Thesis title: "Human First: Exploring the Lived Experience of Self-management of Islander living with Chronic Respiratory Disease"

Abstract: Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, this study explored the lived experience of self-management for five individuals with chronic respiratory disease in PEI. Through interviews and photographs, they described their lived journey in learning to live well with a chronic illness, including the process of grief, adapting to a shrinking life-world, and navigating their new sense of personhood, relationships, space, and time. This study furthers our understanding of what it means to be human with a chronic illness and furthers the calls for reflection on how to integrate person-centered care in all facets of chronic disease management.

Everyone is welcome.

The early bird registration deadline for the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education annual conference is coming up on May 14! Take advantage of the special early bird pricing AND an additional discount for members of the UPEI community. Email TLC@upei.ca for the discount code before you go to register. Here's the conference registration link 

Four poems from Laurie Brinklow’s PEI Book Award-winning poetry, My island’s the house I sleep in at night (Island Studies Press/Walleah Press), have been set to music by one of Tasmania’s best-loved composers, Don Kay. The Atlantic String Machine, with guest soloist Hannah O’Donnell, will perform the song cycle’s world premiere on Saturday, May 13, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Church in Charlottetown as part of the final concert of their 2022-23 season entitled “Coming Together.”

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, or at the door.

This week, we welcome our new food service provider, Dana Hospitality, to campus. We want to give you a chance to try their yummy, made-from-scratch, home-cooked food, so lunch all week will be half-price. 

All You Care to Eat Breakfast made to order from 7:30 to 9:30 am for $8.95 + tax  

All You Care to Eat Lunch from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm for $11.95 + tax (discounted to $5.95 + tax) 

Bon Appetit!

Effective Tuesday, May 9, 2023, IT Systems and Services (ITSS) will be moving to a new location on a temporary basis while our current space is being renovated to better serve the campus community. 

The ITSS Helpdesk will still be available from 8 am–4 pm, Monday to Friday, by calling 902-566-0465 or emailing helpdesk@upei.ca, but its physical location will now be AVC 218S.

If you need to contact an ITSS team member, please email them or leave them a voicemail, and they will get back to you as soon as possible.

We hope to see you in our renovated space soon, and we thank you in advance for your patience!

The ITSS Team

Do you have a student co-presenting at the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference in June 2023? There is one travel bursary available for up to $1000 for an undergraduate student who is co-presenting with a UPEI instructor. To apply, send a letter to the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC@upei.ca) by May 15, 2023. The letter of application should include the following:

• accepted abstract
• the name and program of the undergraduate student
• a brief explanation of the student's role in the presentation 
• a detailed budget. 

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions (new, renewal, or amendment) is Friday, June 2, for the June meeting. 

Please note that as of June 1, 2020, all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols, select "applications," and for renewal or amendment protocols, select "events."

UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice can be accessed through myUPEI at https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx. 

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

Note:  All investigators are reminded that any deviations in animal use, including unexpected mortality, must be reported to the ACC and University Veterinarian Jonathan Spears at 902-620-5026.

As part of the UPEI Hearing Conservation Program, audiometric testing will take place on June 9 and 16, 2023 in Kelley Memorial Building, Room 313. These tests take approximately ten minutes to complete. 

It is important, especially in high-volume workplaces, to have your hearing tested annually. All are welcome to attend.

Please pre-register for audiometric testing by contacting Jacky Buell at HSE@upei.ca  or 902-566-0901 by June 1, 2023.

On Wednesday, May 10, ITSS will conduct routine maintenance on the Moodle application and related services from 9 pm to 12 midnight. During this time, there will be intermittent access to and performance issues.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff who may need documents or links located in Moodle to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS Help Desk at 902-566-0465.

The search committee for the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, announces upcoming public presentations by each of the finalist candidates. Since the search process began last summer, the committee has undertaken a comprehensive search and selected the following finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. Presentations are scheduled on the following dates/times.

