One of the more important documents in the history of higher education in Prince Edward Island has just been added to the PEI Special Collection in the Robertson Library at UPEI. The document is Sister Bernice Cullen's 1941 Bachelor of Arts degree, the first degree ever granted by St. Dunstan's University (SDU). Before 1941, SDU was affiliated with Laval University and degres were granted in the name of that renowned institution. The fact that the first SDU degree was awarded, with honours, to a woman, at a time when relatively few women attended university, makes it all the more remarkable.

Sister Bernice Cullen is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Martha. Her SDU degree is part of a larger gift that she has made to the Robertson Library's University Archives that includes her certificates and diplomas from both St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College (PWC).

"We are pleased to receive these important pages in the stories of our University's two forebears, and of Sister Bernice Cullen," says Simon Lloyd, UPEI's Special Collections Librarian.. "The fact that this impressive gift includes Sister Cullen's certificates and diplomas from both PWC and SDU is not only a tribute to her exceptional quest for knowledge, it is also a powerful reminder that Prince of Wales and St. Dunstan's were not, in fact, two solitudes, and that there were many students and faculty who, like Sister Cullen, participated in the lives of both institutions."

Before attending St. Dunstan's, Sister Cullen had already established herself as an outstanding scholar at Prince of Wales College. She twice won the Frank R. Heartz Prize, as the top student in both her first and second years of study, and, in 1933, won a high honour third-year diploma, the highest academic attainment possible at PWC at that time.

"Sister Cullen's first- and second-year certificates carry the signatures of her professors, including such well-known figures as Samuel Robertson, JD Steele, J.H. Blanchard, and Eleanor Lowe. Seeing the names of so many educational leaders and#150; not least Sister Cullen herself and#150; together on a single page forcefully illustrates how the legacy of learning passes from one generation to the next," explains Lloyd. "The certificates, and the third-year diploma, also record the marks Sister Cullen achieved in each course. Anyone familiar with the famously tough marking at PWC would surely be impressed."

After graduating from PWC, Sister Cullen taught in local schools. In 1935 she became a professed member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Martha, and in 1941 she completed her Bachelor of Arts at SDU. By the time she had finished her studies, she was one of the best-educated women in Prince Edward Island. She received her doctorate in Sacred Doctrine from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana in 1958 and joined the faculty of St. Dunstan's, to teach Religious Studies, in 1966. She remained at the University for 13 years, seeing the amalgamation of SDU and PWC through its founding years. Now in her nineties, she remains devoted to her congregation, her community, and her Alma Mater.

Sister Cullen recently attended a special ceremony at UPEI to recognize the historic importance of the documents she has donated to the Robertson Library. Claire Trainor, conservation technician with the Archives Council of Prince Edward Island, had used her expertise in archival best practices to 'relax', unroll, and press the documents, safely preparing them for display at the ceremony. Special Collections Librarian Simon Lloyd expressed the University's appreciation of the gifts.

"Taken together, these and other documents in the collection provide a unique and valuable insight into the outstanding Island education of an outstanding Islander," he said. "On behalf of the Archives' users, we thank Sister Cullen for her vision and generosity in entrusting this legacy to us."

In 2000, Sister Cullen was recognized as an important contributor to the development of post-secondary education in PEI by being named among the first group of and#145;Founders' to be honoured by UPEI. The University also recognized her, together with the other members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Martha, through an honorary degree in 2005.

The four-member team from the UPEI Department of Engineering has won this year's Atlantic Engineering Student Competition, beating out eight other teams from the region. Daniel Palmer, Hannah Sutherland, Caleb Curtis, and Gabriel Landry took first place in the team design category of the competition held in Halifax recently.

The challenge was to build a machine that would propel itself off a table, fall to the floor, and then continue to go the farthest. UPEI's machine went a full half metre beyond the closest competition. Daniel Palmer says it was very exciting to be part of the competition. "This has taught us a lot about what it is to be an engineer. Having to start without prior knowledge of the challenge and complete a task in a very short time-frame is routinely expected of a professional engineer. Being able to do this convinced me that I made the right career choice."

