UPEI's Co-operative Education office is excited to announce it will be celebrating and recognizing the accomplishments of its students during its annual awards ceremony on March 22. The ceremony takes place during the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education's (CAFCE) National Co-operative Education Week, March 19-23. The national week is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of Canadian co-op students.

UPEI will host its co-op awards ceremony on Thursday, March 22 from 4:30-6:30 pm, in McDougall Hall, Schurman Market Square. The ceremony will recognize UPEI co-op students for their accomplishments during co-op work terms. Specific awards include three Student of the Year honours in business, physics, and computer science, as well as a prestigious Co-op Student of the Year award. Award winners will have demonstrated high academic achievement, a valued contribution to their employer and community, and displayed personal and professional development.

Lisa Hoskins, UPEI's National Co-op Week Coordinator, expressed her pride in the program. 'The UPEI co-op program motivates students, and encourages them to take a positive step beyond their comfort level,' she said. 'It allows students to take initiative to develop a prosperous career path. It also progresses learning, maturity, and ambition, while easing the transition from University to the true-life workplace.'

Norah McRae, President of the CAFCE affirms the importance of co-op students. 'With over 80,000 co-op students in Canada, organizations are able to tap into a remarkable resource of newly developed skill sets, while at the same time enhancing their workforce by meeting a variety of staffing requirements.'

UPEI is among 130 colleges and universities across Canada that are actively involved in developing their students into workplace professionals through co-operative education. UPEI's Co-operative Education Program fosters next generation's leaders, and gives students the opportunity to push themselves, while at the same time, giving back to the local community. Through real-life experience and guidance from employers and co-op coordinators, students gain valuable knowledge and skills that will be used throughout their career upon graduation.

To kick off National Co-op Week, the Honourable Allen Roach, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning signed a proclamation announcing the week with members of UPEI's Co-op office on March 15. Alan Duncan, Dean of UPEI's School of Business, also signed the proclamation.

For more information on UPEI's Co-op Program, visit upei.ca/co-op or email co-op@upei.ca.

Students! Faculty! Staff! Grab your lunch and join in the conversation on UPEI's visioning exercise, Reflections & Future Directions. This is your chance to provide input into the road map that will guide UPEI's development over the next five years.

The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue and PEI Federal Regional Minister, announced funding today to the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) to help with their efforts to recruit more international students.

'Our Government is pleased to support academic institutions like UPEI, as they continue to expand and bring more people to our region,' said Minister Shea, on behalf of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and La Francophonie. 'By increasing UPEI's profile in an international market, we are able to grow and strengthen our local economy.'

UPEI will participate in international student education recruitment fairs and tours to help attract more students to the university. Online information and promotional materials will also be developed for potential student's information.

"International recruitment is a top priority for the University. The best way to ensure that UPEI students can achieve success on this world stage is by incorporating more diversity into our student population. By introducing our Island students to students from around the world, we confirm UPEI's, and PEI's growing stature as an 'educational' destination. We are thankful of supporters like ACOA who believe in our efforts, and see the potential that an initiative like this has to strengthen and expand our Island community and economy,' said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz.

The Government of Canada, through ACOA, has invested $310,000 to help the university with this initiative. UPEI has invested an additional $946,746 to the recruitment effort.

UPEI is home to an average of 130 international students a year from over 50 different countries around the world. International students bring great economic and cultural advantages to both the university and Prince Edward Island as a whole.

Don't stress about convocation! Come out to an information session on March 22 from 11:00 am-1:00 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. You'll find out everything you need to know about convocation 2012-don't forget to bring your student ID card along.

Attend the session to find out more about grad week activities, Alumni Association benefits, post-graduate studies and scholarships, and more. Feel free to bring your credit card to order your degree frame, or pre-book it for pick-up at convocation, by doing so, you'll receive a 10% discount!

Convocation is a time for celebration, not stress-so come out and get your convocation questions answered. Fabulous prizes to be won as well!

The UPEI Wind Symphony will perform its final recital of the academic year on Thursday, March 29 at 7:30 pm at UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall. This has been a particularly busy and musically rewarding year for the Wind Symphony with highly acclaimed performances of 'The Lord of the Rings' during the fall and winter, a successful concert tour of Nova Scotia, and a nomination for a 2012 Music PEI Award for Achievement in Classical Music.

