The Student Union office will be closed tomorrow, Friday, November 28 so staff can attend Mental Health First Aid training. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The past and present state of Island land use policy will be the subject of a Public Symposium to be held at UPEI’s MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242, Don and Marion McDougall Hall. The event is rescheduled to Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00 pm due to road conditions. The Symposium will begin with presentations by two veteran observers of Island public life over the past 30 years, Jean-Paul Arsenault and Ian Petrie. Mr. Arsenault’s talk will be entitled “Factors Affecting Land Use Decisions: What Were They Thinking?” and Mr. Petrie will address the topic “Why Farmers Fight Regulations.” Descriptions of their talks can be found at http://projects.upei.ca/iis/events/ Members of the public are cordially invited to attend. Admission is free. This event is sponsored by UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with UPEI Research Services.

UPEI invites the nomination of candidates for honorary degrees to be conferred at Convocation in May 2015. Honorary degrees are conferred honoris causa, “for the sake of honour,” and are intended to recognize outstanding provincial, national, and international contributions in any field(s) of endeavour. Contributions should reflect extraordinary intellectual or artistic achievements or significant service to society at a standard of excellence that merits the University’s highest honour. Nominations can be made online or a form can be downloaded to mail at upei.ca/nominatehdr. For more information call (902) 566-6780 or email senateassistant@upei.ca. Deadline for nominations is January 2, 2015.

The Department of Pathology & Microbiology at the Atlantic Veterinary College invites you to attend a seminar given by Dr. Cora Gilroy from The Atlantic Veterinary College on Friday, November 28. Dr. Gilroy is interviewing for a tenure-track faculty position in clinical pathology and is presenting her seminar titled "Teaching and Diagnostics: Twists in the Road" at 10:30 am in Robertson Library, Room RL208. All are welcome.

The staff of Human Resources welcomes Susan Connolly as Associate Vice President of Human Resources who joins the University from Stewart MacKelvey. Sue can be reached at (902) 566-0704 or smconnolly@upei.ca. Also, Megan Gee has joined HR in Employee Services replacing Lacey Myers who will be on a leave for the coming year. Please contact Megan for any of your Employee Services needs at (902) 566-0605 or mgee@upei.ca. We wish both Sue and Megan well in their new roles at UPEI.

At the Chaplaincy Centre thoughts are with the students during exam time, their success, and yes, of course, the chili dinner. On the first two days of exams - Wednesday and Thursday, December 3 & 4 - between 11:30 am–1:30 pm, a chili dinner is served at the Chaplaincy Centre, free for the students. About 300 students show up each day with smiles and conversation on this busy week. We are looking for faculty and staff to help out and provide encouragement for students on their exams. UPEI Chaplaincy Centre and the Diocese of Charlottetown, through the generosity of Saint Dunstan's University Board of Governors, gladly sponsor this year's chili (and more) lunch! If you are able to volunteer some time, sign up here: https://docs.google.com/a/upei.ca/document/d/1cDmfQL-5YHXAlWCCEQTUANKyn…

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz cordially invites the University community to 'University Update 2014' on Thursday, November 27, 2:30-4:00 pm, in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, room 242 in Don and Marion McDougall Hall. You're invited to join the President in conversation about the priorities and direction of the University. Your voice is important. All are welcome to attend. In case of inclement weather, a storm date has been scheduled for Monday, December 1, same time and same location. A further notice will be issued if necessary.

You're invited to a special event to unveil plans for the new School of Sustainable Design Engineering and Centre of Engineering Design & Industry Partnerships on Friday, November 28 at 1:00 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. The Hon. Gail Shea (on behalf of the Hon. Rob Moore, Minister of State at ACOA); the Hon. Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island; and UPEI's Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor will be in attendance to announce the exciting plans! All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to rjgass@upei.ca

The Department of Pathology & Microbiology at the Atlantic Veterinary College invites you to attend a seminar given by Dr. Cora Gilroy from The Atlantic Veterinary College on Friday, November 28. Dr. Gilroy is interviewing for a tenure-track faculty position in clinical pathology and is presenting her seminar titled "Teaching and Diagnostics: Twists in the Road" at 10:30 am in Robertson Library, Room RL208. All are welcome.

The staff of Human Resources welcomes Susan Connolly as Associate Vice President of Human Resources who joins the University from Stewart MacKelvey. Sue can be reached at (902) 566-0704 or smconnolly@upei.ca. Also, Megan Gee has joined HR in Employee Services replacing Lacey Myers who will be on a leave for the coming year. Please contact Megan for any of your Employee Services needs at (902) 566-0605 or mgee@upei.ca. We wish both Sue and Megan well in their new roles at UPEI.

At the Chaplaincy Centre thoughts are with the students during exam time, their success, and yes, of course, the chili dinner. On the first two days of exams - Wednesday and Thursday, December 3 & 4 - between 11:30 am–1:30 pm, a chili dinner is served at the Chaplaincy Centre, free for the students. About 300 students show up each day with smiles and conversation on this busy week. We are looking for faculty and staff to help out and provide encouragement for students on their exams. UPEI Chaplaincy Centre and the Diocese of Charlottetown, through the generosity of Saint Dunstan's University Board of Governors, gladly sponsor this year's chili (and more) lunch! If you are able to volunteer some time, sign up here: https://docs.google.com/a/upei.ca/document/d/1cDmfQL-5YHXAlWCCEQTUANKyn…

UPEI invites the nomination of candidates for honorary degrees to be conferred at Convocation in May 2015. Honorary degrees are conferred honoris causa, “for the sake of honour,” and are intended to recognize outstanding provincial, national, and international contributions in any field(s) of endeavour. Contributions should reflect extraordinary intellectual or artistic achievements or significant service to society at a standard of excellence that merits the University’s highest honour. Nominations can be made online or a form can be downloaded to mail at upei.ca/nominatehdr. For more information call (902) 566-6780 or email senateassistant@upei.ca. Deadline for nominations is January 2, 2015.

