For the second year in a row, a team from UPEI’s School of Business has taken home the silver medal at the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Case Competition. The case team from UPEI, including Erin Devine, Robert McIsaac, Harrison Wood, and Megan Martin, competed in the qualifying round last November where they earned their chance to compete this winter at the championship round at the Greehey School of Business in San Antonio, Texas.

“NIBS is a prestigious international competition, and dozens of schools around the globe compete in the qualifying round each year,” said Dr. Juergen Krause, Dean of the School of Business. “To make it into the championship round and then to go on to win a silver medal two years in a row is an exceptional accomplishment. Congratulations to the students and their coach, Mary.”

UPEI’s team was one of only three universities from Canada to make the finals in Texas. Of the other 13 teams competing, two were from China, seven from countries in Europe (Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom), one from Peru, and three from the United States. The four-day competition was organized in a divisional round-robin format. In each round, students receive a business case that they have never seen before, and they then have three hours to read, analyze, strategize, and come up with a solution and implementation plan for the business’s problem. Immediately after the three-hour preparation period, students presented their solution to a panel of industry and academic judges, who then questioned the students on their solution. The teams that advanced to the quarter- and semi-final rounds did two cases a day on the last two days. The final two teams that emerged after five rounds of competition were UPEI and Carleton University. The UPEI team took home its second silver medal.

“I’m very proud of our team and the results we were able to achieve,” said team member Harrison Wood. “I thank the School of Business for preparing us and supporting us throughout this year.”

“NIBS was an invaluable experience,” said Robert McIsaac. “Not only did it assert the fact that UPEI provides some of the best business education in the world, but it provided the opportunity to see how other cultures approach business, and gave us a spotlight on an international stage.”

Team coach Mary Whitrow said, “These students did some amazing work throughout their marathon of a week in Texas and their perseverance and hard work was rewarded. Thank you to all the professors and the Dean of Business who have supported and helped these students achieve outstanding results for UPEI.”

A team of four students from UPEI’s School of Business made it to the final round of the 2016 John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC) held at Concordia University in Montreal. The team competed February 21-27 against two dozen teams from business schools around the world.

Members of the UPEI case team were Hannah Dawson, John Donaldson, Kate Kinsman, and Cullen Mullally. This was the team’s third competition together, having competed before at the 2015 Atlantic School of Business Case Competition (where they came in first) and the Scotiabank Ethics in Action Case Competition (where they came second).

JMUCC began with a divisional round-robin tournament. Teams received a score from judges after each match and the team with the most points in each division at the end of the round robin moved onto the final round.

In the first three rounds, teams had just three hours to read, analyze, strategize, and come up with a solution to a business case they had never seen before. They then presented to a panel of judges, who grilled the team with questions about their solution. The fourth and last round had a 24-hour preparation period, where students had access to internet and other resources, and even were able to interview a representative from the company featured in the case. The team achieved the highest score in their division and secured a coveted spot in the finals against the University of Alberta, Concordia University, University of Navarra (Spain), National University of Singapore, and Queensland University of Technology (Australia). In the final, the team re-presented their 24-hour case solution to a new panel of judges, which included the owners of the business. The team did not finish in the top three, but received excellent feedback from the judges.

"JMUCC gave me the opportunity to deal with and present to real, large-scale companies,” said Cullen Mullally. “This allowed me to apply my education in a practical setting, but also develop confidence around what I will be able to provide in the real-world of business. The knowledge and relationships I developed at JMUCC will be something I cherish forever."

“JMUCC was an amazing competition,” said Hannah Dawson. “We networked with—and competed with—students from the top business schools in Canada and around the world. Throughout the week, we were able to gain valuable feedback from industry judges. This experience helped us to raise our thinking to the next level.”

“JMUCC was the best experience of my academic career so far because I had the opportunity to meet wonderful people from around the world, and I was pushed harder than ever to produce some amazing work,” said Kate Kinsman.

Mary Whitrow was the coach of the UPEI case team. “I am so proud of the students for doing some of their best work at JMUCC. It is a rigorous competition, and they stepped up and showed that UPEI has strong students, a strong curriculum, and a strong case program.” 

