69´«Ã½

Over the past number of years, the University has been exploring the implementation of a new administrative enterprise resource planning system (ERP).

69´«Ã½is calling this endeavour 'transformational' as it will bring the University's human resources, student information, and financial systems to an advanced level that will improve the student experience and set the stage for long-term sustainability.

The University has been using a mix of disparate information systems to meet departmental needs. However, the fragmented approach often gets in the way of making services and resources easily accessible to students. The intent of the ERP is to provide students, staff, and faculty with modern tools, user-friendly interfaces, and a seamless environment to access the resources they need to succeed.

69´«Ã½has appointed Dana Sanderson as Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead the process for the selection of an ERP vendor and to implement the system that will integrate all aspects of UPEI's information technology. He will also oversee the University's IT strategy-including governance and risk analysis-ensuring it fully supports UPEI's academic mission.

Mr. Sanderson, a 69´«Ã½alumnus (BBA'84) who also holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa, has family roots in Prince Edward Island. Experienced in IT leadership and, in particular ERP selection and technology implementation, he has developed and introduced business and IT solutions for JD Irving, Limited for over 20 years. Most recently, he was Director of the Business Solutions Group and prior to that Director, Strategic Planning, Enterprise Architecture and Project Management Office. He begins in September.

69´«Ã½Men's Basketball Head Coach Tim Kendrick is pleased to announce the addition of California Junior College (JUCO) basketball standout Michael Karimu.

In his sophomore year at College of the Desert, Karimu finished in ninth place (15.2 points per game) in overall league scoring and sixth place (6.1 rebounds per game) in league rebounding. He received all-star awards at the Frank Garcia Classic and the Grossmont College Invitational, and also received an honourable mention in the 2013 JUCO Summer Showcase. Karimu was named as one of the top 100 JUCO players in the state of California. Karimu, team captain at the College of the Desert, possesses a 38' vertical jump, and is a versatile six-foot-two guard that shot 46.3 per cent from the floor last season. The Panthers are thrilled that Karimu will be suiting up for the green and white this season.

Karimu is just as excited to be joining the Panthers. 'It is a great pleasure to become a 69´«Ã½Panther. What drew me to PEI was the people I have spoken to; they all seem so generous and helpful, and want to make sure my stay on PEI is a time to remember,' said Karimu. 'I have heard nothing but great things about Coach Kendrick and his programs, and cannot wait to get started. I definitely believe that this is the right home for me to excel in, not only in the classroom, but on the court as well. I want to thank Coach Kendrick and his staff, as well as the 69´«Ã½athletic department and the University for this great blessing.'

Coach Kendrick is looking forward to having the newest Panther on board. 'Aside from his obvious basketball credentials, Michael's attitude and character is what impressed me the most. He is very team oriented, and seems to have a solid understanding of what it takes to be a successful student athlete,' said Kendrick. 'He has said to me many times, that all he wants to do is help the team win... whether that be defensively, through rebounding, or scoring. He is a hard worker, and plays with passion and intensity. He can play and defend multiple spots, runs the court well, and finishes well around the rim. He clearly understands that we are looking for players that will bring their best attitude and effort forward, on and off the court, and we are very pleased to have him with us for the next three years.'

Karimu will be enrolling in the Bachelor of Arts program at UPEI.

For information:
Ron Annear
69´«Ã½Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

UPEI's Climate Research Lab needs your help to boost one of its projects to the next round in an MIT-sponsored competition about communicating climate risks and coastal vulnerabilities. CLIVE, the coastal erosion visualization tool created by the Climate Research Lab and the Spatial Interface Lab at Simon Fraser University, has reached the semi-finals in MIT's CoLab Communication Coastal Risk and Resilience contest.

A description of CLIVE, from the team's submission to the contest:

'Using 3D game engine technology adapted to serious scientific communication, CLIVE enables citizens to interactively fly around and view the province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) at all scales, while manipulating historical data and projected models through time. By allowing citizens to view scientific data and explore climate change projections at any scale in their own neighbourhood, we help them understand these often abstract phenomena at local, human scales. We believe this is a way to connect all stakeholders to this mutual problem, enhancing awareness, education, dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving at all scales of society and government.'

To register and help vote CLIVE into the top spot, or to learn more about the competition, click

For information:
Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer, UPEI
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

69´«Ã½welcomes all new students and their families to campus for the third annual Welcome Day on Saturday, August 30, 9:00 am-2:00 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall. Welcome Day is a chance for new students to tour campus, pick up their 69´«Ã½student ID card, shop at the Bookstore, pay for tuition and other services, meet staff, faculty, Student Union executives, and new friends, and kick-off O-Week-all before classes start up in September!

This year's Welcome Day will also include parent sessions for parents of residence and non-residence students, a photo booth featuring Panther mascot, Pride, and a barbeque for all from 12:00-1:30 pm. Representatives from Residence Services, Accounting, the Registrar's Office, Student Affairs, and Webster Academic Services will be available to provide academic and administrative support throughout the day.

