Plugins enable you to add additional features and functionality to Moodle, such as new activities, new quiz question types, new reports, integrations with other systems, and many more. UPEI's Moodle has had a number of new plugins added over the fall that you may not be aware of. In this 60-minute workshop, the Teaching and Learning Centre will take you through all those new toys. From sticky notes to mind maps to adaptive quizzes, there are lots of new ways to enhance your Moodle course page for your participants.

Date: Tuesday, January 31

Time: 10:00 to 11:00 am

Location: In person at the Teaching and Learning Centre or join us online

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Meditation and gentle yoga classes:  A new free class is offered for UPEI faculty and staff starting Monday, January 16. You'll be guided through a 45-minute class that offers mediation and gentle yoga stretches. Registration weekly is required.

Mondays, 4:30--5:15 pm, with Colleen Gallant

Thursdays, 12:10--12:55 pm, with Pam Harris

Walking track access: UPEI faculty and staff can have free access to the indoor walking track until April 30, 2023. Registration is required.

To register for wellness programs, visit recreation.upei.ca. Log in by clicking on the green UPEI LOGIN button. Then enter your UPEI email and user name to access your account. Click on the wellness (UPEI Faculty/Staff) icon and follow the prompts for the programs you would like to register for. Please take some time to review the information provided under each program.

These programs are coordinated through the UPEI Healthy Campus Committee.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020. About 90 percent of the new cases and deaths worldwide in 2020 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

According to the World Health Organization (2023),  a large majority of cervical cancer (more than 95 per cent) is due to the human papillomavirus (HPV). Two human papillomavirus (HPV) types (16 and 18) are responsible for nearly 50 per cent of high-grade cervical pre-cancers. 

HPV is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. Most sexually active women and men will be infected at some point in their lives, and some may be repeatedly infected. More than 90 per cent of the infected populations eventually clear the infection.

Although most HPV infections clear up on their own and most pre-cancerous lesions resolve spontaneously, there is a risk for all women that HPV infection may become chronic, and pre-cancerous lesions progress to invasive cervical cancer.

It takes 15 to 20 years for cervical cancer to develop in women with normal immune systems. It can take only 5 to 10 years in women with weakened immune systems, such as those with untreated HIV infection.

Using condoms and HPV vaccination are two of the ways you can prevent cervical cancer from HPV.  Having regular pap screens once you become sexually active can help to detect pre-cancerous cells in the cervix.  If cervical cancer is detected, it is curable if detected early.

For more information on HPV vaccines and other sexual health questions, contact the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre at healthcentre@upei.ca or 902-566-0616)to make an appointment and talk to a health care provider.

Pathways to Thrive is a project that focuses on healing as a community when it comes to topics centred around GBV. As peer support workers aiding to facilitate this project, we want to hear from you in our focus group. Through your input, you can help expand our knowledge on how to best support individuals navigating their healing journeys. We want to offer Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour a safer space to discuss ideas about self care and healing. With support from UPEI SVPRO, BIPOC USHR and the PEI Black Cultural Society are partnering to host a focus group on Tuesday, January 24, at 1:00 pm in 313 Kelley Building. Please email Maria Gomez at mgomez2@upei.ca or Jasonique Moss at peersupport@bcspei.ca. 

The supervisor training session scheduled for January 25, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, in the Joan and Regis Duffy Research Centre (DRC) has been moved to Bill and Denise Andrew Hall (AH), Room 142.

This session is still open to anyone in a supervisory role on campus who is available to attend. Please RSVP to Jacky Buell at hse@upei.ca.

The session will include information and training specifically for anyone in a supervisory position. This session will introduce participants to the concept of due diligence and inform them of the legal responsibilities supervisors have for worker safety.

UPEI is excited to participate once again in the Bell Let's Talk campaign as part of our year-round efforts to build a culture of care that nurtures and celebrates the mental health and wellness of everyone in the University community. UPEI students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to take part in Bell Let’s Talk - Mental Health Week activities on campus. For a complete list of events, please CLICK HERE!

The Scholarships and Awards Office is reminding the campus community that the deadline for the 2nd Semester (Winter) Award Cycle is Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at 11:59 pm.

You can access numerous scholarships and awards on the Scholarship and Award Application portal by clicking the link provided here or in the UPEI Forms section of your MyUPEI. Review the application instructions and submit your electronic application by February 1 to be considered. Be sure to submit any saved applications you may have started.

Additional awards are also available with a separate application process listed on the 2nd Semester (Winter) Award Cycle webpage. Be sure to click the links, review the award criteria, and submit in time for the deadline listed to be considered.

If you have questions about the application processes, award criteria, or deadlines, please contact scholarships@upei.ca or visit us in Dalton Hall, Room 202. Best of luck to all who apply!

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 8 from 12 noon to 1 pm. Click on the link below to register: 

Register here

The UPEI Healthy Campus Committee and Athletics and Recreation are hosting a wellness check and coffee break on Friday, January 27, at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre from 10:00 am to noon. Drop by anytime. Registration is not required.

Have your blood pressure and/or blood glucose tested, and learn about online fitness and other fitness programming opportunities and memberships. Take your sneakers and enjoy walking/running on the indoor track. Meet with our personal trainer, and tour the private personal training studio. Find out more about the 2023 Cavendish Farms University Cup Men's Hockey Championships and discount packages for UPEI employees.

There will be coffee, snacks, and draws for prizes including six-month memberships to the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre and small group training. People must come to the event to be eligible for a prize.

Those in attendance will receive a free UPEI men's hockey game ticket for January 27 (UPEI vs Saint Mary's).

