John R. Gillis, Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, returns to Prince Edward Island to deliver a free public lecture on 'Islands as Wetlands' on Friday, August 1 at 7:00 pm in UPEI's Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 243.

Gillis' lecture has been organized as part of two environmental history workshops being hosted later this week at the University-'the Dominion of Nature,' which looks at Canada's environment during the age of Confederation; and the third annual forum of the Northeast and Atlantic Canada Environmental History Network. Both are sponsored by NiCHE, the Network in Canadian History and Environment.

More about Professor Gillis: A distinguished environmental historian, Professor Gillis is the author of 'The Human Shore: Seacoasts in History,' a provocative re-interpretation of the role of seacoasts in the development of human society. During his research for the book, Professor Gillis spent time on Prince Edward Island as a guest of UPEI's Institute of Island Studies. Coastal zones, Gillis argues, have always been a diverse and vital ecotone, a place where sea and land overlap, providing an abundance of resources as well as key transportation corridors. But the last century has witnessed an unprecedented migration of peoples back to the edge of the ocean. As global warming continues to raise sea levels, our increased proximity to the water challenges humans to live with the coast, not just on it. The challenge is particularly relevant to islanders, and Gillis will examine the subject from the concept of islands as wetlands.

For information:
Edward MacDonald
Associate Professor, UPEI Faculty of Arts
(902) 894-2805, gemacdonald@upei.ca

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz has released and fully endorsed the recommendations from the independent fact-finding review about the Department of Athletics and Recreation, prepared by Dave MacNeill.

'I have always said my priority would be to spend time with faculty, staff, students, and members of the PEI community to realize key issues of importance from their perspectives. And very clearly, a successful Athletics program at UPEI matters greatly to the community we serve,' commented President Abd-El-Aziz.

The President noted that through this review process and the events that led to it, senior administration at UPEI now, not only fully understands the issues the Department has faced, but also more fully appreciates the important role Athletics can contribute to a positive university-community connection.

The University appreciates and respects the report's recommendations and has developed an implementation time line for each recommendation that is based upon University policies and procedures as well as its financial situation. The recommendations are:

• Establish an Athletics Advisory Board
• Establish a fundraising sub-committee of the Board of Governors
• Appoint a dedicated Development Officer to the Department
• Secure long-term stable leadership and staffing within the Department
• Develop an Athletic Financial Aid stability model
• Implement transparent, accountable financial policies
• Review and adjust coaching salaries

In a clear demonstration of the University's commitment to change, the Athletics Advisory Board will be chaired by President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. The fundraising sub-committee will be chaired by Bruce Donaldson, the current UPEI women's hockey coach, who was recently named the Associate Director of Development for the University, starting in October. Donaldson is the long-time and current Branch Manager for TD Canada Trust in Charlottetown.

As the University acts on these recommendations, the Department will be directed by a transition team co-led by the Vice-President, Administration and Finance Jackie Podger, and the Manager, Campus and Community Recreation Stephanie Knickle.

The transition team has been put in place as Bill Schurman, the current Department director, recently informed the University that he will not be available to continue in the position. The University thanks Schurman for his tremendous contribution while UPEI navigated through difficult financial times across all departments.

'Billy was asked to come into a department under tough financial circumstances and effect change. He balanced the budget for the Department and his contributions will live on and serve the Department well into the future. We wish him well,' said Podger.

A comprehensive search for a new Director of Athletics and Recreation will take place.

UPEI Backgrounder

Summary of Recommendations: Department of Athletics and Recreation Review

1. Establish an Athletics Advisory Board

UPEI establish an Athletic Advisory Board consisting of people from the community who are recognized as leaders with knowledge of the university and community sport delivery system. The purpose of the Board would be to act as a liaison between UPEI and the greater Island sport community which could act as a resource for planning or implementing services or programs, serve as a mechanism to exchange ideas and also as a communication vehicle between athletics and the greater community.
Implementation Date: September 15, 2014

2. Establish a Fundraising Sub-Committee of the Board

This committee would be populated by 2-3 individuals from the community with marketing and fundraising experience who would work with the UPEI Department of Development and Alumni Engagement to spearhead the raising of dollars for Athletics.
Implementation Date: October 31, 2014

3. Appoint a dedicated Development Officer

The development officer would work with the Department of Development and Alumni Engagement to raise funds for athletics, incorporating a planned, professional approach that would ensure growth and sustainability for the Athletics department.
Implementation Date: Will be determined by sub-committee

