The following message from President Abd-El-Aziz was issued to the University community on Wednesday, September 5, 2018.

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

With the 2018–2019 academic year about to begin, I thank you for choosing to be a part of the University of Prince Edward Island community and welcome you to, or back to, our picturesque campus during what is one of the most beautiful times of year.

At UPEI, we are fortunate to study, work, and live in a safe, respectful campus environment that embraces and celebrates differences, and encourages creativity and innovation.

Preliminary indications are that this will be another banner year for UPEI, as it will mark UPEI’s largest incoming class, and yet another increase in our international student enrolment. And, given the tremendous response to the Welcome Day Fair and New Student Orientation (NSO) Week kick-off celebrations, UPEI is in store for excellent engagement and enthusiasm on the part of students, faculty, and staff. I am so excited that we had a record number of new students register for both International Student Orientation and NSO. These are key activities that support students and ensure they begin their time at UPEI “on the right foot.”

While I extend a big thank-you to members of our University community who are dedicating time to welcome and help students transition to the upcoming academic year, I must note that we strive every day to create a welcoming campus that offers safe, inclusive spaces where students can thrive academically, culturally, and socially. To achieve this objective, we are applying resources, both human and financial, to support our students’ success.

One example is the Student Experience Hub at Dalton Hall, which will open in October 2018, creating a functional hub for student-related services and programs. Another initiative to reinforce our tremendous growth in future-focussed programming has been the hiring of over 100 new faculty and staff members in the past two years, either into new positions or to fill vacancies.

With September’s arrival, we are eager to build on the momentum achieved over the past five years. UPEI is approaching the new academic year with a sharpened focus and sense of renewal. Thanks to the efforts of our UPEI Strategic Planning Committee, the process is well underway for the development of our UPEI Strategic Plan, 2018–2023. The draft plan, which will be shared with the University community in the near future, builds upon the success of our previous strategic plan for 2013–2018.

We are quickly approaching a major milestone: in 2019, the University of Prince Edward Island will celebrate 50 years serving as a leader in education and research. While we observe UPEI’s golden anniversary, we will also recognize our over-200-year history of delivering post-secondary education through our founding institutions, Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University. The 50th-Anniversary Working Group is busily planning a yearlong series of activities that will highlight the University’s significant contributions over the years as well as showcase how our great institution continues to be a catalyst for positive impact in our province and around the world. I look forward to keeping you updated in the weeks and months ahead as these events and commemorations unfold.

To our students, I encourage you to reach out to the many different networks we have created to support your university experience. Learn from our amazing faculty, and seek assistance from our wonderful staff—we are here to empower your curiosity and help you explore your options, now and for your future endeavours!

Whether this is your first or fourth year, take advantage of the many opportunities, activities, and celebrations that UPEI has to offer. Attending university is more than what happens in the classroom or laboratory. Participating in extra-curricular activities is a great way to have fun, make a difference, and build friendships that last a lifetime.

As classes begin today, take pride in our collective accomplishments and share your excitement for the future of our dynamic and vibrant learning community. We have much to celebrate and many opportunities before us. As we encourage and inspire students along their educational journeys, let us keep our mission and vision of developing our students to their full potential in both the classroom and the community always at the forefront.

I wish everyone a great start to our academic year and look forward to working together to achieve our shared priorities in support of student success.

Best wishes,

Alaa

Dr. Alaa S. Abd-El-Aziz
President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Prince Edward Island
 

Two Island writers, Steve McOrmond and Chris Bailey, will launch their new books of poetry on Monday, September 17, at 7:00 pm in the Carriage House at Beaconsfield Historic House on Charlottetown’s waterfront. McOrmond’s poetry has captivated readers across Canada since his first book, Lean Days, in 2004, while Bailey, from a North Lake fishing family, is a newcomer to the literary scene.

Bailey, a recent UPEI psychology graduate, has been living in Toronto and Hamilton, earning a master’s degree in creative writing. He comes home during the summers, working on the family boat. Many of the poems in What Your Hands Have Done (Nightwood Editions) focus on the lives, work, and relationships of fishing families. This is the first major poetry book by an Islander to honour, at length, the realities and lore of PEI’s fishing community.

Bailey’s interests also range beyond the traditional land/seascape and livelihoods of PEI. His influences vary from Elmore Leonard, Warren Zevon, and Charles Bukowski—the “laureate of American lowlife” wrote Time—to Neil Gaiman and Lorna Crozier. Just as the wider culture’s zeitgeist pervades the Island, Bailey’s poems take readers on lively trips beyond the decks, wharves, and fishers’ homes.