If you are going up for tenure or promotion soon and are thinking about the details of your teaching dossier, then this session is for you. Dr. Kathy Gottschall-Pass will talk about some of the things faculty members should focus on for tenure and promotion purposes on Friday, January 27, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm (snow date: February 16). Colleagues are strongly encouraged to review the Teaching Philosophy and Teaching Dossier course materials that are part of the Academic Instructional Skills Program (AISP) first and then come to the in-person workshop where you can focus on T & P specifics. You can self-enroll in both of these self-paced courses here. You'll find them in the Professional Growth, Development, and Identity Domain.  

UPEI is excited to participate once again in the Bell Let's Talk campaign as part of our year-round efforts to build a culture of care that nurtures and celebrates the mental health and wellness of everyone in the University community. UPEI students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to take part in Bell Let’s Talk - Mental Health Week activities on campus. For a complete list of events, please CLICK HERE!

The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) is pleased to partner with Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island to host the 2023 annual STLHE/SAPES conference at the Delta Convention Centre in Charlottetown from June 14-16, 2023. (Pre-conference workshops will take place on June 13.) Submissions are welcome from anyone interested in presenting to a multidisciplinary audience about teaching and learning in higher education. Submissions will close January 30, 2023 (midnight). Link to full details for the call for proposals

Join Maria Campbell as she leads two different classes as part of Mental Health Week. Both classes are free and for UPEI students, staff, and faculty only. Registration is required.

Virtual mindful movement class: This is a gentle movement class focusing on sensations in the body and feelings evoked through various forms of movement. The class will take place on Thursday, January 26, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

Virtual stress management techniques class: Participants explore four different tools to soothe the nervous system in moments of stress including tea meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, and self-massage. This class will take place on Monday, January 23, from 1:30 to 2:30 pm. 

To register:

* Go to recreation.upei.ca

* UPEI students/faculty/staff – click on Green ‘UPEI LOGIN’ button. Sign in with your UPEI email address and password.

* Click on mental health Icon and follow the prompts

Both opportunities are provided by the UPEI Healthy Campus Committee as part of Mental Health Week.

125 bursaries valued at $1,000 each have been created for students who are taking part in work-integrated learning as part of their UPEI coursework during the 2023 winter semester. Applications are due on Sunday, February 5, by 11:59 pm (AST). For more information or to apply, visit https://www.upei.ca/exed/students/wil-bursary.

Do you struggle to deal with a deluge of student emails? Dr. Elizabeth Wells will join us for a virtual Lunch and Learn session on Thursday, January 26, at 12:00 noon, with strategies to manage student emails and navigate boundaries. To register, click here.

UPEI is excited to participate once again in the Bell Let's Talk campaign as part of our year-round efforts to build a culture of care that nurtures and celebrates the mental health and wellness of everyone in the University community. UPEI students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to take part in Bell Let’s Talk - Mental Health Week activities on campus. For a complete list of events, please CLICK HERE!

The excitement for this Saturday's Gold Rush draw is growing as big as the pot! The total pot has grown to more than $7,410, with half going to the winner of Saturday night's draw.

Gold Rush is a virtual fundraising initiative that raises funds for UPEI’s athletic programs. 

Play today and every week for a chance to win! Download the UPEI Panthers app from the App Store or on Google Play, or play from your computer. The weekly draw is held at 8 pm every Saturday.

UPEI would like to remind you of the coming changes associated with your UPEI account. On January 24, multi-factor authentication (MFA) will be applied to all student accounts, and the approval approach for the Microsoft authenticator app will change to number matching.

Does this change impact me?
Anyone using a UPEI account in a student capacity will require MFA.  

Any faculty, staff, or students currently using the Microsoft authenticator app as a registered MFA method or anyone currently using an Apple watch for approval notifications will be impacted as tap approvals will change requiring you to enter a two-digit code instead.

Do I have to do anything to prepare for this change?
In preparation for these changes, please ensure that you have at least one MFA method registered. For those who are using the Microsoft authenticator app, make sure you have the latest version of the App installed on your mobile device.

Where can I get help to make sure I’m ready for January 24?
ITSS is offering various pop-up support opportunities to help you with MFA. Drop by and see us at the following locations:
•    Monday, January 23: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, W.A. Murphy Student Centre
•    Tuesday, January 24: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, W.A. Murphy Student Centre
•    Wednesday, January 25: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, W.A. Murphy Student Centre
•    Thursday, January 26: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, W.A. Murphy Student Centre

Unable to make one of the pop-up locations? Use our helpful three-step process: ITSS M365 Info and check out our training video and text-based guide here.

Need further assistance? Contact the ITSS Help Desk at helpdesk@upei.ca or (902) 566-0465.

Set up MFA for your UPEI student account prior to January 24, and your name will be entered into a draw for a UPEI Bookstore gift card!
 

IT Systems and Services will be performing network maintenance on our campus network on January 22 from 9:00 to 10:00 am. During this time, there will be intermittent connectivity on the campus network. 

If you are off campus, many services such as Microsoft solutions (including email), Google, Zoom, upei.ca, Moodle, etc., that are in the cloud will not be impacted.  

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. 

The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) is pleased to partner with Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island to host the 2023 annual STLHE/SAPES conference at the Delta Convention Centre in Charlottetown from June 14-16, 2023. (Pre-conference workshops will take place on June 13.) Submissions are welcome from anyone interested in presenting to a multidisciplinary audience about teaching and learning in higher education. Submissions will close January 30, 2023 (midnight). Link to full details for the call for proposals