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, January 26, 2023, for review at the February 26 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.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2024), cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020.

Facts about cervical cancer:

• The highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality are in low- and middle-income countries. This reflects major inequities driven by lack of access to national HPV vaccination, cervical screening and treatment services, and social and economic determinants.
• Cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to women without HIV.
• Prophylactic vaccination against HPV and screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesions are effective ways to prevent cervical cancer and are very cost-effective.
• Cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly.
• Countries around the world are working to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer in the coming decades, with an agreed set of three targets to be met by 2030. 

If you have not been vaccinated for HPV, please contact the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre to discuss and potentially receive the HPV vaccine.

If you are sexually active and have not had a pap test in the last two years, contact the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre (healthcentre@upei.ca; 902-566-0616) or SHORS PEI (Sexual Health, Options and Reproductive Services, call toll free: 1-844-365-8258).

The UPEI Teaching and Learning Centre invites early career academics (post-docs, graduate students, term or sessional faculty) to this session on Friday, January 26, 2024, at 10:30 am. The workshop is tailored to answer frequently asked questions about teaching dossiers for an academic job search. It is part of the Academic Instructional Skills Program. If you supervise graduate students, encourage them to 1) self-enroll in the AISP courses on Developing a Teaching Philosophy and Developing a Teaching Dossier to learn the basics; AND 2) encourage them to add this session focused on preparing a teaching dossier as part of an academic job search to their calendar.

Are you getting a lot of scam or telemarketing calls recently? DYKT you can add your landline or mobile to the National Do Not Call List (DNCL)? 

The National Do Not Call List (DNCL) gives consumers a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls. 

As a consumer, you can choose to reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive by registering your personal telephone number, including landline, wireless, fax or VoIP on the National DNCL. Register here.

It's hard to stop scam calls. but don't be afraid to just hang up. The police or UPEI will never require you to pay for anything with gift cards, and it's unlikely that you have won a European lottery or are fourth in line to a royal throne.

The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) and the University of Prince Edward Island are hosting an event to meet Dr. Dominique Griffon, the newly appointed Dean of the AVC, on January 29, 2024, from 12:30–1:30 pm.

This event will also celebrate Lorne Julien, the visionary Mi’kmaq artist and creator of the mural displayed in The McCain Foundation Learning Commons at AVC.

Sign up for 12 Gentle Yoga classes on Saturdays starting on January 27 and ending on April 13. The classes will take place each Saturday from 10-10:45 am in Studio One, Chi Wan Young Sports Centre. The cost is only $45 for full-time students and $55 for UPEI staff and faculty (less than $5 a class!), and $115 for other participants. This class will start your day and set the tone to help you build strength, increase flexibility, and find focus. During this "all levels" class focusing on alignment, beginners will safely learn the basics while more experienced yogis can take postures to a deeper level. 

How to register for a specialty fitness class:

Go to recreation.upei.ca. UPEI students/faculty/staff: Click on the green UPEI LOGIN button and sign in with your UPEI email address and password. You will need to use your UPEI ID number. Community members can sign in using their email or username in the Community sign-in box.

Once you are signed in, click on the Fitness Programming ICON and then the Specialty Fitness Class icon. Select the class you would like to register for, sign the online waiver, and click on the checkout button, Add your credit card information for payment online, and click on the pay now button. When the proceed to checkout button pops up, click on checkout. You are now registered for the specialty class you selected.

The Teaching and Learning Centre is setting up a series of teaching squares for the Winter 2024 semester. Teaching squares are interdisciplinary groups of instructors from a range of career stages and appointments. Participants visit the classes of their teaching square colleagues to observe and reflect on their own teaching. Participation involves three class visits to colleagues' classes, welcoming these same colleagues to your classes, and meetings at the beginning and end to discuss goals and share reflections. In addition to helpful insights from taking time to reflect on teaching practices, this is a terrific way to demonstrate your efforts to continue to grow as an instructor for tenure and promotion purposes. Each teaching square is limited to four colleagues. Please email TLC@upei.ca to indicate your interest. If you could include the days and times when you are teaching, this information will help in setting up the teaching square groups.

The Campus Peer Support Program, a pilot project funded by Health Canada, is open again this semester to serve students. Operating out of the Mawi'omi Indigenous Student Centre on the fifth floor of Dalton Hall, the service employs six students with lived experience in mental health and/or addictions who have been trained in peer support to talk to and support students who have their own concerns with these issues.