McOrmond’s imaginative takes on experience, and his satirical wit, are evident in his other book titles: Primer for the Hereafter and The Goods News About Armageddon. With ironic perceptions in “Come Play on the Island,” he contrasts touristic summers with our winters, and in “The Lobster” he reveals the sardonic “second thoughts” of a PEI restaurant cook. In a bittersweet voice, he evokes Maritime outmigration in “So This Is Goodbye”: “The story of the Island is the story of paradise: / we have always had to leave.”

A 1995 UPEI graduate, McOrmond has lived in Toronto for two decades, returning yearly to the Island. His metropolitan experiences and computer software business career ingeniously permeate his new book, Reckon (Brick Book): “And we felt fortunate to live in the afterglow of Steve Jobs” and though “the air smells like burning tires...I love it here, I really do”.

His new poems reflect and critique the growing domination of our lives and consciousness by digital platforms and realms: “Deep in an offshore data centre, my vagaries / are tracked, time-stamped, mined / for meaningful adjacencies.”

A special guest poet, Annick MacAskill from Halifax, will give a short reading, followed by McOrmond’s and Bailey’s featured readings, a book signing, and a reception. The evening is sponsored by the UPEI Dean of Arts and Department of English, with generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts.

All are welcome.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Journalist, broadcaster, and historian Gwynne Dyer returns to UPEI for a lecture on the return of nationalism as a movement around the world. Dyer will present “The Populist Revolt: its causes and cures” at 7:30 pm, Thursday, September 13 in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall at UPEI. The lecture is free and is presented by the SDU Institute for Christianity and Culture.

Nationalism is back, argues Dyer, and it’s very angry. Populists have already come to power in two major countries, and some people even fear we are seeing a re-run of the 1930s. We all know how that ended. 

In Europe, the populist revolution is mostly driven by immigration. In the larger EU countries, mainstream parties have contained the insurgency so far. In the United States, it’s more complex: job losses are really the big issue. Even the “immigrant threat” is mostly expressed in terms of lost jobs.

Dyer says Donald Trump can’t “bring the jobs back”, because most of them never left the country; they just vanished because of automation. The US official unemployment rate is 4.5 per cent, but almost one-third of American men over 20 years old are not gainfully employed. There is a plausible forecast that automation will destroy 47 per cent of existing American jobs by 2033.

What got Trump elected, says Dyer, more even than racism and immigration, was the anger that comes from the misery and humiliation of joblessness. The key votes that pushed him over the top came from the Rust Belt, where automation started destroying assembly-line jobs 25 years ago. Trump has no solution for automation. More extreme populists may come after him unless the anger is extinguished. But at least his election has focussed our attention on the problem. Automation really will kill the jobs, and not just in the United States.

The main political task for the next generation (post-Trump) will be to ensure that those without work have an income they can live on, and don’t lose their self-respect. One way that is already being widely considered is a Universal Basic Income (UBI). It would put money in everybody’s pockets with no strings attached, whether they are working or not—and and since everybody gets it, there would be no stigma involved.

The anger that drives the populism comes as much from the humiliation that people feel when they are unemployed as from the actual financial pain they are suffering, so any solution must treat both aspects of the problem. UBI might be the answer, although there is still much research to be done. Various basic income pilot programmes are already running in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, California, and Ontario.

UBI may turn out to be the least revolutionary answer to the revolutionary change that is coming in the amount of work available. Everybody would be free to top up their UBI with earned income, and half of today’s jobs will probably still exist in 2033. Indeed, there may be a lot of mix-and-match, with most people working at least part of the time. There would still be millionaires, too; UBI is a floor, not a ceiling. But big change is coming, and big solutions are needed.

Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster, and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years, but he was originally trained as a historian. He received degrees from Canadian, American, and British universities, finishing with a PhD in Military and Middle Eastern History from the University of London. He served in three navies and held academic appointments at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Oxford University before launching his twice-weekly column on international affairs, which is published by over 175 papers in some 45 countries.

Gwynne Dyer’s newest book, Growing Pains: Surviving the Populist Wave, was published in April 2018 by Scribe in Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. 