Dr. Michael Corbett of Acadia University, recognized leader in the field of rural education will be on campus on March 27 to present at the 2012 Triple Tuesday Seminar Series. Corbett will present his book ‘Learning to Leave: The Irony of Schooling in a Coastal Community' on small schools in a big world-globalization and the rural school.

This seminar will look at both the pros and cons of small, rural schools and will suggest ideas that may help to resolve the tension between the small school and the big world. UPEI's Faculty of Education, in conjunction with the Centre for Education Research, welcomes everyone to attend this seminar, free of charge.

The event will take place in Main Building, Room 420, on March 27 from 2:30-4:00 pm.

UPEI Co-operative Education programs in Business Administration and Computer Science recently received formal accreditation by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) in time for National Co-op Week. The rigorous, six-month process involved an in-depth review of UPEI Co-operative Education policies and procedures by an external review team. The team consists of practitioners from the University of British Columbia, Dalhousie University, the University of Waterloo, the University of New Brunswick, and North Island College.

The University of Prince Edward Island is teaming up with The Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick, HMCS Queen Charlotte, and the PEI Regiment to host the third annual Atlantic Military Affairs Symposium in Charlottetown. The two-day event will take place on March 30-31 at the PEI Queen Charlotte Armoury, highlighting the Island's role in the defence of Canada, and features a keynote address by Colonel David Patterson.

Hoping to attract academics, Island reservists, students, and the general public interested in how PEI connects to Canada's Military past and present, the event includes presentations by local and national scholars, and Canadian Forces members on a variety of subjects ranging from the Island's contribution in two world wars, the role of the PEI army and navy reservists, security challenges Canada faces in today's world, as well as the issue of Canada's new generation of veterans.

Patterson-who recently returned from a year's service assisting with the surge of US Forces into Kandahar and southern Afghanistan-will kick off the symposium with his keynote address on Friday, March 30 at 7:30 pm.

Other speakers are Marc Milner and Lee Windsor from The Gregg Centre; Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Sprague, veteran of Operation Medusa in 2006 and RCAF Detachment Commander aboard HMCS Charlottetown (just returned from service off the coast of Libya); and Keith Hillier from Veterans Affairs Canada.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend!

The University of Prince Edward Island would like to welcome the Island community, donors, and friends to the new Health Sciences building, for its official opening on Monday, March 26 at 10:00 am. The building is home to the School of Nursing and the Department of Applied Human Sciences (formerly the Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences). Speeches, tours, and donor recognition will take place during the official opening. Refreshments will be provided.

The University of Prince Edward Island officially marked the opening of its new Health Sciences Building today at a special event attended by donors, government partners, board of governors, students, staff, faculty, and alumni.

The 39,000-square-foot building is home to the School of Nursing and the Department of Applied Human Sciences (formerly Family and Nutritional Sciences) and features a mix of classrooms, offices, and laboratories-increasing the capacity for research.

The formal part of the celebration, emceed by Dean of Nursing Kim Critchley and Dean of Science Christian Lacroix, also featured students Trevor Cudmore (Nursing) and Sarah Nabuurs (Foods and Nutrition) who both commented on how the modern facility will help students develop into the best health and wellness professionals they can be.

Board of Governors Chair Fred Hyndman acknowledged the many alumni in the audience, remarking, 'There is a long tradition in the province for nursing and applied human sciences education. With this new facility, current and future students will carry on this tradition, and access ever-changing opportunities.'

The province of Prince Edward Island funded two-thirds of the $10.8 million project, investing a total of $7.2 million, while UPEI is raising one-third of the funds, or $3.6 million. The Honourable Allen Roach, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning, said, 'I want to congratulate UPEI on the opening of this new building and on the great tradition of health training at UPEI and its predecessor institutions for decades. The building we see around us will serve the university and the community for years to come by offering a high level of health-care training and research, making it easier for Islanders to pursue better career opportunities by furthering their post-secondary education.'

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor, Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, believes that the new building will be an excellent facility for students to study, learn, and practice hands-on knowledge and thanked the government of PEI and many donors who have made it possible. 'As a result of the support from all sectors, this state-of-the-art facility will provide our students with clinical rooms and advanced equipment, and the opportunity to collaborate and conduct research with the latest health technologies. This facility not only betters the University, but will help advance the health and prosperity of our community, on the Island and beyond.'

Following the official program, students from the nursing and applied human sciences programs offered tours to guests.

About UPEI's Health Sciences Building