Professor Don MacEwen, Chair of the Department of Engineering is not surprised at the first-place finish. "We all should be very proud of our UPEI engineering students. They have already demonstrated that students from our university are second to none. I would not be surprised to see them place first or at least very high at the national level as well," he says.

This Atlantic win, a first for UPEI, gives the students a chance to represent UPEI at the National Engineering Student Competition. The team is now fundraising to pay its way to the Nationals to take place in Montreal from March 9 to 12.

The University of Prince Edward Island's first ARTC student, Beverly Gerg, successfully defended her Master's thesis recently. In May, Gerg will be UPEI's first graduating student in the Master of Applied Health Services Research (MAHSR) program, offered through the Atlantic Regional Training Centre (ARTC).

Gerg's thesis focused on teenagers with diagnosed intellectual disabilities. Her research concluded that families were the primary advocates and social groups for the children in this study. Gerg found that generally, parents believed their children were well included during the elementary school years. However, as their children transitioned from elementary to junior and senior high schools, parents felt that their children became distanced from their social groups due to segregation and a decrease of similar interests between their child and their peers.

Gerg is delighted to have defended her thesis and is proud to have been a part of the ARTC program."I am very excited to be the first MAHSR student to graduate from UPEI. It was a diverse and challenging endeavour, and I am proud to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful program."

The ARTC is a partnership of the four Atlantic provinces and their four major universities: the University of Prince Edward Island, Dalhousie University, the University of New Brunswick, and Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Centre aims to develop a critical mass of health services researchers who will conduct applied health services research throughout Atlantic Canada.

The ARTC is funded by The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, and a recent review of the program has resulted in renewed funding for the remaining six years of the program (until 2011). The reviewers were impressed with the structure and organization of the ARTC and its accomplishments: "The ARTC can serve as a model of interprovincial collaboration not only in higher education, but in other fields as well. . . .The Centre possessed an all-too-rare upbeat and constructive tone making interactions with it a very positive experience."

Dr. Vianne Timmons, Vice-President Academic Development at UPEI, and one of the Principal Investigators of the ARTC is Gerg's supervisor. Timmons is thrilled to celebrate Gerg's completion of the program: "The ARTC is an innovative venture, being a partnership of four universities, and UPEI is delighted to recognize Beverly Gerg's accomplishment in such a highly regarded program."

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This coming weekend, March 3to 5, over a hundred biology and aquaculture students will be on the UPEI campus to take part in their annual research conferences. The Atlantic Universities Undergraduate Biology Conference (AUUBC) and the Atlantic Universities Aquaculture Conference (AUAC) offer the opportunity for students to present their own scientific work as well as gain exposure to other areas of biology and aquaculture. These conferences are held jointly each year at a different university, under the Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences. They last took place at UPEI in 1994.

Events will take place in the newly renovated Duffy Science building and extension of the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall which joins to the new residence on campus. The conferences will open on Saturday, March 4 at 9 a.m. and will include greetings from the province by Hon. Jamie Ballem, Minister of Environment, Energy, and Forestry as well as welcomes from Dr. Roger Gordon, Dean of Science, and Dr. Tim Ogilvie, Dean of the Atlantic Veterinary College.

The joint nature of the conference also allows for the co-ordination of keynote addresses, including three this year. On Saturday, March 4 at 10 am, Dr. Kelly Munkittrick from the Canadian Rivers Institute and UNB-SJ will be speaking on "Fish 'n Chips: the Impact of Potato Farming on Fish Populations". Later that day, at 1:20 pm, Dr. Franck Berthe of the Atlantic Veterinary College, UPEI, will be presenting "Desperate house clams: From the beauty of the bivalve immune response to challenges of laboratory models". Finally, on Sunday, March 5th at 10:30 am, Kira Salonius from Novartis Animal Health, Aqua Health Business will be speaking on "New approaches to aquaculture vaccine development".

The Aquaculture and Biology conferences are held concurrently, to showcase student research projects by undergraduate biology students and both undergraduate and graduate students with an aquaculture focus. Both oral and poster presentations will run throughout the day on Saturday and through Sunday morning, with the awards ceremony taking place at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

These student-centered conferences are also student co-ordinated. A committee of students has been working nearly a year to organize the event. Sarah Bradley, 4th year biology student and student coordinator of the joint conference, has learned a lot while putting this event together. "This has opened my eyes to the immense amount of hard work and organization that has to go into the planning of a conference of this status and size. It has also, however, inspired me to consider biological research in my future," says Bradley.

