You're invited to submit stories, announcements, or departmental updates to UPEI's newsletter, the Campus Connector. The submission deadline for the next edition is Monday, March 3 by 5:00 pm. Submissions must follow these guidelines: -be emailed to Sheila Kerry at communications@upei.ca -sent in a Microsoft Word or plain text document -be no longer than 250 words The editors reserve the right to edit content, will not consider incomplete submissions, and cannot guarantee that all submitted materials will be published. If you have any questions or comments, please contact communications@upei.ca. Not receiving the Campus Connector? To subscribe, please email communications@upei.ca to get your email address on the list!

You're invited to submit stories, announcements, or departmental updates to UPEI's newsletter, the Campus Connector. The submission deadline for the next edition is Monday, March 3 by 5:00 pm. Submissions must follow these guidelines: -be emailed to Sheila Kerry at communications@upei.ca -sent in a Microsoft Word or plain text document -be no longer than 250 words The editors reserve the right to edit content, will not consider incomplete submissions, and cannot guarantee that all submitted materials will be published. If you have any questions or comments, please contact communications@upei.ca. Not receiving the Campus Connector? To subscribe, please email communications@upei.ca to get your email address on the list!

On February 26, the new Student Diversity Office and the Diversity and Social Justice Studies Program will be hosting an ‘Anti-Bullying’ Awareness Day, as part of the national Pink Shirt Day. This day will consist of a number of events, including an information session and displays in the Murphy Student Centre from 11 am - 1 pm, and a screening of the documentary “Toilet Training” at the Wave at 3:30 pm. After the documentary, Dr. Ann Braithwaite will facilitate a conversation surrounding the connection between this documentary and various forms of bullying. Please come by and see the displays, enter the prize draw, and show your support by wearing pink. For more information, contact Nabila Acra at sdo@upei.ca or Treena Smith at trlsmith@upei.ca.

UPEI student group Enactus will host "Financially Fit" on Tuesday, March 4 from 12:00-1:30 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Glenn Trueman, Branch Manager at CIBC Queen Street will lead the presentation that is focused on personal budgeting, debt, loan applications, credit cards, and more. "Financially Fit" is a project hosted by UPEI's student group for the Enactus Canada Financial Education Challenge, where UPEI's team will be competing at on March 7. For more information, please contact Scott Landry at srlandry@upei.ca. All are welcome to attend.

The Canadian Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (CAVEPM) and Epi on the Island summer courses will be hosted at the AVC from June 5-13. Every year, this conference provides an opportunity to bring together students, researchers, and policy-makers working in the area of animal and human population health. Any research including a population health approach fits with the vision of CAVEPM. Every year, the conference venue provides pre-and post-conference courses. This year, we again have two excellent courses. The pre-conference course is on the assessment of bias and how that can be quantified in observational epidemiological studies. This course will be taught by Drs. Ian Dohoo and Henrik Stryhn. The post-conference course will be on the analysis of genomic information and its use to track diseases and their determinants. Drs. Kim Halpin and Peter Durr from Australia will visit the island to deliver this novel course. More information about the CAVEPM conference and courses can be found at: http://conferences.upei.ca/cavepm2014/ Those working in the area of human, animal, and environmental health are encouraged to submit an abstract for this conference and/or participate in this event. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Javier Sanchez at 566-0803 or jsanchez@upei.ca The deadline for abstract submissions is March 6, and the deadline for an early-bird registration discount is March 31.

On Friday, February 28, at 10:30 am in AVC's Lecture Theatre B, Bradley Haltli (Candidate for Adjunct Faculty) will present a special seminar entitled “Marine Gold: Bacterial Natural Products Research at UPEI.” All are welcome to attend. Haltli is currently employed as Research Manager, Kerr Marine Natural Products Lab, Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, UPEI as well as Senior Research Scientist- Nautilus Bioscience Canada Inc. He received his Masters in Biology at Dalhousie University.

