UPEI nursing students hold fundraiser for Kenya
A group of fourth-year UPEI nursing students who worked in Kenya this summer will hold a fundraising event on Friday, October 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall on the campus.
Rianne Carragher, Marley Bruce, Ashley Caulier and Cheryl Edmunds travelled to Kenya as part of the Canadian International Development Agency's Students for Development Program.
The students will share their 11-week experience at a delicious African meal, slideshow presentation and silent auction in McMillan Hall. Teresa Mellish, of Farmers Helping Farmers, and Dr. Kim Critchley, Dean of Nursing, will be the guest speakers at the dinner.
Tickets are $10; only 250 will be sold. For information and tickets, contact Rianne Carragher at rcarragher@upei.ca, Marley Bruce at marley_bruce42@hotmail.com, or Suna Houghton, UPEI International Development Office, at shoughton@upei.ca or 894-2842.
In addition, DJ-J Rod will entertain into the wee hours at The Wave that night. The cover charge is $5, but people with tickets to the dinner will be admitted for no additional charge.
All proceeds raised from both events will go toward the institutions where the students worked during their internships. These include St. Theresa's Mission Hospital in Kiirua, Mother of Maria Zanelli's Children's Home in the slums of Machaka and St. Theresa's House of Hope Children's Home in Elimentita for children living with HIV.
UPEI hosts 2009 Gairdner Faculty Lecture October 1
Dr. Stephen Scherer, Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics at The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto, will give the 2009 Gairdner Faculty Lecture at UPEI on Thursday, October 1.
His talk, entitled 'What you are and who you are in the era of genome projects,' will take place in the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre's lecture theatre from 3 to 4 p.m. The lecture is open to the public.
Scherer is Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics at The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto. His research examines the composition of the human genome for studies of genetic disease. His recent work characterizes structural variation in the human genome, and examines the role of genetics in autism. Long-standing endeavours include the study of human chromosome 7 as a model of the chromosomal basis of disease, and building genomics infrastructure to facilitate biomedical research. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles (cited >12,000 times) and won numerous awards including the 2004 Steacie Prize in the Natural Sciences and an international Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholarship. He holds the GlaxoSmithKline-Canadian Institutes of Health Research Endowed Chair in Genetics and Genomics and chairs Genome Canada's Science Advisory Board. He is a Scholar of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
The Gairdner Foundation was created in 1957 by James Arthur Gairdner to recognize and reward the achievements of medical researchers whose work contributes significantly to improving the quality of human life. Since the first awards were made in 1959, the Gairdner Awards have become Canada's foremost international award. They hold up the pinnacle of achievement as a mirror to Canadians, and in so doing, play a role in helping Canada achieve its goals of excellence.
The Foundation's core mandate is to select the annual Canada Gairdner International Awardees. Over the past 50 years, the Foundation has gained a superb international reputation for recognizing and rewarding the work of the world's leading scientists. An external measure of their stature is the fact that of the 298 individuals from 13 countries, including 42 Canadians, who have received Gairdner Awards, 73 have subsequently gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
Tourism Research Centre profiles visitors by expeditures
The Tourism Research Centre at the University of PEI is pleased to release a new report on visitors to P.E.I. Using the visitor exit survey from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008, visitors were profiled based on how much they spent while in P.E.I.
'Low-spending travel parties tended to be Maritime baby boomer couples who made P.E.I. their primary destination,' said Dr. Paul Lewis, Research Director at the TRC. 'Although they spent the least amount of money in P.E.I.--less than $100 per party per night--they were our most frequent guests and stayed longer than the other groups, likely because half of them came to P.E.I. to visit friends and relatives.'
Low-spending travel parties were a significant off-season fall and winter crowd. They were by far the most likely of all four categories to visit in the winter and the least likely to visit in the main season or spring-shoulder season.
Medium-low spending travel parties made up 41 per cent of travel parties to P.E.I. and spent from $100 to $250 per night. They also tended to be Maritime baby boomer couples who made P.E.I. their primary destination. Like low-spending travel parties, most of these visitors also came from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; over half travelled as adult-couple travel parties, and many were over 35 years of age. P.E.I. was also their main destination by a wide margin.
'Medium-low spending travel parties were less likely to be repeat visitors, and those who were repeat visitors tended to return less frequently,' explained Dr. Lewis. 'They were also more likely to visit in the spring than low-spending travel parties.'
