Troy Life & Fire Safety will be performing the annual fire alarm inspections throughout campus beginning Friday, May 14, 2021. As part of these inspections, there will be testing of alarms. There will be an audible notification stating this is a test at the beginning of testing and again when the testing is completed. The building occupants are not required to evacuate during the testing period. The ringing of alarms is required to test their function and to ensure the speakers work throughout the building. This will be a small portion (up to 2 hours) of the total time they are in the building.

Alumni Canada Games Place – May 14

Chaplaincy Centre – May 14

Health Sciences Building – May 17

KC Irving Chemistry Centre – May 18

Regis & Joan Duffy Research Centre – May 19

Memorial Hall – May 21

Kelley Memorial Building – May 25

Chi-Wan Young Sports Center – May 26

WA Murphy Student Center – May 27

Dalton Hall – May 28

SDU Main Building – June 1

Don & Marion McDougall Hall – June 2-3

Alumni Hall – June 3

Steel Building – June 4

Duffy Science Centre – June 9–10

Central Utility Building – June 15–16

Robertson Library – June 22

Cass Science Hall – June 23

Campus Kids Child Care Centre – June 23

Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering – June 24

The following buildings will take place at a later date

Atlantic Veterinary College – TBD

Bill & Denise Andrew Hall – TBD

Bernardine Hall – TBD

Blanchard Hall – TBD

Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall - TBD

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jackie MacPhail at jmacphail@upei.ca or 6034.

The UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation is excited to announce the UPEI Climate Webinar Series.

Join Luke Meloche, UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation on Friday, May 28 at 3 pm he will speak about Taking Precise Measurements of Storm Damage on PEI Agricultural Fields Using Drone Technology

Sign up to participate on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/144492046601

PEI Energy Systems are working on the repairs necessary to have the chillers back up and running as quickly as possible.  The contractor's are experiencing a number of issues, along with working in very changeling areas of the tunnel where the pipes requiring repairs are located.  It is possible that the chillers will not be running this week.  Updates will be provided as they are received.

These chillers provide cooling for the Atlantic Veterinary College, Robertson Library, Kelley Memorial Building, Duffy Science Centre, Steel Building, and the Health Sciences Building. 

Facilities Management apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact Jackie MacPhail at jmacphail@upei.ca or 902-566-6034.

IT Systems and Services would like to inform faculty and staff that the initial phase of the UPEI M365 Project is underway, and that a number of faculties and departments have already migrated from Gmail to Microsoft Outlook services.

If you have not already taken part in one of our earlier migrations, you will be included in the final migration scheduled for June 4–7, 2021. Please keep in mind that this migration encompasses Email, Calendar, and Contacts services only. Additional features of Microsoft’s M365 application suite will become available in a future phase of the project.

You will be receiving more details and support in the days leading up to the migration. In the meantime, please visit our UPEI M365 Project website for more information.
 

On Wednesday May 26th, ITSS will be conducting routine maintenance on the MyUPEI portal and related services from 8 pm to 12 am midnight. During this time there may be intermittent access and performance issues with accessing and using MyUPEI, Self-Service & Colleague.

We encourage Students, Faculty, and Staff that may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS Help Desk at 902-566-0465

Synapse is excited to offer the Mitacs Time Management One day Workshop on June 4, 2021 9am-5pm ADT.

This energetic, intensive one-day course will sharpen your professional time management skills and optimize your working week.  Building on the Project Management Institute's (PMI) best practices, methodologies, and productivity tactics, the course provides tools and techniques that can be applied to a partner industry project or employment based role.  

You will learn to:

Optimize your professional days and weeks, effectively define targets and goals so that they are clear and sustainable, accurately estimate activity duration, improve focus and better manage interruptions, reduce corrective communication, defend project schedules without sacrificing relationship quotient, and improve and leverage personal energy for sustainable follow-through on activities.

How to enrol:

1. Create an account on Edge (edge.mitacs.ca)

2. Navigate to the “catalog” tab on the main dashboard and enroll in the workshop title of your choice

3. Select the session (date + time) you wish to attend

4. Follow email notifications for workshop materials and Zoom login information

For help and questions about enrollment, please contact: .training@mitacs.ca

The UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation is excited to announce the UPEI Climate Webinar Series.

Join Luke Meloche, UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation on Friday, May 28 at 3 pm he will speak about Taking Precise Measurements of Storm Damage on PEI Agricultural Fields Using Drone Technology

Sign up to participate on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/144492046601

If you are sending something for recycling, make sure all your accounts are logged out and the device has been wiped of all your sensitive data. Sometimes a factory reset isn’t enough as fragments of data can be recovered by more determined users. In the case of laptops or PCs, that may mean removing the drive completely and destroying it for complete peace of mind. 

On Wednesday May 26th, ITSS will be conducting routine maintenance on the MyUPEI portal and related services from 8 pm to 12 am midnight. During this time there may be intermittent access and performance issues with accessing and using MyUPEI, Self-Service & Colleague.

We encourage Students, Faculty, and Staff that may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS Help Desk at 902-566-0465

The Writing Centre will be open during the first summer session from Tuesday, May 25, to Thursday, June 24, including some evening and weekend appointments.  All appointments will be online.

To see our schedule and make an appointment, go to upei.mywconline.com.  (Contact Jarmo at jjpuiras@upei.ca with any questions or problems registering.)

For friendly, knowledgeable support with your assignments, keep us in mind.

UPEI Procurement Services is currently taking bids on some used commercial kitchen equipment.

