Show up and write part of a proposal, lit review, thesis chapter, end of semester assignment …. Really, any writing project will do. Bring your favorite morning beverage, your laptop, books, and earbuds if you want background music, and get started. Studies show that academics tend to write more and more easily when they write together. SU&W sessions help writers focus and work more efficiently because the sessions are designed to limit distractions and “contain” the very time, place, and duration of a writing stretch. Consider making a date with a fellow graduate student (or colleague) who can be your “accountabilibuddy”— and make showing up even easier. Drop in on Tuesday or Friday mornings at 9:30 am at RL 230.

Are you a health researcher interested in accessing multi-regional health data? Join in on Wednesday, December 6, at 1:00 pm, to learn about HDRN Canada’s Data Access Support Hub (DASH). DASH offers coordinated services to researchers interested in accessing multi-regional data assets. UPEI's Secure Island Data Repository (SIDR) will soon be operational and able to assist with DASH projects.

Learn how DASH can help you navigate the data access process as well as the centralized services and tools available for researchers conducting multi-regional research projects, including

• single data access request form for researchers to request data from multiple regions
• access to support from experts at data centres across Canada
• an inventory of all the data assets available via HDRN Canada, and
• an algorithm inventory to aid in analysis of the data.

To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hdrn-canadas-data-access-support-hub-dash-webinar-tickets-752106249037?aff=oddtdtcreator

The UPEI Health and Wellness Centre will be closed for the day on Friday, November 24, 2023. This is to allow the staff to attend a day-long training event. We regret any inconvenience and appreciate your patience!

If you have an urgent matter, please visit a Walk-In Clinic (https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/health-pei/walk-in-clinics) or call 8-1-1.  If you matter is life-threatening, please contact 9-1-1.

The UPEI Working Group for Online- and Technology-Supported Learning invites faculty, staff, and administrators to share their thoughts about the future of online learning at UPEI through an online consultation survey. There is a companion survey for students circulated by email to their UPEI accounts.  

By May 2026, all universities in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick will be required to develop an institutional framework for online- and technology-supported learning that is aligned with the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission’s Guidelines for Institutional Frameworks for Online- and Technology-Supported Learning.  A working group of faculty, staff, and students at UPEI has recently started to work on the development of an institutional framework that will guide the development of high-quality, student-focused online and technology-supported learning for UPEI.

The working group appreciates and thanks colleagues and students for taking time during this busy point in the semester to provide their input into the development of this framework for online- and technology-supported learning at UPEI. The consultation survey will be open until November 22, 2023, at 12:00 midnight.      

Complete the survey today (for staff, faculty, and administrators).

Come out and take care of YOU at the UPEI Self-Care Fair on Wednesday, November 22, between 10:00 am--2:00 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Visit over 20 informative and interactive booths that will focus on self-care including acupuncture, reflexology, Reiki, body composition scanning, reflexology, blood pressure/glucose testing, COVID-19 vaccine boosters, nutrition, mental health, physical activity, and more. There will be free food and prizes. We will also accept non-perishable food donations in support of the UPEI Campus Food Bank.

The search committee for the Dean of Sustainable Design Engineering announces upcoming presentations by each of the three finalist candidates. Since the search began in June, the committee has conducted a comprehensive search and selected the following finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. Presentations are scheduled on the following dates and times.

Dr. Ali Akgunduz is a professor and Associate Dean, Academic Programs, at Concordia University. He received a BS (1992) from Gazi University, Turkey, and an MBA (1996) and PhD (2001) in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  As associate dean at Concordia since 2012, he has led the faculty's accreditation process for all nine undergraduate engineering programs and continual improvement of academic programs. From 2003 to 2008, he served as the Co-op program director. His research interests include airline operations, and decision support system design, using artificial intelligence, including 70 journal and conference papers in these fields. Dr. Akgunduz has received an IIE Excellence Award and Distinguished Professor Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Canadian Society of Industrial Engineers.

• Public Presentation: November 15, 2:30–3:30 pm, AVC 207N

Dr. Regina Lee is a professor of space engineering at York University. She received a BASc (1994) in Engineering Science, MASc (1995), and PhD (2000) in Space Engineering from the University of Toronto. From 2018 to 2019, she was the Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies. Between 2013 and 2017, she served as chair of the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering. Dr. Lee has co-authored over 100 journal and conference papers. Her research interests lie in nanosatellite technologies including micro-propulsion, actuators, remote sensing, and space object tracking. At York University, she has secured over $10 million in research funding, including a $4.2 million CFI project to establish York's first comprehensive microfabrication facility where she served as the founding director. Dr. Lee received the AKCSE Women in Science and Engineering Award in 2022, and the KOFST Engineer of the Year Award in 2020.

