Are you trying to find some dedicated time to finish a writing project that needs focused attention? Time to Write retreats offer concentrated time to support your writing efforts and can be instrumental in the initiation or completion of scholarly work such as an article, book or book chapter, grant proposal, curriculum or OER development, conference presentations, or other scholarly, creative projects.  

Time to work on writing projects away from home and campus for a few days can be incredibly productive. Participation in a writing retreat with colleagues at various stages of their career not only provides quiet, focused writing time away from teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities, but it also offers mentorship and networking opportunities with colleagues from a range of disciplines. The retreat provides an opportunity to develop a supportive writing group with colleagues from across campus and join group discussions on writing and publishing. Research on relational approaches to scholarly writing retreats like our Time to Write Retreats has demonstrated many benefits (Ahern-Dodson, 2025).  

A Time to Write retreat will be offered from Monday, June 15, to Thursday, June 18, at the North Rustico Cottages in North Rustico.   

Participants must have a project (e.g., grant application, research publication) at a stage where sustained writing time makes sense with background research and/or data collection and analysis completed to the point that they are ready to write. Participants must be prepared to commit to the full program, a total of 3 days focused on writing and contribute $300. The retreat is open to faculty (term and sessional faculty are encouraged to apply) and librarians in any academic unit at UPEI. Interested participants will email an expression of interest consisting of a summary of the project they plan to work on and their writing goals for the retreat to TLC@upei.ca by 12:00 noon on Friday, May 15, 2026. Up to six participants will be accepted for this Time to Write retreat. 

The University’s operating budget for the 2026–2027 fiscal year was approved at the UPEI Board of Governors' last meeting. Read the UPEI news release 

Tim Walker, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, and Dr. Wendy Rodgers, President and Vice-Chancellor, invite you to the

UPEI Budget 2026–2027 Information Session
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 
Amphitheatre, Performing Arts Centre and Residence building (PAC121S)  
3:00 pm

If you are unable to participate in person, you are welcome to join us virtually at this Teams Town Hall link. 

The 2026–2027 UPEI Operating Budget may be found on the publications page of the UPEI website. 

We have heard your request for more opportunities to share ideas, suggestions, and feedback about how we can continue to strengthen our University community.

To help create a direct and accessible way for members of the campus community to contribute, we are pleased to introduce a new email address: ideas@upei.ca

This inbox is intended to be a space where students, faculty, and staff can share ideas that could help improve campus culture, enhance the student and employee experience, and support positive change across the University of Prince Edward Island.

We know that some of the best ideas come from those who learn, teach, work, and engage on our campus every day. Your perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to use this new channel to share your thoughts on ways we can continue to grow and improve together.

Whether your suggestion is big or small, we welcome your input and look forward to hearing from you.

Today, April 30, is the final day of access to RefWorks for users at UPEI.

If you have not exported your data, you should do so today.

Help is available from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm in-person at Robertson Library and online via Teams. You can also e-mail reference@upei.ca with questions.

For more information, including export and migration tutorials, visit https://libraryupei.ca/end-of-refworks

Due to the Confederation Bridge resurfacing project, Fedex has informed us that they will be changing our pickup time for outgoing packages.  From May 1 to June 30, they will be picking up at 1 pm instead of 2:15 pm.  We will need your outgoing packages no later than 11:30 am to ensure same day processing. Sorry for the inconvenience.  If you have any questions, please contact us at shipping@upei.ca. 

The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) is pleased to announce the launch of a new and improved version of the online training course entitled Preventing Sexualized Violence at UPEI for Staff & Faculty. All new staff will be required to complete this training as part of their onboarding process.  Human Resources has built this requirement into regular onboarding processes.  

In this course, learners are guided through lessons on sexual violence prevention, covering topics like consent, the role of power, the impacts of trauma, how to interrupt harm when we see it, how to respond to a disclosure of sexual violence in trauma-informed ways, and understanding available services and applicable policies at UPEI.

As we move forward as a community, confirming our ongoing commitment to safety, equity, and inclusion on campus, please remember that SVPRO is here to help and to provide support and training opportunities. You can contact us at sv-pro@upei.ca or 902-620-5090 or by visiting us at 115-118 Kelley Memorial Building.  

Please be advised that Student Services and Supports (including Counselling Services, Academic Support Services, Student Culture and Community Standards, Accessibility Services, Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship and Experiential Education), will be closed on Tuesday, May 5.

Any emergencies that day can be directed to Megan MacLean via Teams chat or phone. 

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, May 1, 2026. These applications will be reviewed at the May 21 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI researcher portal https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/. Instructions for using the researcher portal, are 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.

The Faculty of Education invites members of the campus community--students, faculty, and staff--to attend a public presentation by Tara-Lynn Rioux Germain, a candidate for a three-year position in Indigenous Education. The presentation takes place from 9:00 to 10:00 am on May 5 in Memorial Hall 417. A Teams link is available for those wishing to attend online (Meeting ID: 227 941 500 684 440 / Passcode: cF9rW7gM)

For further information, contact Karen-Anne O’Halloran.

