The Old Belle River Church and UPEI will present an encore performance of A Solitary Clarinettist on Friday, July 25 at 8:00 pm. Performed by UPEI clarinet professor Karem J. Simon, this performance is unique in that it will feature a diverse selection of music performed by one clarinettist only; no other collaborative musicians will be involved. This recital is an extraordinary experience as it blends the Old Belle River Church's remarkable acoustics with the comfort, ambiance, and intimacy so desired in the presentation of chamber music. In addition, the hospitality of owner Wendy Jones, a substantial visual artist herself, makes for a unique evening of entertainment.

Dr. Simon's recitals often feature music that uses the clarinet in unique ways. It stems from his philosophy that 'if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space.' Accordingly, among the featured works is Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa by Phillip Kent Bimstein. This work is a fantasy for clarinet, frogs, crickets, and coyotes. Fascinated with the sounds of nature, Bimstein sought to find means to integrate them with a live musician. He visited a canyon in Zion National Park in southern Utah where he digitally recorded the sounds of singing frogs, howling coyotes, crickets, rocks, thunder, and rushing water. The sounds were shaped and manipulated with the use of his computer and a synthesizer keyboard. Eventually, he produced a recorded track with the arrangement of sounds and composed a part for a musician to play live. It will be a fascinating aural experience for the audience.

The performance will begin with music from the Baroque era. While the clarinet had not yet been invented, Dr. Simon will perform a transcription of the two bourées from Bach's Cello Suite No. 3. Hungarian composer Béla Kovàcs will be featured as three of his Hommages, 'Bach,' 'Debussy,' and 'Richard Strauss' will be performed. Stravinsky's Three Pieces and a number of character pieces will be included.

The second half of the recital will begin with Gryphon, by American composer Theresa Martin. Exploring unusual colors through micro-tones, fluttertonguing, and growls, it captures the character and activity of this mythological beast. Another contemporary work, Dissonant Grooves, will conclude the program. Written by Minnesota guitarist Jeff Lambert, Grooves utilizes jazz rhythms, flutter tonguing, and multiphonics to create a relentlessly funky number.

Those who have attended recitals by Dr. Simon know that there is considerable audience engagement in his presentation. This may be the perfect opportunity for those unfamiliar with the classical music realm to experience the genre. Admission is by donation-$15 recommended. Guests are invited to bring their own beverages and snacks to add to their enjoyment.

For information:
Dr. Karem Simon, Professor, Department of Music, UPEI
(902) 566-0702 (work), (902) 892-5993 (home), ksimon@upei.ca

How will coastal erosion affect your community? UPEI's Climate Research Lab is touring Prince Edward Island Communities this month to demonstrate its Coastal Impacts Visualization Environment tool, better known as CLIVE. Dr. Adam Fenech will lead discussions about coastal erosion and sea-level rise, and the risk to homes, cottages, roads, and communities.

CLIVE allows users to manipulate a 3-D map of Prince Edward Island with a video game controller. It simulates erosion and sea-level rise over the next 90 years, and shows their impact on Prince Edward Island infrastructure.

Attendees will be encouraged to share ideas about how we might best adapt to these conditions, and through CLIVE, view local areas that may be affected.

The schedule includes:

• North Rustico-Lion's Club, Tuesday, July 22
• Charlottetown-Beaconsfield Carriage House, Wednesday, July 23
• Summerside-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club, Thursday, July 24
• Alberton-Community Centre, Wednesday, July 30

Each session begins at 7:00 pm and will run for approximately one hour. Drinks and light snacks will be provided.

The events are sponsored by the PEI Department of Environment, Labour, and Justice, and by the Climate Research Lab at the University of Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit upei.ca/climate.

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

The Concussion Injury Research and Evaluation Clinic at UPEI is looking for participants between the ages of 9 and 25 who are physically active and/or involved in organized sport to participate in research that investigates concussion and return-to-play. Study participants must be available for two (2) hour-long testing appointments spaced at least two weeks apart.

Visit upei.ca/concussion for more information. Email concussion@upei.ca for inquiries or to schedule an appointment.

UPEI, SDU, and PWC alumni will reunite this weekend through a variety of events during Summer Reunion Weekend 2014, July 24-27.

Summer reunion events include an Alumni, Faculty, and Staff All Years' Mixer on Friday, July 25, 3:00-5:00 pm in the Alumni Tent, UPEI Quadrangle; the 30th Annual SDU Mass, 7:30 pm in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall; the SDU All Years' Reception, 8:30 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre; the Annual PWC Luncheon on Sunday, July 27 at 1:00 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, and more! Guests are asked to RSVP to the PWC Luncheon by calling (902) 566-0687.

For more information, please contact Sarah MacInnis, Alumni Engagement Coordinator at (902) 566-0687 or smmacinnis@upei.ca

For a full schedule of events, please visit http://remember.upei.ca/events

UPEI Men's Hockey Head Coach Forbes MacPherson is pleased to welcome Mark Carragher to the Panther coaching staff.

