UPEI's Faculty of Arts received a Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) provincial award in the 'Support to Student Reservists (Post Secondary Institutions)' category during a special award ceremony and reception on March 7. UPEI alumnus and reservist with the Prince Edward Island Regiment, Sergeant Ben Miller, nominated the faculty who supported both his education and military endeavours during his time at the University. The Honourable H. Frank Lewis, Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, was in attendance to present the awards.

The CFLC is comprised of a group of more than two hundred Canada-wide senior business executives and educational leaders, a full-time secretariat, and a national network of reserve officers who all volunteer their time and effort to promote the Canadian Forces Reserve Force. The Council's mandate is 'to enhance the availability of reservists for their military duties by obtaining the support and cooperation of organization leaders in Canada.'

The Council encourages civilian employers and educational institutions to grant reservists time off on a voluntary basis, without penalty, to allow them to participate in their military activities, duties, and training.

Sergeant Miller recalls the amazing support system he received during his time at UPEI where he completed both a bachelor of arts in history and political science and a certificate in public administration. 'The professors were very supportive and if there were training events that had a scheduling conflict they were always cooperative and supportive as long as my work was completed,' he explained.

'In any given year, universities are always going to have current reservists or veterans enrolled, and I wanted to create a working relationship between UPEI and the Armed Forces,' said Miller. 'We're fortunate enough to live in a society where we have access to this kind of education, and I'm a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due,' he added in response to why he decided to nominate UPEI for the provincial CFLC award.

UPEI's Dean of Arts Don Desserud accepted the award on behalf of the faculty. 'Helping out an outstanding individual like Ben Miller was a pleasure and a privilege, and the least we could do to assist someone who serves his country so capably,' he said. 'I believe UPEI and indeed all Canadian universities must be far more diligent in working with our men and women in uniform in ensuring that they have the right opportunities to pursue their education. We will all benefit if we do.'

Congratulations to the Faculty of Arts!

UPEI wishes to express condolences to the family of Mary Beth Harris who passed away on Monday, March 4. From 1967, Mary Beth was Head of Library Information Services at the University of Prince Edward Island until her retirement from the University in 1992.

Mary Beth was known as a gentle and courtly woman and she will be missed by family and friends who loved and admired her calm deameanor and kindly spirit. She was a proud Islander, respectful of her family heritage which included the artist Robert Harris, and a lifetime member of the congregation of St. Peter's Cathedral.

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The University of Prince Edward Island kicked off its first annual Mental Health Week today with the installation of an acrylic-on-canvas mural and presentation by Reid Burke, Executive Director of Canadian Mental Health Association (PEI division). UPEI Mental Health Week takes place from March 11-15.

The mural was created by eight young people with psychosis and portrays their experiences using paintings, posters, and words. UPEI research manager Valerie Campbell presented the mural at the kickoff. The mural will be housed for the week in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. The installation is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to Dr. Kate Tilleczek, UPEI's Canada research chair in child/youth cultures and transitions, associate professor, and adjunct health systems research scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Dr. Katherine Boydell, health systems research scientist at SickKids who have shown and discussed the mural with over 5,000 young people in high schools across Canada.

Burke's presentation entitled 'Mental Health is for All' described the importance of mental and emotional needs in conjunction with physical needs. 'Canadian Mental Health Association would like to congratulate UPEI on its first annual Mental Health Awareness Week and commend them in engaging students to talk about their mental health,' said Burke. 'By talking about it we can reduce the stigma and people will get the help that they need. We are looking forward to being part of the activities here this week in promoting mental health for all.'

UPEI Mental Health Week Committee chairs James Reddin, counsellor and Cathy Rose, coordinator Accessibility Services will coordinate this week's events. Interim Vice-President Academic Dr. Christian Lacroix and Treena Smith, manager, Webster Academic Services attended the kickoff event and acted as guest speaker and event emcee.

'UPEI is proud to take part in mental health awareness. It is our collective responsibility to promote and take steps to strengthen mental health in our respective circles and workplaces,' said Lacroix. 'This campaign is an excellent way to initiate this discussion.'

UPEI Mental Health Week will showcase a series of events including mental health workshops, a mental health fair, a movie screening, a therapy-dog program, and wrap-up celebration designed to challenge the stigmas surrounding mental health while providing a culture of care and education.

