Shaping the future of our campus begins with understanding how we use our space today. To ensure UPEI continues to provide the best environment possible for learning, research, and student success, Facilities Management will be conducting a comprehensive campus-wide space inventory over the coming weeks and months (two UPEI students have been employed to assist us with this task).

Starting October 27, 2025,  Facilities Management staff will carry out in-person walkthroughs of campus spaces to ensure UPEI has up-to-date data about the type, size, configuration and amenities of our space. This will include a visual review of offices, classrooms, laboratories, storage spaces, etc. Any review of laboratories or other similar facilities will be coordinated with the various academic units/faculties and no confidential or sensitive materials will be disturbed or logged. In addition, building occupants will be given advance notice of when walkthroughs will take place via the Chief Building Wardens.

Your cooperation will help us make the best use of our resources and plan effectively for the future. Thank you!

The Island Lecture Series presents a talk by Kate MacQuarrie, “The Wild Side of PEI." The Island Lecture Series will be held on November 18, 2025, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building Room 201, University of Prince Edward Island. 

Prince Edward Island is known as the 'million-acre farm' and 'Canada's food island', but there is so much more to this province than farming and fishing! In this illustrated presentation, Kate MacQuarrie will take you on a tour of some of PEI's best remaining natural landscapes. From iconic coastal sand dunes and red sandstone cliffs to wetlands, ancient peat bogs, and old growth forests, this presentation highlights the wild side of Canada's smallest province. No matter how well you know PEI, you’ll something new and interesting from this talk.

Kate MacQuarrie is an award-winning botanist, naturalist, and author with more than 30 years’ experience working with the plants, wildlife, and natural history of PEI. In addition to being PEI’s Director of Forests, Fish, and Wildlife, she runs PEI Untamed, a business dedicated to helping people learn, explore, and reconnect with the natural world around them. Kate has conducted research in PEI’s upland hardwood forests and coastal sand dunes, found plants not previously known to exist on PEI, published papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals, and has just published her first book, Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island, with Acorn Press. She is currently working on another book due out Fall 2026.

The lecture is free, and all are welcome. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.

Thanks to the fantastic response to the Recognizing Remarkable Colleagues program, submissions are being shared the following month, spread over several editions of the weekly e-newsletter. For example, you will see the September submissions appear in October issues.  

This initiative is a great way to share words of appreciation for UPEI faculty and staff across campus. Let’s celebrate the big and small wins that make our campus shine! 

Please submit your form(s) by the last Friday of each month (the next deadline is November 28, 2025). Human Resources will collect the submissions and work with UPEI Communications to feature them in the Campus Connector. 

How to submit:  Complete this short form: https://forms.office.com/r/766cg9JsT6   
You’ll be asked to share:  

• Who are you recognizing? (Name and department/faculty)  
• Why are you recognizing them? (Briefly describe what they did or the impact they made)  
• Your name   

You can also visit the Recognizing Remarkable Colleagues SharePoint page to view all past issues. 

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources at hrengage@upei.ca.   

The third meeting of the UPEI Senate will take place on Friday, November 21, 2025, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in Room 102 at Alumni Hall (618 University Avenue). To view the 2025-2026 calendar of Senate meetings or documents for the upcoming meeting, click here. (Posted one week before the meeting)

All meetings are open to members of the University community, although certain in-camera items (e.g., granting of degrees) may require the Senate to go into a closed session. Only members of Senate are permitted to address the Senate unless otherwise recognized by the chair. 

For logistical purposes, members of the UPEI community who wish to attend the open session of a UPEI Senate meeting are asked to contact senate@upei.ca one week prior to the meeting. While Senate is an in-person meeting, members of the University community may request a virtual connection when they are unable to attend in person. 

 The Healthy Campus Committee is pleased to support UPEI staff, faculty, and retirees with two weekly wellness programs this fall:

• Pickleball – Tuesdays, 12:00–1:00 pm, Gymnasium (September 16–December 2)
• Mindful Flow and Stillness – Thursdays, 12:10–12:55 pm, Studio 1 (September 18–December 11)

Both programs take place in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre and are free of charge for UPEI staff, faculty, and retirees. Please note that weekly registration is required for each activity.

How to Register:

1. Visit recreation.upei.ca or open the Panther Recreation app.
2. Select UPEI LOGIN and enter your UPEI email address and password.
3. Click the Wellness icon, choose your program, and follow the prompts.