For information:
Rebecca Gass
Events and Protocol Officer, UPEI
(902) 566-0949, rjgass@upei.ca

69´«Ã½Soccer is excited to announce the 2014 Mulligan Cup schedule, and introduce the inaugural Mulligan Cup Soccer Festival. 69´«Ã½Athletics and Recreation invites the PEI community to come out, have fun, and enjoy the beautiful game of soccer.

The 69´«Ã½men's and women's varsity soccer teams open training camps on Friday, August 22 in preparation for the Mulligan Cup held August 30-31. This is the third annual Mulligan Cup Invitational, providing an excellent opportunity for coaches to make final roster decisions. The league opener will take place on September 5 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with the men's team taking on Acadia.

In honour of Vince Mulligan, ageless varsity 69´«Ã½soccer and hockey coach throughout the 80s and 90s, this tournament has proved to be a great way to kick off the season and showcase the teams to their supporters. 'I really look forward to this time of year when we get a chance to look at the new athletes in camp,' said Mulligan. 'You always go in to a new year with great expectations, and you can see it in the athletes' eyes and in their actions on the field. That's what makes this tournament so great to watch.'

New this year is the introduction of a soccer festival as part of the Mulligan Cup. The festival includes soccer stations and activities such as penalty kicks, soccer tennis, a ball machine, a juggling competition, music, a barbecue, and much more! There will also be age appropriate small-sided pickup games on MacAdam Field, so bring your friends, cleats, and cheer to support our men's and women's Panther soccer teams.

Teams competing in the tournament this year are the University of Moncton Blue Eagles, the Holland College Hurricanes, and the 69´«Ã½Panthers. The 69´«Ã½men's team will also host the PEIFC senior men's team to kick off the weekend. Admission for the games is $6/day.

2014 Mulligan Cup schedule:

Friday, August 29
7:00 pm (M)-PEIFC vs. UPEI

Saturday, August 30
10:00 am-12:30 pm-Soccer Festival (admission by donation, includes Panther games)
1:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. UPEI
3:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. UPEI

Sunday, August 31
12:00 pm (W)-UdeM vs. UPEI
2:00 pm (M)-UdeM vs. UPEI
4:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. UdeM
6:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. UdeM

Go Panthers Go!

For information:
Ron Annear
69´«Ã½Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

Kent Stetson, distinguished native Islander, Governor General's Award laureate, member of the Order of Canada, and recent recipient of the 69´«Ã½Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award, will offer a two-tiered, sixteen-hour workshop at 69´«Ã½for writers of drama and prose fiction at various stages of their practice.

The workshop, entitled 'The Character Driven Story in Drama and Prose Fiction,' will take place August 22-24, in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242. The class structure will include 10-12 participating writers and up to 15 auditing writers. The workshop is co-sponsored by the 69´«Ã½Alumni Association, the Dean of Arts, the Department of English, and the PEI Writers' Guild.

Participating writers may be working on a specific text, starting a new project, or wishing to refresh their practice. They will benefit from pedagogic/craft sessions, exploration of the writers' artistic process, and evaluation of their individual techniques. Character perspective exercises and narrative outlines to be written during the workshop will be read aloud to the group. Respectful, guided critique with feedback from other participating writers and one-on-one critiques from the workshop leader will advance each writer's work.

Auditing writers will be those at a beginning stage of their practice, or those advanced writers who wish to observe and learn techniques for developing the major characters who drive the narrative, and the secondary characters who challenge or support them. Auditing writers will hear the work of participating writers and benefit from the pedagogy and discussions regarding character, plot, and story construction.

Visit (Workshops) for information on Mr. Stetson's work and workshop style.

For information:
Dr. Richard Lemm
69´«Ã½English Department
rlemm@upei.ca

Charlottetown, PEI (August 19, 2014)-The Journal of Biomedical Optics recently published a paper by researchers at the 69´«Ã½ which confirms exciting developments in our ability to detect and learn about certain types of cancer. In optoacoustic imaging, short pulses of light are sent into tissue. Because the pulses are so short, the light is converted into sound by the tissue, rather than heat. Dr. Michelle Patterson and Dr. William Whelan's research confirms that cancerous tissue emits sound at a different frequency than non-cancerous tissue.

'This research borrows from a 30-year-old technique, but the results are brand new and give us a whole new way to detect and learn about cancer,' said Dr. Michelle Patterson, whose work on this project was part of her PhD studies in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. 'Previous research studied the amplitude or ‘volume' of the created sound, but by measuring the frequency or ‘pitch', the amount of information we learn from the cancerous tissue is much greater.'

Dr. Patterson's work was supervised by Dr. William Whelan, a professor of Physics and Biomedical Sciences at UPEI.

'Measuring the amplitude of the sound has proven to be useful for locating cancerous tissue, but frequency may provide additional information about the cancer itself,' said Dr. Whelan. 'It may prove valuable for cancer staging and monitoring how cancers respond to treatment.'

The paper, 'Optoacoustic characterization of prostate cancer in an in vivo transgenic murine model', follows more than two years of experiments and analysis to confirm the research team's initial findings. It presents data that confirms the sound frequency emitted by cancerous tissue is statistically different than that of non-cancerous tissue-a relative breakthrough in the area of optoacoustic research.

