UPEI’s Centre for Education Research hosts public event December 4
The public is invited to attend the launch of a documentary video and the opening of a photography exhibition about UPEI's Master of Education in Leadership in Learning program in Nunavut.
The event takes place on Friday, December 4, at 4 p.m., in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium and Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall.
During a special Convocation in Iqaluit on July 1, 2009, 21 Inuit educational leaders from across Nunavut graduated with Master of Education Leadership in Learning degrees from UPEI-the first graduate degree program to be offered in Nunavut. Most of the graduates were mature students already working as leaders in their communities. Participants studied part-time over three years through face-to-face courses in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet combined with online learning.
The program balanced western and Inuit knowledge of education and educational leadership. It was developed and delivered through a unique partnership between the University of Prince Edward Island, Nunavut Department of Education, Nunavut Arctic College, and St. Francis Xavier University.
The graduates' learning is recorded in a documentary video, Lighting the Qulliq: The First Master of Education Program in Nunavut, produced by well-known Canadian filmmaker and director Mark Sandiford. Aspects of their lives as educational leaders are documented through photographs taken by renowned photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo.
Fiona Walton and Sandy MacAuley, both members of the UPEI Faculty of Education, and Nunia Qanatsiaq, a graduate of the program, will discuss research conducted in the MEd program and speak about the complexities of engaging in ethically based, reciprocally negotiated research within the MEd in Nunavut.
Sandiford will launch the documentary video, and Qanatsiaq will open the exhibition.
This event is hosted by the UPEI Centre for Education Research. For information, please contact Christine Gordon-Manley at (902) 566-6784 or cgmanley@upei.ca
TRC releases report about travel motivations of visitors to P.E.I.
The Tourism Research Centre at UPEI has released a report that categorizes pleasure visitors based on the primary reasons for their trip to P.E.I.
Based on results from the 2007/2008 exit survey, the report profiles visitors by six reasons for travel, including holidays/vacations; short getaways; visiting friends and/or relatives; visiting second home, cottage, condo; attending events, festivals and attractions; and for other pleasure.
The largest percentage of travel parties (38 per cent) visited P.E.I. for a holiday or vacation. This group had the highest prevalence of families and first-time visitors, and tended to visit less frequently than other travel parties. Visitors in this group were most likely to have included P.E.I. as a stop on a larger trip, perhaps one that encompassed the Maritime provinces. They were most likely to have visited in the main season and to have stayed in paid accommodations. These travel parties had the highest participation levels in nine of the 16 activities listed in the survey.
Twenty-one per cent of travel parties came to P.E.I. to visit friends and/or relatives. These travellers spent 81 per cent of their total trip nights with family and friends. As a result, this group had the lowest spending per person per night at $66. Compared to the other groups, those visiting friends/relatives were more likely to visit P.E.I. during the winter, most likely during Christmas and winter breaks. This group spent most of their total nights in Charlottetown (42 per cent), the highest of any group. Participation in typical tourist activities was among the lowest of all groups.
'This is an aging group of Maritime travellers who come to PEI frequently on short visits, spending little money on tourism products while here,' says Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. 'Given that nearly all have been to P.E.I. previously, the challenge will be to identify new activities for these travel parties to engage in while spending time in P.E.I.'
Fifteen per cent of travel parties came to P.E.I. for 'other pleasure' which includes, among others, sporting events and tournaments, particularly during the winter months. This group reported the highest spending per person per night at $139. They spent more on restaurants, vehicle operation and transportation, and other expenditures than any other group. This group had one of the highest representations of minors at 23 per cent, suggesting travel may have been motivated by participation in various sporting events by these younger visitors. More than the other segments, this group spent a greater proportion of their nights in hotels, motels and resorts (48 per cent) and in Summerside (20 per cent of total nights).
A short getaway was the primary reason for visiting P.E.I. for 15 per cent of travel parties. As the name suggests, this group stayed the fewest nights in P.E.I. (2.4). However, despite their short stays, they spent $128 per person per night, the second highest of all groups. About 35 per cent of these visitors were aged 35 to 54, the greatest representation of this age group. Similar to those visiting to holiday and vacation, this group participated in a variety of activities while in PEI.