Dr. Preston Smith, Dean, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

• Public Presentation: Friday, May 12, 2023, 1:30 to 2:30 pm, KC Irving Building, Room 104 

Dr. Kent Stobart, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, and Vice-Dean, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

• Public Presentation: Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 1:30 to 2:30 pm, KC Irving Building, Room 104 

All are welcome to attend. For any who are unable to attend, the presentation 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. Following each presentation, you are invited to provide feedback on the candidate’s suitability for the role to vpar@upei.ca.

The search committee for the Dean, Faculty of Education, announces upcoming public presentations by each of the finalist candidates. Since the search process began last summer, the committee has undertaken a comprehensive search and selected the following finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. Presentations are scheduled on the following dates/times: 

Dr. Miles Turnbull, Professor of Education, and Vice-Principal, Academic and Research, Bishop's University:

• Public Presentation: Monday, May 8, 2023, 2:00 to 3:00 pm, AVC, Room 205N 

Dr. Douglas Gosse, Professor of Education, and Associate Dean, Faculty of Education and Professional Studies, Nipissing University: 

• Public Presentation: Wednesday, May 10, 2023, 2:00 to 3:00 pm, AVC 205N

 All are welcome to attend. For any who are unable to attend, the presentation 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. Following each presentation, you are invited to provide feedback on the candidate’s suitability for the role to vpar@upei.ca.

16 May-13 June, Tuesdays, 930-1130 and 1300-1500 hrs Atlantic / 1000-1200 and 1330-1530 NL

This course will educate participants in common tools and techniques used in high-performance computing and scientific computation. Over 5 weeks with 20 hours of teaching time, we will cover general parallel computing, Dask, OpenMP programming, GPU accelerator programming, and Message Passing Interface (MPI) programming. Each session will include lectures and learning exercises. These will be oriented to those learners seeking a more advanced experience. There will be online office hours each week so participants can ask questions about the course content and exercises. Participants must have familiarity with the Unix command line, at the level expected after completion of the ACENET Basics Series, along with some programming experience.

DETAILS & REGISTER:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-parallel-computing-school-2023-tickets-607639204217 

16 May, 1300-1500hrs Atlantic / 1330-1530hrs NL

Through live demonstrations and examples, you will learn how MATLAB can be used to visualize and analyze data, perform numerical computations, and develop algorithms. Topics include: accessing data from many sources (files, other software, hardware, etc.); using interactive tools for iterative exploration, design, and problem-solving; automating and capturing your work in easy-to-write scripts and programs; and sharing your results with others by automatically creating reports.

DETAILS & REGISTER: 
https://mathworksmeeting.webex.com/weblink/register/r2994fa43badbeffd5b4a8cfea0b7930b 

12 May, 1000-1130hrs Atlantic / 1030-1200hrs NL

The national systems use a job scheduler called “Slurm”. In this session, you will learn how Slurm works and how it allocates jobs, helping you to: minimize wait time by framing reasonable requests; ask for only the resources you need, to improve efficiency; increase throughput; run more jobs simultaneously; and troubleshoot and address crashes. This workshop is designed for new HPC users, or for experienced users either transitioning to Slurm or seeking to improve efficiency with the scheduler. Prerequisites: Completion of Introduction to Linux and Introduction to Shell Scripting, or prior experience with both.

DETAILS & REGISTER: 
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-basics-job-scheduling-with-slurm-tickets-607579465537

11 May, 1000-1130hrs Atlantic / 1030-1200hrs NL

Shell scripting helps you save time, automate file management tasks, and better use the power of Linux. You’ll learn how to use the command line to carry out repetitive tasks, extract information from files quickly, combine commands in powerful ways, learn about job scripts, shell variables, and looping commands, and capture a workflow so you can re-use it easily. Save time, reduce errors, and use Linux more effectively. This workshop is designed for either new High Performance Computing (HPC) users who are familiar with working in a Linux environment, or for experienced users seeking to get more out of shell scripting. It is one of the core courses to help users get up and running on ACENET and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada systems. Prerequisite: ACENET Basic Series Introduction to Linux, or previous experience with Linux.  

