As part of our ongoing 50th Anniversary observances, the Robertson Library is pleased to celebrate the centrepiece of our University Archives and Special Collections, the Prince Edward Island Collection, with a guest lecture from The Reverend Edward Rix, one of the foremost independent collectors of Island books and ephemera. A proud Islander, with deep family roots in West Prince, Father Rix studied at the University of King’s College in Halifax, the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College, and Dalhousie University in Halifax. It was during his university days that he began to turn his passion for books into a successful venture as an independent bookseller and collector, learning from some of Canada’s leading rare and antiquarian book dealers. Since 2001, he has served as Priest in Charge of the Parish of All Saints Episcopal Church in Wynnewood, a western suburb of Philadelphia, where he has continued to build a remarkable personal library, including some 2000 titles relating to Prince Edward Island, with exemplary collections of the works of Basil King and Milton Acorn as particular highlights.

Please join us at the Library on Thursday, November 6 at 7 pm to hear Father Rix share highlights from his PEI collecting adventures, and how the careers of many Island authors in the 1800s and 1900s underscored the observation of Island essayist Sir Andrew Macphail — another writer well-represented in Rix’s collection — that our Province’s chief export for many years was, “brains.” Special selections from his library and from our own PEI Collection will be displayed at the talk. All are welcome, and admission is free, but donations to the ongoing Love Our Library fundraising campaign will be gratefully received. Light refreshments will be served.

Meet fellow UPEI and Holland College students, learn more about the Pitch Battles competition, and grab some light refreshments at the Pitch Battles Networking Night on Monday, November 3!

Happening from 5 - 7 pm in 201 Robertson Library, this is a great way to meet future potential teammates and competitors in the competition, or ask questions to organizers of the program!

Sign up here!

Academics Without Borders / Universitaires Sans Frontières has several exciting volunteer opportunities open. The first is for strengthening research capacity; the partner university--Soroti University in Uganda--is seeking a faculty member (working or retired) with an advanced degree in a health-related field, with specialized expertise in systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and evidence synthesis--with a deadline of December 1, 2025. See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j79gXqjmpil9KKNozWa_IRpefgAgLumA/view for more details and contact information. 

The second is for strengthening teaching capacity and establishing a faculty development program for a newly established university in Nepal; the partner institution, University of Nepal in Kathmandu, is seeking a volunteer to collaborate with faculty of the newly established Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR) to design and implement a faculty development program.See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGf6kLErLyBoCoC0nYLlvAo31DymPEJO/view for more details and information. 

The third is the annual call for proposals from members of the AWB / USF network, in which you are invited to submit a proposal to AWB introducing a capacity-building project in an institution of higher education in low or middle-income countries; these are often a way to build on already existing relationships with partner institutions. The deadline for proposals is November 10, 2025. See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BYSbuuwjFll5Kd0WKig6kHTWTvN-IUuS/view for more details and contact information. AWB / USF is a Canadian nonprofit organization. Its mission is to help low and middle-income countries improve their colleges and universities so that they can train their own experts and conduct research to assist in their countries’ development. UPEI joined the network in 2024. For questions, contact Corrie Young, Associate Executive Director, at cyoung@awb-wsf.org, or Ann Braithwaite, member of the Board, at abraithwaite@upei.ca 

Calling all UPEI staff, faculty and students to join the Office of Student Culture and Community Standards as we come together to celebrate the UPEI Men's Basketball team, our 2024-2025 AUS Champions, at the Banner Raising Ceremony on Saturday, November 1, 2025. 

The event will feature the official AUS Banner Raising before the beginning of the men's game.

The event will begin at 1:30 pm, before the UPEI Women's Basketball game on the second floor of the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. There will be food, beverages, free limited edition t-shirts, thundersticks, face-painting, photo areas and lots more for all attendees to enjoy!!

This is an event you do not want to miss!

Please "save the dates" for the remainder of the President’s Town Hall series for the 2025–2026 academic year. More information on each event will be provided closer to each date.