Six per cent of travel parties visited P.E.I. to attend events, festivals and attractions. Not surprising, this group spent the most money on recreation and entertainment, compared to the other groups. These visitors were most likely to come from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and consisted of the highest prevalence of three or more adults travelling together. This group also consisted of the highest percentage of visitors aged 18 to 34 (36 per cent). Due to the nature of their visit, participation levels for attending festivals and events (56 per cent) and attending live theatre and plays (48 per cent), were highest for these visitors.
Less than five percent of travel parties came to P.E.I. to visit their second homes, cottages or condominiums. This group had the highest rate of repeat visitation (99.8 per cent), visited most frequently (20 trips in five years), and stayed the longest (10.2 nights). They spent the least on recreation and entertainment and the most on food and beverages from stores, car rentals and shopping. This group was most likely to consist of two adults (57 per cent), adults aged 55 and over (52 per cent), and only a few families (12 per cent). Spring was the most popular season for their arrival, in contrast to all other groups.
'Visitors come to P.E.I. for a variety of reasons, and this report allows us to compare the travel characteristics and behaviours of travel parties based on the reason for their visit,' said Dr. Hennessey. 'Despite their different travel motivations, however, all respondents rated their experience in P.E.I. very favourably, suggesting that the province provides a consistent tourism product that caters well to visitors with varying priorities.'
This report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website. More information can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca
UPEI business students collect food for Upper Room Food Bank
In the spirit of giving, business students at the University of Prince Edward Island recently donated over 600 non-perishable food items and $150 to the Upper Room Food Bank.
In mid-November the UPEI Business Society issued a challenge to the undergraduate students in each year, the Master of Business Administration students and the faculty at the School of Business to a competition to collect non-perishable food for the food bank.
From November 16-30, six large boxes-one for each of the four classes, one for MBA students and one for the faculty-were set up in Bill and Marion McDougall Hall, to collect donations. The MBA students won the challenge, collecting about 230 items for the food bank. They also asked the business society to donate $150-the dollar value of their prize-to the food bank.
UPEI professor participates in Intellectual Muscle podcast series
Dr. Joe Velaidum of the University of Prince Edward Island will grapple with the 'big' question--the meaning of life--during a provocative podcast on December 15.
Entitled 'Attaining Spiritual Heights: The Meaning of Life and the Quest for Transcendence,' the podcast can be heard on December 15 at www.theglobeandmail.com/intellectual-muscle. UPEI is one of 25 Canadian universities participating in the Intellectual Muscle: University Dialogues for Vancouver 2010 podcast series.
Velaidum's talk revolves around the inescapable need of people to transcend their "humanness' and the challenges and pitfalls they encounter along the way.
'Given the brute fact of death, what is the point in persisting at trying to rebel against the tyranny of time? Why aren't more of us beset by doubt and powerlessness and depression? I suggest that, like the Olympian, most of us have an inescapable need to transcend our given human natures and strive to become more than we are by connecting to something greater than what our separated and individual existences allow.'
Intellectual Muscle features eclectic talks by prominent and up-and-coming Canadian intellectuals on topics related to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The program, developed by Vancouver 2010 and the University of British Columbia, in collaboration with universities across Canada and The Globe and Mail, runs until the end of the Games in March 2010.
Velaidum is university director for student engagement and retention, the founding director of the Centre for Christianity and Culture, and chair of the Department of Religious Studies. He has published numerous articles on the Canadian literary and cultural critic Northrop Frye, and is now working on multimedia and book-length projects dealing with the meaning of atheism and faith in the modern world.
Notification about campus closures
Faculty, staff, and students are advised that if a decision is made at any time to close the UPEI campus, details will be made available as follows:
Radio Stations: Announcements will be made on local radio stations by 7:00 a.m. if possible. Stations contacted will be: CFCY/Magic93, CBC Radio, Radio Canada, K-Rock, Ocean 100, and C102 (Summerside).
Campus Closure & Alert Line: A message will be recorded, by 7:00 a.m. if possible, on the UPEI Campus Closure & Alert Line. To access this information, please call (902) 894-2882.