• Public Presentation: November 16, 9:00– 0:00 am, AVC 201N

Dr. Yudong (David) Yao is a professor of electrical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. At Stevens, he served as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2007 to 2018. He received a BS and MS (1985) from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and a PhD (1988) from Southeast University, Nanjing, all in electrical engineering. His research interests lie in machine learning, sensors and signals, telehealth, and AI medicine. Dr. Yao has (co-)secured over $10 million in research grants, and his publications have been widely cited (h-index of 51 with over 10,000 citations). Prior to Stevens, he was a senior engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego, and a technical staff member at Spar Aerospace in Montreal. Dr. Yao is a Fellow of several professional associations, including IEEE and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

• Public Presentation: November 22, 9:00– 10:00 am,  AVC 205N

All are welcome to attend. For any who are unable to attend, the presentations will be recorded and available afterward for viewing from a secure site. Paper copies of each candidate’s CV will be available for viewing in the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research, Kelley 205. Following each presentation, you are invited to provide feedback on the candidate’s suitability for the role to vpar@upei.ca. All feedback will be considered by the committee in its deliberations.

Authenticity in tourism is a hot topic. Can tourism experiences ever really be authentic and truly reflect the character, history, and people of a place? One underrepresented voice in authentic tourism is that of locals. Using a research panel of 600 Prince Edward Islanders, we asked if it was possible for visitors to experience the "real" PEI, and if so, what kinds of experiences best reflected the place that locals call home. Over 400 respondents enthusiastically proclaimed that indeed it was possible for visitors to glimpse the "real" Prince Edward Island, and they identified myriad ways that could happen in areas such as culinary-, cultural-, historical-, and Anne of Green Gables-based experiences. Join us on November 21 at 7 pm in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, to hear more about this research project from Dr. Susan Graham, Faculty of Business.

Once again, the UPEI Bookstore will be offering Christmas staff shopping to all staff and faculty. 

Faculty and staff will be able to charge purchases from the UPEI Bookstore to their personal account between Monday, November 20, and Saturday, November 25, 2023.

Payroll deductions will be from January 19 to April 26, 2024. 

Your 20% discount will apply.

Please contact bookstore@upei.ca if you have questions.

When working with large sets of numbers, it is often more useful to display the information graphically using histograms, scatter plots, bar charts, box plots, and other depictions. This workshop teaches participants how to gain insights into data through visualization using R as the programming language. Participants will learn how to create simple scatterplots, histograms, and box plots; compare the plotting features of base R and the ggplot2 package; plot with ggplot2; plot time series data; and arrange and export plots. Basic knowledge of R is recommended, although not mandatory.

DETAILS & REGISTER

This is the second session of our two-part series. This workshop will focus on collaborative development workflows using Git-collaboration sites like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, and will demonstrate how to work with branches, issue tracking, contribute to projects using pull-/merge-requests, code-review, how to run CI/CD-pipelines and use other common features of these platforms. Prerequisite: basic experience using Git version control, participation in the 21 November workshop, or attendance at the Git lecture of a software carpentry workshop.

DETAILS & REGISTER

DETAILS & REGISTER

Overview: Have you completed the New Manager's Certificate—the Certificate in Collaborative Leadership is the next step for managers.

Positions of management and higher-level leadership are stressful and demanding. It takes a certain type of person to excel in these roles. The Certificate in Collaborative Leadership gives managers and high-level leaders the information, practical tools and experience to maximize their influence within their organization and inspire their fellow workers to greater levels. Within this Certificate, crucial competencies for managers and leaders will be dissected and discussed, as well as strategies to keep participants and their fellow colleagues revitalized and motivated, establish and maintain healthy diversity and inclusion within their organization, and improve presentation skills to enhance, engage and inspire.  

Completion of the New Manager's Certificate as a prerequisite is highly recommended (or equivalent experience). The courses within this Certificate will feature a format that keeps in mind the demanding schedule of the managers taking part. 

Designed for: People who are managers or leaders within their organization, and those who have completed the New Manager's Certificate (or have equivalent experience). 

Duration: Four (4) courses for a total of thirty (30) hours.  

For More Information/Register

Show up and write part of a proposal, lit review, thesis chapter, end of semester assignment …. Really, any writing project will do. Bring your favorite morning beverage, your laptop, books, and earbuds if you want background music, and get started. Studies show that academics tend to write more and more easily when they write together. SU&W sessions help writers focus and work more efficiently because the sessions are designed to limit distractions and “contain” the very time, place, and duration of a writing stretch. Consider making a date with a fellow graduate student (or colleague) who can be your “accountabilibuddy”— and make showing up even easier. Drop in on Tuesday or Friday mornings at 9:30 am at RL 230.

You are invited to attend a public talk by Professor Cinthya Guzman (a candidate for a tenure-track position in Sociology at UPEI). The title of her talk is: “Toward a sociology of sociological theory.”