Dr. Dyer lives in London. In 2010, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

The Saint Dunstan’s University Institute for Christianity and Culture at UPEI has been made possible through the cooperation of the SDU Board of Governors and the UPEI Department of Religious Studies. Working in partnership with the University of Prince Edward Island, the Institute promotes Christian education opportunities and experiences in collaboration with students, scholars, faculty, and the public.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Irish Ambassador Jim Kelly visited Prince Edward Island last week including a stop at UPEI on August 31 where he met with President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, Vice-President Academic and Research Robert Gilmour, Dean of Business Jurgen Krause, and Dean of Arts Neb Kujundzic.

Among the topics of discussion included the many collaborations and partnerships UPEI has with Irish institutions and scholarship programs. Ambassador Kelly also attended an event later that day with Benevolent Irish Society members to greet this year’s UPEI Irish Language instructor, Gormlaith Maynes, who provided information on her course, Introduction to Irish Gaelic 1, which can be audited or taken for credit (free for seniors).

Every week, UPEI Athletics and Recreation recognizes a student-athletes for their hard work and achievements and dedication to their respective sports. Congratulations to Ali Muise and Jake Deighan, the UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week for September 3–9.

Ali Muise is a second-year science major from Charlottetown and a keeper on the UPEI Women’s Soccer team. The Panthers opened their season on the road this past weekend with a 1–1 tie and a 1–0 loss to Memorial University in St. John’s, NL. “Ali had two solid performances in goal and pulled off several outstanding saves to help us come back with a point from MUN,” said coach Graeme McDonald.

Jake Deighan is a fourth- year business administration major from Stratford and a centre-back on the UPEI Men’s Soccer team. The Panthers played a pair of scoreless draws with Memorial University over the weekend. “Jake was strong at the centre-back position to help with two shutouts,” said coach Lewis Page. “Jake’s speed and tactical awareness limited MUN to very few goal chances.”

There are just a few days left for our Panther early bird specials!

The Panther Package is on sale now for only $90. The Panther Package gets you into every home game for Women’s and Men’s Soccer, Women’s Rugby, Women’s and Men’s Basketball, and Women’s Hockey! This offer expires Friday, September 14. Buy it now and receive a limited edition Panther ball cap.

Picture yourself at all 48 Panther home games this season! The Panther All-Access Pass gives you everything in the Panther Package, but also includes tickets to every Men’s Hockey home game. This amazing deal is only $250 and expires Friday, September 14.

Visit gopanthersgo.ca/tickets to take advantage of these special offers.

Go Panthers Go!

UPEI will host an evening of Japanese cinema to mark 90 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan. The Japanese Film Festival will be Friday, September 14, beginning at 6:00 pm in room 104 of UPEI’s K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre.

The evening, presented by the Japanese Consulate, will include two feature films. The screening of “Chihayafuru: Musubi” will begin at 6:00 pm. “Close-Knit” (Karera ga honki de amu toki wa will screen at 8:00 pm. Both will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles.

All are welcome.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

The Class of 2022 officially started their veterinary education on August 24 at their 2018 AVC-CVMA Blue Coat Ceremony. The new students were presented with blue lab coats, signifying the beginning of their four-year journey toward their doctor of veterinary medicine degrees.

Welcoming them were Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor of UPEI; Dr. Greg Keefe, Dean of AVC; and Dr. Kathleen MacMillan, the CVMA’s council member for Prince Edward Island and a faculty member at AVC.

"It is really invigorating to see the enthusiasm and passion for the veterinary profession shown by our new students,” says Dr. Keefe. “It certainly reminds us of why we are all here!”

He thanked the Class of 2021 for the welcome they gave to the students and their families, particularly orientation organizers Kelly Yoo, Cody Bourque, Liz LeGay, and Emily Rose, as well as staff in the Office of the Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, and the Dean’s Office.

On Monday, August 27, the new students dove right into their program, attending their first lecture of the year. We thank the CVMA for supporting our incoming students at their Blue Coat Ceremony.

Welcome and congratulations, Class of 2022!

AVC is embarking on an exciting project that will celebrate its long-standing relationship with the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and recognize the remarkable career of renowned wildlife pathologist Dr. Pierre-Yves Daoust, Professor Emeritus, who retired from AVC in 2018.

We plan to have a fully articulated minke whale skeleton installed in The McCain Foundation Learning Commons. The installation will be complemented by artwork with an Indigenous theme, paying tribute to the deep cultural and spiritual connection between Canada’s Indigenous people and the animals that live in the marine environment.

Artists with an Indigenous background who are interested in submitting a proposal for the art installation should contact Janice MacWilliam, special events coordinator at AVC, at jmacwilliam@upei.ca or (902) 566-0589, by the end of September.