Peer support is the process of disclosing one's personal experience with mental health problems and/or addictions. It is an emerging area in the development of tools and resources to help people who are struggling with their mental health. In Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Mental Health Association – PEI division holds a contract with the provincial government to offer clinical peer support services as a part of the province’s mental health strategy. UPEI, in partnership with CMHA-PEI and with generous funding from Health Canada, is one of five pilot sites across the country to establish a campus peer support program.

Peer support is open at the following times:

Sundays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Mondays, 6:00-9:00 pm

Tuesdays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm

Thursdays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Fridays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Please direct inquiries to Kate Jeffery, Campus Peer Support lead, at k.jeffery@cmha.pe.ca or James Reddin, acting director of UPEI Student Affairs, at jareddin@upei.ca.

The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs (APC) via the Atlantic Indigenous Economic Development Integrated Research Program (AIEDIRP) invites you to attend a presentation on their latest study: Innovative Governance Structures to Support Indigenous Economic Growth

The study’s purpose is to identify innovative governance structures to support Indigenous economic growth and development, and how these can be optimized for the benefit of communities, using Nation-building approaches. After the presentation, there will be opportunities for questions and comments.

Date: Thursday, February 8, 2024

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Location: Kelley Memorial Building, Room 237, University of Prince Edward Island

Presenter: Jarvis Googoo, Director of AIEDIRP

Refreshments will be available.

If you have any questions, please email lois.daye@apcfnc.ca

Join us for a virtual overview of the services ITSS provides the campus, followed by a Q&A. This interactive session will be held on February 6 from 12 noon to 1:00 pm. Click on the link below to register: 

Register here  

This semester, the UPEI Healthy Campus Committee provides a free meditation and gentle yoga class for UPEI staff, faculty, and retirees. The classes take place on Wednesdays at 4:30 pm and Thursdays at 12:10 pm and will go until the end of June. Experience is NOT necessary. These classes are a great way to relieve stress, introduce some slow movements, and an opportunity to meditate and rest.   

To register weekly, log in at recreation.upei.ca or through the new Panther Recreation app with your UPEI email address and password. Click on the wellness icon and find the class you would like to participate in. Please contact Angela Marchbank, Fitness and Wellness Coordinator, for assistance and/or questions.

Based on his new book, Time Flies: An Aerial History of Coastal and Ribbon Development on Prince Edward Island, Dr. Joshua MacFadyen will show that development in the coastal zone and along rural roads is accelerating on Prince Edward Island, just as the province is experiencing sustainability challenges in both areas. The talk will offer a unique combination of aerial photographs, historical maps, and more traditional sources, as it describes the province’s journey into modernity.

Sign up for 12 Gentle Yoga classes on Saturdays starting on January 27 and ending on April 13. The classes will take place each Saturday from 10-10:45 am in Studio One, Chi Wan Young Sports Centre. The cost is only $45 for full-time students and $55 for UPEI staff and faculty (less than $5 a class!), and $115 for other participants. This class will start your day and set the tone to help you build strength, increase flexibility, and find focus. During this "all levels" class focusing on alignment, beginners will safely learn the basics while more experienced yogis can take postures to a deeper level. 

How to register for a specialty fitness class:

Go to recreation.upei.ca. UPEI students/faculty/staff: Click on the green UPEI LOGIN button and sign in with your UPEI email address and password. You will need to use your UPEI ID number. Community members can sign in using their email or username in the Community sign-in box.

Once you are signed in, click on the Fitness Programming ICON and then the Specialty Fitness Class icon. Select the class you would like to register for, sign the online waiver, and click on the checkout button, Add your credit card information for payment online, and click on the pay now button. When the proceed to checkout button pops up, click on checkout. You are now registered for the specialty class you selected.

The UPEI Alumni Association is pleased to invite alumni and friends to Mill River Resort for an outdoor winter family fun day on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

FAMILY FUN

Our friends at Mill River are offering UPEI alumni and friends a 20% discount on individual and family outdoor activity day passes and equipment rentals. You can get a family pass for just $44 and enjoy all the outdoor activities at Mill River! Your pass includes tubes, snowshoes, and cross-country ski rentals. Guests must bring their own skates. Discounted passes can be purchased at the Pro Shop with outdoor activities starting at 9:00 am. 

Have no fear if Mother Nature decides to skimp on the snowflakes! Mill River Resort has its own snow machine to keep the tubing fun rolling!