For a more detailed schedule of events, please visit the conferences websites at www.upei.ca/auubc06/.

UPEI Business Professor Donald MacCormac has been named the recipient for the 2005 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Excellence in Public Administration by the PEI chapter of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC ).

"Throughout his career, Don MacCormac has shown dedication and leadership in the public administration field as a practitioner and as an educator. For all his many achievements, he is very deserving of this high recognition," says UPEI Dean of Business, Roberta MacDonald.

MacCormac has had a distinguished career in Public Administration as well as in education in Prince Edward Island. As a highly respected professor in the School of Business, he has overseen the UPEI Public Administration programs for many years. He has also actively promoted education in the field of public administration.

Over the years, MacCormac's commitment to public service has remained strong. He has had a profound influence on many people in this field. He has also been actively involved with the Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce and he was a founding member of the PEI Chapter of the Human Resource Association of Nova Scotia (HRANS).

After two years of discussions, the University of Prince Edward Island recently signed an agreement with The University of the West Indies (UWI) which will offers students, faculty and staff a wide variety of opportunities for exchanges between UPEI and UWI in Bridgetown, Barbados. The agreement provides for student exchanges at the undergraduate and graduate levels, faculty exchanges, joint research, curriculum development, joint conferences and co-op/internship/practica placements. The UWI Cave Hill campus is located just outside the Barbados capital, Bridgetown.

The UPEI School of Business Administration's Professor Ron Collins, Director of International Programs, and Scott Ferris, Coordinator of International Programs, recently visited Barbados as members of the Trade Team Prince Edward Island mission to Barbados. During that time, Professor Collins met with representatives of the Canadian High Commission of Barbados and with academic officials at The University of the West Indies in order to arrange the official signing ceremony of the exchange agreement with the UWI Vice Principal.

At the same time, Mr. Ferris made visits with several Canadian companies based in Barbados as well as a number of Barbadian companies, and he was successful in finding companies who expressed a willingness and desire to accept UPEI co-op students from the School of Business Administration. He looks forward to adding Barbados job placements to the present list of international co-op opportunities.

Professor Collins anticipates a high level of interest in Barbados as a study destination on the part of his students with an interest in International Business. For further information, please contact either Professor Collins or Scott Ferris, at 566-0573 or 894-2837.

University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) student Adam Arsenault is one of 20 outstanding Canadian university students who will travel to Botswana in May to participate in a six-week workshop on HIV/AIDS in the Southern African country.

Originally launched in 1948 by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), the International Seminar is delivered through Uniterra, a joint program of WUSC and the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation. Each year, the 20 Seminar participants are selected from a field of about 100 applicants from across Canada. Students are evaluated on the basis of academic excellence, community leadership, and demonstrated commitment to international understanding.

Arsenault, 26, is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has also lived in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Australia. He already holds a degree in business administration, and is one course away from completing another undergraduate degree in political studies at UPEI. His interest in international development issues was heightened while working at the Canadian High Commission in Canberra, Australia as assistant public affairs officer.

While in Botswana, Arsenault will be paired with a local university student and will volunteer with a local organization focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention and care. He is thrilled about the opportunity to gain first-hand experience that could launch his career in international development. He says he is concerned that, because more than one third of Botswana's population is infected with HIV/AIDS, in time there won't be enough physicians or antiviral drugs available to treat sufferers.

"With roughly 33,000 people dying each year from HIV/AIDS, the country's long-term economic capacity could be in jeopardy," says Arsenault.

Arsenault is also actively involved in WUSC's student refugee program at UPEI and is one of two UPEI nominees for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Master's Scholarship.

Active on over 50 university and college campuses across Canada, WUSC is a leading development agency whose mission is to foster human development and global understanding through education and training. The Uniterra program mobilizes people and organizations in Canada and the developing world to reduce poverty through the achievement of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. Visit www.uniterra.ca for more information.

UPEI's four-member team from the Department of Engineering has won this year's Canadian Engineering Competition, beating out eight other teams from across the country. Daniel Palmer, Hannah Sutherland, Caleb Curtis, and Gabriel Landry took first place in the junior team design category of this national competition held in Montreal March 9 to 12.