4. Secure long-term stable leadership and staffing within the Department

A review of the organizational structure to determine job functions and skill sets is required to ensure consistency and efficiency within the department. Appropriate staffing levels need to be determined and recruitment of individuals possessing the required skills and abilities will continue to enable athletics to move forward.
Implementation Date: Will be determined by transition team and advisory board

5. Develop an Athletic Financial Aid stability model

UPEI fund as part of the operational budget 'AFA Scholarship Amounts' using the following formula: market driven sports (basketball and hockey) be funded at 60% of the CIS cap; high performance sport (soccer) be funded at 35% of the CIS cap. These two formulas would be in place for the next three years. Currently the CIS limit is close to $500k, while this amount may be a noble goal for student-athlete support, it is not realistic given the financial realities of UPEI. The formula creates a framework around the amount that UPEI could contribute for three years. The funding of the Athletic Financial Aid stability model will be dependent upon the success of the fundraising sub-committee outlined in Recommendation #2 and must be considered in the context of all of the University's high priority needs as a part of the University budget process that begins in October. Implementation Date: Process starts in October 2014

6. Implement transparent, accountable financial policies

The University must put an accounting specialist in the department who can interpret and align the numbers with the UPEI accounting office. This person must be able to move the expenditure and revenue items from the department quickly to accounting to ensure that numbers are relevant. They must also be able to easily translate the revenue and expenditure information in a timely manner to coaches and booster groups.
Implementation Date: September 2014

7. Review and adjust coaching salaries

It is time to review the present level of coaching salaries and develop a plan to move through a fair and reasonable salary scale over a period of time. The plan should not create issues with the departmental operating budget.
Implementation Date: UPEI Human Resources will review salaries in the region and report to the transition team by September 30, 2014.

Media contact:
Nicole Phillips
Manager, Marketing and Communications
University of Prince Edward Island
Tel: (902) 566-0947
Cell: (902) 388-1832
Email: nphillips@upei.ca

Over the past number of years, the University has been exploring the implementation of a new administrative enterprise resource planning system (ERP).

UPEI is calling this endeavour 'transformational' as it will bring the University's human resources, student information, and financial systems to an advanced level that will improve the student experience and set the stage for long-term sustainability.

The University has been using a mix of disparate information systems to meet departmental needs. However, the fragmented approach often gets in the way of making services and resources easily accessible to students. The intent of the ERP is to provide students, staff, and faculty with modern tools, user-friendly interfaces, and a seamless environment to access the resources they need to succeed.

UPEI has appointed Dana Sanderson as Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead the process for the selection of an ERP vendor and to implement the system that will integrate all aspects of UPEI's information technology. He will also oversee the University's IT strategy-including governance and risk analysis-ensuring it fully supports UPEI's academic mission.

Mr. Sanderson, a UPEI alumnus (BBA'84) who also holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa, has family roots in Prince Edward Island. Experienced in IT leadership and, in particular ERP selection and technology implementation, he has developed and introduced business and IT solutions for JD Irving, Limited for over 20 years. Most recently, he was Director of the Business Solutions Group and prior to that Director, Strategic Planning, Enterprise Architecture and Project Management Office. He begins in September.

UPEI Men's Basketball Head Coach Tim Kendrick is pleased to announce the addition of California Junior College (JUCO) basketball standout Michael Karimu.

In his sophomore year at College of the Desert, Karimu finished in ninth place (15.2 points per game) in overall league scoring and sixth place (6.1 rebounds per game) in league rebounding. He received all-star awards at the Frank Garcia Classic and the Grossmont College Invitational, and also received an honourable mention in the 2013 JUCO Summer Showcase. Karimu was named as one of the top 100 JUCO players in the state of California. Karimu, team captain at the College of the Desert, possesses a 38' vertical jump, and is a versatile six-foot-two guard that shot 46.3 per cent from the floor last season. The Panthers are thrilled that Karimu will be suiting up for the green and white this season.

Karimu is just as excited to be joining the Panthers. 'It is a great pleasure to become a UPEI Panther. What drew me to PEI was the people I have spoken to; they all seem so generous and helpful, and want to make sure my stay on PEI is a time to remember,' said Karimu. 'I have heard nothing but great things about Coach Kendrick and his programs, and cannot wait to get started. I definitely believe that this is the right home for me to excel in, not only in the classroom, but on the court as well. I want to thank Coach Kendrick and his staff, as well as the UPEI athletic department and the University for this great blessing.'