Medium-high spending travel parties spent from $250 to $450 per night. They were the most likely to be travelling as families with children under 18. They tended to stay in the more expensive forms of lodging like hotels, motels and resorts, inns, B&Bs and tourist homes as well as cottages and cabins instead of campgrounds and trailer parks, or with friends and relatives.
'Medium-high travel parties were quite active when in P.E.I.,' stated Dr. Lewis. 'They often had the highest level of participation for any given activity, with the more notable exceptions of visiting friends and relatives and partaking in sporting activities. They spent a significant portion of their nights in Anne's Land, and in cottages or cabins. Although many stayed in hotels, motels, and resorts, their stays tended to be shorter.'
High-spending travel parties--those who spent more than $450 per night--were like medium-high travel parties in that they were more likely to be first-time visitors. A significant proportion of high-spending travel parties were families, and parties composed of three or more adults. They were the most likely to stay overnight in Charlottetown, and the most likely to stay in a hotel, motel, or resort. Their stays in P.E.I. were the shortest at only 2.5 nights. Just over 20 per cent of high-spending travel parties visited in the fall, the highest rate of visitation during this season of all expenditure groups.
This report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website. More information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, UPEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.
Women's soccer program wins national leadership award
The UPEI women's soccer program has received a $5,000 award from the national True Sport Community Fund for leadership in community sports development work.
UPEI women's soccer team captain Mandy Lise McKenna will be presented with a certificate of the award prior to the start of the team's home game against Cape Breton University on Saturday, October 3, at 3 p.m.
'We are very proud of our women's soccer program,' says coach Michael Redmond. 'Our athletes believe strongly in making social change--locally and globally. These young women are wonderful student athletes who represent themselves, and their school, community and country with great pride. They are a wonderful example of what sport should represent.'
The True Sport Community Fund is administered on behalf of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and the True Sport Foundation, a charitable organization committed to the belief that sport makes a powerful and positive contribution to the development of people and their communities. True Sport believes in value-driven sport founded on four core values of fairness, excellence, inclusion and fun.
The UPEI women's soccer program is a leader in community sports development in Canada, says Redmond. This year the team participated in many activities across the Island with the goal of making positive change in their own community.
Activities included hosting the annual 12-hour SOS Children's Villages soccer game; organizing a Valentine's Day teddy bear drive for the pediatric ward at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and indoor and March Break soccer programs; visiting seniors' homes; hosting a sports game day and barbecue for newcomers to PEI and Canada; participating in the Alzheimer's Society of PEI's Christmas house tours, the Tim Horton's Food Drive and the IWK Hospital Radiothon.
The players will sell pink winter hats on campus and at the men's and women's soccer games this Sunday to raise money for the Run for the Cure. And on October 24, they will volunteer at West Kent School's fall fair.
Redmond says that the soccer program's community sports development work is part of its 'Green Print' program, launched in 2007. Through this program, UPEI's soccer teams promote their sport, education and healthy living programs across P.E.I., and support special causes around the world.
International careers presentation October 13
Jean-Marc Hachey, a leading authority on international careers, will give a presentation about working and studying overseas on Tuesday, October 13, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Bill and Denise Andrew Hall, Room 142, at UPEI.
A best-selling writer, Hachey has shared his international employment strategies with thousands as author of The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas and as the international careers editor and columnist for TransitionsAbroad.com. He has worked overseas for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World University Service, Canadian Crossroads International, and the German Volunteer Service. Since 1990 he has been mentoring students, recent graduates and others interested in pursuing opportunities abroad. He has presented seminars at more than 160 colleges, universities and career fairs, and for governments and nongovernmental organizations.
Fluent in French and English, Hachey has a business degree from the University of New Brunswick and an MA in Political Science from l'Université Laval in Québec City.
This event is open to the public. For more information, please contact Kyla Hennessey at UPEI's Department of Student Services, at (902) 566-0738. For information about Hachey, visit www.workingoverseas.com.
Atlantic Veterinary College celebrates re-opening of expanded Veterinary Teaching Hospital
The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI celebrated the re-opening of its expanded and renovated Veterinary Teaching Hospital today marking a new era of veterinary health care for Atlantic Canada.
