François Desmarais promoted to Senior Facilities Manager in Building Operations
François is the successful candidate to take on this newly created role with all of the Building Operations’ Facilities Managers reporting directly to him. François will continue to be responsible for the Brown Zone and also manage the day to day operations within the Facilities Management team with support from Kishani Gibbons, Senior Manager, Customer Services.
Announcing a new Associate Vice-President role for the VPFO
Following approval from UBC’s Board of Governors,the VPFO will be adding a new Associate Vice-President. Trish Pekeles has agreed to step forward as acting in the new AVP role until the search committee completes their work.
UBC Finance Receives Sustainable Purchasing Award from International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories
UBC joined a number of leading research university in receiving the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Award after demonstrating an improvement in sustainable procurement practices.
UBC celebrates the official opening of the Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories
Students from British Columbia and around the world can now study for careers in the life sciences, such as genetics, health care, conservation and ecology, in the renovated and expanded Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories at UBC.
Bryan Antenor and Marcos Kwong join Financial Operations management team
The Financial Operations team is pleased to welcome Bryan Antenor as the department’s new Customer Support Manager, and Marcos Kwong as the Manager of Procurement Services.
Snow or sun, you are appreciated
The VPFO does a lot, snow or sun, to keep UBC working. Despite yesterday’s challenges of travelling to campus, working remotely, or by just by preparing our systems on the good days to be resilient enough to handle the tough ones — the VPFO team was here for UBC.
Changes to Print Services at UBC
Xerox is currently UBC’s preferred supplier of printing services, but the university’s master service agreement with this vendor is due to expire in March 2020. The Strategic Sourcing team in Financial Operations is exploring the best options for print solutions at UBC through a formal sourcing process.
Saving Energy During UBC’s Seasonal Shutdown
This past December, departments, building operators and energy managers across UBC joined together to reduce the university’s environmental footprint over the winter holiday by participating in the Seasonal Shutdown.
UBC ready for snow
It’s five o’clock in the morning, snow has been falling for a few hours in Vancouver and slowly accumulating on the roads across the city. Building Operations crews are already brining, salting and plowing roads and pathways on the Vancouver campus but the staff on the call know students will wake up to snow and ask — are my classes or exams cancelled?
Update: Next Steps Following Climate Emergency Declaration and Commitment to Divestment
The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time and UBC wants to ensure that our community and the public is informed of the actions that the university is taking as a leader in sustainability and climate action. This update provides the context of President Santa Ono’s Climate Emergency Declaration and the university’s actions regarding divestment from the fossil fuel industry.