Take the pause you need at mid-day to rekindle your spirit. Sister Sue leads a prayer time that includes silence and reflection on Mondays and Thursdays at 12:05 in the Chaplaincy Centre.

Don't forget your mask.

5, 12, 19, 26 May, 12:00-16:00 hrs Atlantic

This is a beginner level series that is hands-on, covering the fundamentals of Python including data types, conditional statements, loops and functions, as well as program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems. The goal is to teach the practical knowledge needed to start programming, debugging and using Python in everyday tasks.

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-introductory-programming-unix-shell-git-and-python-tickets-310552018447

Description of course: Learn how to write for the twenty-first-century workplace. In this five-week Intro to Workplace Writing course, you’ll learn tools and techniques for professional communication. As we navigate work in a digital age, with many operating in a work-from-home culture, you’ll learn updated strategies for enhancing communication. Learn new team communication tools such as Slack, Asana, and Google Docs. Ensuring your message is heard and understood is critical for a smooth workflow. Take your emails into the digital age and learn updated email etiquette strategies—what was acceptable ten years ago no longer is! Learn how to craft a message for an external audience vs an internal one, and employ effective content creation tools such as content calendars and style guides. Brush up on some basic grammar, learn how to recognize your own bias when crafting messages, and educate yourself with inclusive language best practices.

This course is virtual and can be completed independently on your own time over five sessions. Course material will be released weekly each Wednesday. There are videos and short assignments. 

Upon successful completion of the course material and all assignments, submitted on time to your facilitator, you will receive a digital badge and will have the beginnings of a portfolio of your work. 

Designed for: People who want to be or are involved with administrative work or work that involves a great deal of communication within the workplace.

Type of Delivery: Virtual

Duration: One asynchronous virtual session per week for five weeks along with independent readings and assignments

Facilitator: Christine Gordon Manley

Cost: $599.00 plus tax

To register, go to https://www.upei.ca/professional-development/certificates/professional-communications-certificate.

PhD thesis presentation and examination, MMS, via web on Wednesday, May 18, at 1:30 pm

Maysun Benaaisha: "Exploring the Potential of an Organometallic Dendrimer in Materials Science and Biological Applications"

Contact the graduate studies coordinator at gsc@upei.ca for the link.

The Faculty of Education invites members of the campus community – students, faculty and staff – to attend a public presentation by Ken MacKinnon, candidate for a tenure-track position in Education Leadership. Dr. MacKinnon give a public presentation from noon to 1 pm in HSB 106. For further information, contact Karen-Anne O’Halloran.

Everyday thousands of phishing emails attempt to penetrate the UPEI network. Security tools and solutions block the vast majority. But on occasion, a phish gets in and attempts to wreak havoc with the UPEI user community. 

This past week was indicative of this as a phish made its way into some of your email inboxes.  Many of the campus community recognized this as a phish, reported it to ITSS by forwarding the email to phishing@upei.ca and then deleting the phishing attempt. Being cyber aware helped ITSS reduce the impact of this attempt.

Training and education can help strengthen your cyber awareness at work and at home. Cyber awareness training (CAT) is available to the UPEI staff and faculty through Beauceron.

Visit https://go.upei.ca/cybersafe/ to access a series of cyber awareness training modules.

Be Cyber Safe!

Use the CAT to catch a Phish.

Take the pause you need at mid-day to rekindle your spirit. Sister Sue leads a prayer time that includes silence and reflection on Mondays and Thursdays at 12:05 in the Chaplaincy Centre.

Don't forget your mask.

On June 1, 2022, revised Animal Use Protocol forms for research studies (application, renewal, and amendments) will be released. Changes were made to reflect updated Canadian Council on Animal Care guidance in addition to improving clarity and function.

Information sessions will be held to review the changes and answer questions.

Tuesday, May 17, 1:30-2:30 pm

To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/erp-tgiu-tmm
Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 321-465-5110 and enter this PIN: 204 406 356#.

Wednesday, May 30, 9-10 am

To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/iva-vdks-eac

Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 219-706-2434 and enter this PIN: 536 143 780#.