'The Atlantic Veterinary College's Veterinary Teaching Hospital is the only full service veterinary referral hospital in Atlantic Canada,' said Dr. Donald L. Reynolds, Dean of the Atlantic Veterinary College. 'We take great pride in providing exceptional care for our clients and their animals, and an outstanding education for our veterinary medicine students.'
Approximately 10,000 square feet was renovated and added to the veterinary hospital at a cost of $3.2 million. The upgrade included increasing the number of surgery rooms; an expanded anesthesia, induction and recovery area; an Intensive Care Unit and isolation ward; a family consultation room; clinical conference space; rooms dedicated to dentistry, special procedures and exotic animals; and an improved bovine loading area.
Each year more than 5,000 companion animals and approximately 750 large animals from throughout the Atlantic region receive care at the College's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Many of these animals are referred to the Atlantic Veterinary College by veterinarians from throughout the Atlantic provinces.
The Atlantic Veterinary College's Veterinary Teaching Hospital provides comprehensive treatment and care through specialties such as veterinary cardiology, orthopedics, dermatology, ophthalmology, surgery, herd health, internal medicine, theriogenology and community practice. This expertise is delivered by a team of clinicians, technicians, interns, residents and veterinary students.
Senior veterinary students spend their final year of training in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital working directly with clients to gain valuable hands-on experience.
'In addition to better care for client animals, improvements to the hospital translate directly into enhanced training and learning opportunities for our soon-to-be veterinarians,' explains Dr. Reynolds.
The Atlantic Veterinary College is committed to excellence and innovation in education, research and professional services. Funded by the four Atlantic provinces, the Atlantic Veterinary College is the only veterinary college in eastern Canada and north of Boston. Since 1990, the College has trained more than 1,100 veterinarians - the majority of which work and live in Atlantic Canada.
UPEI opens state-of-the-art new learning facilities in Robertson Library
The University of Prince Edward Island has opened a new state-of-the-art Language Lab as well as a multimedia computer lab, known as the Collaboratory, in the Robertson Library for use by the university and Island communities
'The Language Lab uses the latest computing and learning resources to help with language training and the development of compelling learning materials,' says University Librarian Mark Leggott. 'We know students will quickly come to appreciate the opportunity to collaborate and build compelling learning material of their own.'
'The Government of Canada is proud to have invested in a dynamic, multi-media resource that benefits students and Islanders by strengthening language skill sets and other important areas of knowledge,' said the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency). 'Thanks to our government's Economic Action Plan we are investing in projects that are helping Canadians develop the skills they need to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow.'
The Language Lab consists of 30 iMac workstations loaded with internationally renowned Rosetta Stone language-learning software. Students will be able to learn English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Russian, Korean, Irish, Latin and Welsh.
The Language Lab will be used by the Department of Modern Languages to supplement regular classes as well as by English as a Second Language students. Students who are learning another language will be able to practice their conversational skills in that language, either individually or in groups. As well, the lab will be available to community groups when it is not being used for university classes.
Located next to the Language Lab is the Collaboratory, which is equipped with 16 dual-screen Power Mac workstations and other equipment. Students can create text, image, audio and video material for use in their courses and loading to the campus e-learning system.
In addition, the Collaboratory is equipped with audio-visual playback equipment, including turntables, VCR/DVD players and audio decks that can play older media such as LPs, VHS tapes and cassettes.
'This ensures that the ‘legacy' media in our collection are preserved and remain accessible to students and the general public,' says Leggott. 'Our archives contain many treasures that we want to preserve, such as a recording of Senator Ted Kennedy's Convocation address to St. Dunstan's University in 1964; a series of lectures by noted Island historian Dr. Francis Bolger in the early 1970s; and Convocation ceremonies over the years.'
The Collaboratory is an open facility, although some workstations may be designated for sign-up to ensure access when needed. Others will be openly accessible for drop-in use. Community groups interested in accessing the facilities are encouraged to contact Leggott at (902) 566-0460 or mleggott@upei.ca
International poetic inquiry symposium takes place in Charlottetown October 15 to 18
The second biannual International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry will be held in Charlottetown from October 15 to 18.
The three-day symposium, called 'Poetry as a Way of Knowing,' brings together international poets and scholars from different disciplines and countries. Over 35 presenters from the United Kingdom, Tasmania, Japan, United States and throughout Canada will explore the role of poetry in research. They will discuss the art of poetry as a literary genre and inquiry practice during academic sessions, presentations, poetry readings and informal discussions.
