs, including Cops and Robber and its many variants, and Chip-Firing and its many variants. With each model, I will speak to the extent of my research, interesting areas of future research, and the specific areas particularly viable for student research projects. In addition, I will discuss my MSc and post-doctoral research which have led to published results, yet fall slightly outside the purview of graph dynamical systems. These topics are combinatorial game theory and edge colourings on graphs. Finally, I will mention a topic that is particularly important to me looking forward: mathematics education. Since earning my PhD, having had more opportunities to teach university courses and attend conferences about how university courses are taught, I have developed an interest in mathematics education that I would like to see manifested into some real experiments and eventually yield some publishable results. One of my main future research goals is to contribute significantly to the scholarship of teaching and learning in mathematics.

The teaching and research talks are open to the UPEI campus community:

The Faculty of Education invites members of the campus community – students, faculty, and staff – to attend a public presentation on “What is the most critical issue in inclusive education?” by Dr. Terri Jackson, candidate for a tenure-track position in Differentiated Instruction and Inclusive Education. The presentation takes place from 9:00--10:00 am on April 29 in Memorial Hall 417.

This will be a hybrid presentation, and a Zoom link will be available as follows:

https://upei.zoom.us/j/69655209607?pwd=aHE2R2JVQUhkZkNNZEtteGZYTjBSdz09

 Meeting ID: 696 5520 9607

Passcode: 715362

 For further information, contact Karen-Anne O’Halloran.

Research Ethics Board (REB) applications involving "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI REB. The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, April 26, 2024, for review at the May meeting.

Other ethics protocol submissions, including new applications that do not involve more than minimal risk, renewals, and amendments, may be submitted at any time. They will be sent for delegated review as soon as all necessary materials are received.

All research compliance applications, including for the REB, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal (https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/). Instructions for using the site are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca for more information about the Researcher Portal, or the REB application, review, and approval process.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, April 26, 2024. These applications will be reviewed at the May 16 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal. Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

Want to learn about high performance computing, or how to use parallel programming to break down large computational problems? ACENET has new training sessions coming up in May and June. All sessions are online and free of charge. Select a session below to learn more and register.

• Introductory Programming: Unix Shell, Git, and Python, May 1, 8, 15, and 22, 1:00 pm
• Basics of Computers, May 9, 1:00 pm
• ACENET Basics: Introduction to High Performance Computing, May 14, 10:00 am
• ACENET Basics: Introduction to Linux, May 15, 10:00 am
• ACENET Basics: Introduction to Shell Scripting, May 16, 10:00 am
• ACENET Basics: Job Scheduling with Slurm, May 17, 10:00 am
• Overview of Parallel Computing, May 21 and 23, 2:00 pm
• Parallel Programming with Dask, June 4 and 6, 2:00 pm
• Parallel Programming with OpenMP, June 11 and 13, 2:00 pm
• Parallel Programming with Message Passing Interface, June 18 and 20, 2:00 pm
• Parallel Programming with Graphic Processing Units, June 25 and 27, 2:00 pm

If you have questions about upcoming training or ACENET services at UPEI, contact Kaitlin Newson.

Members of the campus community are invited to attend a special announcement regarding the Robertson Library on Friday, April 26, at 11:00 am in the Library (second level).

The UPEI Bookstore will be closed from April 29 to 30 to complete our inventory. This is a reminder that any purchasing for this fiscal year-end needs to be completed by April 26, 2024. 

If you have any questions, please contact bookstore@upei.ca.

The UPEI Department of Music presents "Swing Into Spring" with the 18-member Charlottetown Jazz Ensemble, who will showcase its big-band mix of contemporary and classic jazz tunes from the books of jazz giants like George Gershwin, Count Basie, and Maynard Ferguson, along with works by contemporary composers like Frank Mantooth and Carlos Eiene. 

The concert will take place on the SDU Stage, Dr. Steel Recital Hall, Steel Building, on April 26 at 7:40 pm. Accessible parking is available, and the theatre has an accessible entrance via elevator. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, payable by cash at the door.

