University of Prince Edward Island

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a university in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

The university was incorporated in 1969 with the merger of its predecessor institutions, Prince of Wales College (PWC) and St. Dunstan's University (SDU). Its campus is located on the SDU campus.

History
Graduates of SDU and PWC teach at UPEI, children of current and former faculty and staff attend the university, and many families proudly report multi-generational alumni connections to the institution.

Campuses
Original SDU buildings in the central quad have been renovated to retain integrity of their exterior aesthetic design while meeting modern standards. Typical of many Canadian universities, UPEI experienced "growing pains" during the 1970s-1990s which saw many new buildings integrated into the campus, including the Utilities Building (1973), Duffy Science Centre, Blanchard Hall (1973), Bernardine Hall, the Robertson Library (1975), the Atlantic Veterinary College (1986), the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre (1990), the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall (1990), the Food Technology Centre, the K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre (1997), the W.A. Murphy Student Centre (2002), and the H.W. MacLauchlan Arena and Aquatics Centre (2004). 2006 saw the completion of the yet-to-be-named residence facility, currently referred to as New Residence.

In October 2004 it was announced that UPEI administration would be undertaking an official campus plan to improve the aesthetics of modern buildings constructed since the amalgamation which do not enhance the original SDU design, and to take overall campus aesthetics into account for current construction of a new residence building, as well as for future construction, including planned expansions to the Atlantic Veterinary College and construction of a new National Research Council of Canada facility.

Organization
The current President is H. Wade MacLauchlan, installed October 3, 1999. The current chancellor is William E. (Bill) Andrew. UPEI has seen important developments in its programming over the past thirty years. Bachelor's degree programs, in many cases including "honours" options, are available in Arts, Science, Business Administration, Education, and Nursing. Co-op programs have been established in Business Administration, Computer Science, Physics, and Dietetics. One new faculty, Veterinary Medicine, and two schools, Business Administration and Nursing, were added as the university expanded. Master's and Doctoral degree programs were first introduced through the Atlantic Veterinary College and, beginning in 1999, a Master of Science degree was offered through the Faculty of Science. In that same year the first students were admitted to the university's new Master of Education program. The university also now offers an MA in Island Studies. Since 1998, The Centre for Conflict Resolution Studies has been offering courses leading to a Certificate in Conflict Resolution Studies.

The faculty association and administration were deadlocked in contract disputes. The Faculty Association has not had a contract since June of 2005, and voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike that commenced on March 21st and ended on April 5th, 2006.

Rankings
Recently UPEI has been making a name for itself in the media. The university at one point was ranked low on Maclean's Magazine top schools in Canada; however, in recent years it has been making great strides. Currently UPEI stands at #5 on the annual list of top undergraduate schools in Canada, higher than most other universities in the region of the Maritimes. This puts UPEI in close running with the longtime leader, St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Activities
The UPEI Student Union Inc. publishes a newspaper called The Cadre. The paper gained attention by becoming the first North American publication to print the controversial Muhammad cartoons from the Jyllands-Posten. The administration ordered that copies of the paper be removed from circulation on campus, as "publication of the caricatures represents a reckless invitation to public disorder and humiliation. The University acknowledges the debates about press freedom and responsibility generated by this matter." In January 2007, the CBC News reported that the editorial staff of the Cadre wished to end the paper’s relationship with the Student Union. In March 2007, the CBC News reported that the Student Union was considering a proposal to move responsibility for the paper to the UPEI Independent Student Media Society. The CBC also reported that the ISMS plans to cut the number of staff at the Cadre from twelve to six, and to reduce its frequency of publication from twice a month to once a month.

Athletics
The UPEI Panthers have ten teams playing in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), including men's and women's ice hockey, soccer, basketball and rugby, as well as women's volleyball and field hockey.