Over the last 30 years, libraries have been transformed by the changes in information and learning, many of them wrought by developments in digital technologies.

"The Robertson Library at the University of Prince Edward Island," says Vice-President Academic Christian Lacroix, "has been an innovator in the development of new approaches to serving a diverse community of learners and scholars, and has demonstrated a creative approach to developing new services. The intersection between skills development and libraries is an increasingly prevalent one, with many libraries delivering a strong information and digital literacy effort in partnership with faculty."

“In order to better leverage this intersection, the Office of Skills Development and Learning (OSDL) will be combined with the Library,” adds Dr. Lacroix.

This new unit will include responsibility for the Library, Central Printing, Copyright Office, Professional Development and Continuing Education, PLAR, Seniors College, Explore/EAL, Career Services, and eLearning.

The merged portfolio will provide an innovative approach to the delivery of academic support services, and build on the natural synergies between the Library and OSDL staff. Since the Library is open seven days a week throughout the year, it will also open opportunities to deliver more services to more people at more times, leveraging the entire building as an academic hub: the information and learning crossroads of the UPEI campus.

Dr. Lacroix says, “The current University Librarian has a seat at the Deans Council, providing a critical connection to the broader academic activities on campus and the development of more partnerships with Faculties and Schools. As part of this merger, the University Librarian will assume responsibility for all academic matters pertaining to Continuing Education and Adult Learner programs and will provide an academic home for the creation and delivery of certificate programming.”

With the recent resignation of Mark Leggott effective February 8, 2016, Donald Moses will serve as interim University Librarian while a search process is established.
 

The University of Prince Edward Island continued its tradition of hosting the community to a New Year's Day Levee at Don and Marion McDougall Hall.

UPEI Alumni Association President Alicia Bremner, Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors Tracey Cutcliffe, President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, and Valerie Abd-El-Aziz greeted upwards of 400 guests between 11:30 am and 1 pm. A group of students provided a helpful hand as they welcomed attendees and helped to collect and hang up coats.

UPEI Alumni and Friends were also out in strong force on the levee circuit this year, and were highly visible around town sporting the popular argyle-knit UPEI Alumni scarf.
 

UPEI’s Environmental Studies program is hosting an evening symposium entitled "Currents: Regional Perspectives on Water." The symposium will be held Thursday, January 14, 2016, 6:30–8:30 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Centre on the UPEI campus. 

“As Prince Edward Island is developing a Water Act, three informative speakers will explore different aspects of protection of our water.” said Dr. Carolyn Peach Brown, director of UPEI’s Environmental Studies program.

Eliza Star Child Knockwood, Mawita’jik (“Gathering Together”) Activities Coordinator with the Prince Edward Island Aboriginal Women’s Association, will speak about Aboriginal women’s responsibility for protecting water. 

Dr. Mike van den Heuvel, Director of the Canadian Rivers Institute and former Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity at UPEI, will speak about some of the current issues related to PEI water.

Jocelyne Rankin, Freshwater Coordinator of the Ecology Action Centre, will speak about her involvement with the development of a water policy in Nova Scotia, and lessons that might be applicable to Prince Edward Island. 

Each speaker will present for 15—20 minutes. After a short break for refreshments, the speakers will reassemble for a panel discussion related to water issues on Prince Edward Island as it develops a Water Act. Questions will be taken from the audience.

Donations will be taken for WaterAid Canada, a non-governmental organization which works with communities in the developing world to provide clean water and improved sanitation.

A basket of local products is available as a door prize.

The symposium is supported by the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty and the University of Prince Edward Island.

The UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week for the week of January 4-10 are Katie Donahoe, Women’s Basketball, and Mason Wilgosh, Men’s Hockey.

UPEI Athletics and Recreation recognize student-athletes on a weekly basis for their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. The UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who:  Katie Donahoe, Women’s Basketball; and Mason Wilgosh, Men’s Hockey

What: UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week

When: Week of January 4–10, 2016

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why:  Donahoe, a fifth-year guard and Kinesiology student from Riverview, New Brunswick, scored 7 points on 50% shooting in the Panthers 67-53 loss to the CIS #4 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies on Saturday night. Donahoe also had 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in 40 minutes of playing time while providing outstanding defence.