April 16, 2016 is World Voice Day. More than 500 events around the world are drawing attention to the importance of the speaking and singing voice in everyday life. Two of these events will take place, back to back, on the campus of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) in Charlottetown. 

Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS) UPEI World Voice Day Celebration, 4:00 pm 

The first event is a series of short talks on research on the singing voice, followed by a short concert from members of the UPEI Multicultural Choir and Song Circle. This is all under the auspices of the AIRS project, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Dr. Annabel Cohen, professor of psychology and the director of AIRS, will give a brief overview of the scope of AIRS research which has been ongoing for seven years in PEI, across Canada, and in over a dozen countries world. Three of Dr. Cohen’s honours undergraduate students will also present. Jessica McKellar will talk on the recognition of popular music by members of three generations: university students, their parents and grandparents. Kyle Dutton and Eric DeSilva’s topic focuses on their study on a singing test (AIRS Test Battery of Singing Skills) completed by 40 UPEI student-athletes. Following these presentations, members of the AIRS Multicultural Choir and Song Circle will sing songs from Britain, Japan, China, Kenya, and Ukraine, and will lead a few traditional rounds of singing for those who would like to join in.

The event is in the SDU Main Building Faculty Lounge at 4:00 pm. A light pizza dinner will be provided to enable attendees to stay on campus and attend the second celebratory event.

Vocal Recital of Baritone Parker Clements, 7:30 pm

Parker Clements will present “Into My Own: A Senior Recital” as part of the UPEI Student Recital Series. The recital begins at 7:30 pm in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall. His program will include classics of the baritone repertoire such as Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Finzi’s Let Us Garlands Bring, and Barber’s Three Songs (Op.10) on poetry by James Joyce. Works by Handel, Mahler, and Mozart will also be featured. Clements will be accompanied by Frances McBurnie on piano. Admission is free.

Parker Clements is a graduating voice major in the Bachelor of Music program at the University of Prince Edward Island. He has completed his degree under the tutelage of professor Stephen Bouey. Clements is an alumnus of the National Youth Choir of Canada (2014) and will be returning to the group for its tour of Alberta this coming May. He has performed in Mavor Moore’s “A Christmas Carol” (Confederation Centre), “Le Grand Cercle” (Festival de l’Escaouette), and the title role in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” (UPEI Opera). Upon graduating, Clements intends to continue his vocal studies at the Master’s level in pursuit of a career in opera.

For more information, contact Annabel J. Cohen at acohen@upei.ca or phone 902-628-4325.

UPEI is proud to announce Elyse Cottrell has been awarded a 3M National Student Fellowship. The fellowship honours up to ten full-time college or undergraduate students across Canada who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their lives or at their school. Elyse certainly fits the bill.

Elyse is pursuing a double major at UPEI in diversity and social justice studies and psychology. In her nomination letter, Dr. Ann Braithwaite wrote that Elyse “embodies all the best attributes of student leadership—compassion and care for individuals while always questioning their larger social contexts, a dedication to changing the world around her and to doing the hard and time-consuming work of making that change happen, a passion for bringing people together and creating community, and an easy-going attitude which leads by modelling a way of being in the world that invites others to join her. I am excited to show you how her vision of leadership, her clear commitment to being a leader among her peers, and her ability to be a team player all make her an ideal candidate for this honour.”

In her profile on the 3M National Student Fellowship website, Elyse explains that at UPEI, she “found a way to express my passion for social justice.” Elyse helped create and run the Campus Life program. She is co-chair of the UPEI Rainbow Alliance. She started the Community Kitchen, to reduce food insecurity on campus. “Currently I am working on my honours research project looking at opinions on reproductive rights across Canada. I plan to pursue a PhD in Social Psychology where I will continue my work examining the effects that stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice have on society.”

“We are delighted that Elyse has been awarded a 3M National Student Fellowship,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, Vice-President Academic and Research. “This award is a very well-deserved recognition of her academic excellence, as well as her outstanding community outreach and organizing activities and her leadership abilities. As a 3M Student Fellow, Elyse joins an impressive roster of 3M Teaching Fellows at the university, providing yet another point of pride for our academic programs.”