Carragher was most recently the head coach of the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild major midget team in 2013-14 (of the NB-PEI Major Midget League), and also coached its predecessor, the Cornwall Thunder, in 2012-13. Both teams won the provincial major midget championship during the years he coached, with the Thunder also winning the silver medal at the Atlantic Major Midget Championship. Carragher is also an assistant coach with PEI's 2015 Canada Games men's hockey team and is in the process of completing the Hockey Canada Advanced Level 1 Coaching Program.

Carragher played university hockey at the University of Southern Maine from 2003-07 and finished as the career-scoring leader. After university, Carragher played professional hockey with the Texas Brahmas and the Amarillo Gorillas in the Central Hockey League from 2007-09.

'I am very excited to join Forbes on the coaching staff for the UPEI Panthers. I look forward to working with this group of dedicated young men to help bring a championship back to UPEI,' said Carragher.

'Mark is a tremendous addition to the UPEI Men's Hockey coaching staff. He will bring a very high hockey IQ, a strong work ethic, and a competitiveness to our program that we look for from our coaches and players alike. I have had the opportunity to work with Mark in minor pro, and I am excited to reunite with him,' said MacPherson.

For more information, or to purchase season tickets, visit Panther Central (Sports Centre), (902) 566-0368, panthercentral@upei.ca, www.gopanthersgo.ca.

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

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

Stetson's workshop, entitled 'The Character Driven Story in Drama and Prose Fiction,' will begin on August 22, and continue on August 23 and 24. The two-tiered 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. The workshop will be held in the Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242.

For more information, and to register, email Kent.Stetson@sympatico.ca before August 5.

For information:
Dr. Richard Lemm
UPEI English Department
(902) 566-0592, rlemm@upei.ca

The UPEI community honoured three graduates yesterday with the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award and the Inspiring Young Alumni Awards. Since 1990, the UPEI Alumni Association has been awarding the Distinguished Alumni Award to recognize graduates who have made an outstanding contribution to knowledge, the arts, the community, the University, or have made a special contribution to an area of service to humanity. In 2011, the Association gave out the first Inspiring Young Alumni Award, which was a way to recognize the contributions of our more recent graduates, and use their success as a catalyst to inspire current UPEI students.

'I would like to congratulate our award recipients, Mr. Stetson, Dr. Singh, and Mr. Cousins,' said Alicia Bremner, president of the UPEI Alumni Association. 'Thank you for all that you have done and for what I'm sure you will continue to do. I want you to know how proud of you we are and how excited we are to have you join this exclusive group of alumni.'

This year's recipients are:

Distinguished Alumni Award

E. Kent Stetson, CM (BA'70)
Mr. Stetson is a celebrated Canadian playwright, author, teacher, director, and mentor. He is the winner of multiple awards, including the Governor General's Literary Award for English Drama, the Canadian Author's Association Carol Bolt Award for Excellence in Drama, and the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation's inaugural Wendell Boyle Award. In 2007, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Mr. Stetson was the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence at The Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas at McGill University in 2013.

Inspiring Young Alumni Award

Trent Cousins (BA'09)
Mr. Cousins is a true entrepreneur. Starting at a young age in the lawn care business, he has blossomed into a community-minded leader with multiple business partnerships and has a passion for growing the local and regional economy. His hard work was recently recognized when he was named one of 21 Inc.'s Top Emerging Leaders in Atlantic Canada under 35.

Ameet Singh (DVM'06)
Dr. Singh an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. His area of specialty and research is focused on minimally invasive surgery techniques and the prevention of infection at surgical sites. He was recently named one of the 'Top 40 Under 40' by the Guelph Mercury newspaper.

'We continue to strive to be the best for our students and to celebrate our accomplishments as a University,' said President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. 'UPEI is actively pursuing its vision to enable our students to reach their full potential in both the classroom and the community, and develop leaders who emerge from their studies ready to excel and contribute to the betterment of our local and global communities. Kent, Ameet, and Trent: you exemplify all of these attributes.'

The UPEI Alumni Association is a network of over 23,000 PWC (Prince Of Wales College), SDU (Saint Dunstan's University), and UPEI graduates that span 50 countries and eight decades. Each year new graduates join this impressive network, strengthening our Panther Pride. Alumni are encouraged to get involved with activities, stay connected, and take advantage of alumni benefits.

(L to R): UPEI Student Diversity Office Co-Coordinators Emily King and Nabila Acra; Tyler Murnaghan, Co-Chair of ARCPEI; UPEI Rainbow Alliance co-chair Zak Court; and Treena Smith, Manager of Student Affairs raise the pride flag in recognition and support of the LGBTQQ2T community. Approximately 40 guests attended a special ceremony held at UPEI on Monday, July 28 to kick off PEI's Pride Week, July 28-August 2.

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