Campus Notices

ITSS will be migrating staff, faculty, and student devices onto our new network on November 25. Wired and wireless services in Dalton Hall will be intermittently disrupted between 8 am and noon. No action is required from staff, faculty, or students in Dalton Hall. 

If you experience any issues after this migration window, please reboot your computer. If you are still having connectivity issues after a reboot, please email helpdesk@upei.ca or call the Help Desk at 902-566-0465. 

Thank you, 

The ITSS Team 

Show up and write part of a proposal, lit review, thesis chapter, end of semester assignment …. Really, any writing project will do. Bring your favorite morning beverage, your laptop, books, and earbuds if you want background music, and get started. Studies show that academics tend to write more and more easily when they write together. SU&W sessions help writers focus and work more efficiently because the sessions are designed to limit distractions and “contain” the very time, place, and duration of a writing stretch. Consider making a date with a fellow graduate student (or colleague) who can be your “accountabilibuddy”— and make showing up even easier. Drop in on Tuesday or Friday mornings at 9:30 am at RL 230.

The UPEI Working Group for Online- and Technology-Supported Learning invites faculty, staff, and administrators to share their thoughts about the future of online learning at UPEI through an online consultation survey. There is a companion survey for students circulated by email to their UPEI accounts.  

By May 2026, all universities in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick will be required to develop an institutional framework for online- and technology-supported learning that is aligned with the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission’s Guidelines for Institutional Frameworks for Online- and Technology-Supported Learning.  A working group of faculty, staff, and students at UPEI has recently started to work on the development of an institutional framework which will guide the development of high quality, student-focused online and technology supported learning for UPEI.

The working group appreciates and thanks colleagues and students for taking time during this busy point in the semester to provide their input into the development of this framework for online- and technology-supported learning at UPEI. The consultation survey will be open until November 22, 2023, at 12:00 am (midnight).      

Complete the survey today (for the staff, faculty, and administrators).

Come out and take care of YOU at the UPEI Self-Care Fair on Wednesday, November 22, between 10:00 am--2:00 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Visit over 20 informative and interactive booths that will focus on self-care including acupuncture, reflexology, Reiki, body composition scanning, reflexology, blood pressure/glucose testing, COVID-19 vaccine boosters, nutrition, mental health, physical activity, and more. There will be free food and prizes. We will also accept non-perishable food donations in support of the UPEI Campus Food Bank.

The search committee for the Dean of Sustainable Design Engineering announces upcoming presentations by each of the three finalist candidates. Since the search began in June, the committee has conducted a comprehensive search and selected the following finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. Presentations are scheduled on the following dates and times.

Dr. Ali Akgunduz is a professor and Associate Dean, Academic Programs, at Concordia University. He received a BS (1992) from Gazi University, Turkey, and an MBA (1996) and PhD (2001) in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  As associate dean at Concordia since 2012, he has led the faculty's accreditation process for all nine undergraduate engineering programs and continual improvement of academic programs. From 2003 to 2008, he served as the Co-op program director. His research interests include airline operations, and decision support system design, using artificial intelligence, including 70 journal and conference papers in these fields. Dr. Akgunduz has received an IIE Excellence Award and Distinguished Professor Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Canadian Society of Industrial Engineers.

  • Public Presentation: November 15, 2:30–3:30 pm, AVC 207N

Dr. Regina Lee is a professor of space engineering at York University. She received a BASc (1994) in Engineering Science, MASc (1995), and PhD (2000) in Space Engineering from the University of Toronto. From 2018 to 2019, she was the Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies. Between 2013 and 2017, she served as chair of the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering. Dr. Lee has co-authored over 100 journal and conference papers. Her research interests lie in nanosatellite technologies including micro-propulsion, actuators, remote sensing, and space object tracking. At York University, she has secured over $10 million in research funding, including a $4.2 million CFI project to establish York's first comprehensive microfabrication facility where she served as the founding director. Dr. Lee received the AKCSE Women in Science and Engineering Award in 2022, and the KOFST Engineer of the Year Award in 2020.