Coach Kendrick is looking forward to having the newest Panther on board. 'Aside from his obvious basketball credentials, Michael's attitude and character is what impressed me the most. He is very team oriented, and seems to have a solid understanding of what it takes to be a successful student athlete,' said Kendrick. 'He has said to me many times, that all he wants to do is help the team win... whether that be defensively, through rebounding, or scoring. He is a hard worker, and plays with passion and intensity. He can play and defend multiple spots, runs the court well, and finishes well around the rim. He clearly understands that we are looking for players that will bring their best attitude and effort forward, on and off the court, and we are very pleased to have him with us for the next three years.'

Karimu will be enrolling in the Bachelor of Arts program at UPEI.

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

UPEI's Climate Research Lab needs your help to boost one of its projects to the next round in an MIT-sponsored competition about communicating climate risks and coastal vulnerabilities. CLIVE, the coastal erosion visualization tool created by the Climate Research Lab and the Spatial Interface Lab at Simon Fraser University, has reached the semi-finals in MIT's CoLab Communication Coastal Risk and Resilience contest.

A description of CLIVE, from the team's submission to the contest:

'Using 3D game engine technology adapted to serious scientific communication, CLIVE enables citizens to interactively fly around and view the province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) at all scales, while manipulating historical data and projected models through time. By allowing citizens to view scientific data and explore climate change projections at any scale in their own neighbourhood, we help them understand these often abstract phenomena at local, human scales. We believe this is a way to connect all stakeholders to this mutual problem, enhancing awareness, education, dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving at all scales of society and government.'

To register and help vote CLIVE into the top spot, or to learn more about the competition, click here

For information:
Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer, UPEI
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

UPEI welcomes all new students and their families to campus for the third annual Welcome Day on Saturday, August 30, 9:00 am-2:00 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall. Welcome Day is a chance for new students to tour campus, pick up their UPEI student ID card, shop at the Bookstore, pay for tuition and other services, meet staff, faculty, Student Union executives, and new friends, and kick-off O-Week-all before classes start up in September!

This year's Welcome Day will also include parent sessions for parents of residence and non-residence students, a photo booth featuring Panther mascot, Pride, and a barbeque for all from 12:00-1:30 pm. Representatives from Residence Services, Accounting, the Registrar's Office, Student Affairs, and Webster Academic Services will be available to provide academic and administrative support throughout the day.

For information:
Rebecca Gass
Events and Protocol Officer, UPEI
(902) 566-0949, rjgass@upei.ca

UPEI Soccer is excited to announce the 2014 Mulligan Cup schedule, and introduce the inaugural Mulligan Cup Soccer Festival. UPEI Athletics and Recreation invites the PEI community to come out, have fun, and enjoy the beautiful game of soccer.

The UPEI men's and women's varsity soccer teams open training camps on Friday, August 22 in preparation for the Mulligan Cup held August 30-31. This is the third annual Mulligan Cup Invitational, providing an excellent opportunity for coaches to make final roster decisions. The league opener will take place on September 5 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with the men's team taking on Acadia.

In honour of Vince Mulligan, ageless varsity UPEI soccer and hockey coach throughout the 80s and 90s, this tournament has proved to be a great way to kick off the season and showcase the teams to their supporters. 'I really look forward to this time of year when we get a chance to look at the new athletes in camp,' said Mulligan. 'You always go in to a new year with great expectations, and you can see it in the athletes' eyes and in their actions on the field. That's what makes this tournament so great to watch.'

New this year is the introduction of a soccer festival as part of the Mulligan Cup. The festival includes soccer stations and activities such as penalty kicks, soccer tennis, a ball machine, a juggling competition, music, a barbecue, and much more! There will also be age appropriate small-sided pickup games on MacAdam Field, so bring your friends, cleats, and cheer to support our men's and women's Panther soccer teams.

Teams competing in the tournament this year are the University of Moncton Blue Eagles, the Holland College Hurricanes, and the UPEI Panthers. The UPEI men's team will also host the PEIFC senior men's team to kick off the weekend. Admission for the games is $6/day.

2014 Mulligan Cup schedule:

Friday, August 29
7:00 pm (M)-PEIFC vs. UPEI

Saturday, August 30
10:00 am-12:30 pm-Soccer Festival (admission by donation, includes Panther games)
1:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. UPEI
3:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. UPEI

Sunday, August 31
12:00 pm (W)-UdeM vs. UPEI
2:00 pm (M)-UdeM vs. UPEI
4:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. UdeM
6:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. UdeM

Go Panthers Go!

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

Kent Stetson, distinguished native Islander, Governor General's Award laureate, member of the Order of Canada, and recent recipient of the UPEI Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award, will offer a two-tiered, sixteen-hour workshop at UPEI for writers of drama and prose fiction at various stages of their practice.

