After three years as the head coach and two years as assistant coach of the UPEI women's rugby team, Mary Jane 'MJ' Webster has resigned due to other rugby and personal commitments.

'After five years with the program, I felt it was time to step aside as it's important to allow for fresh ideas and a fresh approach to continue the growth of the program,' says Webster, who also coaches the Morell High School rugby team and is President of the PEI Rugby Union. 'I plan to continue recruiting and fundraising until a replacement is named, and certainly will look to help in any way I can to ease the transition.'

During Webster's tenure, the rugby team produced several AUS All-Stars, two CIS All-Canadians, and recently, current players Sumara Profit, Katie Champion, and Hannah Szwarc were invited to a U20 Canadian Women's Rugby Development Team camp in California.

'We are sorry that MJ is giving up her position as our head coach,' says Ron Annear, UPEI Athletics Director. 'Her love for and commitment to the sport have had a positive impact on the team over the years. We hope that she will be able to contribute to the program in other ways in the future.'

Webster, who played with St. Francis Xavier, Saint Mary's, and UPEI during her own rugby career, leaves her coaching position with a positive outlook. 'I really enjoyed my time coaching the Panthers, especially alongside Shannon Atkins and Michelle Tremere. I know that the team has the potential to be even better with a new head coach and a commitment to support the players.'

UPEI will begin advertising for the vacant position later this week.

Five community organizations have partnered with the Family and Nutritional Sciences department at UPEI over the past few months to help university students develop their skills in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs for health promotion and family education. In return, the participating organizations have benefitted from the sessions and activities that were presented by the students.

For their course in program planning and evaluation, 26 students worked in teams of five or six to research and create eight hours of programming for the community group of their choice. Their projects ranged from facilitating discussion groups about self-esteem among pre-adolescent girls in Charlottetown, to delivering awareness training regarding people with disabilities to grade five students in Eliot River School.

'The benefits of students and community groups working so closely are reciprocal. That's why this is such a positive project,' says Charlene VanLeeuwen, course instructor and field placement co-ordinator in Family and Nutritional Sciences at UPEI.

One student team worked in collaboration with the Seniors Active Living Centre, located in the CARI complex on the UPEI campus, on a project about nutrition and cardiovascular disease. They developed and delivered 'The Wellness and Healthy Living in the Elderly (TWAHLITE)" program, with the guidance of Olive Bryanton, Education Coordinator.

'I think we are very lucky at the Seniors Active Living Centre to have university students so close,' says Bryanton. 'The recent presentation by Family and Nutritional Sciences students on reading food labels and the importance of fibre was most interesting. We all learned something new and enjoyed the way they presented the information.'

'Through working directly with seniors, and other groups, the students learned a lot about communications issues in populations that they were not necessarily familiar with,' says Charlene VanLeeuwen. 'Our students gained valuable real-life experience by working in co-operation with different groups of people to collectively identify their challenges and develop effective activities. These activities had to support changes in behavior, whether it was what to choose for a healthy snack or how to interact with classmates with disabilities.'

The five community participants were Eliot River School, GEMS Girls Club, the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of PEI, the After-School Child Care program at Murphy's Community Centre; and the Seniors Active Living Centre.

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A gala book launch and poetry celebration will be held at the Haviland Club in Charlottetown, on Saturday, May 8, at 7:30-9:30 p.m. The gala is hosted by the UPEI English Department and PEI Writers' Guild.

Hugh MacDonald, the Island's new Poet Laureate, will lead off the evening. David Helwig, recent recipient of the Order of Canada for his distinguished literary career, will launch and read from two new books: Smuggling Donkeys, his latest novella, and The Sway of Otherwise, a sonnet collection 'evoking the vivid realities of summer and winter, love and death,' with the title taken from a poem about walking sandbars on a brilliant summer day.

UPEI professor Richard Lemm will launch his newest poetry collection, Burning House, with poems that range from an undertakers' convention in Charlottetown to his American ancestors' participation in several wars.

There will also be a tribute to John Smith, PEI's first Poet Laureate, with the launch of a special issue of the literary journal Canadian Notes & Queries devoted to John Smith the poet, professor, and friend. The issue is edited by Islander and poet David Hickey.

Laurie Brinklow, publisher of Acorn Press, and recent recipient of a three-year doctoral fellowship to study small island culture at the University of Tasmania, will be m.c. for the evening. Admission is free, books will be for sale, and refreshments will be served.

Contact: Dr. Richard Lemm at (902) 566-0389, rlemm@upei.ca

The PEI Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and Dr. Tess Miller, Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island, have analyzed the results of the Grade 9 Provincial Mathematics Common Assessment to identify problem areas for students. Dr. Miller is a psychometrician who has specialized in large-scale assessment and mathematics education.

Dr. Miller presented her preliminary findings at the Mathematics and Assessment Seminar Series held at UPEI earlier this month. Once her findings are complete, she will work with staff at the department to provide teachers with a resource that will identify problem areas as well as provide teaching tips on how to overcome these areas.

The PEI provincial common assessments provide unique information that gives an overall picture of how we are doing in math as a province. The results can guide planning and selection of appropriate teaching strategies. These assessments have engaged and energized both students and teachers, and now several schools across the province have launched action plans that work for their individual school.

A former member of the UPEI Panthers men's hockey team, Vince "Vinnie" Scott, 23, died as result of a motor vehicle accident Wednesday morning outside St. Catherines, Ontario.

A native of Mississauga, Scott most recently had played with Brock University after playing two seasons, 2007 and 2008, with UPEI and four seasons with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.

In 2008, Scott was recipient of the Grant Thornton LLP 'Harry MacLauchlan' Scholarship, awarded to a student entering second, third, or fourth year playing on a UPEI varsity hockey team and who maintained good academic standing in the previous year. The recipient is chosen by fellow players and coaches.