GATHER TOGETHER

Join us for an end-of-day campfire with s'mores and hot chocolate beginning at 3:00 pm.

Please RSVP by email to alumni@upei.ca so that we can ensure that we have enough refreshments.

MAKE IT A WEEKEND GETAWAY

Want to make a weekend of it? Mill River is offering standard rooms (two queen beds) for just $179+ tax. This is $50 off regular rates, available for the nights of January 26 and 27 only. To take advantage of this special rate, please call Mill River Resort directly at 1-844-375-3555 and mention that you are part of the UPEI alumni group. This rate is based on room availability. Please book in advance.

The Teaching and Learning Centre is setting up a series of teaching squares for the Winter 2024 semester. Teaching squares are interdisciplinary groups of instructors from a range of career stages and appointments. Participants visit the classes of their teaching square colleagues to observe and reflect on their own teaching. Participation involves three class visits to colleagues' classes, welcoming these same colleagues to your classes, and meetings at the beginning and end to discuss goals and share reflections. In addition to helpful insights from taking time to reflect on teaching practices, this is a terrific way to demonstrate your efforts to continue to grow as an instructor for tenure and promotion purposes. Each teaching square is limited to four colleagues. Please email TLC@upei.ca to indicate your interest. If you could include the days and times when you are teaching, this information will help in setting up the teaching square groups.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, January 26, 2023. These applications will be reviewed at the February 15 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.

From February 12-16, 2024, the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (Alliance) and the Alliance Federation will offer an introductory digital research tools webinar series for humanities, arts, and social sciences researchers. These are introductory, beginner-level sessions. No prior experience or knowledge is required.

Tools available through the Alliance and Federation will be discussed, as well as some out-of-the-box tools available to Canadian researchers, and additional information and techniques relevant to digital research projects.

You may register for as many or as few of the sessions as you wish. Registration for English sessions is available here. 

Sessions at-a-glance:

• Keynote: Dr. John Simpson (ISED)
• Introduction to Canadian Certificate of Digital Humanities (cc:DH/HN)
• Canadian HSS Commons platform
• Introduction to GIS
• DMP Assistant
• Managing sensitive data in Canada
• Introduction to FRDR, Lunaris, Borealis, and Odesi platforms
• Stylo: semantic text editor
• TEI (Text Encoding Initiative)
• Introduction to interactive coding notebook environments: Jupyter and Colab
• Introduction to Python
• Introduction to R
• Machine Learning 
• 3D Visualization

Most sessions are in both French and English. For further information, contact hss-series@gw.alliancecan.ca.

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, January 26, 2023, for review at the February 26 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 Campus Peer Support Program, a pilot project funded by Health Canada, is open again this semester to serve students. Operating out of the Mawi'omi Indigenous Student Centre on the fifth floor of Dalton Hall, the service employs six students with lived experience in mental health and/or addictions who have been trained in peer support to talk to and support students who have their own concerns with these issues.

Peer support is the process of disclosing one's personal experience with mental health problems and/or addictions. It is an emerging area in the development of tools and resources to help people who are struggling with their mental health. In Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Mental Health Association – PEI division holds a contract with the provincial government to offer clinical peer support services as a part of the province’s mental health strategy. UPEI, in partnership with CMHA-PEI and with generous funding from Health Canada, is one of five pilot sites across the country to establish a campus peer support program.

Peer support is open at the following times:

Sundays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Mondays, 6:00-9:00 pm

Tuesdays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm

Thursdays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Fridays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Please direct inquiries to Kate Jeffery, Campus Peer Support lead, at k.jeffery@cmha.pe.ca or James Reddin, acting director of UPEI Student Affairs, at jareddin@upei.ca.

The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), University of Prince Edward Island, is now accepting nominations for the Atlantic Award of Excellence in Veterinary Medicine and Animal Care.

Established in 2005, this annual award recognizes veterinarians who have made significant contributions to animal health and welfare in Atlantic Canada. The award will be presented at the 2024 Atlantic Provinces Veterinary Conference, which will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from April 19–21.

Anyone may submit a nomination. Nominees must be practicing or retired veterinarians in the Atlantic provinces to be considered for this award. Nominees do not have to be affiliated with the AVC. Completed nominations must be received by February 19, 2024, at 11:45 pm.

If you are interested in learning more about this award, past award winners, and the terms of reference, or to download a nomination form, please visit: https://www.upei.ca/avc/about/awards-and-honours

Nominations can be emailed to avcspecialevents@upei.ca.