DETAILS & REGISTER: 
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-basics-introduction-to-shell-scripting-tickets-607593868617

In order to accommodate UPEI computer classroom and lab software adds, drops, or modifications for the 2023 fall semester, we have set a firm deadline of JUNE 01, 2023.

It is critical that you email requests to smahar@upei.ca by the date above indicating the following:

• New software requirements (licensed or freeware) providing the software name and vendor
• Version upgrades to existing software (Are multiple versions required? If yes, provide specifics.)
• Software that can be decommissioned.

More information is available here

The OER Development Program, administered through the Teaching and Learning Centre and the Robertson Library, is accepting grant applications for the creation or adaptation of open educational resources (OERs). The grant types include:

• Open Textbook Grant: Two grants of up to $6000
  • the development of a new open textbook on a topic that is currently not covered by an existing open textbook; 
• Open Textbook Adaptation Grant: up to $4,000
  • the adaptation of one or more open textbooks to create a new version or edition of an open textbook (i.e., a Canadian edition of an existing open textbook);
• Supplementary Resources Grant: up to $2,000
  • the creation of ancillary materials for existing open textbooks, including, but not limited to test banks, slide decks, or interactive media, etc.

The deadline for applications is Friday, May 19, 2023, with work expected to begin during the spring or summer of 2023. 

More information is available at https://library.upei.ca/OERProgram/grants.

Questions about your grant idea? Contact TLC@upei.ca. 

Questions about OERs? Read more at http://opencontent.org/definition/.

Overview: All Canadians are called to learn about Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples and how we can move forward in reconciliation and restitution. In the Indigenous Cultural Awareness course, facilitator Julie Pellissier-Lush will highlight and explain in-depth the traditional knowledge of the Mi’kmaq (the Indigenous peoples of Mi’kma’ki, and specifically Epetwitk), their life before contact with Europeans, the role of colonization on the Mi’kmaq, and how all Canadians move forward positively with Indigenous peoples. This will be done in a fun way that will focus on participants feeling safe in the learning circle provided and ensure all taking part in the course will leave with a greater knowledge of traditional Mi’kmaq teachings and history, and how to engage and grow through truth, reconciliation, and restitution.  

Designed for: Anybody, from employees to executives, to managers and entrepreneurs, who wish to learn about the traditional ways and knowledge of Indigenous – specifically Mi’kmaq – people, their journey, and how all Canadians can move forward positively in terms of truth, reconciliation, and restitution with Indigenous peoples  

Type of Delivery: In person

Duration: One course for six hours. 

Facilitator: Julie Pellissier-Lush 

More Information: https://files.upei.ca/professionaldevelopment/upei_indigenous_cultural_awareness_course.pdf 

Four poems from Laurie Brinklow’s PEI Book Award-winning poetry, My island’s the house I sleep in at night (Island Studies Press/Walleah Press), have been set to music by one of Tasmania’s best-loved composers, Don Kay. The Atlantic String Machine, with guest soloist Hannah O’Donnell, will perform the song cycle’s world premiere on Saturday, May 13, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Church in Charlottetown as part of the final concert of their 2022-23 season entitled “Coming Together.”

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, or at the door.

Four poems from Laurie Brinklow’s PEI Book Award-winning poetry, My island’s the house I sleep in at night (Island Studies Press/Walleah Press), have been set to music by one of Tasmania’s best-loved composers, Don Kay. The Atlantic String Machine, with guest soloist Hannah O’Donnell, will perform the song cycle’s world premiere on Saturday, May 13, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Church in Charlottetown as part of the final concert of their 2022-23 season entitled “Coming Together.”

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, or at the door.