Our goal is to raise a minimum of $25,000 by December 31, 2018, to have the skeleton and the artwork completed and installed in The McCain Foundation Learning Commons. To support this project, please click here. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

The Atlantic Veterinary College’s 2018 Animal Welfare in Practice conference shines a spotlight on the timely topic of whale stranding. The conference will take place at UPEI and AVC from September 14 to 15.

Keynote speaker Dr. Michael Moore, Director, Marine Mammal Center at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Cape Cod, will give a public lecture called “Food for Thought: How we all kill whales” on Friday, September 14, at 7 p.m., in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, UPEI.

Human activity in the marine environment is increasingly having an impact on cetaceans—whales, dolphins, and porpoises—sometimes resulting in the unintentional entanglement and death of animals. Dr. Moore will discuss these pressing issues, which concern Canada and other nations that have substantial fishing and shipping industries in marine environments.

There is no charge to attend Dr. Moore’s lecture. All are welcome to attend.

All presentations on Saturday, September 15, will take place at AVC. Registration is required for these presentations, which are open to veterinarians, veterinary students, animal health technicians, and people involved in marine mammal rescue organizations.

On Saturday, Drs. Pierre-Yves Daoust and Art Ortenburger, Atlantic Veterinary College, will give a session about clinical management of live cetaceans on the beach. Tonya Wimmer, Marine Animal Response Society, will speak about the complexities and logistics of dealing with live cetaceans.

Dr. Moore will give two presentations on the Saturday, one on relatively new information on sedation of whales at sea to enhance disentanglement operations, and the other on trauma in cetaceans caused by human activity, and diagnosis of, and solutions to, this problem.

The conference wraps up with a staged stranded whale response workshop in the AVC Large Animal Hospital arena, using an inflatable whale. Blue tarps will be used to simulate the sea, while the sand in the arena will be the shore.

The Animal Welfare in Practice conference is co-hosted by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre and the AVC Animal Welfare, Exotics, Lab Animal and Wildlife, and Aquatics Clubs, with support from the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada.

For more information, visit awc.upei.ca/
 

The Panthers are back for the 2018–2019 season! The University of Prince Edward Island has home games aplenty this weekend with three home openers and the first ever UPEI cross-country invitational meet in Victoria Park.

The weekend starts with the home opener for UPEI Women’s Soccer. The Panthers take on Mount Allison at 5:00 pm at the UPEI turf field. “We need to be patient in possession and creative up against an organized Mount A team,” said coach Graeme McDonald.

The men’s soccer team takes on the Mounties at 7:15 pm. “UPEI Men’s Soccer are excited to be hosting Mount Allison, our closest rival on Friday night and the defending national champions Cape Breton Capers on Sunday,” said coach Lewis Page. “We have an exciting young team that are eager to show Panthers fans what they can do.”

UPEI Men’s Hockey hosts the Université de Moncton for a preseason game at 7:00 pm.

Saturday, UPEI hosts the first ever UPEI Cross-Country Invitational Meet. The meet begins at noon at Charlottetown’s beautiful Victoria Park. “The cross country and track and field teams have been somewhat invisible—strong results, but the home fans never got to see the athletes compete,” said coach Colin MacAdam. “The course will be fast and the competition will be strong so we are looking for some good performances.”

UPEI Women’s Rugby has its home opener Saturday at 2:00 pm against St. Francis Xavier University. “Home openers are always a good time,” said coach John LaBoyne. “Getting the chance to play in front of family, friends and the UPEI students is special. Playing the multi-time national champions is always a tough row to hoe. St. FX has a great program that has been the epitome of success in the AUS for many years. The Panthers always rise to any challenge and will play their best and hardest no matter who it is.”

After a Saturday’s rest, both soccer teams return to the UPEI turf to take on Cape Breton University. The women play at 1:00 pm. The men take to the field at 3:15 pm.

The Panther Package is on sale now for only $90. The Panther Package gets you into every home game for Women’s and Men’s Soccer, Women’s Rugby, Women’s and Men’s Basketball, and Women’s Hockey! This offer expires Friday, September 14. Buy it now and receive a limited edition Panther ball cap.

Picture yourself at all 48 Panther home games this season! The Panther All-Access Pass gives you everything in the Panther Pass, but includes tickets to Men’s Hockey home games. This amazing deal is just $250 and expires Friday, September 14.

Visit gopanthersgo.ca/tickets to grab these specials.

Go Panthers Go!