President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz invites you to attend the 2018 President’s Holiday Social for Faculty and Staff on Tuesday, December 4 from 12 noon-1:30 pm at the W.A. Murphy Student Centre in McMillan Hall.

Celebrate with your colleagues at this special time of year! Enjoy complimentary appetizers and refreshments, while listening to students from the UPEI Brass Quintet perform songs of the season, and get a sneak peek of our 50th Anniversary plans!

You are encouraged to bring your food and monetary donations for the UPEI Food Bank—the Office of the President will match your support!

UPEI has lowered the flags in front of Kelley Memorial Building to half-mast on the passing of UPEI Founder, honorary degree recipient, and professor emeritus, Dr. Brendan O’Grady. 

Dr. O’Grady passed away on Saturday, November 24, at the age of 93. His wake will be held at the Belvedere Funeral Home on Friday, November 30, from 4–7 p.m., and a funeral mass at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on Saturday, December 1, at 1 p.m. UPEI’s flags will remain at half-mast until after his funeral. President Abd-El-Aziz issued a statement on behalf of the University, expressing his condolences to Dr. O'Grady's family and his many colleagues and friends. 

Feeling overwhelmed? Studying getting you down? Do you need to just take a breath? 

Back by popular demand, the Robertson Library is hosting the Stress Free Zone! Relax, play a game, colour, get crafty, smile for a selfie fashion shoot, get creative with Lego, and unwind in our beloved bean bag chairs.

The Stress Free Zone is now open and continues until December 15th.

And, there will be a daily pop-up surprise in the library for students during the exam period. Study break activities, snacks, and more. Check the library’s social media each day for details or drop by the library! The pop-up surprise on Saturday, Dec. 1st & 8th is co-sponsored by Chartwells.

Tuition Waiver forms for the Winter 2019 semester must be submitted to Human Resources by no later than December 13, 2018. When completing the form, please include all of the required information (Course name, time, start and end date, cost and the number of semester hours) to avoid any delays in processing the waiver. Please submit original forms directly to Human Resources (lower level Kelley building, room #143).

If you have any questions please contact Heather Walsh at: (902) 566-0514 or hwalsh@upei.ca.

Announcing the launch of the new Faculty of Arts Equity and Inclusion Committee website! Established in the summer of 2018, the committee aims to facilitate conversation and engage colleagues in moving towards more equitable and inclusive practices in our interactions inside and outside the classroom. Check out http://projects.upei.ca/arts-equity-and-inclusion/ for lots of resources and ideas. And starting in January, we’ll be hosting online discussions and events too. We welcome everyone on campus to use the site and join in the conversation! 

For more information, contact Ann Braithwaite, abraithwaite@upei.ca.

Due to the possible inclement weather, we are postponing our Dairy Farmers of Canada Lunch Special at the AVC Cafe and Samuel's Cafe to the following day, Friday November 30th at 11:30am. 

For more information and a copy of the menu, please visit http://dineoncampus.ca/upei/whats-happening or email via.reyes@compass-canada.com.

Emergency Measure Organizations (EMOs) across the country are now able to push life-threatening emergency alerts to wireless devices-- to complement alerts on TV and radio stations.

Today, on Wednesday, November 28 at 1:55 pm (1355 hrs), the Prince Edward Island EMO will be conducting a live test of the Alert Ready system, which does not allow you to opt out of the alerts. Not all mobile devices will receive the test message. For general device compatibility and more information, you can refer to the Alert Ready website here. 

Those who do carry a compatible wireless device will receive an audible test message and a text message similar to: "This is only a test. This is a scheduled test of the Public Alerting System from Prince Edward Island’s Emergency Measures Organization. If this had been an actual emergency or threat, you would receive instructions that would assist you to protect you and your family. This is only a test. No action is required." 

If you are involved in meetings, classes, or presentations today during this test period, you may want to set your wireless devices to "silent" to avoid disruption. You will not hear the alert sound, however, your device will vibrate and display the text message.

At the Chaplaincy Centre, our thoughts are with students during exam time, their success and yes, of course, the chili lunch. During exam time the Chaplaincy Centre will be offering two free chili lunches for our students. As most exams are written on campus December 5 and December 10 we have adjusted our days this year to offer chili lunch to more students. This year lunch will be served on Wednesday, December 5 and Monday, December 10 between 11:30am and 1:30pm. 
About 300 students show up each day with smiles and conversation during this busy time. We are looking for faculty and staff to help out and provide encouragement for students during the exam period. If you are able to volunteer some time please sign up here.

Leon Libang will be presenting a Business Capstone Course Presentation on a new Vaccine for Atlantic Salmon.

This event is today at 12:30 pm in KC Irving room 104.

For the rest of the semester, when you bring in acceptable donations to the AVC Cafe, Tims UPEI, Samuel's Cafe, or the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall for the UPEI Campus Food Bank, you will receive a ballot to win a free coffee or any hot beverage everyday for a year.* Winner will be randomly drawn on December 14!

For any inquiries, please contact 902-566-0720 or email via.reyes@compass-canada.com.

*only redeemable at the Tim Hortons UPEI location and during operating hours

Due to impeding weather, we are unfortunately going to cancel today's Alumni and Friends Moncton event. We will reschedule in early in the New Year.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Anthony Gill at 902-566-0761 or adgill@upei.ca.

Dr. Joshua MacFadyen, an associate professor in the Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture program in UPEI’s Faculty of Arts, will launch his new book, Flax Americana: A History of the Fibre and Oil that Covered a Continent, on Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 pm at Upstreet Craft Brewing in Charlottetown.

Flax Americana examines the story of flax, a plant that went in a few decades from a specialty fibre crop in the Great Lakes region to an oilseed empire that spanned continents and helped create urban industrial capitalism.

“Flax Americana touches on topics as diverse as Canadian Mennonites making homespun linen, escaped slaves and First Nations labourers participating in Ontario’s industrial transformation, and oilseed empires driving precarious agriculture into North and South American grasslands for the production of a luxury good—paint,” explained Dr. MacFadyen. “However, the book is really about what a deep dive into a single plant and the places that produced it can tell us about the emergence of commodity frontiers, industrial capitalism, and the modern world itself.”

Flax Americana: A History of the Fibre and Oil that Covered a Continent is published by McGill Queen’s University Press.

The Office of the President cordially invites you to attend the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing Celebration. Please join members of the MacLauchlan family, guest speaker Dr. Laurie Brinklow, and the UPEI community on Friday, November 30, 2018 at 1:30 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall to celebrate the writing achievements of UPEI students and faculty and staff.

On November 29th starting at 11:30am, choose your own three-course meal with a ton of local dairy at Samuel's Cafe or AVC Cafe! Use your Dairy Farmers of Canada punch cards from purchasing local dairy products over the past month to avail of some $$ off your total meal. Please visit http://dineoncampus.ca/upei/whats-happening for the menu!

For any additional inquiries, email alan.paul@compass-canada.com or call 902-628-4338.

Santa Clause is coming to UPEI on Wednesday, Nov 28th 11:30-1:30. Drop up to the Mawi'omi and Campus Life Lounge in Student Affairs, 5th Floor Dalton Hall and join us for hot chocolate, cake and a little merriment! Take along your colleagues and friends for some great group photos. Don't forget your camera/phone!

All are welcome to attend this week's FSDE Graduate research seminar on Wednesday, November 28 at 12:00pm in FSDE 212.

This week's presenters are:

Humna Khan - MSc Student with her title, "Delineating map based management zones for site-specific fertilization in potato cropping system"

AND

Stephen Peters - MSc Student with his title, "Exploring the SAPPhIRE causality model for product lifecycle management systems within the conceptual engineering design phase".

At the Chaplaincy Centre, our thoughts are with students during exam time, their success and yes, of course, the chili lunch. During exam time the Chaplaincy Centre will be offering two free chili lunches for our students. As most exams are written on campus December 5 and December 10, we have adjusted our days this year to offer chili lunch to more students. This year lunch will be served on Wednesday, December 5 and Monday, December 10 between 11:30am and 1:30pm. 

About 300 students show up each day with smiles and conversation during this busy time. We are looking for faculty and staff to help out and provide encouragement for students during the exam period. If you are able to volunteer some time please sign up here.

Join the UPEI Faculty of Nursing and Graduate Studies coordinator, Dr. Janet Bryanton, for a Master of Nursing Open House on Thursday, November 29 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in room 106 of UPEI’s Health Sciences Building.

Talk with current Master of Nursing students to hear about their journeys in the program, tour the building, and have your questions about admissions answered. All nurses in PEI are invited to attend.