Campus Notices

Register now for a live orientation webinar.

Our EFAP provider, LifeWorks, is holding orientation webinars for all employees, faculty members, and their dependents who want to know more about how their UPEI EFAP benefits work.

2022 dates offered: January 27, February 17, March 24, April 14, May 26, June 23, July 14, August 25, September 22, October 13, and November 17.

To register:

  1. Click this link to view the brochure.
  2. Choose the best date (please note the time zone is listed in EST).
  3. Click the date to open the registration window.
  4. You will receive an email confirmation that has the log-in and call-in details.

EFAP offers a short-term, solution-focused approach to professional counselling to assist you in resolving your concerns and issues. EFAP provides counselling that best suits your needs and busy schedules, whether it is in person, by telephone, or online [e-counselling], as well as immediate help with crises. 

In addition to professional counselling, employees and their eligible family members can access a wide range of programs that provide telephonic consultation with qualified advisors who can help answer questions and clarify concerns that affect us all. Services include legal, financial, family, and nutritional.

For EFAP counselling, work-life programs, and information services 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year, call (English) 1-844-880-9142. Or visit: www.workhealthlife.com

More information on the UPEI EFAP benefit can be found on MyUPEI STAFF or FACULTY.

Happy National Medical Laboratory Week!

Health, Safety, and Environment would like to celebrate not just our medical labs but all the different labs on campus: chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, biomedical path/microbiology, health management, diagnostic services, and applied human sciences.

Do you work in one of these labs?

Submit a safety tip or a safety measure that you've implemented in your lab for a chance to win a $100 UPEI Bookstore Gift card, a $25 Tim's Gift card, or a health and safety mug! Send your submissions to hse@upei.ca by end-of-day Tuesday, April 19. The draw will take place on Wednesday, April 20.

The Spring 2022 Exam Chili and Dahl Free Food Event at the Chaplaincy Centre will have a new look this month. Students will be invited to "Grab and Go" with their hot meal and treat bag. Volunteers are needed to package and distribute food on Tuesday, April 19.  

As in December, we will serve twice on one day, from 12:00 noon--1:30 pm and again at 5:00--6:30 pm.  The spreadsheet allows for five names per 30-minute block.

Spring 2022 Exam Chili and Dahl Free Food Event

Thank you,

Sister Sue

  

Keyboard tricks and tips...

  • Instead of moving the cursor to the X in the corner, press CTRL+W to close the current window.
  • Close all your windows quickly if you’re in a hurry by pushing the Windows button+D, and they will all shut immediately.
  • Rename your highlighted files quickly by pressing F2.
  • Close the program running with ALT+F4.
  • Re-open your last closed tab with Shift+CTRL+T on most browsers.

Please be advised that the PEI Research Ethics Board (Health PEI) office has now moved to a new electronic submission platform for use by all researchers. 

Effective April 1, 2022, all new study submissions for review by the PEI REB (those applications involving Health PEI in any capacity) will be required to be completed in their new software system, Synto, rather than be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal.

Current active studies will not require changes; however, you’re encouraged to contact the office as soon as possible to request a user account for future submissions. Please contact the PEI REB Coordinator (Health PEI) if you have any questions at (902) 569-0576 or at reb@ihis.org.

Celebrate Holy Week at the Chaplaincy Centre:

Follow the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre on social media for the latest news.

Please be advised that the PEI Research Ethics Board (Health PEI) office has now moved to a new electronic submission platform for use by all researchers. 

Effective April 1, 2022, all new study submissions for review by the PEI REB (those applications involving Health PEI in any capacity) will be required to be completed in their new software system, Synto, rather than be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal.

Current active studies will not require changes; however, you’re encouraged to contact the office as soon as possible to request a user account for future submissions. Please contact the PEI REB Coordinator (Health PEI) if you have any questions at (902) 569-0576 or at reb@ihis.org.

The Scholarships and Awards Office has extended the deadline to apply for select Convocation awards! The new deadline is Thursday April 14, 2022. Graduating students can access the three remaining award application forms by clicking the following links:  

Be sure to submit your application(s) and any supporting documents in time for the April 14th deadline electronically to scholarships@upei.ca or in person to the Scholarships and Awards Office at 202 Dalton Hall.

