The UPEI Healthy Campus Committee is hosting a Virgin Pulse GO program/Destination GO Challenge celebration and a faculty/staff coffee break on Wednesday, November 23, at 10:00 am, in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

During the coffee break, we will celebrate the results of the Virgin Pulse GO program/Destination GO Challenge with team prizes, individual prizes, and draws.

Nurses from the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre will take blood pressures and provide blood pressure information. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided.

All UPEI faculty and staff are invited to attend even if they didn't participate in this year's Virgin Pulse GO wellness program and/or Destination GO Challenge. There will be a door prize draw for those in attendance.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments is Friday, November 25, 2022. These applications will be reviewed at the December 15, 2022, meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the Researcher Portal. Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms. Contact researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal.

Please note that the IBC has instituted a new category of protocol amendment: biosafety permit minor amendment. This event form is included in the Researcher Portal. Minor amendments that are strictly limited to changes in personnel and/or funding. Forms can be submitted at any time but require up to a two-week review period. The forms are normally reviewed by the IBC chair or designate and the BSO or designate. If the amendment is approved, then an approval notification will be sent to the PI. Submissions via this route may be sent for full committee review at the discretion of the IBC chair and the BSO.  

For more information about the IBC review and approval process, please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca

Ethics protocols that involve "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI Research Ethics Board (REB). The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, November 25, 2022, for review at the December 21 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 forms are received.

All research compliance applications, including Research Ethics Board application forms, must be submitted through the Researcher Portal. This online system is paired with electronic approvals to replace the hard-copy signatures process. For more information about the REB review and approval process, please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca.

Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms. Contact researcherportal@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal.

If you're a working professional and passionate about sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with international students in PEI, this opportunity is for you!

The Study & Stay PEI program provides international students with enhanced one-on-one and group support throughout their final year of study at a post-secondary institution in PEI. The program also includes a managed mentorship component, providing opportunities for students to apply what they’ve learned, build connections, and gain a deeper understanding of PEI’s workplace culture. As a mentor, you can be a part of this support system and share your valuable knowledge, skills, and experience with students.

To sign up as a mentor, please visit studypei.ca. Please contact us at studyandstaypei@upei.ca if you have any questions. Thank you.

Over the coming weeks, IT Systems and Services will be pushing out a required update to the ESET Endpoint Security software installed on UPEI computers.  After the update is installed on your workstation, you will be prompted to restart your computer within five hours. This prompt will provide you with the opportunity to postpone the required restart if necessary. However, we urge you to please restart your computer at the earliest possible time available to you.

If you have any questions about this change, please contact the ITSS Help Desk at helpdesk@upei.ca for more information.

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to the next presentation of the 2022-23 Environmental Sciences & Human Biology seminar series on Friday, November 18, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. in Duffy Science Centre, Room 204.

 Dr. Joel Ross, Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Coordinator will present “Orientation to Graduate Studies:  Resources and Processes.” 

All are welcome.

November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which is used to honour the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence that year. The week (November 13-20th) leading up to TDOR serves to raise awareness of/increase visibility of transgender issues, particularly intimate partner violence (IPV).  Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.

For more information, check out the following links:

PEI Transgender Network: https://www.peitn.com/

P.E.E.R.S. Alliance: https://www.peersalliance.ca/

https://www.glaad.org/transweek

The deadline for Winter 2023 Tuition Waivers is December 12, 2022. We encourage you to have tuition waivers submitted as soon as possible to assist in the timely processing. Tuition Waiver forms must be submitted electronically.  

Online Employee and Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver fillable forms can be found on the main page of MyUPEI under UPEI Forms.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources at (902) 566-0514 or hrgeneral@upei.ca.

IT Systems and Services will be performing network maintenance on our campus network on November 20 from 8 to 11 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. 

UPEI honours its rich heritage and traditions by acknowledging members of the campus community who have contributed to its mission in an exceptional way by naming them “Founders,” an initiative established by President Emeritus Wade MacLauchlan in 2000.

Recognizing our Founders is an opportunity to honour those who have worked diligently and passionately to build the University into the highly regarded institution of higher education it is today. The award is presented to members of the campus community who have played a direct role in supporting the vision, reputation, and continued success of the University and/or creating a new era of educational, research, and/or service excellence at the University.

Typically, two nominees are selected each year. Nominations are limited to one page (500 words) in length and must address the following three areas:

1. Why do think this nominee is a worthy recipient of this award?
2. How has the nominee met the criteria of the award?
3. Please include any further information you feel is important about the nominee.

If you wish to submit a nomination for this award, please email your submission to communications@upei.ca, including your name, business telephone number, email address, and relationship to the nominee along with the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person you wish to nominate. Completed nominations must be received by November 21, 2022, at 11:59 pm.

If you are interested in learning more about this award and past award winners, please visit our UPEI Founders web page.

For more information, contact: Nicole Phillips, Director of Communications and University Relations @ nphillips@upei.ca or 902-566-0947.

Overview: Communication is critical to success in every field, especially in business and the workplace. In this certificate program, participants will gain knowledge and practical experience in all key areas of communication, including proper workplace writing, public speaking and presentation skills, blog posts, websites, social media, and other forms of communication essential to functioning and growth in the professional world, as well as in-depth communication plans. This certificate is hybrid in nature – some content is online and asynchronous and some content is in-person. (Please note – if you already have completed the Intro to Workplace Writing course, you can take the rest of the certificate, and the price of the Intro to Workplace Writing course will be subtracted from the cost.)

Designed for: People who deal with communication in businesses/organizations and in the workplace, from administrative professionals to communication officers, entrepreneurs, and executives

Type of Delivery: Virtual and in-person

Duration: Three courses for a total of approximately twenty-eight hours

Facilitators: Christine Gordon Manley, Tracy Stretch, Ann Worth

For more information, visit https://www.upei.ca/professional-development/certificates/professional-communications-certificate. 

