ACENET is offering a free online Digital Research Summer School from June 2 to 20, 2025, for faculty and students across disciplines, from Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm AT (9:00 am to 4:30 pm ET).

ACENET has joined with the Compute Ontario Summer School (COSS 2025) and 11 other partners to offer a wide-ranging curriculum packed with over 40 courses. Delivered by experts in the field, sessions will cover topics in advanced research computing (ARC), high performance computing (HPC), research data management (RDM), and research software (RS).

Highlights:

• Participants pick and choose the course(s) they want to attend.
• Many courses include hands-on components.
• Courses range in length from 1.5 hours to three days.
• Course levels range from beginner to advanced.
• Topics include AI, machine learning, bioinformatics, GPU programming, advanced research computing basics, high-performance computing tools, programming languages, neuroanalytics, visualization, research data management, and more.

Space is limited, so we encourage you to register for your desired course(s) as soon as possible in order to avoid missing out. Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to chat with your local research consultant, or reach out to us at support@ace-net.ca with the subject line “COSS 2025”. For details and registration, go to https://training.computeontario.ca/coss2025.php

The school is presented by ACENET, CAC, Compute Ontario, SciNet, and SHARCNET, in partnership with Bioinformatics ca, Digital Research Alliance of Canada, HPC4Health, Ontario Brain Institute, OICR, RDM Network of Experts, and Scholars Portal.

IT Systems and Services (ITSS) will be performing upgrades to the network access switch between 6:00 am and 7:30 pm on Saturday, May 17, 2025. During this period, users in Don and Marion McDougall Hall (MCDH) will have no access to internet resources on wired or wireless networks.

ITSS apologizes for the inconvenience. For more information, contact Walter Pirch, ITSS, at (902)566-0792 or wpirch@upei.ca.

On Wednesday, May 21, ITSS will conduct a short maintenance on the myUPEI portal and related services from 8:00 to 11:00 pm. During this time, there may be intermittent access to and performance issues with myUPEI, Self-Service, and Colleague.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff who may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca and Outlook email using https://outlook.office.com.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS help desk at 902-566-0465.

Hello Everyone,

Cyber security is often seen as something that’s inflicted on a community of users in ways that make their digital lives much more difficult, but there is a train of thought that says better outcomes come from a process of inclusion and consultation. Toward that end, I am inviting any and all members of the UPEI community to an "ask me (or tell me) anything" session on Thursday, May 22, at 12:00 pm in AVC 207N. Anyone who is interested in anything at all to do with cyber security in general, or at UPEI specifically, is encouraged to join the session with questions, suggestions, or complaints. I will do my best to answer any questions, some of them truthfully.

This will be an in-person session. For those who are unable to be on campus, I will be hosting similar sessions in the future, alternating between online and in-person.

Who I am: My name is Dave Kubert, and I’m the new(ish) Director of Information Security and Information Management here at UPEI. I’ve worked in higher university IT and cyber security for my entire career and have been with UPEI since late January.

The UPEI Writing Centre has re-opened for the first Summer Session and is offering appointments until June 19. Bookings will be managed by the coordinator. Please email jschneider@upei.ca

Remember to check for additional announcements on the Writing Centre door (RL 274) and our Instagram page (upeiwritingcentre).

UPEI Bachelor of Integrated Studies (BIS) program invites you to attend an information session. 

UPEI's Bachelor of Integrated Studies program is specifically designed for mature learners who are looking to earn a university degree. This session will include general information and guidance on completing an application. 

Attendees will be given a promo code to have their application fee waived ($50 CAD value). 

Schedule of live online information sessions:

• Tuesday, May 20, 6:00 pm (ADT)

• Wednesday, May 28, 12:00 noon (ADT)

• Wednesday, May 28, 4:30 pm  (ADT)

Link to join the session: UPEI BIS Information Session

In-person meeting: Friday, May 30, 12:00 noon (ADT), Robertson Library, Room 209

For more details on the program and entry requirements, visit UPEI Integrated Studies. If you have questions regarding the program or application, please contact bis@upei.ca.  

Please feel free to share this message with anyone who may be interested in attending a session.

All faculty and staff are invited to attend a Celebration of Colleagues on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 10:00 am--12:00 pm in Room 121S, UPEI Performing Arts Centre. 

In recognition of the outstanding contributions of our faculty and staff and their dedication to students and community, the annual University Awards of Excellence and 25-year Service Awards will be presented at this event. Before the awards ceremony, there will be a reception beginning at 10:00 am, providing an opportunity to mingle with this year's recipients. Refreshments will be available. The ceremony will start at 10:30 am.

Please join us on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 10:00 am--12:00 pm in Room 121S, UPEI Performing Arts Centre. 

The next Island Lecture Series, hosted by the Institute of Island Studies at UPEI, will feature guest speaker Heidi Hearing presenting, “The “family farm”: A keyword in Prince Edward Island land politics. The lecture will be held in the Faculty Lounge of SDU Main Building on May 20 at 7:00 pm. (This lecture was previously scheduled for March but was postponed due to weather.) Admission is free and all are welcome.

Hearing’s talk will deal with the struggle to define the “family farm” in PEI and how this ambiguity helps or hinders the work of farmers, agribusiness, and government. It will discuss how participant definitions of the “family farm” contrasted with how they farmed and were sometimes at odds with their ideals. This talk will also shed light on the possible reasons that agribusiness and governments look to the pastoral romanticism of “family farm.”