Wilgosh, a fourth-year forward Bachelor of Arts student from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the consummate team leader on the weekend. During Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss to St.FX, the team captain led a third period comeback with 3 assists to tie the game after being down 4-0. On Saturday night, Wilgosh scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Panthers a 2-1 win over Dalhousie. Wilgosh played more than 60 minutes between the weekend’s two games, helping the Panthers earn an important 3 points in the standings.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas

UPEI Athletics and Recreation will host the ninth annual Shoot for the Cure fundraiser this Friday, January 15 when the Women’s Basketball Panthers take on the Acadia Axewomen. The tip-off time is 6:00 pm.

Shoot for the Cure is a fundraising initiative of the CIS Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) that raises money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and other related charities. The national campaign, launched in 2007, has collected over $886,000 in donations.

The entire Panther team is involved in the local UPEI effort, led by captains Tamara Tompkins, Katie Donahoe, and Anne Kiberd.

“We’re so excited to be hosting this fundraiser as we all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer,” says Tompkins.

“On behalf of UPEI Women’s Basketball, I invite everyone to come out to watch great basketball action and help us with this worthy cause,” she adds. “There are numerous ways to give at the game—you can buy Shoot for the Cure t-shirts, pick up a treat at our bake sale, or bid on some terrific donated prizes at our silent auction.”

For the fifth year in a row, all 47 CIS women's basketball schools are participating in the program. This year's edition of Shoot for the Cure could prove the most special to date, thanks to the fast approaching $1,000,000 benchmark and the launch of a new coast-to-coast project, the Pink Ball Journey.
At the 2015 CIS women’s basketball championship in Quebec City last March, the WBCA presented a cheque for $102,312.05 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. An additional $23,049.71 was amassed by universities that elected to donate their fundraised money to local or provincial organizations, bringing the overall Shoot for the Cure total for the 2014-15 season to $125,361.76.

Everyone is encouraged and welcome to attend!

 

UPEI alumna Monica Elaine Campbell, Class of ’78, was invested into the Order of Ontario yesterday by the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario.

Campbell, who lives in Ottawa, grew up on PEI and moved to Ontario after graduating with her Bachelor of Science, Honours in Mathematics (Minor in Biology). It is believed that Campbell was the first profoundly Deaf student to graduate from UPEI, a remarkable feat at a time when technological supports were limited. She took all her notes through lip reading.

The Order of Ontario recognized Campbell as “a pioneer in the development of palliative care services for the Deaf in Ontario. She has worked tirelessly to break down communication, cultural, and institutional barriers that have long limited Deaf people's access to end-of-life care.”

UPEI President and Vice Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, “On behalf of all of the entire UPEI family and friends network, I congratulate our alumna, Ms. Campbell, on her investiture to the Order of Ontario. We are so very proud of her success and contributions to society.”
 

The UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week for the week of January 11-17 are Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey and Dut Dut, Men’s Basketball.

On a weekly basis, UPEI Athletics and Recreation recognizes these talented student-athletes for their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. UPEI Athletes of the Week are then nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who:  Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey, and Dut Dut, Men’s Basketball

What: UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week

When: Week of January 11–17, 2016

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why: Deschenes, a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student from Île-Perrot, Quebec, backstopped the Women’s Hockey Panthers to two huge victories on the weekend. The Panthers broke a 12-game losing streak and are back in the hunt for a playoff position. During the Panthers 1-0 win over Dalhousie and 2-1 win over CIS sixth-seed Saint Mary’s, Deschenes was selected 1st Star and stopped 53 of 54 shots with a 98.2 save percentage.

Dut, a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student from Ottawa, Ontario, led the Panthers to two important victories over the Acadia Axemen on the weekend. During the Panthers’ 101-83 and 92-90 wins, Dut recorded 46 points on 16/25 shooting from the field, 27 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. He was 3/6 from three point range and 11/12 from the foul line.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas 

The current dynamics of population change in Prince Edward Island will be the subject of a public symposium at UPEI. The event begins at 7:00 pm, January 21 in the Alex H. MacKinnon Lecture Theatre, Room 242, Don and Marion McDougall Hall.  The storm date is January 22.

Population change has always been at the core of the development of small islands, and it is no different on Prince Edward Island. Every day, the public media deliver news about some aspect of population: youth outmigration, rural depopulation, an aging workforce, temporary foreign workers, refugees, wealthy immigrant investors, or numerous other trends. The symposium will provide an opportunity for the public to hear about and contribute to the debate on several of the population issues that are crucial to the future of Prince Edward Island.

