In this newsletter:

• Presidential Recognition Awards – Call for Nominations
• Universal Design for Learning Workshop
• Hooping It Up with Best Buddies
• Save the Date: UPEI Faculty of Education Spring Research Forum
• Symposium to Honour Dr. Fiona Walton – 26-Aug-2016
• Case Closed! – “Cruising for Murder” Mystery Solved!
• Hurrahs!

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PRESIDENTIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS — CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

In recognition of the outstanding performance and dedication of our faculty and staff, a number of annual awards have been created to acknowledge their efforts and achievements.

Up to 10 Presidential Awards of Merit for UPEI Faculty, Librarians and Clinical Veterinary Professionals and four Presidential Awards of Merit for UPEI Staff will be awarded in 2016. These awards will be presented during a Celebration of Colleagues to be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 from 2:00-4:00 in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

The deadline for nominations is 01-Apr-2016.  For further details on the awards and the nomination process, please visit their website.

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UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING WORKSHOP

The campus community is invited to participate in a workshop on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), hosted by the Department of Student Affairs and delivered by Megan MacKenzie, Frédéric Fovet, and Cathy Rose. Universal Design for Learning is a framework to optimize teaching and learning by considering the “why”, “what”, and “how” of learning. As our Accessibility services are nearing capacity and an increasing number of students are using these services, the UDL framework can be used in higher education to address the very pressing need of delivering sustainable, inclusive instruction.

This workshop will explore the UDL framework, discuss how faculty and staff can use UDL to better meet the learning needs of their students, and share some real, simple examples of how UDL principles can be implemented.

The workshop takes place 03-Mar-2016 from 1-3pm in the Main Faculty Lounge. Refreshments will be served.

If you are interested in attending please sign up here.

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HOOPING IT UP WITH BEST BUDDIES

Best Buddies is an organization that pairs students who have various disabilities with another student at UPEI. This program offers one-to-one friendships and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

On Saturday, March 12 from 10 AM -2 PM, Best Buddies, in conjunction with the UPEI Men/Women’s Basketball Teams, is holding the event, Hooping It Up with Best Buddies, at the Chi Wan Young Sports Centre in the UPEI Gymnasium. All money that is raised will go towards supporting the UPEI chapter of the Best Buddies program.

Please see the attached poster for more information. If you have any questions or you would like to get involved, please email: bestbuddies@upei.ca.

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SAVE THE DATE: UPEI FACULTY OF EDUCATION SPRING RESEARCH FORUM

Spring is just around the corner and so is the upcoming UPEI Faculty of Education Spring Research Forum!  First year PhD students and the Young Lives research team will be presenting on 07-June-2016 from 8:30am to 3:00pm in AVC Lecture Theatre B.  Please save the date!

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SYMPOSIUM TO HONOUR DR. FIONA WALTON – 26-AUG-2016

The UPEI Faculty of Education is honouring the career of Dr. Fiona Walton with a symposium featuring presentations from key researchers and graduate students in the field of Aboriginal education.  Fiona has dedicated her career to the advancement of Aboriginal education in Canada, and we wish to pay tribute to the work she has done.  The symposium takes place Friday, 26-Aug-2016.  A complete program can be found here.

To register, please visit the Eventbrite link.  Registration is $125 (+ taxes) with an early bird rate of $100 (+ taxes) if booked before 31-Mar-2016.

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CASE CLOSED! – “CRUISING FOR MURDER” MYSTERY SOLVED!

A very special thank you to students, faculty, staff and friends who came out to make the “Cruising for Murder” mystery night a great success.  We have heard wonderful feedback on the event and really appreciate everyone who participated!

We are happy to share some wonderful images on a celebration pages!

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HURRAHS!

Congratulation to Jane Preston and her University of Saskatchewan colleagues for their latest peer-reviewed publication in the journal, International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice.

The article is entitled “Perceptions and practices of principals: Supporting positive educational experiences for Aboriginal learners.”  The link to the abstract can be found here.