Recordings from UPEI’s fifth annual Teaching Community Conference are now available if you want to go back to re-listen to the awesome keynote or check out some of the other concurrent sessions you weren’t able to get to. Descriptions of the sessions and links to the recordings are available under the ARCHIVE tab on the Teaching Community Conference website. 

NOTE: this presentation has been postponed; a new date will be determined later.

The Faculty of Education would like to invite all to attend Yi-Wen (Eva) Lia's public presentation of her MEd research titled: "Narrative Research on Asian Students' Interpretations and Integrations of Their Worldviews Studying in the Master of Education (MEd) program in Canada." Please join us in person in the HSB Room 106 at UPEI or through the Zoom link below.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://upei.zoom.us/j/67066053777?pwd=SDQzOHYvUzlkY0pacUc5K1ZHOXFsZz09

Meeting ID: 670 6605 3777
Passcode: 449659

On June 1, 2022, revised Animal Use Protocol forms for research studies (application, renewal, and amendments) will be released. Changes were made to reflect updated Canadian Council on Animal Care guidance in addition to improving clarity and function.

Information sessions will be held to review the changes and answer questions.

Tuesday, May 17, 1:30-2:30 pm

To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/erp-tgiu-tmm
Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 321-465-5110 and enter this PIN: 204 406 356#.

Wednesday, May 30, 9-10 am

To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/iva-vdks-eac

Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 219-706-2434 and enter this PIN: 536 143 780#.

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, May 27, 2022.

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.

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.

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

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments is Friday, May 27, 2022. These applications will be reviewed at the June 2022 meeting.

Please be sure to use the March 2022 update to the application form. Please also 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 can be submitted at any time but require up to a two-week review period. They are normally reviewed by the IBC chair or designate, the BSO or designate, and one other voting member of the IBC. 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.  

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.

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

While the Province of Prince Edward Island lifted its mask mandate on May 6, UPEI has adopted a more cautionary approach. As was communicated in a message to the campus community on April 12, the mandatory mask requirement at the University remains in effect until the end of the first summer session (June 21). Masks are mandatory in all indoor spaces on campus. However, people may remove their mask if they are seated and a minimum of six feet/two metres from others.

As well, the campus community is asked to continue other preventative health measures, including vaccination, good hand and respiratory hygiene, physical distancing, and staying home when ill. Physical distancing is no longer mandated, but people are encouraged to maintain distancing when possible.

Thank you for continuing to make the campus community a safe and collegial workplace. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make necessary adjustment to protocols as needed.

Looking for some support (or know someone who is) with a writing assignment or presentation?  Make an appointment with a tutor.  

Our schedule will be reduced during the summer sessions, but we will still be available for both online and in-person appointments. Off-schedule appointments can also be arranged.

To make an appointment, see our schedule at https://upei.mywconline.com/ or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UPEIWC for more information.

This one-and-a-half hour workshop is designed for both new and experienced users. You’ll learn how to use the command line to carry out repetitive tasks, extract information from files quickly, combine commands in powerful ways, and capture a workflow so you can re-use it easily. Save time, reduce errors, and use Linux more effectively. 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-317567682487 

This one-and-a-half hour workshop is for beginners. Researchers across many disciplines use HPC to tackle analyses that would be either inefficient or impossible on a desktop. This session offers: a basic description of the infrastructure and support accessible through Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance) and ACENET, with entry-level advice about how to begin; an overview of the software packages available through the Alliance and ACENET for applications, data analysis, and software development, and how to request specific software relevant to your work; and insight into the potential of parallel computing to accelerate your analysis.  

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-basics-introduction-to-hpc-tickets-317566198047 
 

The Destination GO Challenge is a team-based physical activity challenge. Teams of 7 will compete from May 25 to July 27. Please note: participants must be registered in the Virgin Pulse GO individual program in order to compete in the Destination GO Challenge.

This program is available free of charge to UPEI Faculty and Staff only and is brought to you by the Healthy Campus Committee, with support from the UPEI Employee Wellness Strategy.

First step to register: Log into recreation.upei.ca, click on Wellness (UPEI Faculty/Staff ) icon and then the Virgin Pulse GO Program.  For questions, contact Angela Marchbank, Fitness and Wellness Coordinator, at amarchbank@upei.ca

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 20, 10:00 am . Note that teams must be registered by May 20. Once the deadline has passed, the program is locked, and no one else can register.

Activity will be tracked by using your own fitness tracking device or with the Virgin Pulse MAX BUZZ Device. If this is your first year of participation, the MAX BUZZ is free, but if staff/faculty participated previously, the fee is $15 + tax. Note: the Max Buzz devices are only good for this program. They can only be synced if registered in the program and are reset every night. It’s recommended to use your own device if you have one.

ACEnet has upcoming training sessions coming up that may be of interest to faculty and students. The sessions are online and all except the Parallel Computing School are free of charge.

Introductory Programming: Unix Shell, Git and R

10, 17, 24 May, 12:00-15:30 hrs Atlantic 

This is a beginner level series that is hands-on, covering the fundamentals of R, including data types, functions, importing, manipulating and analyzing data and data visualization, as well as program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems. The goal is to teach the practical knowledge needed to start programming, debugging and using R in everyday tasks. 

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-introductory-programming-unix-shell-git-and-r-tickets-311915887817 

Introductory Programming: Unix Shell, Version Control and Python

12, 19, 26 May, 12:00-16:00 hrs Atlantic 

This is a beginner level series that is hands-on, covering the fundamentals of Python including data types, conditional statements, loops and functions, as well as program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems. The goal is to teach the practical knowledge needed to start programming, debugging and using Python in everyday tasks.

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-introductory-programming-unix-shell-git-and-python-tickets-310552018447 

Basics: Introduction to High Performance Computing (HPC)

17 May, 10:00-11:30 hrs Atlantic

This is a beginner session. Researchers across many disciplines use HPC to tackle analyses that would be either inefficient or impossible on a desktop. This session offers: a basic description of the infrastructure and support accessible through Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance) and ACENET, with entry-level advice about how to begin; an overview of the software packages available through the Alliance and ACENET for applications, data analysis, and software development, and how to request specific software relevant to your work; and insight into the potential of parallel computing to accelerate your analysis.  

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-basics-introduction-to-hpc-tickets-317566198047 

Basics: Introduction to Linux

18 May, 10:00-11:30 hrs Atlantic

This workshop is designed for those with no prior experience in working with a terminal interface. To access and use the ACENET and Digital Research Alliance of Canada HPC clusters from your desktop, you will use a text-based "command line" interface. You will use the command line to move data around and run calculations. In this session, learn how to get started with the command line and how to perform some basic tasks: create and navigate directories for your data; upload and download files; manage your storage; and run programs on the computing clusters.  

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-basics-introduction-to-linux-tickets-317567572157 

Basics: Introduction to Shell Scripting

19 May, 10:00-11:30 hrs Atlantic

This workshop is designed for both new and experienced users. You’ll learn how to use the command line to carry out repetitive tasks, extract information from files quickly, combine commands in powerful ways, and capture a workflow so you can re-use it easily. Save time, reduce errors, and use Linux more effectively. 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-317567682487 

Basics: Job Scheduling with Slurm

20 May, 10:00-11:30 hrs Atlantic

This workshop is designed for either new HPC users, or for experienced users either transitioning to Slurm or seeking to improve efficiency with the scheduler. The Digital Research Alliance of Canada’s (Alliance) 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. 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-317567973357 

Parallel Computing School

25 May--29 June, Varied, 13:00-15:00 hrs Atlantic

This course seeks to educate participants in common tools and techniques used in high-performance computing and scientific computation. Over 12 sessions in 6 weeks, we will cover general parallel computing, Dask, Machine Learning, OpenMP programming, GPU accelerator programming, and Message Passing Interface (MPI) programming. Each session will include a lecture 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-2022-tickets-311909619067 

3, 10, 17, 24 May, 12:00-15:30 hrs Atlantic 

This is a beginner level series that is hands-on, covering the fundamentals of R, including data types, functions, importing, manipulating and analyzing data and data visualization, as well as program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems. The goal is to teach the practical knowledge needed to start programming, debugging and using R in everyday tasks.

DETAILS & REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-introductory-programming-unix-shell-git-and-r-tickets-311915887817