A modified audio file (scaled to the human audible range) demonstrating the difference in pitch between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue can be found at or .

Media contact: Dave Atkinson, UPEI
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

A special dedication ceremony was held recently at the 69´«Ã½ to recognize St. Dunstan's University (SDU) and its Board and alumni's commitment to the University. Main Building will now be officially known as 'SDU Main Building.'

'69´«Ã½prides itself on the heritage passed down from St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College, and welcomes opportunities like today to increase our understanding of that history,' said 69´«Ã½President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz during the ceremony. 'And part of that history is that 69´«Ã½has benefited so much from the generosity of SDU alumni and the SDU Board of Governors.'

In 1969, when 69´«Ã½opened its doors for the first time, it inherited the traditions of two long-established institutions, St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College. SDU Main Building was constructed in 1854 and was the heart of the SDU campus, as it continues to be today for the 69´«Ã½community.

The dedication ceremony was held during UPEI's annual Summer Reunion Weekend, fitting as many alumni were celebrating milestone anniversaries on campus and were present while President Abd-El-Aziz and Chair of the SDU Board of Governors George MacDonald unveiled a sign and plaque bearing the building's new name.

MacDonald said, 'This indeed is a special occasion. As we look around campus, we see how much the University has grown. The building that still dominates is the one that in 1855 became St. Dunstan's College when a small body of determined spirits led by Bishop MacDonald fulfilled their dream. They started the college because they believed in education for youth.'

He added, 'This building is where these young people lived, worshipped, held their classes, studied, worried, celebrated, laughed and cried, dreamed and formed their values that made them leaders-leaders in the church and in the community.'

The SDU Board of Governors Chair went on to thank the 69´«Ã½Board of Governors and 69´«Ã½President for making the recognition happen. He said, 'In 1969, the SDU Board chose to support 69´«Ã½and continues to this day. In scholarships alone, the SDU Board has contributed over $3 million. Our board and alumni are committed to continuing this relationship and building upon it. I am so proud to see today's recognition through the naming of SDU Main Building.'

The 69´«Ã½'s Board of Governors recently accepted the recommendations of the search committee for the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Education positions. Interim Deans Dr. Neb Kujundzic and Dr. Ron MacDonald were successfully appointed as the Dean of Arts and Dean of Education respectively.

'I look forward to working with Neb and Ron on a number of initiatives that will continue to enhance the overall student experience in both the Faculties of Arts and Education,' said Vice-President Academic Dr. Christian Lacroix. 'Our University community as a whole will benefit from their experience and strong leadership abilities.'

In 1995, Kujundzic received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo. Kujundzic came to 69´«Ã½in 1997 as an assistant professor of philosophy, before becoming an associate professor in 2003, and Interim Dean of Arts in 2013. He is a member of the 69´«Ã½Board of Governors and the 69´«Ã½Senate. He also held positions on the 69´«Ã½Presidential Hiring Committee, the University Review Committee, and the Research Advisory Committee. Kujundzic was also Chair of UPEI's Department of Philosophy from 1998-2004.

In 2006, MacDonald received his PhD from the University of South Australia. MacDonald joined UPEI's Faculty of Education in 2005 on a term appointment before becoming an assistant/associate professor in 2006, and Interim Dean of Education in 2013. MacDonald has a variety of publications including four book chapters, 39 papers in refereed conferences, and eight invited contributions/technical reports. MacDonald has also been heavily involved in external research funding projects, including his most recent role as a principal investigator on project-based learning (PBL).

Both Kujundzic and MacDonald will begin their new roles for six-year terms effective September 1, 2014-June 30, 2020. Congratulations, Dr. Kujundzic and Dr. MacDonald.

Last summer, 69´«Ã½Panther Swim team captain Suzanne Nicholson set a goal to swim the Northumberland Strait. Nicholson accomplished her goal and raised over $10,000 for the Panther swim team.

After graduating this spring from UPEI, Nicholson passed on the swim challenge to her teammates to 'Conquer the Strait' in support of their personal and team goals for the upcoming season. The 69´«Ã½swim team has accepted the challenge and their swim is scheduled for Saturday, August 30 from the New Brunswick side, finishing on Island soil in Borden, PEI. Eight members will either compete in a relay or tackle the entire swim solo.

'We are really excited to continue the ‎event that started last season with Suzanne. Our athletes continue to impress me with what they are capable of achieving,' said 69´«Ã½swim team Head Coach Bill Calhoun.

Event organizer and the swim club's Executive President Blythe Martin is also impressed with the 69´«Ã½student-athletes' initiative. 'The fact that these athletes are swimming across the Northumberland Strait, battling the cold, the waves, the weather, and the clock, is a truly amazing feat. It shows the power of motivation led by Suzanne Nicholson, and I hope that people will come out and support these athletes.'

To support the Panthers, visit:

All funds collected directly support costs associated with 2014-15 team's training and travel to competitions.

For more information, visit

For information:
Ron Annear
69´«Ã½Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca