Former UPEI vice-president named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women
Timmons joined UPEI in 1996 as dean of the Faculty of Education and was named vice-president Academic Development in 2001. She became president and vice-chancellor of the University of Regina in July of 2008. She will chair the Canadian Bureau for International Education starting in November 2009.
Her research is focused in the area of education with emphasis on literacy and learning and their roles in establishing healthy vibrant communities. She was lead investigator of a three-year collaborative research project looking at six rural communities’ need to address the issues their children are facing. This research has been published in academic journals and presented at conferences, as well as in the book Voice of the Community, featuring the work of social documentary photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo.
Currently, she is leading a team of researchers at UPEI and the University of Regina to develop a program designed to increase the literacy levels of new Canadians whose first language is not English. The project involves working closely with immigrant families in Charlottetown and Regina to develop and implement a flexible literacy program that meets the families’ specific needs and will be transferable to other newcomers in P.E.I. and across the country.
Other research work includes improving the lives of children in India; development of rural and Aboriginal family literacy programs in Atlantic Canada; and the effectiveness of programming and services for children with autism in P.E.I.
The Top 100 Award is an initiative of the Women's Executive Network (WXN) and is co-presented by the Richard Ivey School of Business and Scotiabank.
UPEI expands wireless internet service
To extend wireless access across UPEI, Computer Services increased the number of wireless access points on campus from 25 to 100. Prior to this expansion, which was completed in early November, wireless access was available only in select areas on campus, such as the Robertson Library, W.A. Murphy Student Centre and the Kelley Building Student Lounge.
“This gives students, faculty and staff greater flexibility in their ability to use the technology available at UPEI to conduct research, teach and do their work,” says Blair Vessey, Operations Manager at UPEI Computer Services. “They are no longer restricted to having to work in particular places on campus.”
As well, UPEI now has multiple wireless network services available through the new equipment, aimed to make it easier to connect a wide variety of devices. New services will allow people such as visiting scholars to access the campus’s wireless system using a guest username and password, without having to install software or configure security settings on their computer.
Computer Services will monitor the wireless system and expand it where necessary, based on feedback from users. While coverage was planned to include as many areas as possible, there may be locations where signal strength will need to be increased to handle the demand as more people begin to use the network. More access points will be added in these areas.
Over time, Computer Services plans to increase the number of campus services available through the wireless system, such as printing and file sharing. They are also working with the residences to incorporate wireless internet in all three residence buildings by the fall of 2009.
Computer Services worked with Cisco Systems Inc, a leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet, to expand the wireless network at UPEI.
Public presentation about excavating blue whale on December 4
The presentation will take place on Thursday, December 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Lecture Theatre A at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Everyone is welcome. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. Donations to the Friends of AVC will be gratefully accepted.
For information, call (902) 566-0589 or visit upei.ca/avcnews.
Part of the AVC Community Workshop Series
Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network hosts public information event December 12
This event will showcase poster presentations on work that is done through community-university research partnerships here on P.E.I. and across Atlantic Canada on the theme of inclusion and empowerment.
With today’s economic uncertainty, it is an important time to focus on community-based organizations working to build sustainable communities and a vibrant social economy. The Institute of Island Studies coordinates a group of community and university researchers who focus on building capacity in, and awareness of, the social economy, and creating a solid information base to improve the lives of marginalized people on the Island.
Projects underway deal with topics relevant to building a strong social economy on P.E.I., such as the inclusion of immigrants into society and the economy, gender equity, aboriginal rights, educational opportunities for people with learning disabilities, alleviation of poverty, empowerment of small-scale organic farmers through partnerships, services for victims of family violence, and services for youth at risk.
The goal for Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network Subnode 2 (P.E.I.) is to contribute to the theory and practice of the social economy in the Atlantic region. The network brings community partners and academics together to do research and to produce a range of outcomes and knowledge dissemination activities, with particular focus on the inclusion and empowerment of marginalized people in the social economy of Atlantic Canada.
For further information, please contact Irené Novaczek at inovaczek@upei.ca, or visit www.upei.ca/iis/socialeconomy.
CPA-PEI provides funds for accessibility improvements to Main Building
With financial assistance from the CPA-PEI, UPEI will make the Main Building, the oldest building on campus, more accessible for people who have disabilities. The funding will allow the university to make the second-floor bathrooms more accessible by widening the doors and lowering the mirrors, sinks and urinals.
These upgrades to the Main Building fall under UPEI’s seven-year plan launched in December 2007 to make the campus more accessible to people with disabilities. Other improvements that will be made to the building include upgrading the elevator, widening doorways and renovating the first-floor bathrooms.
For more information about accessibility services at UPEI, please visit the Accessibility Services website.
UPEI Tourism Research Centre releases results of 2007 travel experience survey
The Tourism Research Centre (TRC) at the School of Business at the University of PEI is pleased to announce the release of a new report discussing the results of a 2007 travel experience survey.
This survey was distributed to a panel comprised of people who had requested information from Tourism PEI about visiting PEI.
'This survey is interesting because at one point all of these panel members had requested information pertaining to PEI,' explained Dr. Sean Hennessey, faculty director of the TRC. 'Although further research is warranted, this survey gives us an idea of where visitors who were interested in PEI chose to visit instead of here. We learn that regular visitors to other destinations frequently return to the same destinations, and a majority of these respondents had already been to the same destination earlier in the year. This may suggest that the destination they return to frequently is relatively close, which makes a trip to PEI long by comparison. Attracting this type of visitor to PEI is a challenge, as is increasing shorter-term repeat visitation for those who do visit PEI.'
The survey also offers the opportunity to cross-reference results with those of an exit survey during a similar time period. The survey covered travel from June 1 to September 10, 2007. Previous results released on the exit survey covered travel to PEI from June 28 to September 30, 2007. The travel experience survey shows that 71 per cent of the 737 respondents had taken at least one pleasure holiday of four or more nights during the given time period. Of this 71 per cent, 52 per cent visited PEI during the stated time period. This yields an overall conversion rate of 37 per cent.
'When considering these figures,' says Hennessey, 'it is important to remember that the survey sample consists of individuals who requested travel information about PEI. While over half of those who took a summer vacation visited PEI, there exists a large market of potential future travellers to PEI consisting of those who did not vacation and those who vacationed elsewhere.'
In terms of activity participation rates and product assessments, the results are positive. Visitors to PEI participate in more activities and experiences, and they rate them higher than do visitors to other destinations. In this respect, there were no significant weaknesses or shortfalls relative to other destinations. While this is quite positive, it does not help to identify opportunities for new activities that may be offered. There are some activities where the participation rates are lower for PEI than other destinations, but the participation rates are not significantly different or particularly high for PEI, or for the other destinations.
Visitors who chose PEI as their primary destination admire the province's natural environment: PEI's natural beauty, scenery and landscape, and beaches and coastline were the three highest ranked features. In addition, 84 per cent of visitors who chose PEI as their primary destination chose to go to a beach, lake or river. This reinforces the importance of preserving, protecting and publicizing PEI's natural landscape and environment.
The full report is available on the TRC's website at www.trc.upei.ca or directly at www.trc.upei.ca/files/Travel_Experience_2007-Final.pdf. For more information about the TRC's research and reports, please visit the website, email trc@upei.ca or call (902) 566-6096.
UPEI business students gain practical experience in business world
Auxiliary of the PEI Family Services Bureau establishes student award at UPEI
The Auxiliary of the PEI Family Services Bureau has established an award in memory of long-time member Louise Haszard for UPEI students whose studies prepare them for a career in education, health or social services.
Tourism Research Centre at UPEI releases report on travel packages
In a recent address to the Tourism Industry Association of PEI, Joe Veneto, international tourism management consultant and author of 'The Travel Packaging System,' revealed that the number one secret to packaging success is not only to think like a customer, but also to 'use research.' To that end, a newly released report on travel packages by the Tourism Research Centre (TRC) at the UPEI School of Business should help.
The survey on which the report was based was distributed by the TRC to a panel of online volunteers who had requested information about visiting PEI from Tourism PEI. The make-up of the panel is very similar to that of visitors to PEI.
'Although we looked at what types of travel packages people purchased, and who they travelled with on package holidays, we also examined why people do not buy travel packages,' says Dr. Monica MacDonald, Research Director of the TRC. 'This research, along with other research undertaken earlier this year, will help operators understand how travellers are using travel packages and why they are buying them.'
Participants who had never purchased a travel package revealed that the most common reason for not doing so was that they prefer doing their own research for their holidays. About a quarter of respondents who had never purchased a travel package believed packages lacked flexibility, and others thought they cost too much.
'The results really give us an idea of who is purchasing travel packages and for what reason. Almost three-quarters of Canadian participants who had purchased a travel package had bought an all-inclusive holiday package. However, less than half of US respondents had bought that type of package. They were much more interested in a flexible package that contained, for example, flight and hotel, or car rental and admission to local attractions,' says MacDonald.
A summary of other results includes:
• Slightly less than half (47.6 per cent) of the respondents to this survey have purchased a travel package in the two years prior to the survey.
• The overall interest in travel packages is rated 3.48 out of 5, about midway between neither uninterested or interested, and interested. This is a fairly good rating given that many of the respondents have not recently purchased travel packages and might be unfamiliar with their features.
• Combination packages in PEI generally omit one of the key elements that many travellers want: travel to the destination. This is not surprising given that PEI is not a major air traffic destination, and that it does not have an operating rail line. Some private tour companies offer transportation to PEI as part of either guided or unguided tours, but they seem to be the exception rather than the norm. PEI does provide, however, quality products for other sought-after package components: accommodations, and food and beverages.
• Canadians tend to purchase packages for southern, warm destinations, while Americans tend to travel within their own country.
• Those who had purchased travel packages in the past often chose to book through offline travel agencies.
• For those purchasing a travel package, the average party size was 4.72. This is substantially higher than the average party size of 2.85 visitors to PEI as reported in the 2007/08 exit survey report. During the peak season (July and August), the average party size is 3.15 people. The larger party size for those purchasing packages may be related to the perception that packages are good value for money and thus cheaper for larger groups compared to price and value per individual component.
• Price is important for travellers thinking about buying packages; the majority expect that packages will help them save money.
• On the other hand, there may also be a perception that packages are more costly than purchasing individual components. Cost was the third most popular reason why respondents had not purchased a package in the recent past.
The full report is available on the TRC's website at www.trc.upei.ca. For more information about the TRC's research and reports, please visit the website, email trc@upei.ca or call (902) 566-6096.
Tourism Research Centre releases full-year results of 2007-2008 visitor exit survey
This survey was distributed for a full year and was designed to capture information about PEI's visitors year-round instead of just summer visitors. The results presented in the report concern pleasure visitors who spent at least one night in PEI between July 2007 and June 2008. The report is an overview of the 4,539 completed surveys.
During the surveying period, PEI received over one million overnight pleasure visitors spending about $315 million in direct expenditures.
'Nova Scotia is our single most important market followed very closely by New Brunswick,' says Dr. Paul Lewis, a Research Director at the TRC.
While in PEI, over 380,000 guests came from Nova Scotia, and they alone spent over $93 million. About 294,000 visitors were from New Brunswick; they spent almost $70 million.
PEI enjoys a significant rate of repeat visitation: over the full year, 78 per cent of visitors had been to PEI before. In addition, these returning visitors are loyal: about 76 per cent of them had visited PEI within the past two years. There are two distinct markets involved: summer visitors who return primarily to enjoy the natural beauty of the Island and winter visitors who return primarily to visit friends and family. The winter has the highest rate of repeat visitors of any season (93 per cent).
'Each of these markets comes back for different reasons and, consequently, each may have distinct needs and wants for which operators could adapt their products accordingly,' says Dr. Lewis.
Regarding accommodations, PEI faces two very different challenges: how to better develop urban tourism in the main season for a repeat clientele more interested in rural experiences, and how to develop tourism in rural areas in the in the winter for a clientele that comes back frequently to visit friends and relatives. Over half of PEI's winter visitors stay with family or friends, but more than 38 per cent choose to stay in hotels, motels or resorts.
'There seems to be good potential to expand that market by creating products that appeal not only to our winter visitors but also to the folks they have come to visit,' says Lewis. 'A good example of this is Charlottetown's Jack Frost Festival held in February.'
With regard to challenges faced by the different travel destinations, the North Cape, South Shore, and Points East regions face the challenge of attracting more customers to stay overnight there, but those who do visit these areas tend to spend more nights there than in urban settings.
'Tailoring seasonal attractions to reflect these trends may be worthwhile to consider when developing regional tourism strategies,' he says.
Charlottetown and Summerside face an opposite challenge. In the main season, 62 per cent of travel parties do not stay at all in Charlottetown or Summerside. In winter, when travel is dominated by those visiting family and friends, the situation flips; about 68 per cent of travel parties do stay overnight in either Summerside or Charlottetown, with over half of those travel parties staying in Charlottetown.
'We have a dedicated clientele, even in the winter off-season. Although it does not compare to the main season, we must open up to the real business opportunities that exist year-round,' says Lewis.
Reports will continue to be released from exit survey findings for the next nine months. In total, at least 10 additional reports will be released.
'The exit survey was designed so results can be structured to look at our visitors in many different lights. There are many different ways to categorize our visitors. We have a wealth of information available to us now and will be releasing reports based on these exit survey findings over the next seven or eight months. The Tourism Research Centre will continue to serve industry and government by providing timely and accurate research on PEI tourism,' he says.
The full report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website: www.trc.upei.ca/exitsurvey. Further information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.