Celebrate Holy Week at the Chaplaincy Centre:

Follow the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre on social media for the latest news.

Yoga instructor Pam Harris will guide you through a 45-minute class of meditation and gentle yoga stretches. The meditation segment of the class creates calmness, inner peace, and balance, which benefits your emotional well-being and overall health. The class is free. Participants can sign up on a weekly basis by logging into recreation.upei.ca, click on the wellness (UPEI Faculty/Staff) icon. The class will take place on Thursdays, 12:10--12:55 pm, from May 9 to June 23.  

The yoga class is for UPEI faculty and staff only and is offered by the Healthy Campus Committee, with support from the UPEI Employee Wellness Strategy. If you have questions, contact Angela Marchbank, Fitness and Wellness Coordinator, at amarchbank@upei.ca.

The Faculty of Business invites members of the campus community – students, faculty and staff – to attend a virtual research presentation by Sampath Bemgal for a tenure-track position as assistant professor of Business Analytics and Management Science.

Biography:

Sampath Bemgal is a recent graduate from Ivey Business School, Western University, with a PhD in Information Systems. His research focuses on how organizations innovate and transform using digital technologies. In particular, he focuses on internal dynamics of organizations and examines the interplays that occur between humans, organizational structures, and technologies in order to bring about organizational improvements with technologies. His work has been presented at various management conferences such as the Academy of Management (AoM), International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC).

Presentation Title:  "Generative Mechanisms of IT-Enabled Transformation: A Case Study of Hospital Laboratory Transformation"

Abstract:

Organizations embarking on information technology (IT)-enabled transformation still face struggles with their execution, which offers an opportunity to develop better evidence. Substantial opportunity exists to explore how exactly a transformation as a process evolves over time and how organizational structures (mainly social and technological) and culture interact with human agency to cause successful transformation. Focusing on generative mechanisms—the underlying causal powers driving such transformation process—this research performs an in-depth case study of a hospital laboratory unit involved in IT-driven transformation efforts. Using critical realism philosophy and Archer’s (1995) morphogenesis as a complementary perspective, this study conceptualizes the process of IT-enabled organizational transformation and later uncovers some of the key generative mechanisms that contributed towards successful transformation of this laboratory. Data analysis revealed six plausible key generative mechanisms: (1) framing the need, (2) forming the need, (3) cognition frame aligning, (4) materializing critical thinking, (5) validating, and (6) actualization of affordances. Through these insights, this research further advances a generative mechanism perspective of IT-enabled organizational change besides contributing to the knowledge on IT-enabled organizational transformation and usage of critical realism in studying complex IT phenomena.

The presentation will take place on April 8 from 10:15–11:15 am (Atlantic Time) via the following Zoom link:  

https://upei.zoom.us/j/68248664421?pwd=U04zQjFSb1RPRHQ3eDRKcUo5MDNTQT09

Meeting ID: 682 4866 4421

Passcode: 390952

For further information, please contact Shelly Kavanagh at businessfac@upei.ca.

The Faculty of Business invites members of the campus community – students, faculty and staff – to attend a virtual lecture (teaching demonstration) by Sempath Bemgal for a tenure-track position as assistant professor of Business Analytics and Management Science.

Title for Teaching Demonstration: "Advanced Data Mining and AI/ML Techniques: Fundamentals"

Biography:

Sampath Bemgal is a recent graduate from Ivey Business School, Western University, with a PhD in Information Systems. His research focuses on how organizations innovate and transform using digital technologies. In particular, he focuses on internal dynamics of organizations and examines the interplays that occur between humans, organizational structures, and technologies in order to bring about organizational improvements with technologies. His work has been presented at various management conferences such as the Academy of Management (AoM), International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC).

The lecture will take place on Friday, April 8, from 9:00--9:45 am (Atlantic Time) via the following Zoom link:  

https://upei.zoom.us/j/69460983313?pwd=VmkxcklPVUMranlEYVpFSTB0OS9Ddz09

Meeting ID: 694 6098 3313

Passcode: 668056

For further information, please contact Shelly Kavanagh at businessfac@upei.ca.