The teams had to construct a machine that would move sand a distance of eight feet, and accurately deposit that sand into a bucket, in two timed trials of three minutes each. The design had to include hydraulics and the machine had to fit into a photocopy paper box. It had to be completely stand-alone, with no physical handling from any team member.

The students were also required to present a 15-minute explanation and demonstration of their design, an aspect of the competition that was worth 40 per cent of their mark. It was this demonstration that won UPEI's team additional honours. Palmer, Sutherland, Curtis, and Landry were also presented with the Environmental Awareness award by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers for considering environmental concerns in their design.

For more information, contact:

Heather Hughes, Faculty of Science, (902) 566-6022 or hhughes@upei.ca

The Prince Edward Island Population Secretariat, along with Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, Canada Research Chair in Island Studies at UPEI, released today a report on Recent Immigrants to Prince Edward Island (PEI). Dr. Baldacchino (himself an immigrant from Malta) compiled information from 320 individuals who settled on Prince Edward Island between 1998 to 2003 and who have, so far, stayed on the island.

The survey was the first qualitative study of its kind on the island: it was conducted last fall in an attempt to collect voices and stories around why people come to and settle on PEI and decide to stay. All the information compiled from this report will be taken into consideration for the soon-to-be released Population Strategy document. All information will assist in the recruitment of settlers to Prince Edward Island as well as the retention of these settlers.

"I encourage all Islanders to take an active approach in welcoming settlers to Prince Edward Island," said Minister of Development and Technology Mike Currie. "I believe Islanders play a significant role in attracting families and newcomers to our communities across the Province. Immigration to PEI is an investment into our future economy in Prince Edward Island and as Islanders it is important for each one of us to embrace all the positives that can be experienced when new people move into our neighborhoods, work environments and communities."

Several participants in the report indicated that the quality of life in PEI, availability or prospects of employment and affordable housing as the advantages of moving to the province. Other feedback indicated that participants didn't always feel a sense of belonging in Prince Edward Island if they didn't have family or roots here.

"Not all this information may be what we want to hear, but all the feedback that we have received is workable to improve on," said Dr. Baldacchino. "We now have an excellent database to propel an informed understanding of why immigrants choose to come and stay to settle on PEI, and what their main challenges have been in so doing. If we are aware of the things we can work on, and work together, we can be better equipped to deal with these obstacles in the future."

The full survey report (85 pages) or its executive summary (4 pages) can be freely downloaded from: www.islandstudies.ca. For more information about the report, please contact Dr Baldacchino at (902) 566-0909.

Aboriginal students attending UPEI have access to a new award this year. The J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award has been established by Elise Hynes in memory of her late husband to honour his deep commitment to the advancement of Aboriginal people. It will recognize students who distinguish themselves through leadership and academic accomplishment. A maximum of two awards of $1000 each will be presented each year.

Elmer Hynes was a native of Prince Edward Island whose varied career and interests included direct work with, and on behalf of, Aboriginal people. He passionately believed in education as a means of facilitating full participation in Canadian society. He died suddenly on May 23, 2005, at his home in Ottawa.

The J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award will be presented to Aboriginal students attending UPEI in full-time undergraduate studies, or full- or part-time graduate studies, who are actively involved with Aboriginal students on campus and, where possible, in the community. To be considered, students must have an academic record that reflects a commitment to their studies. Award-winners will be encouraged to make presentations to school classes, school groups, and educators.

Nominations can be submitted by a student peer, a member of UPEI faculty or staff, or others who are knowledgeable about the student's qualifications. Each nomination must include supporting information outlining why the student deserves the award.

Nomination forms are available from the UPEI Registrar's Office or Band Council offices. Recipients will be selected by the UPEI Admission, Scholarship and Degree Committee upon recommendation from a special award committee. Nominations are being received at the UPEI Registrar's Office, Kelley Memorial Building, UPEI, until April 18, 2006.

For a returning student, the J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award will be presented at the annual UPEI Deans' Honours and Awards ceremony in October. For a graduating student, the award will be presented at the Graduate Awards Luncheon in May.