You have been walking by for a long time...why not drop by the newly renovated Chaplaincy Centre? Come out to a coffee break/open house on Wednesday, November 21, 10:00 am-12:00 noon with words of appreciation at 11:00 am.

Did you know we have Christian and Muslim prayer spaces and a full kitchen, food bank, and clothing cupboard? Student tours and Chartwells coffee break treats will be offered-a sure incentive! All are welcome!

2014 is the anniversary of the 1864 'Charlottetown Conference' and the government of PEI has made funds available to Island initiatives that celebrate and promote the spirit around this historic event. The University has struck a committee to develop and review ideas from the campus community, and to submit a set of proposals where the requirement for matching funds has been identified. The Committee will also be looking to define links between proposals where there is benefit in doing so.

In order to accommodate the proposal deadlines and allow effective review, the Committee is asking for interested individuals and groups to submit their ideas by November 21. Please forward your ideas to Committee chair Mark Leggott (mleggott@upei.ca).

More information can be found at the 2014 site: http://www.pei2014.com.

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

As we approach the final weeks of the first semester of the 2012-13 academic year, with exams and the busy holiday season drawing near, it is important to pause and recognize the privilege and responsibility of membership within the University of Prince Edward Island, and the greater PEI community.

Our University has a proud history, and plays a critical role in educating an informed, engaged, and increasingly global citizenry. Positioning the University and our graduates for success in a rapidly changing world is a challenge and a priority that we accept with a sense of purpose and urgency.

The commitment and vision essential to pursuing a successful future for our students, community, and province arise from shared values and a sound understanding of the University of Prince Edward Island's current challenges, accomplishments, and goals.

This understanding is critical to informing UPEI's 2013-14 budget development process, now underway.

Post-secondary educational institutions around the world are confronting numerous and complicated issues that include: difficult economic and societal conditions, changing higher education models, and increased competition. Demands by governments, granting agencies, and students call for modernization and greater accountability-including clearly identified links to value-for-investment and innovative career pathways.

Closer to home, UPEI's operating budget is heavily dependent on government funding in a province facing its own difficult financial reality. UPEI appreciates that the economic and societal value of post-secondary education continues to be affirmed in discussions with political leaders, and, along with health, is recognized and advanced as a priority for the Government of Prince Edward Island. (The Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning recently created a task force that will seek means to promote Prince Edward Island as a destination for post-secondary education.) However, in the 2012-13 budget, lower government revenues and higher deficits reduced government funding to higher education resulting in a three per cent reduction in UPEI's operating grant. This funding challenge was further complicated by reduced grants from the four Atlantic Provinces to fund the Atlantic Veterinary College.

This funding situation combines with a declining regional demographic in high school age students, potentially impacting enrolment numbers and thus negatively affecting the University's other major revenue source. UPEI experienced steady growth in undergraduate, graduate, and international student enrolments over the past decade. But in 2011-12 the University began to see a flattening in enrolment growth, and in 2012-13 a slight decline. Preliminary enrolment figures for the current school year (as of September 2012) show current Grade 6 enrolment to be 72 per cent of current Grade 12 enrolment, a 28 per cent reduction. With PEI high school graduates making up over 70 per cent of the UPEI student body, the projected decline in PEI high school enrolments creates a significant pending enrolment (and fiscal) challenge.

In the face of these serious issues, the University must continue to enhance its high quality programs and protect the interests of students, staff and faculty. Within the 2012-13 budgeting process and throughout the year, the University sought opportunities to increase revenues and decrease expenditures, and to strategically position itself to manage available resources towards institutionally identified priorities. This effort involved every colleague and all departments and units on campus. I wish to thank each of you for your ongoing creative thought, fine work, and commitment. Following are several examples of your accomplishments during a difficult budget year.

The Future Directions visioning exercise identified core University strengths, and the subsequent Dare to Dream campaign engaged the campus community in an ideas generation process. The recent settlement of two faculty agreements and salary provisions with the other union groups on campus positions UPEI for stable labour relations over the next four years. Additional achievements include the creation of the International Relations Office and alignment of Student Affairs; the development and approval of new programs and accreditations; and the enhancement of relationships with the provincial government and external partners. Also, in addition to previously established international relationships, the University has targeted specific agreements with universities and organizations in China, Egypt, England, and Ireland. Research at the University continues to have a significant impact, both locally and globally, on a wide range of activities, from child development to fish health and climate change.

As UPEI begins budget development for 2013-14, we will anchor discussion around priorities that include the following:

1. Strategic action plan-evolving from the Future Directions Vision Document and the Dare to Dream campaign, and building on historic strengths in teaching, programs, research, service, student experience, identified pillars, and strategic platforms,

2. Strategic enrolment plan-recruitment (domestic and international), and retention,

3. Continued focus on enhanced engagement with government, partners, and community,

4. Capacity building and infrastructure improvement (human, financial, technological, physical) with a focus on effectiveness and sustainability,

5. Fundraising and friend-raising, and

6. Risk management planning-pension plan, ERP, deferred maintenance.

It is critical that the University community works together towards a transparent and sustainable budget that advances the important mission of the University of Prince Edward Island.

I invite you to attend a Town Hall meeting at 10 am on Thursday, November 22, in The McCain Foundation Learning Commons (285 N) at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Your participation is encouraged and appreciated.

For a recent statistical overview of the University, please visit: www.upei.ca/bythenumbers

Best wishes,

Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor

The UPEI co-operative education program is currently seeking motivated students in business, computer science, and physics to sign up. The program offers students real-life work experience where they can learn practical job-related skills in their area of study, which will help to increase employability after graduation. As a bonus, students earn an hourly wage which goes a long way to paying down student debt.

