From the Desk of the Vice-President, Academic and Research: Advancing Research, Enrolment and Academic Units
In this month's newsletter, I am pleased to share encouraging signs of research growth over the past few years, early enrolment trends for the Fall 2026 semester, and updates on strategic enrolment initiatives and the Senate Committee for a Policy on Academic Units.
Research Growth
The Research Support Fund (RSF) is a key federal program that covers the indirect costs of conducting research such as research support services of UPEI’s Research Partnerships and Innovation (RPI) team. The RSF fund is awarded annually based on the institution’s tri-agency (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC) funding performance. It serves as a good indicator for institutional allocations of other federal agency funds such as CFI and Canada Research Chairs, among others.
UPEI received encouraging news recently of a significant year-over-year increase in federal RSF support, from $1.17M to $1.39M, or an annual increase of 18%. These funds will be reallocated largely back into more institutional support for research within RPI. Among the tri-agencies, the individual changes over the past year have been +14% (NSERC), +109% (CIHR) and –4% (SSHRC). Over the past three years, there has been impressive overall growth of about 80% in federal tri-agency funding to UPEI. Special thanks to the RPI team, leadership of Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, and all researchers who have made this success possible.
Fall 2026 Enrolment Updates
The recruitment and admissions teams are carefully monitoring enrolment trends for the Fall 2026 semester. A short summary here will provide a year-over-year comparison with the same time last year. Admission offers for undergraduate students are up 26% and 51% for domestic and international students, respectively. This is a positive sign that recruitment efforts are attracting more qualified students to apply. International undergraduate student offers accepted are up 9%, as well as graduate student offers, also up from 13 to 28, which are both encouraging.
However, the latest data is concerning with regards to domestic undergraduate offers accepted: down 4% compared to last year at the same time. The enrolment management team is investigating further. The decline in yield is primarily in Science, Arts, and Engineering. Please consider how your unit can engage with our Recruitment team and help us turn admission offers into registrations, i.e., targeted communications by email, calls, information about pathways/advising support, and other outreach to students who are still undecided.
Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) Initiatives
The SEM Prioritization and Implementation Committee is actively mapping a Year 0–5 implementation plan, including sequencing, key deliverables, and associated budget priorities. The team is finalizing a SEM governance structure to support implementation, including an Implementation Steering Committee, and formalizing several working groups (Academic Advising, Recruitment and Retention, Academic Pathways, Student Experience, and Data). The SEM team is also developing a “hub-and-spoke” model for academic advising.
On the operational side, collaboration with ITSS is progressing well to strengthen system functionality and support the recruitment/admissions funnel. The work also aims to streamline internal student communications across systems and channels, reducing confusion, and improving student navigation.
The 2026/27 recruitment plan will focus on priority markets, conversion improvements, and measurable recruitment activities. A research assistant is conducting a review of high failure/withdrawal courses to identify patterns and pilot targeted course-level supports for students. Finally, the team is working with the Teaching and Learning Centre to develop pre-orientation modules to prepare new students for early academic success, aligned with a broader students-first initiative.
Senate Committee for a Policy on Academic Units
The Senate Committee on Teaching Evaluation has met monthly and recently decided to focus its work in the short term on the development of rules framing Faculty Councils. At its December meeting, the committee discussed the issues and types of rules to be developed to better support the academic governance of Faculties.
A draft document has been developed based on a review of common rules at other Canadian universities. Broader consultation on the draft rules will occur in coming months. Following this consultation, the committee aims to bring to Senate a recommendation for the establishment and operations of Faculty Councils, with the rules coming into effect at a later date—giving Faculties sufficient time to develop their Terms of Reference or Statutes of Councils.
The Committee will continue its other mandated work on academic units in the meantime, such as recommendations on relevant elements of an academic plan and structure when proposing the creation of a new academic unit. Special thanks to the University Secretary, Pascal Robichaud, for his work in supporting this committee. For further information, please contact Pascal Robichaud at parobichaud@upei.ca.
Greg F. Naterer, PhD, P.Eng. (he/him)
Vice-President, Academic and Research
University of Prince Edward Island