• November 6, 2025 - Town Hall at 1:30 pm re: Budget Plan
• November 20, 2025 - Town Hall/Launch at 2:30 pm re: Strategic Plan
• January 21, 2026 - Town Hall at 10:00 am, topic to be confirmed
• February 12, 2026 - Town Hall at 3:00 pm, topic to be confirmed
• March 26, 2026 - Town Hall at 2:30 pm, topic to be confirmed

We look forward to seeing you!

The Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship invites you to join our biweekly speaker series. We are pleased to have Bethany Deshpande, Founder of SomaDetect!  SomaDetect is a cutting-edge sensor and software system that offers dairy producers a reliable suite of solutions directly from their milking line.

Bethany Deshpande will share the startup story of her company, SomaDetect, and the lessons learned along the way. Bethany explores why customer validation is essential—not just for product development, but also for fundraising and building trust with strategic partners. She highlights how design thinking and creative workshops can accelerate both product and company growth and reflects on what she would do differently today with the perspective she has gained over the years. She has secured over $20 million in funding from venture capitalists, grants, loans, and won $2M in pitch competitions alone!

More about the speaker: Bethany Deshpande is a science-driven entrepreneur and advisor with a PhD in Biology and deep expertise in technology, innovation development, and commercialization. As founder of SomaDetect, she led the development of a cutting-edge dairy monitoring platform. Today, she helps startups design great products and build go-to-market strategies across climate, agtech, and deep tech sectors.

Bethany Deshpande's talk will take place in 201 Robertson Library on Thursday, October 30 from 12-1pm, and food will be provided. Everyone is welcome to attend.

To attend the session, please sign up here.

Attention UPEI students, Pitch Battles is now open for applications!

Pitch Battles is an eight-day competition for UPEI and Holland College students from November 5 - 15 to develop a business idea, build a business model around it, and pitch it to a panel of judges for a chance at $4,000 in prizes! 

The catch? The theme remains a mystery, you won't know who your team members are, or who your industry mentor is until the competition starts.
The competition is open to any full-time UPEI and Holland College students, with an anticipated time commitment of 6-8 hours over the 8 days. You may request one person to be paired with, but they must register to participate and request you as well (but the pairing is still not guaranteed). 

Registration is open until Monday, November 3 at 7:00 pm. Register here!

Want to learn more about the competition? Attend our Pitch Battles information session on Thursday, October 23 at 5:00 - 6:00 pm in 201 Robertson Library.

Can you pitch your way out? Let's find out!

The title of this year's Murray Lecture is Water as Teacher: What water can teach us about hope in hard times

This year's distinguished speaker is Dr. Kari Grain, author of Critical Hope and teaches at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Education, where she leads the Master’s in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) Program. 

For more information on the Shannon K. Murray Lecture on Hope in the Academy and the speaker Dr. Kari Grain, read the article UPEI’s 2025 Shannon K. Murray Lecture on Hope and the Academy explores water as teacher

The Shannon K. Murray Lecture on Hope and the Academy will take place on Monday, November 3, at 3:30 pm in SDU Main Building, Room 117. 

The Shannon K. Murray Lecture on Hope in the Academy was established in 2023 to celebrate Shannon's receipt of the Christopher Knapper Lifetime Achievement Award.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to scramble your way through a presentation you have no control over? It’s more fun than you think, and you can experience it yourself (or just come to watch!) on Tuesday, November 4, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship in 201 Robertson Library! No pre-registration required!

Note: If you would like to participate, please bring a phone or computer that can access wi-fi or cellular data.

The UPEI Campus Community is invited to join PEERS Alliance for the Inaugural Walk of The Red Ribbon Path on Saturday, November 1 at 1:00 pm, beginning at the Cultural Pavilion in Victoria Park.

The Red Ribbon Path is a new community art project that honours those impacted by HIV and celebrates our shared resilience. Six local artists have created installations along the route, each dedicated to a community deeply connected to the HIV story, including the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Black and People of Colour communities, Indigenous Peoples, people who use substances, healthcare workers, and women.

All this week, PEERS Alliance is highlighting each of these incredible artists on social media at 7 pm daily. We hope you’ll follow along, share their posts, and join this historic initiative on November 1 as we walk the path together, taking time to reflect, connect, and celebrate the strength of our community.

For more details, check out PEERS Alliance on social media @peersalliance, or their website www.peersalliance.ca 

Event Details:
Meet at: Cultural Pavilion, Victoria Park
Time: 1:00 pm
Warming Spaces: Beaconsfield Carriage House, 2 Kent Street and PEERS Alliance, 250B Queen St.

Calling all UPEI staff, faculty and students to join the Office of Student Culture and Community Standards as we come together to celebrate the UPEI Men's Basketball team, our 2024-2025 AUS Champions, at the Banner Raising Ceremony on Saturday, November 1, 2025. 

The event will feature the official AUS Banner Raising before the beginning of the men's game.

The event will begin at 1:30 pm, before the UPEI Women's Basketball game on the second floor of the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. There will be food, beverages, free limited edition t-shirts, thundersticks, face-painting, photo areas and lots more for all attendees to enjoy!!

This is an event you do not want to miss!

Join us on November 13, 2025 at 12:30 pm for a flag raising ceremony and words by community members for Transgender Day of Remembrance 2025. We are honoured to have representatives from local non-profit, grassroot organizations, whose efforts continue to make Epekwitk a more dignified, equitable and joyous place for 2 Spirit and Gender Diverse people to live and thrive.  

Location: The ceremony will take place on campus at the three flag poles facing University Avenue

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual vigil to grieve and pay respects to 2 Spirit and gender diverse people who were murdered as an outcome of transphobia. To learn more about TDOR visit https://glaad.org/tdor/. For more activities during Trans Awareness Week visit the following sites:

• @peersalliance - www.peersalliance.ca
• @nativecouncilpe - www.ncpei.com
• @peitransnetwork - www.peitn.com

Additional Flag Raisings by Community Organizations:

• Charlottetown - November 13 10:00 a.m. Joe Ghiz park
• Summerside - November 14 11 a.m. City Hall
• Stratford - November 17 11 a.m. Town Hall

Please "save the dates" for the remainder of the President’s Town Hall series for the 2025–2026 academic year. More information on each event will be provided closer to each date.

• November 6, 2025 - Town Hall at 1:30 pm re: Budget Plan
• November 20, 2025 - Town Hall/Launch at 2:30 pm re: Strategic Plan
• January 21, 2026 - Town Hall at 10:00 am, topic to be confirmed
• February 12, 2026 - Town Hall at 3:00 pm, topic to be confirmed
• March 26, 2026 - Town Hall at 2:30 pm, topic to be confirmed

We look forward to seeing you!

Current UPEI Masters and Doctoral students and candidates are o-FISH-ally invited to visit the Graduate Studies and Research Services office to "Trick or Treat" for Halloween!

When: Friday, October 31, between 1:30-2:30 pm
Where: Kelley Memorial Building, outside Suite 101

Drop in for a treat. No Halloween costumes required, but they are welcome. Family friendly.

The Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship invites you to join our biweekly speaker series. We are pleased to have Bethany Deshpande, Founder of SomaDetect!  SomaDetect is a cutting-edge sensor and software system that offers dairy producers a reliable suite of solutions directly from their milking line.

Bethany Deshpande will share the startup story of her company, SomaDetect, and the lessons learned along the way. Bethany explores why customer validation is essential—not just for product development, but also for fundraising and building trust with strategic partners. She highlights how design thinking and creative workshops can accelerate both product and company growth and reflects on what she would do differently today with the perspective she has gained over the years. She has secured over $20 million in funding from venture capitalists, grants, loans, and won $2M in pitch competitions alone!

More about the speaker: Bethany Deshpande is a science-driven entrepreneur and advisor with a PhD in Biology and deep expertise in technology, innovation development, and commercialization. As founder of SomaDetect, she led the development of a cutting-edge dairy monitoring platform. Today, she helps startups design great products and build go-to-market strategies across climate, agtech, and deep tech sectors.

Bethany Deshpande's talk will take place in 201 Robertson Library on Thursday, October 30 from 12-1pm, and food will be provided. Everyone is welcome to attend.

To attend the session, please sign up here.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, October 31, 2025. These applications will be reviewed at the November 20 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI researcher portal. Information about the researcher portal, including instructions for using the site, is available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the researcher portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

Did you know that you can use Moodle for online AND in-person quizzes? The offline quiz Moodle activity can be used to turn your existing online Moodle question bank into a scan-to-grade test. This can save you time grading and give you statistic insight into results, letting you review how students achieved on individual questions. This session will demo and cover how to use this tool in your courses. This lunch and learn will take place in the UPEI Teaching and Learning Centre located in the Robertson Library Annex (RL 230) on October 30 at 12:00 pm. 

Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/QZyN5uuYNG

Registration is not required, but you will receive an event invitation. 

On October 14, Health PEI implemented a universal masking policy across its facilities to help protect patients, staff, and the public from the spread of illness.

At UPEI, we encourage everyone to take proactive steps to stay healthy during the fall and winter months. These include

• staying up to date on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations;
• staying home if you are experiencing symptoms;
• practicing good hand hygiene;
• wearing a mask if you are feeling unwell or have been exposed to respiratory illness.

For more details, please visit the UPEI Guidance For Respiratory Illness.

To help protect our patients and staff, masking is strongly recommended at the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre.

COVID-19 rapid test kits are available at both the UPEI Health and Wellness Centre and the UPEI Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) office.

Flu and COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Schedule:

• Wednesday, October 22, 9:00 am–3:00 pm, McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre
• Thursday, October 23, 12:00–7:00 pm, McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre 
• Wednesday, October 29, 12:00–7:00 pm, The McCain Foundation Learning Commons Atrium, Atlantic Veterinary College

Important Details:

• Vaccines are administered on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointment is necessary. 
• This service is free of charge for everyone.
• Please bring a valid provincial health card or student ID for registration.
• You are required to wait 15 minutes in the post-vaccine waiting area after receiving your flu shot to ensure you do not have an allergic reaction. Please plan your time accordingly.

Please Note: 

• We are unable to administer flu vaccines to children aged 2 and under.
• Flu Mist (nasal spray) is available only at the Public Health Nursing Community Vaccination Clinics for children 2 to 17 years of age.
• We are unable to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children 12 and under. COVID-19 Immunization Clinics are located in communities across PEI.

Attention UPEI students, Pitch Battles is now open for applications!

Pitch Battles is an eight-day competition for UPEI and Holland College students from November 5 - 15 to develop a business idea, build a business model around it, and pitch it to a panel of judges for a chance at $4,000 in prizes! 

The catch? The theme remains a mystery, you won't know who your team members are, or who your industry mentor is until the competition starts.
The competition is open to any full-time UPEI and Holland College students, with an anticipated time commitment of 6-8 hours over the 8 days. You may request one person to be paired with, but they must register to participate and request you as well (but the pairing is still not guaranteed). 

Registration is open until Monday, November 3 at 7:00 pm. Register here!

Want to learn more about the competition? Attend our Pitch Battles information session on Thursday, October 23 at 5:00 - 6:00 pm in 201 Robertson Library.

Can you pitch your way out? Let's find out!

This week’s Tea(ching) Break spotlights a pilot program aimed at improving inclusive teaching in higher education. The study examines how targeted professional development equips faculty with strategies to address diverse student needs, enhance classroom inclusivity, and foster equitable learning environments, demonstrating the real-world impact of structured support for instructors. Inclusive Didactic in Higher Education: a pilot project to improve teaching practices.