'We are excited that the symposium builds partnerships and brings together local and international poets, scholars and the community at large, in a vibrant gathering and celebration of poetic voices,' says UPEI education professor Suzanne Thomas. She is co-chairing the symposium with Arda Cole of OISE at the University of Toronto.
Many of P.E.I.'s literary scholars and poets, including current poet laureate David Helwig, former poet laureate John Smith and Governor General Award winner Anne Compton, will be showcased with international poets and scholars, creating a culturally rich, international event.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Pete Hay, of the University of Tasmania's School of Geography and Environmental Studies. He has inspired a generation concerned with the preservation and protection of Tasmania as a unique place in the world. His poetry is informed by his academic work, his vast knowledge, his reflection on Tasmanian issues, and his deep sense of 'island' as place and as unique heritage. His political incisiveness and ability to explain his beliefs in accessible language make him one of Tasmania's most important writers and thinkers.
A poetry gala will be held on Friday, October 16, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Haviland Club in Charlottetown. This event is open to the public, and admission is free.
The symposium is being co-hosted by the UPEI Centre for Education Research and the Centre for Arts-informed Research, OISE at the University of Toronto, in co-operation with the UPEI faculties of Arts and Education, Confederation Centre of the Arts, League of Canadian Poets, UPEI Department of English, PEI Writers' Guild, Writers' Union of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Society for the Study of Education.
For detailed information about registration and the program, including the various venues where events will be held, please contact Christine Gordon Manley (cgmanley@upei.ca or (902) 566-6784), or visit the symposium's website.
UPEI introduces PhD in Educational Studies
As the University of Prince Edward Island continues to build its reputation for research excellence, it is also expanding its portfolio of graduate degree programs. UPEI has just reached a significant milestone in graduate studies development with the introduction of a new PhD program in the Faculty of Education.
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Educational Studies is a new research degree requiring a dissertation on original and significant research within traditional educational and community-based educational contexts extending from early childhood through mature adulthood. It is the first doctoral program to be offered at UPEI outside the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
'I am delighted to announce that our new doctoral program in Educational Studies will begin in September 2010,' says Dr. Tim Goddard, UPEI Dean of Education. 'This high-quality thesis-oriented research degree will continue the intellectual growth of education graduates and foster the development of a vibrant extended educational research community in PEI and beyond.'
Acceptance into the new program will be highly competitive. UPEI will accept just four doctoral students a year. They will be required to complete a full-time residency of three semesters at UPEI. Students will typically complete their degrees within four years if they are enrolled full-time or within seven years on a part-time basis.
The announcement of the new PhD program coincides with the opening this fall of the UPEI Office of Graduate Studies and the appointment of Dr. Brian Wagner in the new position of Assistant Vice-President of Graduate Studies.
An information meeting about the PhD in Educational Studies and other education graduate programs will take place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, in Room 305 of Memorial Hall at UPEI, prior to the Faculty of Education's Open House at 6:30 p.m. The deadline for applications for the September, 2010 start-up is January 15, 2010. More information is available from Dr. Miles Turnbull, Co-ordinator of Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Education, at mturnbull@upei.ca or (902) 566-0341.
UPEI public forum to launch Sustainability Week on October 19
To launch Sustainability Week on October 19, the UPEI Office of Sustainability and Energy Management is organizing a public forum about sustainability initiatives at post-secondary institutions in the Atlantic region. Speakers from six institutions will highlight their efforts and initiatives around sustainability.
Their presentations will be followed by a panel discussion on how institutions can work together to improve sustainability across the region. The forum is open to the public. It takes place in the MacKinnon Lecture Theatre, McDougall Hall, UPEI, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
On October 20, at 6:00 p.m. in AVC Lecture Theatre A, the UPEI Graduate Students Association will host a movie night and discussion on water use and abuse. It will start with the award-winning film FLOW (For the Love of Water).
Students in residence at UPEI are also developing an energy challenge initiative to encourage students on other campuses in the region to reduce energy consumption. This is being planned for January.
For more details on Sustainability Week activities at UPEI, contact David Taylor at (902) 566-0673 or dctaylor@upei.ca.
