Action Plan IMPACT: Creating a culture of listening with students
A common thread woven throughout the UPEI Action Plan is to maintain an enhanced level of consultation across campus, which is further elaborated in Goal 3—to improve UPEI’s campus culture by creating a culture of listening and improving campus information sharing.
UPEI has increased the “ways of listening” through a variety of channels—town halls, listening tours, small-group gatherings, etc. To address, in part, Action 3.1.1.—“to create a culture of listening for students”—Dr. Wendy Rodgers, President and Vice-Chancellor, initiated a new way to listen with students last year. The first annual Student Engagement Mixer was held in March 2025, while the second event was held on February 26, 2026, at McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre, from 4:00–6:00 pm, attended by almost 100 students.
The purpose of this annual event is to understand the experiences of students to help drive meaningful change, as well as provide students with the opportunity to engage with members of the UPEI Board of Governors and UPEI’s senior leadership team. Students were provided with an open and welcoming space to discuss their experiences at UPEI, highlighting what is working, suggesting potential improvements, and sharing ideas.
Students were greeted at the entrance of the event by UPEI staff who asked them to register and fill out a ballot for a chance to win a tuition credit. Some non-identifiable data was also gathered during registration. For example, we learned that, of the 97 students who registered, 33.3% were from the Faculty of Science, 26.0% from the Faculty of Arts, 21.9% from the McDougall Faculty of Business, 9.4% from the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, and 3.1% each from the faculties of Education and Nursing and the Master of Cleantech Leadership and Transformation program.
Student participation by year was as follows: first year, 32%; second year, 22%; third year, 29%; and fourth year, 10%. The breakdown between undergraduate and graduate students was 88.5% to 11.5%, while 26% lived in residence, 55% off campus in Charlottetown, and 17% off campus outside of Charlottetown.
As students enjoyed appetizers from The Fox and Crow, they were asked to rotate through nine tables where they would have a chance to interact with 18 of UPEI’s senior leaders and members of the Board of Governors. Students were prompted to move to the next table every nine minutes by co-emcees Dr. Donna Hardy-Cox, Associate Vice-President, Students, and Anthony Gill, Director of Development and Alumni Engagement.
At each table, two senior leaders and/or Board members were assigned some “conversation starters,” but in most instances, the nine-minute chats were free-flowing, generating lots of discussion and great ideas across a variety of topics, including academics, residence/campus life, housing, food security, work-integrated learning, athletics and recreation, public transit/parking, and extracurricular activities. The feedback was noted at each table and gathered at the end of the event by the Office of the President team.
At the end of the mixer, President Rodgers, senior leaders, and board members drew names for the various door prizes. The winner of the tuition credit was Myra Pham, a third-year McDougall Faculty of Business accounting student.
We will be telling the stories of important progress on the UPEI Action Plan on a regular basis, under the “Action Plan IMPACT” banner. Articles will share how the Action Plan implementation activities are being operationalized, becoming entrenched in our culture and living on long past the plan—making real IMPACT. To submit your own Action Plan IMPACT story, contact communications@upei.ca. To view the last Action Plan IMPACT story, click here.