  • Public Presentation: November 16, 9:00– 0:00 am, AVC 201N

Dr. Yudong (David) Yao is a professor of electrical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. At Stevens, he served as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2007 to 2018. He received a BS and MS (1985) from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and a PhD (1988) from Southeast University, Nanjing, all in electrical engineering. His research interests lie in machine learning, sensors and signals, telehealth, and AI medicine. Dr. Yao has (co-)secured over $10 million in research grants, and his publications have been widely cited (h-index of 51 with over 10,000 citations). Prior to Stevens, he was a senior engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego, and a technical staff member at Spar Aerospace in Montreal. Dr. Yao is a Fellow of several professional associations, including IEEE and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

  • Public Presentation: November 22, 9:00– 10:00 am,  AVC 205N

All are welcome to attend. For any who are unable to attend, the presentations will be recorded and available afterward for viewing from a secure site. Paper copies of each candidate’s CV will be available for viewing in the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research, Kelley 205. Following each presentation, you are invited to provide feedback on the candidate’s suitability for the role to vpar@upei.ca. All feedback will be considered by the committee in its deliberations.

When working with large sets of numbers, it is often more useful to display the information graphically using histograms, scatter plots, bar charts, box plots, and other depictions. This workshop teaches participants how to gain insights into data through visualization using R as the programming language. Participants will learn how to create simple scatterplots, histograms, and box plots; compare the plotting features of base R and the ggplot2 package; plot with ggplot2; plot time series data; and arrange and export plots. Basic knowledge of R is recommended, although not mandatory.

DETAILS & REGISTER

This is the second session of our two-part series. This workshop will focus on collaborative development workflows using Git-collaboration sites like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, and will demonstrate how to work with branches, issue tracking, contribute to projects using pull-/merge-requests, code-review, how to run CI/CD-pipelines and use other common features of these platforms. Prerequisite: basic experience using Git version control, participation in the 21 November workshop, or attendance at the Git lecture of a software carpentry workshop.

DETAILS & REGISTER

Version control is the practice of managing and sharing changes to documents, programming code, websites, or any other files to keep track of what’s been changed, by whom, when, and why. All previous versions of files are saved, and you can even revert to a previous version. Git-portal sites, like GitHub or GitLab, offer many useful features to facilitate collaborative development. This is a two-part series. In this beginner-level first session, we will show you how to create a repository, record changes to files, explore and restore from the recorded history, and resolve conflicts (when one member overwrites another’s changes).

DETAILS & REGISTER

The third meeting of the UPEI Senate will take place on Friday, November 24, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in Room 128B of the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering building. All meetings of Senate are open to members of the University community, although for certain in-camera items (e.g., granting of degrees), only senators may be present. While Senate is an in-person meeting, to facilitate inclusion, under special circumstances members of the University community may request a Zoom connection when they are unable to attend in person. Only members of Senate are permitted to address the Senate unless otherwise recognized by the Chair. 

Google has announced the retirement of the Google Jamboard application.

From now until October 1, 2024, the Jamboard application will continue to function normally. From October 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024, the app will be placed in “view-only” mode to give you time to back up your Jam files.

While the app is in “view-only” mode, you’ll no longer be able to create new or edit existing Jams on any platform, including the web, iOS, Android, and Jamboard devices. On December 31, 2024, Google will shut down the Jamboard application, and you will no longer be able to access your Jam files. Any remaining Jam files will be deleted. 

Prior to December 31, 2024, you can export your Google Jamboard content following the instructions posted here: Export your Jams - Jamboard Help (google.com)

As an alternative to Google Jamboard, Microsoft Whiteboard is currently available for all UPEI M365 accounts.

With the release of the UPEI Review Report, the University has coordinated two confidential processes to support faculty and staff who have experienced harm from harassment, sexual violence, or discrimination at UPEI. 

Confidential third-party personal counselling:

The UPEI Health and Wellness Centre has engaged a psychologist to meet individually with faculty and staff, by appointment. Employees may email Caylin Jenkins at cbjenkins@upei.ca, indicating “Appointment required” in the subject line. Caylin will coordinate with the psychologist and confirm the time and location of the appointment with the employee. 

Making a confidential disclosure:

People have asked about the process for making disclosures of incidents of harassment or discrimination by senior executive members of the University. The University has established an independent third-party process to address any such issues with Resonance Inc., a multidisciplinary human resources firm, based in Saint John, NB, that specializes in workplace assessments. The contact person at Resonance is Trisha Perry, who may be reached at tperry@resonanceinc.ca or (506)799-0412. 