Since 2009, approximately 500 work terms have been completed in various sectors, including accounting and finance, marketing, information technology, health and medical sciences, bioscience, and renewable energy.

James Manning, a fourth-year business co-op student believes joining the program was 'the best decision I have made during my academic career.' James decided to leave his hometown of Erin, Ontario, to attend UPEI in 2009. He chose UPEI because it provided all of the great aspects that go along with attending a small university-smaller class sizes and communication on a first name basis with professors-and he is able to gain quality advice as he faces the difficult question of 'what's next?' upon graduation.

As a graduating student, James knew that he would be jumping into one of the most diverse and highly competitive labour markets in recent history. Being a young graduate, he would need a way to stand out from the pack and set himself apart from the competition, which is why he decided to join UPEI's co-op program.

James recalls, 'During my first interview [for a fall 2012 work term], I realized that I wasn't just alone in that seat; I was sitting there with the whole program and university behind me. Through the professional and positive attitudes showcased by Ernie Doiron, Julie Mussel, and the entire UPEI co-op team, my confidence was greatly increased during the interview process, which eventually led to a job offer from a very respectable and award winning company, Island Abbey Foods Ltd.'

'I recommend all students take part in the positive and rewarding experience co-op has to offer. It allows students the opportunity to reinstate academic learning with real on-the-job experience with the benefit of earning a salary,' added James.

The UPEI co-operative education program is encouraging students to join today to create a better path for futures tomorrow. Application forms for business and science co-op programs can be picked up at Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 230, or online at www.upei.ca/co-op. The application deadline for the winter semester is Friday, December 14.

For more information about the program, visit www.upei.ca/co-op, or contact the co-op office at (902) 628-4395 or co-op@upei.ca.

Dr. Jenny Ellison from Mount Allison University will be on campus on Monday, November 26 to present her lecture, "Obesity in Canada: Historical Perspectives" in Main Building's faculty lounge at 12:30 pm.

Dr. Ellison is a historian whose work to date has revolved around "fat activist" women's groups of the 1980s in Canada. She is deeply involved in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Fat Studies. She earned her PhD from York University in Toronto, and is presently the W.P. Bell Postdoctoral Scholar at Mount Alllison University.

All are welcome to attend Dr. Ellison's presentation!

For more information, please contact Dr. Sarah Glassford at sglassford@upei.ca or (902) 566-6039.

The University of Prince Edward Island is excited to announce its participation in Canada's largest virtual post‐secondary fair and student-life expo taking place on November 23, 1:00-3:00 pm, and again on December 1.

The Canada Online University & College Fair Tour, which brings the traditional post-secondary fair experience online, is designed to help students speak to and explore Canadian post‐secondary institutions no matter where they live. The fair is divided into three regional fairs to help students find schools in their region of interest: Atlantic Canada Online Fair, Central Canada Online Fair, and Western Canada Online Fair.

'With today's ever-changing technology, our recruitment team is honing in on this convenient form of connecting with prospective students,' said Jeff MacLean, UPEI recruitment coordinator. 'This virtual fair not only allows us to interact with students in remote areas, but also allows us to better connect with students who prefer to virtually interact with recruiters for a variety of reasons.'

'Through creating a central online destination, we are helping students in rural and remote locations reach post‐secondary institutions in a way they were never able to before,' says Adam Dewar, co-founder of DL Strategic.

With over 60 exhibitors, the Canada Online University & College Fair Tour, Canada's largest and only online student life expo will showcase more than 20 student opportunities including: Canada World Youth, Shad Valley, Youth in Motion's Top 20 Under 20, and the Canada Youth Business Foundation.

The fair features over 40 universities and colleges from across the country and will run until January 15, 2013 with live dates held on November 23 and December 1, 2012.

For information on the Canada Online University & College Fair Tour, visit atlanticfair.ca or contact co-founder Kassandra Linklater at (604) 218-4480 kassandra@dlstrategic.com.

UPEI environmental studies students are organizing Charlottetown's first ever Eco-Economy Expo on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at Murphy's Community Centre from 10:00 am-4:00 pm.

The Expo is intended to be a family-friendly, trade-show environment, where exhibitors can promote sustainable living and environmental awareness. Exhibitors dedicated to sustainability, either through their products, services, innovations, or personal lifestyle choices are invited to take part and share with others interested in making a change to better the environment.

Exhibitor Registration Fees:

The UPEI women's basketball team is excited that six-foot PEI high school basketball standout Jessica Patenaude will be joining the Panthers next fall. Patenaude is an all-round athlete, excelling at basketball, volleyball, badminton, and track and field.

For the past two years, Patenaude has been a league all-star in both volleyball and basketball. She represented PEI on the under-17 provincial basketball team this summer, where she was among the top three players in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots.

Patenaude who will finish her high school career with the Charlottetown Rural High School Raiders commented on joining the Green & White next fall. 'I'm excited to be a part of a university team where I can push new boundaries and develop as a varsity level athlete. I grew up watching the UPEI Panthers and now, getting to be a part of its program is surreal.'

'We're thrilled to have Jessica join our program,' said UPEI Head Coach Greg Gould. 'She's a great athlete, an exceptionally hard worker, and a tenacious rebounder who can run the court. I believe Jessica will have an immediate impact on our team.'

Patenaude is also a star in the classroom; the honours student is an avid reader and fiction writer. She plans to put these talents to good use as she pursues an English degree.

The Office of the President invites you to enjoy a festive study break on Wednesday, December 5 from 1:00-2:30 pm, in the lobby of the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. There will be free hot cocoa, coffee, and cookies along with holiday music-all to help ease the stress of studying and exams, and to celebrate the holiday season. All students are welcome!

For more information contact, Rebecca gass at rjgass@upei.ca.