UPEI Website: An urgent notice will be posted on the front page of the UPEI website, upei.ca.
Quantum chemistry researcher receives CFI award
Dr. Jason Pearson, an assistant professor of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science, has been awarded more than $40,000 by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) under its Leaders Opportunities Fund. Dr. Pearson's research specialty is in the area of quantum chemistry. He uses advanced computer modeling to simulate chemical reactions at the molecular and atomic level.
'This award, in part, allows Dr. Pearson's lab to buy a vital tool for his research: a high-performance, or super computer,' explains Dr. Katherine Schultz, UPEI's Vice President of Research and Development. 'The CFI's contribution allows UPEI to innovate in an exciting new area of science.'
The CFI's mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.
Education student organizes donations for school children in need
When UPEI education students returned from their pre-service training this time last year they held a class discussion about the obvious impact of poverty on students in some local schools, and they talked about actions that might make a difference. Christie Chandler, now in second-year Education, has taken that discussion a step further this year by organizing a holiday campaign to collect good quality clothing, non-perishable food items, and personal toiletries to distribute to young people who are in need.
The campaign is concentrating on junior and senior high school students in the Charlottetown area in particular. The schools will distribute the donated items, in a confidential manner, to the students who could most benefit from them. Birchwood and Colonel Gray schools in Charlottetown have been designated as the drop-off points. Anyone with items to donate may deliver them to either school on any week day until December 22. More information is available via the UPEI Faculty of Education at 566-0731.
Heather Russell wins Staff Achievement Award
Heather Russell is the winner of the UPEI Staff Achievement Award for 2009. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to University community life and quality of service across campus.
Heather has been a staff member at UPEI for 12 years. Since 2003, she has provided administrative support services to faculty and students in the psychology department, one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Arts. In nominating her for the award, her colleagues praised her unique combination of competence and caring, describing her as 'the heart and soul of the department.' In a testimonial from a former student, Heather was commended for going 'above and beyond her duty to make students' academic careers at UPEI fruitful.'
As a volunteer, she has been an integral part of the free lunch programs for students during exam times organized through the Chaplaincy Centre; a key player in the Purple Ribbon campaign to raise awareness about violence against women; and secretary of the Learning Disabilities Association of PEI.
The UPEI Staff Achievement Award is sponsored by the Academic Support Group.
Island nurses graduate from new critical care and emergency nursing program
Seven nurses from three Island hospitals graduated today from the first-ever critical care and emergency nursing program offered on Prince Edward Island.
The graduates just completed a 15-week critical care and emergency nursing pilot program at UPEI's School of Nursing, which involved classroom study, lab simulation and clinical placements. The program manager is Judy Cotton, and the two nurse educators are Tanya Matthews and Mike Mac Donald.
'Through this program, practicing nurses on P.E.I. can develop their professional skills in the areas of critical care and emergency, which will ultimately improve patient care,' says Dr. Kim Critchley, Dean of Nursing. 'By offering this first-ever educational opportunity here on P.E.I., we can recruit and retain qualified critical care and emergency nurses in the province.'
The graduates are Pamela Condon, Kings County Memorial Hospital, Montague; Angela Neill, Bonnie Bradley and Dana Hood, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown; and Catherine Andrew, Mona MacLellan and Trudy Read, Prince County Hospital, Summerside. Most of the graduates work in critical care and emergency departments at their hospitals.
Another seven nurses will participate in the program beginning in February.
Partnering in this program with the School of Nursing are the P.E.I. Department of Health, Health Canada and the P.E.I. Nurses Union.
'We are pleased to partner in this program and to help provide Island nurses with an opportunity for professional development in critical care,' said Health Minister Doug Currie. 'Nurses play an essential role in the delivery of health care on Prince Edward Island, and providing this program for both new and experienced nurses will result in direct benefits for Islanders.'
This program is one of ten pilot projects across Canada that are part of a pan-Canadian initiative called Research to Action: Applied Workplace Solutions for Nurses, led by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and funded by Health Canada. The pilot projects are aimed at testing retention and recruitment strategies to address the nursing shortage.