Because of the generous support of many to "Love our Library"—the Robertson Library Revitalization Campaign, we are thrilled to announce that phase one renovations will officially begin on Monday, May 4, 2026, and continue through the second half of August.

To mark this significant occasion, you are warmly invited to attend a special kick-off event on Friday, May 1, at 10:00 am in the Robertson Library lobby to celebrate the beginning of renovations.

To learn how the Library will function during the renovation period, visit https://libraryupei.ca/renovations-2026

The Bookstore will be closed on Wednesday April 29 and Thursday April 30 for our year end inventory count. 

The Dean of Arts office is moving to the new Medicine building for the summer as the third and fourth floor of SDU Main building will be closed for renovations.  

If you are looking for us, you can find us here as of May 4:

• FOM559 – Sharon Myers, Dean
• FOM555 – Greg Doran, Associate Dean
• FOM557 – Cathy Hennessey, Admin Assistant

The deadline for the Employee and Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver forms for the Summer 2026 semester is July 10, 2026.  We encourage you to have your tuition waivers submitted as soon as possible to assist in the timely processing. Tuition Waiver forms must be submitted electronically.  

The online Tuition Waiver fillable forms can be found on the HR Portal of the myUPEI site, under Training and Development.

Please note, the Employee or Spouse/Dependent must be registered in the course prior to applying for the tuition waiver.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources at: (902) 566-0514 or hrgeneral@upei.ca.

Library spaces will be closed May, June, July, and August, with some services available at our temporary location. 

Beginning May 4, 2026, limited in-person library services will be available in Robertson Library Annex Room 235 (click here for a map). This temporary service point will be open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

The Library’s website, OneSearch, research databases, digital materials, and online services will be available throughout the summer. The building’s central hallway (breezeway) – housing the book drop, ATM, lockers, bulletin board, microwave, etc. – will still be accessible.

Important Dates:

• Monday April 27 - Thursday April 30 - Library opens 8:00 am-5:00 pm with regular library services
• Friday, May 1 - Library spaces open 8:00 am-5:00 pm but all library services closed
• Monday, May 4 - Service desk opens in Li8brary Annex Room 235 with reduced services Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm

Details of our availability and services may change as we adjust to the construction.

See our Library Renovations Closure Information page for more details

The University’s operating budget for the 2026–2027 fiscal year was approved at the UPEI Board of Governors' last meeting. Read the UPEI news release 

Tim Walker, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, and Dr. Wendy Rodgers, President and Vice-Chancellor, invite you to the

UPEI Budget 2026–2027 Information Session
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 
Amphitheatre, Performing Arts Centre and Residence building (PAC121S)  
3:00 pm

If you are unable to participate in person, you are welcome to join us virtually at this Teams Town Hall link. 

The 2026–2027 UPEI Operating Budget may be found on the publications page of the UPEI website. 

We have heard your request for more opportunities to share ideas, suggestions, and feedback about how we can continue to strengthen our University community.

To help create a direct and accessible way for members of the campus community to contribute, we are pleased to introduce a new email address: ideas@upei.ca

This inbox is intended to be a space where students, faculty, and staff can share ideas that could help improve campus culture, enhance the student and employee experience, and support positive change across the University of Prince Edward Island.

We know that some of the best ideas come from those who learn, teach, work, and engage on our campus every day. Your perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to use this new channel to share your thoughts on ways we can continue to grow and improve together.

Whether your suggestion is big or small, we welcome your input and look forward to hearing from you.

Due to the Confederation Bridge resurfacing project, Fedex has informed us that they will be changing our pickup time for outgoing packages.  From May 1 to June 30, they will be picking up at 1 pm instead of 2:15 pm.  We will need your outgoing packages no later than 11:30 am to ensure same day processing. Sorry for the inconvenience.  If you have any questions, please contact us at shipping@upei.ca. 

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, May 1, 2026. These applications will be reviewed at the May 21 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI researcher portal https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/. Instructions for using the researcher portal, are 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.

In order to accommodate UPEI computer classroom and lab software adds, drops, or modifications for the 2026 fall semester, we have set a firm deadline of June 1, 2026.

This date is necessary to allow sufficient time to plan and implement the installation of new and upgraded software. This ensures our students will have the software resources they need. Any requests received after the deadline will be applied in the next round of software updates.

Further information of currently installed software is available on the ITSS website, and you can fill out the following Computer Lab Software Request Form by June 1 with your request for software.

The Faculty of Education invites members of the campus community--students, faculty, and staff--to attend a public presentation by Tara-Lynn Rioux Germain, a candidate for a three-year position in Indigenous Education. The presentation takes place from 9:00 to 10:00 am on May 5 in Memorial Hall 417. A Teams link is available for those wishing to attend online (Meeting ID: 227 941 500 684 440 / Passcode: cF9rW7gM)

For further information, contact Karen-Anne O’Halloran.