This session 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 or participation in the 17 November workshop.

For details and registration, go to https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/using-git-tools-to-manage-file-changes-and-collaborate-collaboration-tickets-427311378837 

Register now for a live orientation webinar.

Our EFAP provider, LifeWorks, is holding orientation webinars for all employees, faculty members, and their dependents who want to know more about how their UPEI EFAP benefits work.

2022 dates offered: January 27, February 17, March 24, April 14, May 26, June 23, July 14, August 25, September 22, October 13, and November 17.

To register:

1. Click this link to view the brochure.
2. Choose the best date (please note the time zone is listed in EST).
3. Click the date to open the registration window.
4. You will receive an email confirmation that has the log-in and call-in details.

EFAP offers a short-term, solution-focused approach to professional counselling to assist you in resolving your concerns and issues. EFAP provides counselling that best suits your needs and busy schedules, whether it is in person, by telephone, or online [e-counselling], as well as immediate help with crises. 

In addition to professional counselling, employees and their eligible family members can access a wide range of programs that provide telephonic consultation with qualified advisors who can help answer questions and clarify concerns that affect us all. Services include legal, financial, family, and nutritional.

For EFAP counselling, work-life programs, and information services 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year, call (English) 1-844-880-9142. Or visit: www.workhealthlife.com

More information on the UPEI EFAP benefit can be found on MyUPEI STAFF or FACULTY.

This is a reminder that the UPEI Biosafety Policy requires that all principal investigators confirm the security and complete inventory of all biohazardous materials being used or stored. This confirmation is due in November of each year.

Inventory records must be kept up to date throughout the year. Any inventory discrepancies noted during an annual lab inspection may lead to an in-depth inventory audit by the biosafety committee.

To confirm your inventory is up to date, take the following steps:

1. Access your inventory at http://biosafety.vre3.upei.ca

2. Review your inventory record and update if/as necessary. Confirm the accuracy and your approval of the inventory record by following the steps listed below.

• Select User Menu (top right of screen), then My account (from the left side of the drop-down screen).
• Click Edit (just below the username).
• Click on Information (on the top right section of the screen).
• Scroll down this page. Below the box with the phone number, you will notice a box next to I accept. If you have not already done so, please read this section and, if you agree, please check this box.
• To report your inventory is up to date, please enter the date that you confirm this in the 2022 box. Please use the yyyy/mm/dd format.
• Hit Save! Task completed.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you are not yet a user of this site but store or use biohazardous materials, please contact me to arrange access.

Rhoda Speare

Biosafety Officer

Phone 620-5071; E mail: rspeare@upei.ca

Have you been trying to get students more engaged in your classes but not seeing much change? For ideas about how formative assessment can help you gain insight into the learning experience and allow you to integrate student voices into your course (re)design, check out Harnessing the Student Voice: Why Student-centered Teaching and Learning Starts with Formative Assessment.

Author Leonard Cusack will speak about his new book, Caught in a Changing Society: St. Dunstan's University 1950-1969, at the Benevolent Irish Society, Edward Whelan Irish Cultural Centre, 582 North River Road, Charlottetown, on Wednesday, November 23, at 7 p.m.

Published by Island Studies Press, Caught in a Changing Society chronicles the golden years of expansion at an esteemed Catholic university and what led to the creation of the University of Prince Edward Island.

During his career, Cusack was a high school teacher and principal, a public servant, and a sessional lecturer in history at UPEI. He is the author of three previous books, including Owen Connolly: The Making of a Legacy 1820–2016. 

All are welcome to attend this free event.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments is Friday, November 25, 2022. These applications will be reviewed at the December 15, 2022, meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the Researcher Portal. Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms. Contact researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal.

Please note that the IBC has instituted a new category of protocol amendment: biosafety permit minor amendment. This event form is included in the Researcher Portal. Minor amendments that are strictly limited to changes in personnel and/or funding. Forms can be submitted at any time but require up to a two-week review period. The forms are normally reviewed by the IBC chair or designate and the BSO or designate. If the amendment is approved, then an approval notification will be sent to the PI. Submissions via this route may be sent for full committee review at the discretion of the IBC chair and the BSO.  

For more information about the IBC review and approval process, please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca

Ethics protocols that involve "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI Research Ethics Board (REB). The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, November 25, 2022, for review at the December 21 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 forms are received.

All research compliance applications, including Research Ethics Board application forms, must be submitted through the Researcher Portal. This online system is paired with electronic approvals to replace the hard-copy signatures process. For more information about the REB review and approval process, please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca.

Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms. Contact researcherportal@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal.

Hillcrest United Church, 50 Wood Islands Rd, Montague, PE, is pleased to host a recital featuring a number of the UPEI Department of Music's outstanding young performers on brass, woodwinds, guitar, piano, and voice.

On the program will be works by well-known composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, along with less familiar works by a diverse range of highly respected composers such as French composer Fernande Decruck, British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

There is no admission, but donations to help offset costs will be much appreciated.

If you're a working professional and passionate about sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with international students in PEI, this opportunity is for you!

The Study & Stay PEI program provides international students with enhanced one-on-one and group support throughout their final year of study at a post-secondary institution in PEI. The program also includes a managed mentorship component, providing opportunities for students to apply what they’ve learned, build connections, and gain a deeper understanding of PEI’s workplace culture. As a mentor, you can be a part of this support system and share your valuable knowledge, skills, and experience with students.

To sign up as a mentor, please visit studypei.ca. Please contact us at studyandstaypei@upei.ca if you have any questions. Thank you.