Bids are being accepted in the University's e-tendering portal Bonfire until May 28, 2021 at 2:00pm.  This portal requires you to register by creating a username and password as your UPEI credentials are not connected to this system. When registering for the Bonfire portal, please put your name in the Vendor Name and the Contact Name fields.  You can access the information on this opportunity at the following link: https://upei.bonfirehub.ca/projects/42057/details

If you require assistance please email tenders@upei.ca

UPEI Procurement Services is currently taking bids on a used Steinway 9' Grand Piano.

Bids are being accepted in the University's e-tendering portal Bonfire until May 28, 2021 at 2:00pm.  This portal requires you to register by creating a username and password as your UPEI credentials are not connected to this system. When registering for the Bonfire portal, please put your name in the Vendor Name and the Contact Name fields.  You can access the information on this opportunity at the following link: https://upei.bonfirehub.ca/projects/42041/details

Have you let your health screening go by the wayside since the Pandemic began? The Healthy Campus Committee is pleased to invite all faculty and staff to a Wellness Check on June 2 from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.  The event will be hosted at the McMillan Hall in the W.A. Murphy Building complete with the usual COVID-19 precautions: hand-sanitizing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask. You can have your blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids checked; you can have your sit/reach strength tested, you can assess your stress/tension at the Tension Release booth, learn about Sun Safety and STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections). There will be passports that you can submit for some great prizes (e.g Airpod and gym memberships).  

Come and join in on the event on June 2 all morning!

The UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation is excited to announce the UPEI Climate Webinar Series.

Join Luke Meloche, UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation on Friday, May 28 at 3 pm he will speak about Taking Precise Measurements of Storm Damage on PEI Agricultural Fields Using Drone Technology

Sign up to participate on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/144492046601

STAFF & FACULTY - Register now for an Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP) Orientation Webinar

Our EFAP provider, LifeWorks by Morneau Shepell, has created orientation webinars for any Employee, Faculty member, and their dependents that want to know more about how their UPEI EFAP benefits work. These general overview sessions are offered in both English and French at no cost to participants.

2021 dates offered: January 27, February 18, March 24, April 15, May 26, June 23, July 15, and October 14.

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 counseling, 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, WorkLife Programs, and Information Services 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year, call:

English: 1-844-880-9142 Visit: www.workhealthlife.com

More information on the UPEI EFAP benefit can be found on the MyUPEI website here.

Curious about how you can get involved with work-integrated learning projects in upcoming semesters?

Riipen is hosting weekly webinars to share information about how you can get involved in supporting youth for the future of work using their online platform.

The sessions will cover:

• An introduction to Riipen
• Available funding opportunities
• How to get started
• Q & A

Visit this link to sign up for an upcoming session.

Can't make it? No problem; sign up and we will send you the recording.

On Wednesday May 26th, ITSS will be conducting routine maintenance on the MyUPEI portal and related services from 8 pm to 12 am midnight. During this time there may be intermittent access and performance issues with accessing and using MyUPEI, Self-Service & Colleague.

We encourage Students, Faculty, and Staff that may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS Help Desk at 902-566-0465

PhD Candidacy Examination Public Presentation and Examination

Leah Gauthier, PhD Candidate in MMS

"The Occurrence of Microplastics in Prince Edward Island soils and their Metabolic Effect on Earthworms”

Microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment. They are considered an emerging environmental concern due to their bioaccumulation in marine organisms. Microplastics occur in relatively small amounts in soil but have already been found to impact the soil microbiome. As the widespread use of plastics continues, the concentration of microplastics in soils will only increase, leading to more severe effects, potentially impacting crop quality and yields. Within the soil microbiome, earthworms are good bioindicators for soil contamination in which the number, individual weight, and chemical make-up of earthworm populations reflect the severity of contamination. In soils inoculated with microplastics, earthworms’ reproduction, digestive systems and and oxidative stress processes were shown to be impacted. Thus, it is hypothesized earthworms could be used as a bioindicator for microplastic contamination. Soils will be sampled from agricultural land in central Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. Earthworms will be removed from the samples, and the occurrence of microplastics in the soil will be determined through conventional extraction methods. Earthworms will be placed in microcosms of various microplastic concentrations, their metabolomes assessed via proton NMR, and subjected to statistical analysis to determine if there are biomarkers reflective of microplastic contamination. This investigation will determine the current microplastic contamination levels in PEI soil and determine if the metabolic fingerprint of earthworms is significantly impacted by microplastic contamination in soil. These are valuable factors in improving the understanding of the current state of microplastic contamination in PEI and its impact on agricultural soils.

Date and Time: May 25th, 1:00 PM

Via Google meet.  All are welcome to attend. Please contact Barry Linkletter at GSC@upei.ca for the information to connect.

Wednesdays 2:00 - 7:00 pm

Thank you for your generosity over the past months. Summer brings different schedules for many and so our food bank hours will also change. We remain open 5 hours each week, one day rather than three. Volunteers needed, if you have signed up on the previous June sign up sheet please revisit as the schedule has now been up dated. See the new sign up sheet here.

Sister Sue

Have you let your health screening go by the wayside since the Pandemic began? The Healthy Campus Committee is pleased to invite all faculty and staff to a Wellness Check on June 2 from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.  The event will be hosted at the McMillan Hall in the W.A. Murphy Building complete with the usual COVID-19 precautions: hand-sanitizing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask. You can have your blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids checked; you can have your sit/reach strength tested, you can assess your stress/tension at the Tension Release booth, learn about Sun Safety and STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections). There will be passports that you can submit for some great prizes (e.g Airpod and gym memberships).  

Come and join in on the event on June 2 all morning!