Each cohort member of the 2016 3M Student Fellowship will receive an award of $5,000 to be spent at their discretion. Each cohort member will be invited to join the others at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) in June, where they will also participate in a 3M National Student Fellowship Program retreat. Awardees will receive a contribution towards their cost of travel to and accommodation during the conference. While at the conference, they will have the opportunity to develop a cross-Canadian collaborative project with other cohort members with the goal of enhancing teaching and learning at the post-secondary level. 

Congratulations, Elyse!

Dr. Andrew Tasker, professor of neuropharmacology at UPEI’s Atlantic Veterinary College, has been awarded an honorary professorship at Aarhus University (AU) in Denmark. Dr. Tasker is a globally respected researcher on brain structure and function in connection to diseases such as schizophrenia and epilepsy. This honorary professorship allows him to further his research collaborations and mentor students within the Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit (TNU) at AU’s Department of Clinical Medicine.

“I’m pleased with my new formal affiliation with Aarhus University,” said Dr. Tasker. “This makes it possible to advance my current collaborations with the faculty and students at both TNU and the Imaging Centre in Aarhus.”

Dr. Tasker’s research examines how the brain’s structure and function change in connection with specific neurological diseases before symptoms appear. In the case of schizophrenia and epilepsy, many years of increasing dysfunction in the brain can be seen before the symptoms show-up and lead to a diagnosis being made.

“By understanding how the brain changes before some symptoms are seen, we hope to identify early biomarkers for the disease and to find new therapeutic targets, which can be used to halt the development of the disease before it reduces the patient’s quality of life,” said Dr. Tasker.

Dr. Tasker is also part of the UPEI research team responsible for some of the earliest and most important testing of NA-1, a promising drug which The Globe and Mail called Canada’s first “blockbuster pharmaceutical” since insulin. NA-1 is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials at hospitals around the country. NA-1 has so far proven effective at lessening cell death with minimal side-effects in stroke victims.

“Dr. Tasker has been a pioneer in fundamental studies of the changes in structure and function of the brain that lead to debilitating neurological dysfunction,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, Vice-President Academic and Research. “We congratulate him on his appointment as an honorary professor at Aarhus University, which is further recognition of the international impact of his work.”

Dr. Tasker was awarded his honorary professorship at a ceremony on April 5.

Congratulations, Dr. Tasker!

The University of Prince Edward Island and TD Wealth Private Client Group Media will host a celebration of Women and Philanthropy on Thursday, April, 21, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, UPEI. During this event, a panel will present and discuss the findings of a TD report entitled "Time, Treasure, Talent: Canadian Women and Philanthropy." Published in 2014, the report was conducted independently by iNVESTOR ECONOMICS and provides reflections from the perspective of a group of female philanthropic leaders in our community. Some points from the report include:

•  Women are playing an increasingly important and influential role in the Canadian economy.
• Canadian women are likely to make more—and larger—charitable donations than men.
• Women and men are driven by different factors when making choices about donations.
• Women put greater emphasis on emotional connections with charities they support and do more research before donating.
• Women want to have long-term, open relationships with charities they support rather than be approached for one-time donations.
• Women feel that charities need to communicate better with donors, and they need to embrace new methods of communication, including social media.
• Women want to see more cooperation and consolidation among charities.
• Women feel that there needs to be more diversity among boards of directors of charitable organizations, which are currently dominated by men.

Featured speaker and panelist: Jo-Anne Ryan, VP Philanthropic Advisory Services, TD
Guest panelists: Alicia Bremner, Hon. Catherine Callbeck, Kathy O’Rourke, and Shauna Sullivan Curley, QC.

BIOGRAPHIES

FEATURED SPEAKER AND PANELIST
Jo-Anne Ryan is Vice President, Philanthropy, Wealth Advisory Services & Executive Director, Private Giving Foundation, TD Wealth. Jo-Anne joined TD Wealth in 2003. Jo-Anne leads the Philanthropic Advisory Services team within Wealth Advisory Services and is the executive director and architect of the Private Giving Foundation (PGF), the first donor-advised fund program launched by a financial institution in Canada that provides a structure to leave a lasting legacy in a simple and effective manner. Jo-Anne develops strategies to help clients in corporate philanthropy in their overall financial and estate planning.

