Last week’s updates from UBC
- February 26: President’s Blog: Weekly Update
- February 24: UBC Bulletin: Extension of appointment for Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (Aki-Kwe), Director of the Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
Managing your mental health
HR has collected mental health resources to help you manage our ups and downs. Our VPFO HR staff is always available for a confidential conversation.
- January – March: Through the Lens: A series of interactive workshops designed to enhance UBC’s understanding of diversity, while offering practical ideas for creating a more equitable and inclusive campus.
- March 2, 9, 16, 23: Mindfulness with Kunye
- March 10 – 23: 10 Day Mindfulness Challenge – March: Improve your ability to manage stress, feel more connected while working from home, or get your morning started with an exercise to improve focus.
Operations updates
Facilities
Building Operations, Energy & Water Services and Infrastructure Development
- Infrastructure Development/Properties Trust project list: The March 2021 construction project list is now available on the Facilities website.
Finance
Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury
- Year End call-in session #2: A second call-in session is now scheduled for the community to share further information and resources about year end accruals. Register on the Year End Resources page. Slides and a recording from the first session are also available.
- Year End — Invoices and Expenses: Please remember that all supplier invoices and expense reimbursements must be approved in order to be included in March. Helpful information to support the community, including a useful list of Workday reports, is now available on the Finance website.
- Unidentified Wire Transfers: Please check through the list of unidentified wire transfers and direct deposits (updated as of Feb 26) to see if any payments belong to your department.
- PD Fund Expense Deadlines: The deadline for staff to submit PD Fund expense claims is now Friday, March 5, and the deadline for managers to review and approve is Friday, March 12. Full information is available on the UBC HR website.
Operations & Advising
Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services
- Carpool safety: Reminder that carpooling increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Safety & Risk Services is working on a one-pager to provide guidance if sharing a vehicle when traveling. For information while using shared UBC vehicles, please review the UBC Employees COVID-19 Use of Shared UBC Vehicles guidance document, or visit the Working Safely on Campus section of the SRS website.
- Building Safety tips: Personal safety is UBC’s primary safety concern. Reminder to contact 911 or Campus security 604-822-222 if you see a crime being committed, you are being threatened or feel unsafe, or notice that a door or window has been broken/tampered with before entering your building/workspace.
- Emergency Response Plan (ERP): The ERP has recently been updated and now posted on the Emergency Preparedness website. The updated plan reflects the recent changes to UBC’s Emergency Management and Continuity Planning documentation.
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) sessions: Volunteered VPFO team members have now completed the first EDI sessions on Inclusion from Intersections: Identity, Power & Privilege. The next sessions will begin this week on Exploring Anti-racism, Allyship & Belonging in the Workplace. For more information on EDI, visit the VPFO EDI website.
- VPFO HR on-site support schedule this week:
- March 1: Matt Furgal, Kasia Burza, Gregor Macdonald
- March 2: Sonia Lachar, Rachel Lau
- March 3: Arvind Kang, Gregor Macdonald
- March 4: Matt Furgal, Rachel Lau
- March 5: Sonia Lachar, Kasia Burza
Other notable updates
UBC Workplace Preferences Survey
As COVID-19 continues to impact the way we work in VPFO and across UBC, we are inviting faculty and staff to share feedback through the Workplace Preferences Survey.
This survey is an opportunity to share feedback on your experiences in the workplace over the last year, whether working remotely or on campus, as well as what you’d like your workplace to look like in the future.
The survey closes end of day on Wednesday, March 3. It takes about five minutes to complete and you can access it on the HR website.
Pink Shirt Day Event Recording
For our fourth year in a row, members across the VPFO portfolio gathered to celebrate Pink Shirt Day on February 24, 2021, and reflected on our progress on the larger topics of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
For those of you that missed the event, the session was recorded and is available on the VPFO website.
Boreal Wellness Centres Offer Support with Problematic Substance Use
UBC HR has partnered with Boreal Wellness Centres to offer Resilient Living™ Recovery, a non-12 step, mindfulness-based addiction treatment program to help reduce or stop problematic substance use.
Available for staff, faculty members, and their dependents who are experiencing mild to moderate problematic substance use, this group therapy program takes place via a secure video conferencing platform.
For more information about the program, please visit the HR website.
Helpful news
Some interesting news articles people have found informative, helpful, or fun! These are provided for information and entertainment only. Unless noted, UBC doesn’t specifically endorse or supply this content.
- Working with multiple monitors? While the extra desktop can be a huge productivity boost, here’s a tip to help you get even more value out of your investment from PC Gamer magazine.
- Letting go of things we’ve always done can be hard… especially when those are things we enjoy. The Atlantic magazine has a few thoughts on voluntarily sacrificing pleasurable things resets your senses and makes you master of yourself.
Have an article for your peers? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca.