In the first installment of the 2022 Island Lecture series, Ilse van Dijk will present the findings of the research she conducted as an intern with Island Studies and the School of Climate Change and Adaptation at UPEI. The research was funded by the Climate Sense project. In her research project, Ilse aimed to identify possibilities for the integration of artistic processes into climate change adaptation policies on Prince Edward Island.

Climate change and climate change adaptation are increasingly represented in the arts. Previous research has to some extent established that the resulting "climate art" can perform a variety of functions, in addition to its artistic value, such as articulating difficult emotions and translating complex information. However, policymaking for climate change and adaptation does not utilize the potential of climate art. In her research project, Ilse developed a concept for the integration of artistic processes into adaptation policymaking on Prince Edward Island. The research is based on qualitative data, gathered through in-depth interviews with artists, cultural experts, and climate change adaptation policymakers on Prince Edward Island.

If you wish to attend, please email instituteofislandstudiesupei@gmail.com to register.

Due to the changing Covid regulations on campus, the food bank is adjusting how it serves students on Wednesday, December 22, 2021. 

Students who wish to use the food bank must complete this form, and will be assigned a time to access the food bank.

This is the final day the food bank will be open before the holiday break. Please follow UPEI Campus Food Bank on Facebook for details about when we re-open in January.

Merry Christmas everyone - our last tip of the year is the best one (and the same as last years...) Over the break, if a piece of technology lets you down before doing anything else, turn it off and then back on again. A wise man once said, "60 percent of the time, it works every time".

See you in 2022. Be safe, wear a mask, and get boosted as soon as you are eligible. From your friends in ITSS

The Robertson Library’s OER Development Program is accepting grant applications for the creation or adaptation of open educational resources (OERs). The grant types include:

• Open Textbook Grant: 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.

Applications that support first year courses will be given priority as they reach the most amount of students, but all applications will be reviewed and considered. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 25, 2022, with work expected to begin during Spring or Summer. More information is available at https://library.upei.ca/OERProgram/grants.

Questions about your grant idea? Contact Kim Mears at kmears@upei.ca. Questions about OERs? Read more at http://opencontent.org/definition/.

Student Affairs will be closed Wednesday, December 22 from 12pm to 4pm for a staff development event. If you have an on campus emergency contact security services 902-566-0384. 

Yoga Instructor Pam Harris will guide you through a 45-minute class offering meditation and gentle yoga stretches. The meditation segment of the class creates more calm, inner peace, and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and overall health 

Thursdays 12:10–12:55 pm

January 13 - February 17

March 3 - April 7

The class is FREE and for UPEI employees only, provided by the Healthy Campus Committee and supported by the UPEI Employee Wellness Strategy. You do not need to have a sports centre membership in order to take this class. Staff/Faculty can only register for one of the sessions above per semester.     

Registration and to check if spots available be follow instructions below.

UPEI FACULTY/STAFF: Please sign in using your UPEI email address and password at our new portal: recreation.upei.ca. Then click on the Fitness Programs Icon. In the drop-down menu on the left, click on Campus Staff/Faculty Wellness programs. Sign up information is at that site.  Ensure you also click on January - April 2022 Semester.

MSc Human Biology Thesis Defence

Presenter: Julie A. Oyoo

Title of the Thesis:

Effects of Food-Based Nutrition Education Interventions on Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Dietary Behaviours of Primary School Children in Ndhiwa, Homa-Bay, Kenya

Date/Time /Location

Monday December 20th, 2021

1:00pm

Via Web Conference

If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.

If you're a working professional on PEI who wants to support our international students, we would love to have you sign up as a mentor today: https://studypei.ca/. Volunteer mentors help our international students from UPEI, Holland College, and Collège de l'Île better transition to the PEI community and workforce.

As a mentor, we only require a total of 4 hours commitment (meeting with your mentee) between February - July 2022. Meetings can be conducted either online via webcam, by phone or in-person (following the public health guidance).

If you have any questions, please contact us at studyandstaypei@upei.ca

Student Affairs will be closed Wednesday, December 22 from 12pm to 4pm for a staff development event. If you have an on campus emergency contact security services 902-566-0384. 

Central Printing will be closed from Monday Dec. 20, 2021 -  Mon. Jan. 3, 2022. Please contact Wendy Henderson at 902-566-0558 or email whenderson@upei.ca or cpo@upei.ca

The Teaching and Learning Centre is pleased to announce the launch of a new internal research grant focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Faculty and Instructional staff such as lab instructors are eligible to apply for the Internal SoTL Research Grant (ISRG).

Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded for SoTL research initiatives at UPEI. Researchers are encouraged to propose collaborations with colleagues from different, but complementary, disciplines which can also provide high-quality student training opportunities.

SoTL involves:

• asking meaningful questions about student learning, and about the teaching activities designed to facilitate student learning,
• answering those questions by making relevant student learning visible to gather evidence of thinking and learning, and then systematically analyzing this evidence, and
• sharing the results of that analysis publicly to invite peer review, and to contribute to broader bodies of knowledge on student learning, and
• aiming to improve student learning by strengthening the practice of teaching (one’s own and others’).

Guidelines and application forms for the ISRG are available on the Research Services Internal Funding page  

Please submit applications using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal. The deadline for proposals is January 21, 2022 by 4:00 pm.  Applicants will be notified in early February.

If you have any questions about the funding, process, or if you’d like to discuss your idea, please reach out to Charlene VanLeeuwen, Teaching and Learning Centre Coordinator at 902.620.5217 or cvanleeuwen@upei.ca

The PEI community is invited to join the PEI Community Reads book club in reading and discussing the national best-seller, The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power, by award-winning author, journalist, and activist, Desmond Cole.

Every month we read a couple of chapters, learn, and discuss them together using an intersectional and antiracist lens. We invite you to read and reflect on race, injustice, history, and a better future.

PEI Community Reads was launched in February 2021. The group meets virtually, once a month, via Zoom.

On Tuesday, December 21st at 6 pm, we will be discussing chapters “uncontrolled movement (september)” and “women of exceptional merit (october).”

Follow our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PEICOMMUNITYREADS) for updates and further information.

We are pleased to announce that we will host a special virtual event featuring Desmond Cole on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Details will be announced at a later date.

PEI Community Reads is a joint initiative of the UPEI Robertson Library, the UPEI International Student Office, the UPEI Student Union, the Prince Edward Island Public Library Service, Charlottetown Rotary Club, the Rotaract Club of UPEI, and the Black Cultural Society of PEI.

For anyone needing a copy of the book, PEI Public Libraries & UPEI Robertson Library have copies of the book to borrow should you have a library card. Bookmark has offered 15% off the book purchase to those joining PEI Community Reads.

Everyone is welcome to join!

The Student Financial Services office, located in Room 202 in Dalton Hall, will be closed over lunch on Monday, December 20th to attend a staff function beginning at 12pm. 

Start the Winter semester off by planning to join Yvonne Poitras Pratt and Patricia J. Danyluk from the University of Calgary for their virtual talk "Exploring Reconciliatory Pedagogy and Its Possibilities through Educator-led Praxis" on Monday January 10, 2022 at 12:30 pm Atlantic. More details to be available soon  

Research shows that students who think and act like consumers have worse academic outcomes. This article by Louise Taylor Bunce published in yesterday's The Campus shares practical steps to help build students’ identities as learners rather than as consumers of education. The peer-reviewed article from this research study was discussed this past summer by the SoTL Atlantic Journal Club. Curious and interested in more details about this study? Here a link to the journal article https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1127908  Want more info about SoTL Atlantic?  Email TLC@upei.ca

Central Printing will be closed from Monday Dec. 20, 2021 -  Mon. Jan. 3, 2022. Please contact Wendy Henderson at 902-566-0558 or email whenderson@upei.ca or cpo@upei.ca

At the request of Acting UPEI President Dr. Greg Keefe, Dr. John VanLeeuwen has agreed to carry out the role of Interim Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Atlantic Veterinary College.

Dr. VanLeeuwen is a Professor of Epidemiology and Ruminant Health Management and has been at AVC since 1997. He has served as Chair of the Department of Health Management since June 1, 2021. Dr. VanLeeuwen is a highly respected mentor, award winning researcher and community partner, and has also served in senior leadership positions outside the University, including as Chair of Veterinarians Without Borders (Canada) and Farmers Helping Farmers.  

The Teaching and Learning Centre is pleased to announce the launch of a new internal research grant focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Faculty and Instructional staff such as lab instructors are eligible to apply for the Internal SoTL Research Grant (ISRG).

Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded for SoTL research initiatives at UPEI. Researchers are encouraged to propose collaborations with colleagues from different, but complementary, disciplines which can also provide high-quality student training opportunities.

SoTL involves:

• asking meaningful questions about student learning, and about the teaching activities designed to facilitate student learning,
• answering those questions by making relevant student learning visible to gather evidence of thinking and learning, and then systematically analyzing this evidence, and
• sharing the results of that analysis publicly to invite peer review, and to contribute to broader bodies of knowledge on student learning, and
• aiming to improve student learning by strengthening the practice of teaching (one’s own and others’).

Guidelines and application forms for the ISRG are available on the Research Services Internal Funding page  

Please submit applications using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal. The deadline for proposals is January 21, 2022 by 4:00 pm.  Applicants will be notified in early February.

If you have any questions about the funding, process, or if you’d like to discuss your idea, please reach out to Charlene VanLeeuwen, Teaching and Learning Centre Coordinator at 902.620.5217 or cvanleeuwen@upei.ca

Reminder, Winter restrictions on overnight campus parking are now in effect until March 31st

Parking Lot “A” is the only lot where overnight parking is permitted for the winter season. Residents of Andrew Hall and Bernardine Hall may park overnight in the Andrew Hall lot or General Parking Lot B, provided that their vehicles are moved to Lot “A”  prior to ANY accumulation of snow or if storm conditions are forecast. Vehicles are to remain there until plowing and salting operations have been completed. 

Vehicles left in any parking lot other than Lot “A” during storms or before snow removal is complete, will be towed at the owner's expense. Facilities Management appreciates your co-operation to ensure parking lots are cleared safely. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding winter parking, contact parking@upei.ca

Yoga Instructor Pam Harris will guide you through a 45-minute class offering meditation and gentle yoga stretches. The meditation segment of the class creates more calm, inner peace, and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and overall health 

Thursdays 12:10–12:55 pm

January 13 - February 17

March 3 - April 7

The class is FREE and for UPEI employees only, provided by the Healthy Campus Committee and supported by the UPEI Employee Wellness Strategy. You do not need to have a sports centre membership in order to take this class. Staff/Faculty can only register for one of the sessions above per semester.     

Registration and to check if spots available be follow instructions below.

UPEI FACULTY/STAFF: Please sign in using your UPEI email address and password at our new portal: recreation.upei.ca. Then click on the Fitness Programs Icon. In the drop-down menu on the left, click on Campus Staff/Faculty Wellness programs. Sign up information is at that site.  Ensure you also click on January - April 2022 Semester.