The UPEI Department of Music welcomes two members of Ensemble ArtChoral (Janelle Lucyk, soprano/violinist; and Kerry Bursey, tenor/lutenist) to perform their concert "The Nine Maidens" as part of their coast-to-coast-to-coast tour.

Their program will feature music from Nova Scotian folklorist Helen Creighton's Maritime folk song collection, alongside early music and other traditional English and French songs. Through voices, plucked strings, and some violin, the duo performs old music in an intimate manner, with ayres and ballads recounting the transience of good fortune in the life of a voyager.

This event will take place on the SDU Stage, Dr. Steel Recital Hall, Steel Building, on April 25, starting at 7:30 pm. Accessible parking is available, and the theatre has an accessible entrance via elevator. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for students, payable by cash at the door.

Presenter: Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Hassan, candidate for a tenure-track position, UPEI School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences

Teaching talk: Wednesday, April 24, 9:00--10:00 am, Cass Science Hall 101

Research talk: Wednesday, April 24, 10:25--11:25 am, Cass Science Hall 101

Title: "Empirical Study on the Application of Quantum, LLM, and Federated Machine Learning in Software Engineering--Challenges and Opportunities!"

In this series of research endeavours, we explore the application of cutting-edge technologies in the domain of software engineering, poised to revolutionize traditional methodologies and enhance analytics. Our first study delves into the practical utilization of Quantum Support Vector Classifiers (QSVC) for detecting buggy software commits, leveraging the power of quantum computing to tackle complex challenges. Despite the computational hurdles posed by large datasets, our findings showcase the potential of quantum-assisted algorithms to significantly improve detection accuracy. Moving forward, we introduce an automated approach to deriving UML sequence diagrams from user stories, harnessing the capabilities of generative AI models to streamline design validation and communication processes in Agile development environments. By leveraging state-of-the-art techniques, our research illuminates novel pathways for enhancing collaboration and system understanding. Finally, we delve into analytics with a focus on Just-In-Time (JIT) and Real-Time (RT) bug-inducing commit prediction using Federated Learning (FL), a cutting-edge approach that addresses privacy concerns while maintaining robust model performance across diverse software projects. Through the application of advanced technologies, our studies pave the way for transformative advancements in software engineering, offering insights that stand at the forefront of innovation and industry relevance.

Teaching and research talks are open to the UPEI campus community.

Research Ethics Board (REB) applications involving "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI REB. The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, April 26, 2024, for review at the May meeting.

Other ethics protocol submissions, including new applications that do not involve more than minimal risk, renewals, and amendments, may be submitted at any time. They will be sent for delegated review as soon as all necessary materials are received.

All research compliance applications, including for the REB, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal (https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/). Instructions for using the site are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca for more information about the Researcher Portal, or the REB application, review, and approval process.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, April 26, 2024. These applications will be reviewed at the May 16 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal. Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

Members of the campus community are invited to attend a special announcement regarding the Faculty of Business on Wednesday, April 24, at 11:00 am in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall. 

There will be a basic biosafety training session on May 15, 2024, at 1:00 pm in AVC 287N. Topics will include basic biosafety principles and how they are applied at the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as biosecurity training. This session is open to everyone, including graduate students.

To attend, you must pre-register by contacting Jacky Buell by the end of the day on May 10, 2024, by email (hse@upei.ca) or by phone (902-566-0901). Please provide your name, department, your supervisor’s name (if applicable), email address, and phone number in your email or voice message. Please indicate if you are a graduate student. 

NOTE: An online basic biosafety training refresher course is available for those who need it. 

Looking to procrastinate your grading just a little? We get it.

The Experiential Education department would like to gather feedback from faculty about the type of supports and services they would like to see with respect to career development and work-integrated learning through the 2024/25 academic year. This feedback will help us plan and prioritize as we allocate resources to our work across campus.

Please visit https://forms.gle/DhhN8HvJzUYuK5US9 to provide your feedback. Thanks!