This event is sponsored by UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with UPEI Research Services.

Speakers:

Dr. Jim Randall is a geographer by training and a professor in the Island Studies program at UPEI. He is also Chair of the Institute of Island Studies and Co-ordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies. Dr. Randall will provide an overview of the major population changes taking place on PEI from a “small islands” perspective.

Katie Mazer is a PhD Candidate in Geography at the University of Toronto. She researches the movement of workers between the Maritimes and natural resource industries 'out west.' Ms. Mazer’s presentation will focus on Islanders going west and migrant workers coming into the province through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Looking at government policies and economic forces that pressure people to leave home for work, her presentation asks: Why do so many workers have to go so far to make a living?

Tony Wallbank is a retired business owner and draft-horse enthusiast who has spearheaded the upcoming migration of two communities of Amish farmers from southern Ontario to eastern Prince Edward Island. The first Amish settlers will arrive next spring. He will tell us about the Amish, explain why they find rural PEI attractive, and review some of the challenges in this process of community resettlement.

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend. Admission is free. Following the presentations, there will be ample time for discussion and questions from the floor.

For further information, contact Laurie Brinklow, Co-ordinator, Institute of Island Studies at brinklow@upei.ca or 902-894-2881.

Water is a precious necessity that shapes and sustains our lives, yet current and potential watershed problems are a serious challenge on PEI and globally. The Island is the only Canadian province to rely solely on groundwater for drinking water. To ensure the continual sustainability and potability of our water, province-wide hearings are currently being held for the Water Act.

In a timely visit to PEI, Dr. Rita Wong—professor, watershed researcher, activist,  and poet—will deliver the inaugural UPEI Don Mazer Arts and Science Lecture February 4 at 7:00 pm in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, room 242, of UPEI’s Don and Marion McDougall.

Dr. Wong’s talk, entitled “Humble Autonomy: Renewing Culture through Participatory Water Ethics,” will focus on Vancouver, with ample time afterward for the audience to discuss parallels with PEI. A reception with refreshments will follow.

In addition to research presentations on watershed issues, Dr. Wong uses poetry to reflect on human relations with water. Her poetry book Undercurrent reminds humanity that “we are water bodies,” and that we need to honour this reality.

UPEI is also honoured to to be host Dr. Wong on February 5 at 7:30 pm for a public reading of her poetry, in the Dawson Lounge (Room 520) in SDU Main Building. The reading is sponsored by the UPEI faculties of Arts and Science, with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Dr. Wong grew up in Calgary. She is currently an associate professor in Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University in Vancouver. Living and working in Vancouver, she became interested in water ethics because she learned how many salmon streams have been buried and lost to urban development. She lives on the path of a buried salmon stream that she and her neighbours aim to reconnect with and bring back to memory and daylight.

In the earlier part of her career, she was known for her work in Asian Canadian studies and her inter-disciplinary research. For this work, Dr. Wong received a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanity Research Council of Canada. As her focus has shifted more on water issues as a cultural nexus, she has also received a major SSHRC research-creation grant for this collaborative work with filmmaker Dorothy Christian.

She has won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Asian Canadian Writer’s Workshop Emerging Writer Award, and is renowned for examining relationships among contemporary poetics, social justice, ecology, and decolonization.

Dr. Wong’s water talk and poetry reading come at a vital time for development of PEI’s understanding of water ethics and sustainability. As many Islanders work to modernize our water laws, those who want to gain new perspectives on water’s value will have the opportunity to listen to one of Canada’s important investigators of participatory water ethics and watershed issues.

The UPEI Don Mazer Arts and Science Lecture is presented by the UPEI faculties of Arts and Science.

Join members of your alma mater by attending the various exciting events throughout reunion weekend on our beautiful and vibrant UPEI campus. The Alumni Association will be releasing a full schedule of events in the very near future. Nominations for the Distinguished Alumni and Inspiring Young Alumni Awards, which will be presented during Reunion Weekend and must be received by May 30, 2016. To nominate an individual, visit upei.ca/alumni.

Accommodations on campus are available at a preferred alumni rate of $85 per night for an Andrew Hall double suite. Book today by calling 902-566-0952.

For more information on Reunion Weekend 2016, visit the alumni webpage or contact Kathy Weatherbie in the UPEI Alumni Office at 902-566-0687.