For more information, please contact:
Angela Marchbank
Coordinator, Fitness & Wellness

The Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, invites all to attend Tessa O'Donnell’s public dissertation defense presentation of her PsyD research titled: 

"Exploring Factors Related to Maladaptation After Exiting USport"

Date and Time: December 8 at 10:00 am 
Location: Memorial Hall, Room 104

Notice: Parking Unavailable – Charlottetown Farmer’s Market

Please be advised that parking will not be available at the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market from Saturday, November 15 at 3:00 pm until Sunday, November 16 at 9:00 pm.

Any vehicles parked on the premises during this time will be towed at the owner’s expense. This closure is necessary to complete scheduled maintenance work in the parking lot.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Every Friday - Student Recital

Did you know? You can see Department of Music students perform every week on our Friday Afternoon Recital Series, Fridays at 12:40 pm until December 5. Winter term recitals begin on January 16. These concerts are always FREE and open to everyone.

• 12:40 pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: FREE

Saturday, November 15 - Joel Miller (saxophone)

UPEI's Department of Music and Island Jazz co-present NB-based saxophonist and composer Joel Miller with Resonance New Music Ensemble and pianist Silvio Pupo, whose new classical crossover album What If?, features original compositions alongside reimagined works by Debussy, Chopin, Mahler, and Pachelbel. What If? traces Miller’s personal journey through jazz, Afro-Latin influences, and classical, and imagines a musical world where genres meet in harmony.

• 7:30 pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: $30 adults; $25 seniors; $10 students; Free for all UPEI students with a valid ID card.

Sunday, November 16 - Ventus Machina (woodwind quintet)

NB-based Ventus Machina presents Now and Then, a dynamic journey across a century of woodwind quintet music. The “Now” features Marc Mellits’ Splinter (arranged for the ensemble by the composer himself) and Amanda Harberg’s kaleidoscopic Quintet for Winds, alongside Carl Nielsen’s classic Wind Quintet, one of the great cornerstones of the woodwind quintet repertoire.

• 2:30 pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: $30 adults; $25 seniors; $10 students; Free for all UPEI students with a valid ID card.
• Tickets are available in advance at upei.universitytickets.com or by cash at the door.

Dr. Wendy Rodgers, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Prince Edward Island, invites the UPEI community and members of the public for a presentation and panel discussion to learn more about UPEI’s economic impact and how the provincial university is a catalyst for the Island’s economic transformation.

Hosted by President Rodgers, the event will be moderated by Kim Griffin, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Maritime Electric.

Panelists include:

• David Campbell, President, Jupia Consultants
• Dr. Jim Sentance, Professor of Economics, UPEI
• Katie Arsenault, Partner, Island Capital Partners
• Lauren Ledwell, Chief Executive Officer, PEI BioAlliance
• Kevin Ladner, Executive Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Doane Grant Thornton

If you are unable to attend in-person, please join us via this Teams link

The Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship (CCCE) invites you to the Pitch Battles 2025 Final Event, where the eight top teams will pitch for a chance at $4,000 in prizes!  Happening on Saturday, November 15 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242. This event is open for anyone to attend, and everyone who signs up will receive an email providing them with a unique access code that they can use to vote for the Audience Choice Award winner!

To attend the event, please register here.

The Master of Arts in Island Studies program invites you to attend the thesis defence for Padmini Dambugolla's research entitled "Examining the role of social networks, collaboration, and islandness in the entrepreneurial success of businesswomen at the Charlottetown Farmers' Market." Everyone is welcome!

Monday, November 24, 2025 at 10:00 am

Memorial Hall, Room 104

This is a reminder that the UPEI Biosafety Program requires that all principal investigators confirm the security and complete inventory of all biohazardous materials being used or stored. This confirmation is due in November of each year.  

Inventory records must be kept up to date throughout the year. This is required not just by the UPEI Biosafety program but also by our federal regulator agencies, the CFIA and the PHAC. Any inventory discrepancies noted during an annual lab inspection may lead to an in-depth inventory audit by the Biosafety Committee. Please ensure your inventory is up to date throughout the year, including prior to completing the steps listed below.

To confirm your inventory is up to date, take the following steps:

1. Access your inventory at http://biosafety.vre3.upei.ca.  Remember to ignore the prominent "Access Denied" that appears on your screen. Just click on "Log in" at the top of the screen, in the grey bar.
2. Log in 
3. Click Edit 
4. Scroll down this page until you see the November 2025 box and enter the date.
5. Hit Save! Task completed. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Please contact Rhoda Speare (rspeare@upei.ca or ext. 5071) if you have any questions.

The Animal Care Committee does not meet in December.  The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions -- new, renewal, or amendment -- is Friday, January 2, 2026 for the January meeting.

Please note that as of June 1, 2020 all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols select ‘applications’ and for renewal or amendment protocols select ‘events’.

To view any UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice, they can be accessed through myUPEI at https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx. 

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The Committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

Notice: Parking Unavailable – Charlottetown Farmer’s Market

Please be advised that parking will not be available at the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market from Saturday, November 15 at 3:00 pm until Sunday, November 16 at 9:00 pm.

Any vehicles parked on the premises during this time will be towed at the owner’s expense. This closure is necessary to complete scheduled maintenance work in the parking lot.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Thursday, November 13 - Student Showcase Recital

This recital features outstanding student performers from the Department of Music, playing a variety of instruments and repertoire.

• 7:30pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: FREE (donations accepted)

Did you know? You can also see our students perform on our free weekly Friday Afternoon Recital Series, Fridays at 12:40pm until December 5. Winter term recitals begin on January 16. These concerts are always FREE and open to everyone.

Saturday, November 15 - Joel Miller (saxophone)

UPEI's Department of Music and Island Jazz co-present NB-based saxophonist and composer Joel Miller with Resonance New Music Ensemble and pianist Silvio Pupo, whose new classical crossover album What If?, features original compositions alongside reimagined works by Debussy, Chopin, Mahler, and Pachelbel. What If? traces Miller’s personal journey through jazz, Afro-Latin influences, and classical, and imagines a musical world where genres meet in harmony.

• 7:30 pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: $30 adults; $25 seniors; $10 students; Free for all UPEI students with a valid ID card.

Sunday, November 16 - Ventus Machina (woodwind quintet)

NB-based Ventus Machina presents Now and Then, a dynamic journey across a century of woodwind quintet music. The “Now” features Marc Mellits’ Splinter (arranged for the ensemble by the composer himself) and Amanda Harberg’s kaleidoscopic Quintet for Winds, alongside Carl Nielsen’s classic Wind Quintet, one of the great cornerstones of the woodwind quintet repertoire.

• 2:30 pm - SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall
• Admission: $30 adults; $25 seniors; $10 students; Free for all UPEI students with a valid ID card.
• Tickets are available in advance at upei.universitytickets.com or by cash at the door.

Dr. Wendy Rodgers, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Prince Edward Island, invites the UPEI community and members of the public for a presentation and panel discussion to learn more about UPEI’s economic impact and how the provincial university is a catalyst for the Island’s economic transformation.

Hosted by President Rodgers, the event will be moderated by Kim Griffin, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Maritime Electric.

Panelists include:

• David Campbell, President, Jupia Consultants
• Dr. Jim Sentance, Professor of Economics, UPEI
• Katie Arsenault, Partner, Island Capital Partners
• Lauren Ledwell, Chief Executive Officer, PEI BioAlliance
• Kevin Ladner, Executive Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Doane Grant Thornton

If you are unable to attend in-person, please join us via this Teams link

The UPEI Kinesiology program is seeking participants for their Chronic Disease and Disability practicum course. This course will pair senior Kinesiology students with participants with chronic conditions and/or disabilities. Participants will train one-on-one with their student trainer, under the supervision of an experienced Kinesiologist. Training will take place Tuesday and Thursday evenings in the Steel Building from January - April. The program is open to staff, faculty and community members with a chronic condition or disability and an interest in becoming more active in a controlled environment. For more information, or to sign-up to participate, contact Angelie Carter at ancarter@upei.ca.

UPEI Staff and Faculty Appreciation week is back again this November. Staff and Faculty will once again be able to charge Bookstore purchases to their account and pay for them through payroll deductions in 2026. We will have special discounts and an in store reception so stay tuned for more details to come. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for all our latest items, promotions, extended holiday hours and more. 

The Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship (CCCE) invites you to the Pitch Battles 2025 Final Event, where the eight top teams will pitch for a chance at $4,000 in prizes!  Happening on Saturday, November 15 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242. This event is open for anyone to attend, and everyone who signs up will receive an email providing them with a unique access code that they can use to vote for the Audience Choice Award winner!

To attend the event, please register here.

"A Wondrous Thing Happened on the Way to Dystopia"

Dr. Richard Lemm is retiring this year, and the UPEI English Department is delighted to host his “Last Lecture.” 

Richard's more than three-decade career here has gone so far beyond his teaching of creative writing, environmental literature, and Canadian Literature in the University classroom: to his own creative works, to his mentoring of generations of new Island writers, and to his support for visiting writers and for the creative life of the Island generally. Come help us celebrate this truly wondrous career!