UPEI Faculty of Arts holds book launch on January 7
The UPEI Faculty of Arts will hold a public book launch to celebrate ten new books by UPEI faculty in the Main Building Faculty Lounge at UPEI on Thursday, January 7, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
"Remote Control: Governance Lessons for and from Small, Insular, and Remote Regions" explores the question: how does one transform small size and relative isolation into a powerful combination for sustainable growth and prosperity? This collection fleshes out tools and strategies used by mid-level governance structures, and it emphasizes a proactive, creative and assertive approach to governance. The book is edited by Godfrey Baldacchino of Island Studies, Rob Greenwood and Lawrence Felt.
In "A Magnificent Gift Declined: The Dalton Sanatorium of Prince Edward Island 1913-1923," Leonard Cusack of the history department portrays provincial and federal political manoeuvring and the social context surrounding the Dalton Sanatorium, P.E.I.'s first hospital for treating tuberculosis. Considered a state-of-the-art facility at the time, the sanatorium was donated by Charles Dalton to the Province of P.E.I. and built in the rural community of Emyvale in 1913. By 1923, it was totally demolished.
Benet Davetian, chair of the sociology and anthropology department, explores the development of civility, a core concept of social life, in "Civility: A Cultural History." Ranging from the Middle Ages to the present, and covering France, England and the US, the book discusses spitting, line-up etiquette, toilet hygiene, good manners and the relativity of politeness as they change over time. It not only historicizes the development of civility but also locates the concept in today's society and offers a renewed perspective on crucial issues such as multiculturalism.
In "Spirits in the Material World: The Challenge of Technology," political studies professor Gil Germain uses an analysis of four French philosophers to illuminate humans' implication in technology and tenuous hold on reality. He argues that humans are fast becoming disembodied or spirit-like creatures, and gives reasons why this inclination toward spiritization ought to be resisted.
"Texts and Traditions of Medieval Pastoral Care: Essays in Honour of Bella Millett" is edited by English professor Catherine Innes-Parker, and author/editor Cate Gunn. The collection focuses on the growth of, and changes in, pastoral and devotional literature, which flourished in the Middle Ages. Ranging historically from the difficulties of localizing Anglo-Saxon pastoral texts to the reading of women in late-medieval England, the individual essays survey its development and transformation into the literature of vernacular spirituality.
"Afternoon Horses," by Deirdre Kessler of the English department, reflects the author's bond with island landscapes-particularly those of P.E.I. and Tasmania-and with childhood and family-the sinews that hold families together through distance, aging and death.
"Athena Becomes a Swallow and Other Voices from The Odyssey," by English department chair Brent MacLaine, contains 27 monologues spoken by characters who appear in Homer's The Odyssey. Adopting the voices of the minor characters, MacLaine offers a novel perspective on the epic events, demonstrating how the shine of the gods falls on the common folk as well. In this collection, he creates a world as real and immediate to us today as it may have been 3,000 years ago.
"Beyond Silence: Voices of Child Sexual Abuse," authored by the SAGE editorial collective, takes a fresh approach to the ongoing work of child sexual abuse prevention by focusing on the knowledge and wisdom of adult survivors. In this collection, 14 Island women tell about the abuse they suffered as children, the profound effect it has had on their lives, and the reasons why people need to join the fight to stop it. A prevention chapter, written by the group as a whole, focuses on five key areas that need to be addressed in order to end child sexual abuse. Contributor Colleen MacQuarrie of the UPEI psychology department is a member of the editorial collective and co-author of the prevention chapter.
In "Romantic Cosmopolitanism," English professor Esther Wohlgemut shows how cosmopolitanism in the early nineteenth century offers a non-unified formulation of the nation that stands in contrast to more unified models such as Edmund Burke's which found nationality in, among other things, language, history, blood and geography.
Orysia Dawydiak of AVC draws on her own Ukranian heritage in her first novel, "House of Bears," the story of a young woman, her strained relationship with her traditional Ukrainian mother and her family's unspoken past, starting in the 1930s in Ukraine, followed by emigration to England and settlement in Canada.