The UPEI music department is pleased to present a series of junior and senior recitals throughout the month of March. This week, Nik Dragatakis (jazz guitar) and Cora Wong (flute) will be presenting their junior recital on Friday, March 15 at 7:30 pm at UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall. Wong, of Westville, Nova Scotia is a third-year music major in flute performance. She has competed extensively in the New Glasgow Music Festival and the Nova Scotia Provincial Music Festival and has also represented Nova Scotia in the National Music Festival for woodwinds. Her junior recital program will feature works of Bach, Feld, Clarke, and Casella. Wong will be accompanied by Frances McBurnie.

Dragatakis will be performing jazz classics by Kenny Wheeler, Jimmy VanHeusen, Wayne Shorter, and Bobby Timmons. His trio will feature Isaac Williams on bass and Patrick LeClair on drums. He will also be joined by guest performers Robyn Verhoeven on trumpet and Dan Rowswell on alto saxophone. Dragatakis studies jazz guitar with Ian Toms.

On Sunday, March 17, classical guitarist Tim Sherran, of Nine Mile Creek, PEI will perform at 7:30 pm at the Dr. Steel Recital Hall. Sherran began studying classical guitar in April 2008 with Dr. Jim Dickson and he's now studying with Paul Bernard. He will be graduating this spring from UPEI with a bachelor of music in guitar performance. Sherran's recital will feature works by Bach, Tarrega, Dominiconi, and Albeniz, Villa-lobos.

All recitals are free to attend and everyone is welcome! For information, contact Susan Stensch at music@upei.ca or (902) 566-0507.

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and the public are invited to The Wave in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre on Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 pm as four outstanding alumni take the stage to discuss their experiences at UPEI and how they have transitioned into successful careers.

Joining the panel will be Shannon MacDonald (BBA'90), managing partner with Deloitte; Spenser MacPherson (BSc'93) owner of SEM Partnerships specializing in safety management; Erin McGrath-Gaudet (BA'03), director of provincial affairs for Prince Edward Island with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, and David McMillan (BA'97) owner of Home Instead Senior Care (PEI) and Island Ease Concierge.

'Whenever UPEI alumni are able to connect with UPEI students and share their experiences, it is a win-win situation. Students have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of those that have gone before them, and our alumni are able to give back to UPEI in a meaningful and rewarding way,' said Anthony Gill, manager of Alumni Affairs.

Kate VanGerven, UPEI Student Union president, agrees. 'Students at UPEI need to know that they're not facing their challenges alone. Being a student at UPEI means belonging to a community that includes alumni who know what those challenges are and how to overcome them.'

There are more than 20,000 UPEI alumni spanning fifty countries and eight decades, creating a network of resources that current and future UPEI students can leverage to their advantage. Events like this are just one of the many opportunities for students and alumni to connect.

This is an initiative of the UPEI Student Union and is supported by Student Affairs and the UPEI alumni office. For more information on volunteer opportunities for alumni, please contact Anthony at (902) 566-0761 or adgill@upei.ca

The Signal, an online publication of the United States Library of Congress that chronicles trends in digital preservation, recently profiled the work of UPEI Librarian Mark Leggott. The article, entitled 'Islandora's Open-source Ecosystem and Digital Preservation: An Interview with Mark Leggott,' can be read in full here.

The article is part of a series from The Signal on open-source software and the role it plays in digital preservation. Leggott is the founder of Islandora, an open-source software package which marries content management and presentation with long-term preservation.

'The Islandora project is a great example of a sustainable open-source ecosystem,' said Leggott. 'With a community of individuals, institutions and companies all working together on the same goal: the preservation of digital content.'

'Islandora is changing the way institutions and organizations around the world care for their digital archives,' said Dr. Robert Gilmour, UPEI's Vice-President Research. 'We're extremely proud of the work put forward by Mark's team in the Robertson Library on the Islandora Project.'

For more information on the Islandora Project visit the Islandora website.

Fourth-year Panthers hockey forward Jordan Knox received the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Dr. Randy Gregg Award at the SaskTel Awards Presentation at TCU Place in Saskatoon on Wednesday, March 13. Knox was honoured with the award for his excellence in hockey, academics, and community service.

The Skinners Pond native also received an Academic All-Canadian mention in each of the four seasons he played in the Atlantic conference. He finished this past season 16th in AUS scoring with nine goals and 16 assists to give him 25 points in 28 games. During his Panther career, he has collected 33 goals and 67 assists for a total of 100 points in 108 regular season games.

Knox's volunteer efforts have not gone unnoticed. He was instrumental in raising funds for two families during times of tragic loss-families of former Panther Drew Power, and Kameron Cooke, who was from the same West Prince community as Knox. Knox has also volunteered with hockey camps, hockey associations, fundraising events, and community awareness activities.