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz cordially invites the University community to 'University Update 2014' on Thursday, November 27, 2:30-4:00 pm, in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, room 242 in Don and Marion McDougall Hall. You're invited to join the President in conversation about the priorities and direction of the University. Your voice is important. All are welcome to attend. In case of inclement weather, a storm date has been scheduled for Monday, December 1, same time and same location. A further notice will be issued if necessary.

You're invited to a special event to unveil plans for the new School of Sustainable Design Engineering and Centre of Engineering Design & Industry Partnerships on Friday, November 28 at 1:00 pm in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. The Hon. Gail Shea (on behalf of the Hon. Rob Moore, Minister of State at ACOA); the Hon. Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island; and UPEI's Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor will be in attendance to announce the exciting plans! All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to rjgass@upei.ca

Research on Tap returns for its sixth season of public discussion, debate, and ideas presented by researchers from the University of Prince Edward Island. Join our next conversation on Monday, December 1 at 7:00 pm at the Haviland Club in Charlottetown. Dr. Don Wagner, an associate professor at UPEI’s School of Business, will lead a discussion entitled: Microfinance in Africa. How it works. How it doesn’t. The 2014/2015 season of Research on Tap is presented in cooperation with the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Atlantic Chapter. The RSC is Canada’s national academy and is the senior national body of distinguished scholars, artists, and scientists. Research on Tap meets the first Monday of every month from October to April. The full schedule of speakers can be found at upei.ca/research/research-on-tap

Please note the following changes to the hours of operation for the food services retail locations on campus: December: On Friday, November 28 at 2:00 pm, the Courtyard Café (W.A. Murphy Student Centre) will close for the Holidays. The AVC Cafeteria will close for the holiday break on Friday, December 19 at 3:00 pm. Beginning Monday, December 15, Samuel's (Robertson Library) hours of operation will be 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. This location will close at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, December 23 for the holiday break. With the exception of special functions and catering services,the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall will close for the holidays, at 10:00 am on Sunday, December 14. January: On Friday, January 2, Samuel's - will be open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm; AVC Cafeteria- will remain closed; Courtyard Cafe - will remain closed. On Sunday, January 5, The Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall will resume regular hours of operation beginning at 4:00 pm. On Monday, January 5, Samuel's will resume regular hours of operation: Monday to Thursday: 8:00 am - 9:00 pm & Friday 8:00 am - 3:00 pm; AVC Cafeteria will resume regular hours of operation, Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm; and Courtyard Cafe will resume regular operations with new daily hours: Monday to Friday 8:00 am - 2:00 pm. The staff of Ancillary Services and Chartwells would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!

The search committee for the position of Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine would like to thank everyone for attending the public presentations by candidates. For those of you who were not able to attend, the presentations can be viewed online at the following link: https://avc.upei.ca/deancandidates2014 Candidates' CV’s are also available online: Dr. Dan Hurnik: https://files.upei.ca/cv/CV_Hurnik.pdf Dr. Greg Keefe: https://files.upei.ca/cv/CV_Keefe.pdf Dr. Jeff Wichtel: https://files.upei.ca/cv/CV_Wichtel.pdf Feedback may be sent to vpa@upei.ca by November 27, 2014. Comments will be reviewed, in confidence, by the search committee.

The past and present state of Island land use policy will be the subject of a public symposium to be held at UPEI’s MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, on Thursday, November 27 at 7:00 pm. The symposium will begin with presentations by two veteran observers of Island public life over the past 30 years, Jean-Paul Arsenault and Ian Petrie. Mr. Arsenault’s talk is entitled “Factors Affecting Land Use Decisions: What Were They Thinking?” and Mr. Petrie will address the topic “Why Farmers Fight Regulations.” Descriptions of their talks can be found at http://projects.upei.ca/iis/events/ Members of the public are cordially invited to attend. Admission is free. This event is sponsored by UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with UPEI Research Services.

Dr. Kai Ylijoki, Department of Chemistry, Saint Mary's University will present a seminar on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at 12:30 pm. Dr. Ylijoki’s presentation is entitled "Cobalt-Mediated [5+2] Cycloaddition Reactions: Bicyclic Synthesis and Structure/Reactivity Relationships." The seminar will be held in the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre, Lecture Theatre, Room 212.

There will be a UPEI blood borne pathogen training session on Tuesday, December 16, 9:00—11:00 am in room 313, Kelley Memorial Building. This session is provided for those individuals whose work involves the manipulation of human blood or other body fluids or tissues in the course of their work. If you wish to attend, you must pre-register by contacting Rita Stanley, Research Services and Graduate Studies, before December 8, 2014 by email (rstanley@upei.ca) or by phone (ext.4308). Please include your name, department, email address, and phone number in your email or voice message. If you have any questions on this training session, please contact Dr. Rhoda Speare, UPEI Biosafety Officer, by phone (ext. 5071), or e mail (rspeare@upei.ca).