Celebrate Holy Week at the Chaplaincy Centre:

Follow the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre on social media for the latest news.

Starting now until April 22, 2022, the UPEI Bookstore is having an end-of-the-year sale of office and school supplies. Save up to 75% off regular priced pens, notebooks, and all other supplies! 

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions (new, renewal, or amendment) is Friday, May 6, for the May meeting.

Please note that as of June 1, 2020, all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols, select "applications," and for renewal or amendment protocols, select "events."

UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice can be accessed through myUPEI at https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-introduction-to-neural-network-architecture-tickets-264356506427

Join ACENET for an introduction to Neural Network Architecture.

About this event

Prerequisite: Familiarity with feed-forward neural networks

Have you wondered how machine learning models can suddenly do so many different types of work? How is it that machines can learn things like language, vision, and translation in such a short amount of time, and what has helped drive these kinds of improvements? The obvious answers--big data and big processors--are only part of the story. To understand the full picture, we need to take a closer look at the models driving the AI revolution. This talk is aimed at people who are familiar with the basics of feed-forward neural networks, and will involve an in-depth explanation of how information is represented for machines to learn on, how machines can make sense of information, and the challenges presented.

This session will take place on Thursday, April 20, 12:00 pm--3:00 pm (Atlantic time)

You will need to have a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) on which you have administrative privileges, as you will need to pre-load specific software packages. 

Participants must register using their institutional/organizational email address (not a personal email, i.e., gmail)

Instructions about how to join will be sent out one day prior to the start of the event.

Please join us for the third webinar in the "Resistance, Change and Survival: Mi'kmaq'ik to the Mayan Nation" series, presented by Dr. Juan Carlos Mijangos (UADY). The webinar is titled Intercultural Education of the Mexican State: An autopsy/Educación Intercultural del Estado Mexicano: una autopsia.

This webinar deals with the general problems faced by groups of indigenous origin in the Mexican education system. The so-called Intercultural Education becomes an effort with hits and misses, valued and analyzed by experts in the field. //  Esta conferencia trata sobre los problemas generales a los que se enfrentan los grupos de origen indígena ante el sistema de educación mexicano. La llamada Educación Intercultural se convierte en un esfuerzo con aciertos y desaciertos, valorados y analizados por los expertos en la materia. 

Please register for the webinar at https://tinyurl.com/y5p4dr7t

The "Resistance, Change and Survival: Mi'kmaq'ik to the Mayan Nation" webinar series is coordinated by Dr. John Doran, University of Prince Edward Island, and Dr. Víctor Hugo Medina Suarez, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán.

Additional webinars coming up in the series include:

  • May 13, 2022, at 2 pm AST: "Mayan feminism in the literary works of Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim"/“El feminismo maya en las obras literarias de Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim” - Dra. Cristina Leirana (UADY)
  • June 10, 2022, at 2 pm AST: “The Mayan language in history: From instrument of colonization to means of modernization”/“La lengua maya en la historia: de instrumento de colonización a medio de modernización” - Dr. Lorgio Cobá Noh (UADY)

We would like to thank our sponsors, The Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE) and the UPEI Faculty of Education, for their help in making this event possible.

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions (new, renewal, or amendment) is Friday, May 6, for the May meeting.

Please note that as of June 1, 2020, all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols, select "applications," and for renewal or amendment protocols, select "events."

UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice can be accessed through myUPEI at https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

Curious about using alternative grading in a Modern Algebra class?  Here's one instructor's reflection on how it's going. It takes about nine minutes to read: Ungrading after 11 weeks.

The deadline for Summer 2022 Tuition Waivers is April 29, 2022. We encourage you to have tuition waivers submitted as soon as possible to assist in the timely processing. Tuition Waiver forms must be submitted electronically.   

Online Employee and Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver fillable forms can be found on the main page of MyUPEI under UPEI Forms. 

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources at: (902) 566- 0514 or hrgeneral@upei.ca