The workshop, entitled 'The Character Driven Story in Drama and Prose Fiction,' will take place August 22-24, in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242. The class structure will include 10-12 participating writers and up to 15 auditing writers. The workshop is co-sponsored by the UPEI Alumni Association, the Dean of Arts, the Department of English, and the PEI Writers' Guild.

Participating writers may be working on a specific text, starting a new project, or wishing to refresh their practice. They will benefit from pedagogic/craft sessions, exploration of the writers' artistic process, and evaluation of their individual techniques. Character perspective exercises and narrative outlines to be written during the workshop will be read aloud to the group. Respectful, guided critique with feedback from other participating writers and one-on-one critiques from the workshop leader will advance each writer's work.

Auditing writers will be those at a beginning stage of their practice, or those advanced writers who wish to observe and learn techniques for developing the major characters who drive the narrative, and the secondary characters who challenge or support them. Auditing writers will hear the work of participating writers and benefit from the pedagogy and discussions regarding character, plot, and story construction.

Visit www.MasterPlayWorks.com (Workshops) for information on Mr. Stetson's work and workshop style.

For information:
Dr. Richard Lemm
UPEI English Department
rlemm@upei.ca

Charlottetown, PEI (August 19, 2014)-The Journal of Biomedical Optics recently published a paper by researchers at the University of Prince Edward Island which confirms exciting developments in our ability to detect and learn about certain types of cancer. In optoacoustic imaging, short pulses of light are sent into tissue. Because the pulses are so short, the light is converted into sound by the tissue, rather than heat. Dr. Michelle Patterson and Dr. William Whelan's research confirms that cancerous tissue emits sound at a different frequency than non-cancerous tissue.

'This research borrows from a 30-year-old technique, but the results are brand new and give us a whole new way to detect and learn about cancer,' said Dr. Michelle Patterson, whose work on this project was part of her PhD studies in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. 'Previous research studied the amplitude or ‘volume' of the created sound, but by measuring the frequency or ‘pitch', the amount of information we learn from the cancerous tissue is much greater.'

Dr. Patterson's work was supervised by Dr. William Whelan, a professor of Physics and Biomedical Sciences at UPEI.

'Measuring the amplitude of the sound has proven to be useful for locating cancerous tissue, but frequency may provide additional information about the cancer itself,' said Dr. Whelan. 'It may prove valuable for cancer staging and monitoring how cancers respond to treatment.'

The paper, 'Optoacoustic characterization of prostate cancer in an in vivo transgenic murine model', follows more than two years of experiments and analysis to confirm the research team's initial findings. It presents data that confirms the sound frequency emitted by cancerous tissue is statistically different than that of non-cancerous tissue-a relative breakthrough in the area of optoacoustic research.

A modified audio file (scaled to the human audible range) demonstrating the difference in pitch between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcSmCZu8LQ or upei.ca/news.

Media contact: Dave Atkinson, UPEI
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

A special dedication ceremony was held recently at the University of Prince Edward Island to recognize St. Dunstan's University (SDU) and its Board and alumni's commitment to the University. Main Building will now be officially known as 'SDU Main Building.'

'UPEI prides itself on the heritage passed down from St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College, and welcomes opportunities like today to increase our understanding of that history,' said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz during the ceremony. 'And part of that history is that UPEI has benefited so much from the generosity of SDU alumni and the SDU Board of Governors.'

In 1969, when UPEI opened its doors for the first time, it inherited the traditions of two long-established institutions, St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College. SDU Main Building was constructed in 1854 and was the heart of the SDU campus, as it continues to be today for the UPEI community.

The dedication ceremony was held during UPEI's annual Summer Reunion Weekend, fitting as many alumni were celebrating milestone anniversaries on campus and were present while President Abd-El-Aziz and Chair of the SDU Board of Governors George MacDonald unveiled a sign and plaque bearing the building's new name.

MacDonald said, 'This indeed is a special occasion. As we look around campus, we see how much the University has grown. The building that still dominates is the one that in 1855 became St. Dunstan's College when a small body of determined spirits led by Bishop MacDonald fulfilled their dream. They started the college because they believed in education for youth.'

He added, 'This building is where these young people lived, worshipped, held their classes, studied, worried, celebrated, laughed and cried, dreamed and formed their values that made them leaders-leaders in the church and in the community.'

The SDU Board of Governors Chair went on to thank the UPEI Board of Governors and UPEI President for making the recognition happen. He said, 'In 1969, the SDU Board chose to support UPEI and continues to this day. In scholarships alone, the SDU Board has contributed over $3 million. Our board and alumni are committed to continuing this relationship and building upon it. I am so proud to see today's recognition through the naming of SDU Main Building.'