Heidi Hearing lives in Charlottetown and has recently completed her MA in Anthropology from Memorial University. Her thesis is entitled: “Three keywords in the campaign against farmland consolidation and the loss of small farms through the lens of the Prince Edward Island Chapter of the National Farmers Union." 

The fifth UPEI Board of Governors meeting of the 2024-2025 Academic Year will take place on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 102, Alumni Hall.  All board meetings generally include sessions that are open to the public. Certain agenda items, including but not limited to human resources discussions, may require the board to go into a closed session. For logistical purposes, members of the public who wish to attend the open session of a meeting are asked to contact board@upei.ca one week prior to the meeting. Members of the public wishing to attend the public portion of a meeting must adhere to the UPEI Board of Governors' Meeting Observer Guidelines.

Grab a cup of fresh coffee at the UPEI Bookstore for $2.50 plus tax. The bookstore, which is located in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre, is open from 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see all the new items arriving this month. Shop online 24/7 at upei.ca/bookstore. 

IT Systems and Services (ITSS) will be performing upgrades to the network access switch between 6:00 am and 7:30 pm on Saturday, May 17, 2025. During this period, users in Don and Marion McDougall Hall (MCDH) will have no access to internet resources on wired or wireless networks.

ITSS apologizes for the inconvenience. For more information, contact Walter Pirch, ITSS, at (902)566-0792 or wpirch@upei.ca.

The Sherlock Lecture is a free public lecture open to all. Pope Francis' biographer Austen Ivereigh will join virtually to share on the "Heart of Pope Francis," on Tuesday, May 27, at 7:00 pm in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242.  The Sherlock Lecture is hosted in conjunction with the Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry National Conference being hosted by the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre.

The UPEI Writing Centre has re-opened for the first Summer Session and is offering appointments until June 19. Bookings will be managed by the coordinator. Please email jschneider@upei.ca

Remember to check for additional announcements on the Writing Centre door (RL 274) and our Instagram page (upeiwritingcentre).

The Bachelor of Science in Applied Climate Change and Adaptation program successfully completed their first external review under the Quality Assurance policy of Senate. The External Reviewers of the Advisory Team engaged in a detailed evaluation of the program’s structure, content, teaching methods, student support services, and alignment with current and emerging needs in climate change science and adaptation strategies. They met with faculty, staff, students, and academic administrators during the two-day, in-person site visit. The reviewers submitted a report with their recommendations and observations. The program faculty, in response to the reviewers’ recommendations, prepared a multi-year forward-looking and impactful action plan, which was presented to the Academic Planning and Curriculum Committee (APCC) for approval and the program’s continual improvements in teaching, learning, research, and service. 

The Bachelor of Arts in Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture (ACLC) program recently completed their first external review under the Quality Assurance policy of Senate. The Advisory Team reviewed the self-study report prepared by the program faculty and met with faculty, staff, students, and academic administrators during the two-day, in-person site visit. The reviewers submitted a report with their recommendations and observations. The program faculty, in response to the reviewers’ recommendations, prepared a multi-year action plan, which was presented to the Academic Planning and Curriculum Committee (APCC) for approval and continual improvements in teaching, learning, research, and service. 

The Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy program recently completed a cyclical review under the Quality Assurance policy of Senate. The Advisory Team reviewed the self-study report prepared by the program faculty and met with faculty, staff, students and academic administrators during the two-day virtual site visit. The reviewers submitted a report with their recommendations and observations. The program faculty, in response to the reviewers’ recommendations, prepared a multi-year action plan which was presented to the Academic Planning and Curriculum Committee (APCC) for approval and continual improvements in teaching, learning, research and service. 

All faculty and staff are invited to attend a Celebration of Colleagues on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 10:00 am--12:00 pm in Room 121S, UPEI Performing Arts Centre. 

In recognition of the outstanding contributions of our faculty and staff and their dedication to students and community, the annual University Awards of Excellence and 25-year Service Awards will be presented at this event. Before the awards ceremony, there will be a reception beginning at 10:00 am, providing an opportunity to mingle with this year's recipients. Refreshments will be available. The ceremony will start at 10:30 am.

Please join us on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 10:00 am--12:00 pm in Room 121S, UPEI Performing Arts Centre. 

Shop for your favourite UPEI grad and save 20% on clothing and giftware from May 12 to 16. We're open Monday to Friday 9:00 - 4:00 or shop online 24/7 at upei.ca/bookstore. 

The Department of Student Affairs is offering drop-in academic advising for undergraduate students.

Drop-ins will be held from 2:00–4:00 pm and 5:00–7:00 pm, Thursday, May 15 at Robertson Library, Room 264 – LINC Lab.

Advising will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

**These are short, drop-in sessions so please do as much planning as possible before you attend.

For questions, please contact Student Affairs at: studentserv@ upei.ca or 902-566-0488.
 

University of Prince Edward Island is hosting the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) 2025 Atlantic Regional Meeting in Charlottetown June 26 to 27. This event will focus on the future of international education through a series of sessions, roundtables and networking activities.

CBIE’s Atlantic Regional Meeting is an annual gathering of international education practitioners. It is an opportunity to share knowledge and resources and keep abreast of immigration and other changes in the sector. It also serves as an annual networking event for international education practitioners and is a precursor to the national conference held each November.

Registration is now open for the CBIE Atlantic Regional Meeting.