Introducing Jo-Anne at the event will be Tara-Lynn Hughes, Senior Vice President of TD Canada Trust for Atlantic Region. Tara-Lynn is the proud leader of over 800 employees in 51 retail branches and support offices across all four Atlantic Provinces. Tara is responsible for delivering business results and growing market share, while also creating the legendary customer experiences that TD’s brand is built upon. A 20-year veteran of TD, Tara is an active member of TD’s Aboriginal Steering Committee and Women in Leadership Committees, and is an enthusiastic supporter of mentorship within the bank. She is also active in the community and chairs the “One TD” Atlantic Community Banking Community Banking Committee.

PANELISTS
Alicia Bremner is a proud UPEI alumna having received a Public Administration Certificate in 2007 and a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2009. Alicia also completed a certificate in Sports Management from the United States Sports Academy in 2010. She has been actively involved with UPEI since graduating as a past member of the UPEI Board of Governors and is currently president of the UPEI Alumni Association. Alicia has a passion for UPEI athletics where she previously coordinated the UPEI Men’s basketball academic program and continues to be an active financial supporter. She has worked in the IT industry for the past four and a half years with Cogsdale Corporation in Prince Edward Island and is currently working with Picis in Wakefield, Massachusetts, as a project coordinator.

Catherine Callbeck is a trailblazer for women in politics, provincially and nationally. In 1974 Catherine was elected to the PEI legislature and was named the first female minister of Health & Social Services. In 1998, Catherine was the first woman elected as the Member of Parliament for Malpeque and the second woman to be elected to the House of Commons. In 1993 Catherine was elected as leader of the Liberal party of PEI and served as premier of P.E.I. She made Canadian history, becoming the country's first elected woman premier. She was appointed to the Senate in 1997 and was named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network in 2006. In 2008 Catherine was an inductee to the Canadian Women in Politics Hall of Fame. In 2014 Catherine retired from politics. In 2015 Catherine was named to the Order of Canada and has received several recognitions over the years. Catherine has served as director on numerous boards.

Kathy O’Rourke was born and raised in Summerside, the youngest child of 11 to D. Alex and Kathleen MacDonald. Kathy graduated from UPEI in May of 1992 and earned her CA designation in September of 1993. Kathy started her career with Grant Thornton in 1991 and in October of 2014 joined the senior leadership team for the firm and became the managing partner for Prince Edward Island. In 2014 the Institute of Chartered Accountants bestowed the Fellowship designation for her work in the community and service to the profession. Over the past number of years, Kathy has served on various boards. 

Shauna Sullivan Curley, Q.C., is a recently retired deputy minister and lawyer who currently serves as part-time ethics and integrity commissioner for the provincial government. A lifelong community volunteer, she is a member of the UPEI Board of Governors, a director of the PEI Division of the Canadian Cancer Society, and an elder and trustee at the Kirk of St. James in Charlottetown.
 

The countdown to Convocation is on! 

All graduates are required to rent and wear a gown and hood to their Convocation ceremony on May 7, 2016. Graduating students will need to order their gown and hood on https://www.buildagrad.ca/upei by Monday, April 25, 2016. Students should order by this date to guarantee that a gown and hood will be available for them on Convocation Day.

For more information, visit upei.ca/convocation or contact Eileen Kinch at kinch@upei.ca.

The cost to rent convocation regalia is $25.00 + taxes (or $30 onsite). Prepaid regalia can be picked up on Friday, May 6 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, and on Saturday, May 7 starting at 8:00 am at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, room 114 upon presentation of a UPEI ID and the Gaspard online confirmation form. Regalia must be returned an hour and a half following the ceremony.
 

The University of Prince Edward Island values its relationship with the Island community and welcomes thousands of PEI residents along with off-Island visitors to campus facilities each year. One such campus facility is the UPEI Artificial Turf Field, which is primarily (80 per cent) used by Island community groups and residents.

The University has been aware for some time that the UPEI Artificial Turf Field was nearing its end of life and has been working on a replacement plan through a variety of fund-raising efforts. As part of its due diligence, UPEI commissioned a report to determine the current usability of the field. A consulting engineering company was engaged to perform the study and has now submitted its findings.

The assessment indicates that the UPEI Artificial Turf Field does not meet current industry performance guidelines, does not have any useable life left, and immediate replacement is recommended. Therefore, UPEI came to the difficult decision today to close the field, effective immediately.

“UPEI was looking forward to hosting our various community user groups at the UPEI Artificial Turf Field this spring and summer,” said Jackie Podger, Vice-President Administration and Finance. “In the interest of safety for all users, we felt that closing the field was necessary and the responsible thing to do.

The University has made community user groups aware of the situation and is currently working with them to find other venues for their events.
 

The fifteenth annual meeting of the Canadian Animal Health Laboratorians Network (CAHLN) will be held at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at the University of Prince Edward Island from June 5-8, 2016.

With the theme of “Collaboration in Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics and Animal Health,” the conference is of interest to animal and public health laboratorians, graduate and veterinary students, food-animal veterinarians (terrestrial and aquatic), and animal health regulatory personnel. This is only the second time that the conference will have been held at AVC and in Atlantic Canada.

Speakers will address such topics as diagnostic test validation (Dr. Ian Gardner, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Aquatic Epidemiology); mammalian and aquatic disease surveillance on a global scale (Dr. Brian Evans, World Health Organisation for Animal Health); collaboration in veterinary diagnostics and public health (Dr. Matthew W. Gilmour, Scientific Director General, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada); evolution of diagnostic technologies (Dr. François Elvinger, Executive Director, Animal Health Diagnostic Center, Cornell University); evolution of diagnostic pathology (Dr. Grant Maxie, Executive Director, Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph); animal health surveillance systems in Canada (Dr. Cheryl James, Canadian Food Inspection Agency); the role of industry in aquatic and terrestrial animal health and disease surveillance (Dr. Dianne Morrison, Marine Harvest, British Columbia—aquatic, and Dr. Daniel Hurnik, AVC—mammalian); update on aquatic diagnostics, aquatic health and surveillance(Dr. Raphael Vanderstichel, AVC) and wildlife disease surveillance in Canada (Dr. Craig Stephen, Canada Health Wildlife Cooperative). There will be a scientific session on AVC and animal health with presentations by Dr. Greg Keefe, Dr. Larry Hammell, Dr. Andrew Tasker, Dr. Chelsea Martin, Dr. Javier Sanchez, and Dr. Sophie St-Hilaire, all of AVC. There will also be two general scientific sessions with presentations by speakers from across Canada.

Additionally, the Canadian Association of Veterinary Pathologists (CAVP) and the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) will hold their annual meetings. A workshop on basic diagnostic test validation will be offered prior to the conference while the advanced diagnostic test validation and other courses offered by Epi-on-the-Island will take place after the CAHLN conference.

Please visit http://cahln-rctlsa.com for more information. To register for the conference, please visit http://cahln-rctlsa.com/online-registration/. Veterinarians, veterinary students, graduate students and veterinary residents are strongly encouraged to participate. Certificates documenting hours of continuing education will be provided to participants. The deadline for early bird registration is Friday, May 6. However, registrations will be accepted until the day of the conference.
 

University of Prince Edward Island Women’s Hockey Coach Bruce Donaldson is pleased to announce that Sydney, Nova Scotia native Kristen MacIntyre has committed to the Panthers for 2016–17.

MacIntyre, a 17-year-old defenceman, currently plays with the Nepean Junior Wildcats in Ontario’s Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and is in grade 12 at John McCrae Secondary School. She has been a member of Team Nova Scotia for the past four years, winning three Atlantic Challenge Cup Championships. In 2015, MacIntyre was an assistant captain with Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Winter Games, and last November competed at the U18 Women's Nationals as a member of Team Atlantic.

MacIntyre is very familiar with the UPEI campus having attended many summer camps at Andrew's Hockey School where she forged many new friendships. She says, “I have great memories of my summers in PEI and I am very excited to play the next four years here as a Panther.”

Coach Donaldson comments, “Kristen brings size, mobility, and experience to our lineup. The AUS league is very physical—time and space are hard to come by—and we need players that read and react well to different situations. Kristen comes from a great program in the PWHL and has additional game experience at both the ACC and U18 Nationals as a member of Team Atlantic.”

MacIntyre has been accepted into the Faculty of Science at UPEI and plans to complete a degree in kinesiology.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation
• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas