The University of Prince Edward Island is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Founders. Founders are members of the campus community—most often retired faculty and staff—who have contributed to UPEI’s mission in an exceptional way. Recognizing our Founders is an opportunity to celebrate our rich heritage and traditions, honouring those who have worked diligently and passionately to build the University into the highly regarded institution of higher education it is today.

Established by President Emeritus Wade MacLauchlan in 2000, the Founders award is presented to those who have played a direct role in

• supporting the vision, reputation, and continued success of the University, and/or
• creating a new era of educational, research, and/or service excellence at the University. 

If you wish to nominate someone as Founder, please fill out the online form or email your submission to communications@upei.ca. 

Completed nominations must be received by Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 11:59 pm AT.

If you are interested in learning more about this award and past award winners, please visit the UPEI Founders web page. 
 

The deadline for the Employee and Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver forms for the Fall 2026 semester is Friday, August 28, 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.

Title of the Thesis

“Synthesis and Characterization Of Anthocyanin-Derived Pigments”

Abstract

Anthocyanins are a class of naturally occurring plant pigments that are commonly used as natural-sourced food dyes. They are responsible for the red, blue, and purple colours in many fruits and vegetables. Pyranoanthocyanins are anthocyanin-derived pigments formed through reactions between anthocyanins and small organic compounds. Pyranoanthocyanins have a more stable chemical structure than simple anthocyanins, resulting in greater pH and thermal stability. The extended conjugation system of these compounds allows for a broader range of colours than anthocyanins, including yellow, orange, and magenta. The synthesis and characterization efforts to build a library of pyranoanthocyanins as potential food dyes with improved stability and colour range will be presented. The observed impact of the structural substituents on the NMR, UV-Vis, and colour profiles of these pigments will be discussed.

August 18, 2026,  9:00 am in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 328

Everyone is Welcome

We are launching the first of three pulse surveys that will take place over the coming months. Pulse surveys are short, focused surveys that help us gather timely feedback on specific topics. Our first pulse survey is focused on Sharing Information and Communications. The survey aims to better understand the effectiveness of UPEI's communication channels, how employees prefer to receive information, and where opportunities exist to improve communication across the University. The information gathered will help inform the campus-wide communication strategy, led by the Communications and University Relations unit in Marketing and Communications, and improve the ways we share news, updates, events, and important information.

Survey Details

• The survey takes approximately 5–7 minutes to complete.
• The survey can be completed on a computer, or by using a mobile device.
• The survey is completed via the TalentMap survey platform we used in the previous employee engagement survey.
• The survey can only be completed once and must be completed in one sitting.
• Responses are anonymous. No personal information is collected, and individual responses cannot be connected to any employee.
• The deadline to complete is Friday, August 21, 2026, by 4pm.

Survey Link

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. Your input helps us better understand the employee experience and supports our ongoing efforts to make meaningful improvements across UPEI.

The Doctor of Psychology program invites all to attend the public presentation of Brenna Bagnell's dissertation defence titled "An Exploration of Relationship Doubts and Sexual Well-Being Among Couples."

When: August 17, 2026, 10:30 am
Where: Memorial Hall, Room 104

Please join us in supporting Brenna on this momentous occasion!

The Doctor of Psychology program invites all to attend the public presentation of Ashlee Morrell's dissertation defence titled "Community as Hope and Harm: Group-Level Coping, Inequity, and Physical Health After General and Identity-Based Childhood Adversity in 2SLGBTQ+ Adults."

When: August 18, 2026, 2:00 pm
Where: Memorial Hall, Room 104

Please join us in supporting Ashlee on this momentous occasion!

In conjunction with the conference Music and the Mind–Maritimes, a free concert celebrating music in many styles performed by Island musicians will take place in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall at 7 pm on August 13. Performers include pianists Dr. Frances Gray, Kevin (Ruilin) Xia, Yuxuan (Tony) Liang, Megaria Halim; vocalists Neethu Saras Jose, Raisa Shaheed, and Lian Camargo (recorded), Queer Choir PEI, directed by Al Kelly; singer songwriter/guitarists Tony Reddin and Kevin Ryan; flautist Amy LeBlanc and cellist Nathalie Williams Calhoun. All are welcome.

For the concert program, go to http://music-mind-maritimes.ca For inquiries, please contact airs@upei.ca or 902-628-4331

Title of the Thesis

“Synthesis and Characterization Of Anthocyanin-Derived Pigments”

Abstract

Anthocyanins are a class of naturally occurring plant pigments that are commonly used as natural-sourced food dyes. They are responsible for the red, blue, and purple colours in many fruits and vegetables. Pyranoanthocyanins are anthocyanin-derived pigments formed through reactions between anthocyanins and small organic compounds. Pyranoanthocyanins have a more stable chemical structure than simple anthocyanins, resulting in greater pH and thermal stability. The extended conjugation system of these compounds allows for a broader range of colours than anthocyanins, including yellow, orange, and magenta. The synthesis and characterization efforts to build a library of pyranoanthocyanins as potential food dyes with improved stability and colour range will be presented. The observed impact of the structural substituents on the NMR, UV-Vis, and colour profiles of these pigments will be discussed.

August 18, 2026,  9:00 am in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 328

Everyone is Welcome

The excitement for this Saturday's Gold Rush draw is growing as big as the pot! With no winners in the last FIVE draws, the total pot has grown to more than $17,000, with half going to the winner of the draw.

Gold Rush is a virtual fundraising initiative that raises funds for UPEI’s athletic and recreation programs. You can now select a specific team, club, or program to direct your proceeds from each of your tickets. 

Play today and every week for a chance to win! Download the UPEI Panther Recreation app from the App Store or on Google Play, or play from your computer. The weekly draw is held at 8:00 pm every Saturday.

On Thursday, August 13, the offices for the following teams will be closed as all staff participate in an offsite training day:

• Research Services
• Research Partnerships and Innovation (RPI)
• Faculty of Graduate Studies
• Centre for Health and Community Research (CHCR)

For urgent matters during the closure, please contact: researchservices@upei.ca or, for CHCR, kcduffy@upei.ca 

All offices will reopen for regular operations on Friday, August 14.

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions (new, renewal, or amendment) is Friday, September 4 for the September 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.

In conjunction with the conference Music and the Mind–Maritimes, a free concert celebrating music in many styles performed by Island musicians will take place in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall at 7 pm on August 13. Performers include pianists Dr. Frances Gray, Kevin (Ruilin) Xia, Yuxuan (Tony) Liang, Megaria Halim; vocalists Neethu Saras Jose, Raisa Shaheed, and Lian Camargo (recorded), Queer Choir PEI, directed by Al Kelly; singer songwriter/guitarists Tony Reddin and Kevin Ryan; flautist Amy LeBlanc and cellist Nathalie Williams Calhoun. All are welcome.

For the concert program, go to http://music-mind-maritimes.ca For inquiries, please contact airs@upei.ca or 902-628-4331

Thursday, August 13, 2026, 9:00 am to 5 pm
Bill and Denise Andrew Hall, Room 142

The members of the UPEI Music Cognition Laboratory are hosting their 6th annual Music and the Mind-Maritimes Conference. Join us for presentations, audience interaction, and music from the disciplines of psychology, music, education and health. Presenters include students, professional researchers, music educators, and health professionals, from UPEI, several other Maritime, and Ontario universities.  The keynote speech by Dr. Betty-Anne Younker, former Dean of Music at Western University, will take place at 11:20. 

The event is free and open to all.

For more information and to register, please visit http://music-mind-maritimes.ca. For inquiries, please contact airs@upei.ca or 902-628-4331

In conjunction with the conference, a free concert celebrating music in many styles performed by Island musicians will take place in Steel Recital Hall at 7 pm. For the concert program, see the above link. 

All are welcome.