All graduates are required to wear a hood and/or gown to their convocation ceremony on May 10, 2014. To ensure graduates have high quality and proper gowns and hoods for their special day, UPEI is introducing a new, online graduation gown rental service. Offered through Gaspard, a third-party company known for its high-quality academic regalia, the rental service will ensure more effective management and distribution of convocation gowns and hoods. Graduating students, as well as faculty and staff members, will need to register online on the UPEI Convocation webpage, beginning March 24 through April 19, 2014, to preorder academic hoods and gowns through Gaspard Gown Service. Students are encouraged to register during this time frame as this will guarantee that a gown and hood will be available for them on Convocation Day. The cost to rent convocation regalia is $16 + taxes (or $20 after April 19) for students, or $25 + taxes for faculty/staff. Prepaid regalia can be picked up on May 9 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, and on May 10 starting at 8:00 am (location to be determined) upon presentation of a UPEI ID and the Gaspard online confirmation form. Regalia must be returned an hour and a half following the ceremony. For more information, visit the UPEI Convocation webpage or contact Eileen Kinch at kinch@upei.ca or Cathy Toombs at toombs@upei.ca .

The Road to Halifax for the AUS Men's Basketball Championship will be packed with Panthers! Your UPEI Panthers take on the Cape Breton Capers Friday night at 8:15 pm for their quarterfinal match up. The Metro Centro Centre will be alive with excitement! Get your tickets now! $10 floor seats are still available for Friday night, and for every UPEI game. There's only 75 tickets available, so drop by or call Panther Central at 566-0368. All purchased floor seats will be available for pick up at the UPEI Panther Table in the Metro Centre Concourse on Friday from 6:00 pm until game time. For other ticket information, contact the Ticket Atlantic Box Office at 902-451-1221 or visit www.ticketatlantic.com. Panther fans are asked to sit in section 6. Also, Panther green t-shirts are available for purchase at Panther Central now, and will be available at the UPEI Panther Table Friday night. Go Panthers go!

The Atlantic Veterinary College will host a community workshop entitled “Care of the Geriatric Pet” on Wednesday, March 5, in Lecture Theatre A, from 7 to 8:30 pm. With advances in veterinary medicine, proper nutrition, and increased awareness of pet owners, pets are living longer lives. How do owners prepare for, and provide the best care during, their pet’s senior years? At what age is a pet considered senior or geriatric? Dr. Peter Foley, assistant professor of small animal internal medicine, will discuss common diseases of older pets, how to spot symptoms of potential illnesses or problems, and how to handle their special needs. He will also present information on end of life issues and euthanasia. Everyone is welcome. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Donations to the AVC Friends and Family are gratefully accepted. For information, call (902) 566-0589 or visit upei.ca/avc.

Dr. Tyson MacCormack, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mount Allison University, will present a seminar on Wednesday, February 26 at 12:30 pm. Dr. MacCormack’s presentation is entitled “Nanoparticle-Protein Interactions and Their Consequences to Physiology and Metabolism.” The seminar will be held in the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre, Lecture Theatre Room 212.

The Atlantic Veterinary College will host a community workshop entitled “Care of the Geriatric Pet” on Wednesday, March 5, in Lecture Theatre A, from 7 to 8:30 pm. With advances in veterinary medicine, proper nutrition, and increased awareness of pet owners, pets are living longer lives. How do owners prepare for, and provide the best care during, their pet’s senior years? At what age is a pet considered senior or geriatric? Dr. Peter Foley, assistant professor of small animal internal medicine, will discuss common diseases of older pets, how to spot symptoms of potential illnesses or problems, and how to handle their special needs. He will also present information on end of life issues and euthanasia. Everyone is welcome. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Donations to the AVC Friends and Family are gratefully accepted. For information, call (902) 566-0589 or visit upei.ca/avc.

The next UPEI on-site training session in animal use and care will be held Wednesday, March 12, 1:00 - 4:00 pm in The McCain Foundation Learning Commons Rm 287N, AVC. This will be a three-hour training session with handout, based on CCAC Recommended Syllabus (exam included). The Canadian Council of Animal Care (CCAC) requires that all personnel involved with the use of animals in research, teaching, testing, and service take this course. (A refresher course is required every five years). Please notify me by email animalcare@upei.ca by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, March 5 if you or any of your staff will be attending this session.

On April 15, 9-11 am, and April 16 1:30-3:30 pm, Workplace Safety Inspections sessions will take place in the Robertson Library, room 235. In this seminar, participants will learn ways to prepare, inspect, report, and follow up on workplace hazards. The workshop uses group and individual activities involving common hazard scenarios and sample forms to guide you along in your next workplace safety inspection. Please register for any of these sessions through Debbie McKie (dmckie@upei.ca) Note that other Occupational Health and Safety training opportunities are available through WCB at this link: http://www.wcb.pe.ca/DocumentManagement/Document/pub_ohsseminarschedule…

On Wednesday, February 26, 1:30-3:30 pm, "Speak Up for Workplace Safety" seminar will take place in the Duffy Science Centre - lecture theatre 135. This seminar is intended to motivate workers to challenge the silence that can lead to unsafe practices and conditions. Talking to the boss or a co-worker about safety can be difficult. This session will help workers understand why there is often a culture of silence in our workplace and learn ways to overcome it, and will demonstrate one communication technique to bring safety issues to the forefront. Please register for this session through Debbie McKie (dmckie@upei.ca) Note that other Occupational Health and Safety training opportunities are available through WCB at this link: http://www.wcb.pe.ca/DocumentManagement/Document/pub_ohsseminarschedule…

Student Affairs has created the new Student Diversity Office. This office, under the leadership of a part-time student coordinator, will facilitate initiatives surrounding diversity and social justice issues pertaining to students. For more information, contact Treena Smith at trlsmith@upei.ca or Nabila Acra at sdo@upei.ca.

On February 26, the new Student Diversity Office and the Diversity and Social Justice Studies Program will be hosting an ‘Anti-Bullying’ Awareness Day, as part of the national Pink Shirt Day. This day will consist of a number of events, including an information session and displays in the Murphy Student Centre from 11 am - 1 pm, and a screening of the documentary “Toilet Training” at the Wave at 3:30 pm. After the documentary, Dr. Ann Braithwaite will facilitate a conversation surrounding the connection between this documentary and various forms of bullying. Please come by and see the displays, enter the prize draw, and show your support by wearing pink. For more information, contact Nabila Acra at sdo@upei.ca or Treena Smith at trlsmith@upei.ca.

The Accounting Office will be implementing a new petty cash procedure going forward. This procedure is detailed here (http://www.upei.ca/accounting/petty-cash). Over the next few weeks all current petty cash holders and department authorities will be contacted to assist them in the conversion to the new procedure. In the meantime, if you have questions please contact Deidre Smith, Accounting Office Manager Ext .0470, dasmith@upei.ca.

At tomorrow's Graduate Research on Tap, join two UPEI graduate students for discussions about the language of rats... and about how island fishing communities are learning to adapt. The event begins 7 pm, Tuesday, February 25 at the Wave in UPEI's W. A. Murphy Student Centre. The first discussion will be led by Daphne Gill, a recent post doctoral fellow in Biomedical Sciences. The title of her discussion is "What does the rat say? Investigating rat communication." Emily Thomas, a student in the Masters of Arts - Island Studies program, will lead the second discussion entitled "Dragged and Trapped: An examination of island fishing communities in Newfoundland and Maine.” Sound interesting? Join us! Graduate Research on Tap is a series of public discussions with UPEI graduate student researchers. Presented by the UPEI Student Union, the UPEI Graduate Student Association, and the Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies.

Student Affairs has created the new Student Diversity Office. This office, under the leadership of a part-time student coordinator, will facilitate initiatives surrounding diversity and social justice issues pertaining to students. For more information, contact Treena Smith at trlsmith@upei.ca or Nabila Acra at sdo@upei.ca.

On February 26, the new Student Diversity Office and the Diversity and Social Justice Studies Program will be hosting an ‘Anti-Bullying’ Awareness Day, as part of the national Pink Shirt Day. This day will consist of a number of events, including an information session and displays in the Murphy Student Centre from 11 am - 1 pm, and a screening of the documentary “Toilet Training” at the Wave at 3:30 pm. After the documentary, Dr. Ann Braithwaite will facilitate a conversation surrounding the connection between this documentary and various forms of bullying. Please come by and see the displays, enter the prize draw, and show your support by wearing pink. For more information, contact Nabila Acra at sdo@upei.ca or Treena Smith at trlsmith@upei.ca.