Date: November 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Place: SDU Main 201 Faculty Lounge

The Office of the President cordially invites you to attend the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing Celebration on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.

Please join members of the MacLauchlan family; guest speaker Mo Duffy Cobb and the UPEI community in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall to celebrate the achievements of UPEI students.

For further information, please contact Donna Lawless at dlawless@upei.ca or 902.566.0637.

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to the next presentation of the 2023–24 Environmental Sciences and Human Biology seminar series on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 12:30 pm in Kelley Memorial Building, Room 237.

Dr. Sara Sadri, UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation will present, “Water and food security under climate change.”

All are welcome!

The search committee for the Dean of Sustainable Design Engineering announces upcoming presentations by each of the three finalist candidates. Since the search began in June, the committee has conducted a comprehensive search and selected the following finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. Presentations are scheduled on the following dates and times.

Dr. Ali Akgunduz is a professor and Associate Dean, Academic Programs, at Concordia University. He received a BS (1992) from Gazi University, Turkey, and an MBA (1996) and PhD (2001) in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  As associate dean at Concordia since 2012, he has led the faculty's accreditation process for all nine undergraduate engineering programs and continual improvement of academic programs. From 2003 to 2008, he served as the Co-op program director. His research interests include airline operations, and decision support system design, using artificial intelligence, including 70 journal and conference papers in these fields. Dr. Akgunduz has received an IIE Excellence Award and Distinguished Professor Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Canadian Society of Industrial Engineers.

• Public Presentation: November 15, 2:30–3:30 pm, AVC 207N

Dr. Regina Lee is a professor of space engineering at York University. She received a BASc (1994) in Engineering Science, MASc (1995), and PhD (2000) in Space Engineering from the University of Toronto. From 2018 to 2019, she was the Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies. Between 2013 and 2017, she served as chair of the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering. Dr. Lee has co-authored over 100 journal and conference papers. Her research interests lie in nanosatellite technologies including micro-propulsion, actuators, remote sensing, and space object tracking. At York University, she has secured over $10 million in research funding, including a $4.2 million CFI project to establish York's first comprehensive microfabrication facility where she served as the founding director. Dr. Lee received the AKCSE Women in Science and Engineering Award in 2022, and the KOFST Engineer of the Year Award in 2020.

• Public Presentation: November 16, 9:00– 0:00 am, AVC 201N

Dr. Yudong (David) Yao is a professor of electrical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. At Stevens, he served as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2007 to 2018. He received a BS and MS (1985) from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and a PhD (1988) from Southeast University, Nanjing, all in electrical engineering. His research interests lie in machine learning, sensors and signals, telehealth, and AI medicine. Dr. Yao has (co-)secured over $10 million in research grants, and his publications have been widely cited (h-index of 51 with over 10,000 citations). Prior to Stevens, he was a senior engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego, and a technical staff member at Spar Aerospace in Montreal. Dr. Yao is a Fellow of several professional associations, including IEEE and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

• Public Presentation: November 22, 9:00– 10:00 am,  AVC 205N

All are welcome to attend. For any who are unable to attend, the presentations will be recorded and available afterward for viewing from a secure site. Paper copies of each candidate’s CV will be available for viewing in the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research, Kelley 205. Following each presentation, you are invited to provide feedback on the candidate’s suitability for the role to vpar@upei.ca. All feedback will be considered by the committee in its deliberations.

Overview: Project management is a core competency in our rapidly changing environment.

The Project Management Certificate discusses and evaluates what is a project, what defines success, management of stakeholders, communication, leadership, project lifecycles, risk, budgets, and schedules. The program emphasizes agile and change management skills which are important in today’s project environment. At the Certificate completion, participants will have the confidence and ability to plan, manage and complete almost any project size.

Designed for: Professionals who are responsible for managing projects, programs and portfolios; project team leads, managers whose resources are allocated to projects or who support project work, business analysts, project sponsors

Duration: Six (6) courses for a total of forty-two (42) hours; “Foundations of Project Management” course is two (2) days, and all other courses are one (1)day.

Facilitator: David Boyce

Courses

• Foundations of Project Management
• Project Management
• Change Management
• Project Communication
• Introduction to Agile Project Management
• Project Start-Up, Planning and Completion

For More Information/Register

You are invited to attend a public talk by Professor Cinthya Guzman (a candidate for a tenure-track position in Sociology at UPEI). The title of her talk is: “Toward a sociology of sociological theory.”

Date: November 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Place: SDU Main 201 Faculty Lounge

The Office of the President cordially invites you to attend the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing Celebration on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.

Please join members of the MacLauchlan family; guest speaker Mo Duffy Cobb and the UPEI community in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall to celebrate the achievements of UPEI students.

For further information, please contact Donna Lawless at dlawless@upei.ca or 902.566.0637.