Scott was named an Academic All-Canadian for both years he played with the Panthers and received the Most Dedicated & Leadership Award through the Panther Hockey Excellence Awards program.

UPEI and the Department of Athletics extend its sincere condolences to the Scott family.

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor H. Wade MacLauchlan will be stepping down in 2011. All alumni of the University of Prince Edward Island, St. Dunstan's University, and Prince of Wales College are invited to provide their input as UPEI develops the search criteria for a new president. An alumni consultation meeting will take place in the KCI Chemistry Centre at UPEI, lecture theatre 128, on Wednesday, May 12, at 6:00 p.m. A representative of Janet Wright & Associates Inc. will be present to lead the discussion.

More information is available by emailing alumni@upei.ca or calling 566-0761.

The Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre at the University of Prince Edward Island will be filled with proud graduates, families, and friends on Saturday, May 8, as they celebrate Convocation Day 2010. Over 675 students will receive their degrees, diplomas, and certificates during two ceremonies, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Honorary degrees will be conferred upon Patrick G. Binns and Harry E. Snow during the morning ceremony, and Judy Bragg and Donald N. MacKenzie in the afternoon. Binns will give the convocation speech to the morning graduates, and Bragg will address those at the afternoon ceremony.

Christy Coulson Cullen, who will receive her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at convocation, will give the valedictory address in the morning, and Hicham (Shawn) Younis, who will be awarded his Bachelor of Arts, is the valedictorian for the afternoon convocation.

This year's graduating class includes ten students who are receiving their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The record number of reflects the increasing commitment to graduate programs at UPEI.

During the morning ceremony, the following degrees and diplomas will be awarded: Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Business Administration - Cooperative Education, Bachelor of Business in Tourism & Hospitality, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Education - French immersion, Bachelor of Education in Human Resource Development, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Master of Science - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Master of Veterinary Science, Master of Education, Master of Applied Health Services Research, Doctor of Philosophy.

Students attending the afternoon ceremony will receive the following degrees and diplomas: Adult Connections in Education (ACE), Public Administration Diplomas, Engineering Diplomas, Bachelor of Applied Arts in Print Journalism, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts - Honours, Bachelor of Child and Family Studies, Bachelor of Integrated Studies, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Music Education, Bachelor of Applied Science in Radiography, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science - Honours, Bachelor of Science - Cooperative Education, Master of Science - Faculty of Science, Master of Arts.

Students will assemble in the Duffy Science Centre at 9:00 a.m. for the morning convocation and at 1:30 p.m. for the afternoon ceremony. A reception for graduates, guests, and faculty will be held in the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall immediately following each ceremony. Visitors may park in any of the UPEI parking lots, and there will be security officers on campus to answer questions and direct traffic. More details about Convocation 2010 are available at upei.ca/registrar/convocation.

Islandora, an open-source software platform developed by UPEI's Robertson Library to manage and archive large amounts of digital data, has been selected for a national innovation achievement award by the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL). The annual award recognizes institutions that have made a significant contribution to the development and advancement of academic librarianship.

'Islandora represents a massive undertaking and an impressive result, built by a very small library whose work will have a vast impact as it is replicated elsewhere,' stated CACUL in its announcement of the award.

Islandora was born two years ago when University Librarian Mark Leggott was building Virtual Research Environments, or VREs, at UPEI. Each VRE makes it possible for teams of researchers to collaborate and communicate, and manage and archive their work in a secure online environment. More than 50 research groups currently use the VRE system, including the Mollusc Health Lab, Marine Natural Products Lab, and the L.M. Montgomery Institute.

The VRE software is also the basis of the library's digital collections, including newspapers, magazines, books, audio, and video. Islandora is being used to create a range of digital resources that are valuable and accessible to the broader community, including IslandLives, which archives community and church histories from around Prince Edward Island, and IslandScholar, a repository for UPEI scholarly publications.

'As a society we benefit from knowledge created in the past because so much printed material has survived,' says Leggott. 'Now we must effect the same level of protection and stewardship of information that is digital. We have developed Islandora to help libraries and other institutions to do this.'

Islandora is catching the attention of researchers and universities around the world. The University of New Brunswick and the University of North Texas and Los Alamos have installed Islandora to manage and archive some of their data; and other major institutions are expected to follow.

This is the second time in the past year that Islandora has been nationally recognized. The Canadian Association of University Business Officers selected it as the top project in the Atlantic region for quality and productivity in 2009.

The Faculty of Science will host visitors from the University of Namibia, May 10 to May 14, 2010. The University of Namibia (UNAM) is the national university of the Republic of Namibia, located in Windhoek, the capital. Established by an act of National Assembly on 31 August 1992, UNAM has a student population of close to 10,000 students, and seven faculties: agriculture and natural resources, economics and management science, education, humanities and social sciences, law, medical and health sciences, and science.

On May 13 & 14, three presentations will be made on campus to inform the UPEI community about potential opportunities between the two institutions:

Thursday, May 13, 9:30 am, McDougall Hall 246

'The University of Namibia' by Professor O.D. Mwandemele, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs and Research, University of Namibia.

Thursday, May 13, 10.00 am, McDougall Hall 246

'The Namibian Experience' by Drs. Larry Hale & Stephen Howard, Departments of Biology & Computer Science, UPEI.

Friday, May 14, 9.15 am, McDougall Hall 246

'Science and Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Namibia' by Dr. M. Schneider, Executive Dean, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resources, and Professor E.M.R. Kiremire, Dean of Science, University of Namibia.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Contact Carol MacDonald at 902-566-6018 or carmacdonald@upei.ca for further information.