'Jordan exemplifies exactly what the spirit of this award represents,' said UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson. 'Jordan is the epitome of outstanding AUS achievement in hockey, academics, and community involvement. Jordan ‘gets it' and he is a model student-athlete. He is a leader in our program, is becoming a young strong leader of our community, and is a tremendous nominee for the Dr. Randy Gregg Award.'

'For Jordan to be recognized at the national level for his commitment, academic success, and community work is something we are very proud of,' said UPEI's Director of UPEI Athletics and Recreation Bill Schurman. 'Jordan leads by example and is the perfect example of the character that we look for to play for the green and white.'

UPEI congratulates Jordan on this prestigious and well-deserved award!

UPEI's Executive MBA (EMBA) program and the PEI Business Women's Association partnered on a workplace bullying presentation on Wednesday, March 13. The event took place in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, on the UPEI campus.

Jodi Murphy, a UPEI EMBA graduate and teacher with the Prince Edward Island English-language School Board shared her research findings from her signature project, an independent research project and key component of the UPEI EMBA program. These signature projects provide structure for students to conduct a deep examination of a particular area, advised by a faculty member. It also provides students with the opportunity to apply management concepts and skills that they have acquired during the EMBA program.

Her project focused on the current state of workplace bullying in Canada and the implications that this issue has on organizations. Some of her findings include the costs associated with workplace bullying, which come from loss of productivity, legal settlements, and loss of good employees who have been bullied and chose to leave the organization. Workplace bullying has negative effects on the target of bullying, the other employees who witness the incidents, the organization as a whole, and some believe there are societal consequences as well.

During the session, Murphy discussed trends in workplace bullying in Canada and made a call to action. 'Awareness and education is not enough to stop bullying, there needs to be action,' said Murphy. 'Awareness and education are a good start, but these approaches alone are not enough to stop bullying. We need to encourage people to stand up and not be silent to this epidemic in our workplaces. I believe our collective efforts can help us create the respectful workplaces we all desire to work in.'

'It is a pleasure to partner with the PEI Business Women's Association on this event and we are pleased to share some of the valuable and interesting research by our executive MBA students,' said Dr. Roberta MacDonald, director of UPEI's EMBA program. 'This sharing and working together will help us to become a stronger community of PEI business women.'

'Prince Edward Island workplaces are not immune to workplace bullying. Jodi's research will raise awareness about this important issue and hopefully encourage further ongoing discussion within our own business community to nurture healthier working environments,' said April Ennis, president of the PEI Business Women's Association.

Murphy's research illustrates that for such a serious problem, Canada has been slow to implement legislation which would make workplace bullying illegal. There is no national legislation in Canada dealing with workplace bullying and only four provinces have adopted provincial legislation-Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan-to make workplace bullying illegal.

For more information on the event, or UPEI's executive MBA program, contact Grace McCourt at (902) 566-6474 or mba@upei.ca

Clea Roberts lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the Takhini River. She will read and talk about her poetry on Monday, March 18 at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building as part of the Winter's Tales Author Reading Series.

Here Is Where We Disembark, her debut collection, consists of two sections. The first follows cycles of the season and domestic life. 'You know you've found a real poet when she observes that mud, in a Yukon springtime, was ‘never so exotic, / tracked across the kitchen floor,'' writes poet and critic Gary Geddes. The second section portrays the people and backdrop of the Klondike Gold Rush. We hear a pioneer wife speak to the river, a prostitute to a sergeant, and a woman to a king salmon. Roberts gives voice to river, fish, and fire, as well as to human settlers and sojourners.

'From many perspectives-historical, social, biological-Roberts' keen poetic intelligence imagines an ecology of inclusion that the landscape of the North, or of any particular ‘here,' calls us to,' states poet Sharon Thesen. 'Survival is a major theme, but there is a transcending joy and beauty in these poems.' (The Malahat Review).

Roberts is a three-time recipient of the Yukon Government Advanced Artist Award and co-organizes the Whitehorse Poetry Festival. Her poems have appeared in The Antigonish Review, The Dalhousie Review, The International Feminist Journal of Politics, Lake: A Journal of Arts and the Environment, and other magazines. Her work has been nominated for a National Magazine Award, and she was a finalist for the 2011 Gerald Lampert Award for Best First Book by a Canadian Poet.

Her reading is sponsored by the UPEI English department with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Yukon government. A reception will follow her reading. Admission is free.