For more information, go to https://www.upei.ca/response-to-independent-review/community-support

Presenter: Manzura Khan

Title: "Potential Impacts of Climate Change on American Lobster (Homorus Americanus) Fishery in Prince Edward Island, Canada"

Thursday, November 23, 2023, 9:00 am

Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 329

Everyone is welcome.

Research Ethics Board (REB) applications involving "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI REB. The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, November 24, 2023, for review at the December meeting.

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 materials are received.

All research compliance applications, including for the REB, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal (https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/). Instructions for using the site are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca for more information about the Researcher Portal, or the REB application, review, and approval process.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, November 24, 2023. These applications will be reviewed at the December meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI  Researcher Portal. Information about the Researcher Portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the Researcher Portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

ITSS will be migrating staff, faculty, and student devices onto our new network on November 25. Wired and wireless services in Dalton Hall will be intermittently disrupted between 8 am and noon. No action is required from staff, faculty, or students in Dalton Hall. 

If you experience any issues after this migration window, please reboot your computer. If you are still having connectivity issues after a reboot, please email helpdesk@upei.ca or call the Help Desk at 902-566-0465. 

Thank you, 

The ITSS Team 

The Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre is pleased to share our 2023 fall newsletter with you! 

Like us on our Facebook page.

DYKT most Android phones let you double-tap the power button to turn on the camera? You can also use volume keys to focus and take the shot. Long press on either to start a video recording.

Dr. Jason Stull, candidate for the Department of Health Management's tenure-track faculty position of One Health and Infection Preventionist, will deliver the following research seminar:

Title:  “One Health and Infection Prevention: We Can Do Better… but How?”
Speaker:  Jason Stull, VMD, MPVM, PhD, DACVPMAssistant Professor, Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, UPEI
When: Wednesday, November 22, 2023, 11:00 am
Where: 286AN, AVC Learning Commons

Dr. Stull an Assistant Professor at the Atlantic Veterinary College and the Ohio State University, College of Veterinary Medicine. He holds a veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Master's degree in Preventive Veterinary Medicine from the University of California at Davis, and PhD in veterinary infectious disease from the University of Guelph. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Over the past 20 years, he had been involved in One Health and controlling and preventing infectious diseases in animals and people. His employment has spanned experiences in private practice, state public health, and academia. He has taught at the DVM and graduate levels and conducted research on these topics with over 50 peer-reviewed authored publications, 8 invited book chapters, and 25 successfully funded grants. He has led and helped to develop two university veterinary hospital infection control programs, including serving as the Chair and Infection Control Officer for AVC’s Infection Control Committee and IPC team.

Depending upon the work requirements of University departments, the Christmas holiday schedule will be in effect from December 25, 2023, through January 1, 2024, inclusive.  Office and regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. 

Payroll deadlines: 

For the December 22 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., are due by noon on November23. Timesheets/overtime are due December 11 on 10:00 am. 

For the January 5 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., are due by noon on December 7. Timesheets/overtime are due on January 2 at 10:00 am. 

For the January 19 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., are due by noon on December 21. Timesheets/overtime are due on January 8. 

Additional information regarding the Christmas holiday schedule can be found at MyUPEI

November 28 is Giving Tuesday—a global day of giving where the world UN1TES to celebrate generosity and make a difference!

This year, UPEI’s Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign is dedicated to supporting UPEI Athletics and Recreation!

Your support is the KEY to empowering our student-athletes to reach their full potential, both academically and athletically, and create club sport and recreation opportunities for our campus community!  

Every donation made to UPEI Athletics and Recreation on or before Giving Tuesday will be generously MATCHED by our AMAZING FRIENDS—John Horrelt, Donnie MacFadyen, Bruce Donaldson—and the UPEI Alumni Association, up to a total of $15,000, which will DOUBLE your IMPACT!

Please GIVE what you can…your act of generosity matters! Spread the word to friends and family and let’s come together to show our Panther Pride this Giving Tuesday!

Donate today by visiting upei.ca/donate or by calling 902-894-2888. Thank you for your SUPPORT!