Rethinking Teaching Expertise: Toward a More Wholistic Framework for Conceptualizing, Assessing and Developing Teaching Expertise in Higher Education

What does it actually mean to develop and demonstrate teaching expertise? This 90-minute interactive session explores the Developmental Framework for Teaching Expertise in Postsecondary Education (Kenny et al., 2017), a model that reframes developing teaching expertise as multi-faceted, career-long, and relational journey. The framework is grounded in three foundational habits of mind that shape five interwoven and non-hierarchical facets of practice: teaching and supporting learning, professional learning and development, mentorship, research/scholarship/inquiry, and educational leadership. Within each facet, a developmental continuum illustrates how growth moves from developing oneself in a local context toward contributing to the growth of others and the broader teaching and learning community. Deliberately "written in pencil," the framework was designed from the outset to be shared, adapted, and reshaped to fit local institutional contexts. 

During this 90-minute interactive session participants will:

• Explore the structure and value of the framework within the context of their roles.
• Consider adaptations and applications to the framework and how components of the framework could be applied across multiple organizational levels (e.g., individual courses/educators, across departments, at the institutional level)
• Leave with a call to action on how you might use, adapt, or advocate for a more holistic conceptualization of teaching expertise in your own department, unit, or role at UPEI.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. No prior familiarity with the framework is required. Bring your curiosity and a willingness to reflect on your own teaching and learning journey, however you currently define it!

We invite you to view the sun through our telescopes while it's being partially eclipsed by the moon. In addition to seeing the moon blocking part of the sun, on the unblocked part of the sun you'll see sunspots on the photosphere, prominences in the chromosphere, and learn what those terms mean and how magnetic activity on the sun is causing them.

The viewing will happen today (August 1), 1:50-4:00pm, weather permitting. In the event of cloudy weather, we will have to cancel the event. We'll make the decision no later than 9:30am today, so check our website. We also have an additional solar viewing event later in August, just not on a day when there's an eclipse happening.

Find full event details and status on our website: https://projects.upei.ca/astronomy/2026/07/24/partial-solar-eclipse-august-12-2026/

The deadline for the Employee and Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver forms for the Fall 2026 semester is Friday, August 28, 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.

On Thursday, August 13, the offices for the following teams will be closed as all staff participate in an offsite training day:

• Research Services
• Research Partnerships and Innovation (RPI)
• Faculty of Graduate Studies
• Centre for Health and Community Research (CHCR)

For urgent matters during the closure, please contact: researchservices@upei.ca or, for CHCR, kcduffy@upei.ca 

All offices will reopen for regular operations on Friday, August 14.

We are launching the first of three pulse surveys that will take place over the coming months. Pulse surveys are short, focused surveys that help us gather timely feedback on specific topics. Our first pulse survey is focused on Sharing Information and Communications. The survey aims to better understand the effectiveness of UPEI's communication channels, how employees prefer to receive information, and where opportunities exist to improve communication across the University. The information gathered will help inform the campus-wide communication strategy, led by the Communications and University Relations unit in Marketing and Communications, and improve the ways we share news, updates, events, and important information.

Survey Details

• The survey takes approximately 5–7 minutes to complete.
• The survey can be completed on a computer, or by using a mobile device.
• The survey is completed via the TalentMap survey platform we used in the previous employee engagement survey.
• The survey can only be completed once and must be completed in one sitting.
• Responses are anonymous. No personal information is collected, and individual responses cannot be connected to any employee.
• The deadline to complete is Friday, August 21, 2026, by 4pm.

Survey Link

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. Your input helps us better understand the employee experience and supports our ongoing efforts to make meaningful improvements across UPEI.

In just a few weeks, students will return to campus in full force. The Office of Student Culture and Community Standards invites the campus community to stay tuned for updates and take part in Welcome Week 2026. Mark your calendars! This year, Welcome Week will take place between September 4 and 13. Incoming students can register here to take part. 

Welcome Week events are open to all Panthers, not only incoming students. The full schedule will be released soon, but favourites like the Back-2-School Fair and the President's Welcome Back BBQ, along with new ways to engage with the Panther community, await your participation. 

Welcome Week updates will continue to be posted online. Follow @upei_studentaffairs or the Welcome Week site. Emails can be sent to welcomeweek@upei.ca. 

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions (new, renewal, or amendment) is Friday, September 4 for the September 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.