Last week’s updates from UBC
- June 14: UBC Bulletin: UBC’s Remote Work update
- June 11: President’s Weekly Update: A Phased Approach to the Fall
- June 10: UBC Broadcast: Statement on behalf of the Vancouver Senate Tributes Committee
- June 8: UBC Broadcast: Faculty and staff — return to campus update
- June 7: UBC Bulletin: Call for letters of intent for Large TLEF Transformation projects
Updates on UBC’s response to COVID-19 are at covid19.ubc.ca.
Managing your mental health
HR has collected mental health resources to help you manage your ups and downs. Our VPFO HR staff is always available for a confidential conversation.
- Self-guided: Self and Community Care: Building skills to manage stress: Learn to integrate relaxation and your personal needs into your daily life in this self-paced webinar.
- Self-guided: Wellbeing in the Workplace: Learn tools and skills to support wellbeing while working within changing environments in this self-paced webinar.
- June 17, 24: 4-week Self-Compassion Series: Explore different practices, teachings, discussion or writing exercises all designed to help you build a foundation of mindful self-compassion.
- July 13: Self and Community Care Facilitated Webinar: This 2-part facilitated webinar focuses on increasing mental health literacy for individuals.
- July 19: Strengthening Resilience: Learn about evidence-informed strategies to strengthen resilience, as well as resources that are available to support resilience and wellbeing.
Resources for those distressed by the recent residential schools coverage
Our thoughts are with the families, the communities, residential school survivors and all who mourn. If you need support, we recommend you reach out and get help from these UBC and community resources.
Operations updates
Facilities
Building Operations, Energy & Water Services and Infrastructure Development
- Building ventilation & safety measures for return to campus: Heating, ventilation, and conditioning (HVAC) system recommendations are now approved by the UBC Executive. For details, please visit the Facilities website.
- VFA Auditors will be on campus: The BC Ministry of Advanced Education has contracted VFA Canada to perform Facility Condition Assessments to audit 136 buildings on the UBC Point Grey campus from June 21, 2021 to the end of January 2022. For more information, visit the Facilities website.
- Improving soil quality at UBC’s research fields: Building Operations’ Waste Management team in Municipal Services collaborated with UBC’s Plant Care Services to improve soil quality for researchers at Plant Care Services’ Totem Field and provided an environmentally friendly outlet for compost on campus. Read more about this collaboration.
Finance
Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury
- Financial Operations’ service delivery dashboards: Key metrics relating to service delivery are now ready to share with the community. Full information is available on the UBC Finance website.
- Updated links for ordering print materials from Xerox: The Xerox Global Services supplier page on the UBC Finance website has recently been updated with new links to support the community in navigating the Xerox client portal. Learn more on the UBC Finance website.
- Quarter end dates for Q1: Reminder that quarter end dates for Q1/June are now available as a PDF and as a calendarized list on the UBC Finance website.
- Survey to gather feedback on HR/Finance admin processes: Reminder to complete the Workday survey by Friday, June 18, if you’ve been selected.
Operations & Advising
Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services
- Safety Planning process continues: Safety & Risk Services has been socializing the draft safety planning framework through townhalls and leadership meetings. Over the next few weeks, the team will engage with local JOHSC’s to review the proposed draft plans.
- The Centre for Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing reopens: Safety & Risk Services is developing a plan to reopen The Centre for Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing (The Centre) in the University Services Building on July 5, 2021. Stay tuned for details.
- Developing a process for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) requests: In preparation for return to campus, Safety & Risk Services is working with Facilities to develop a standardized process and response for IAQ requests.
- Privacy & Information Security—Wherever You Work: PrISM is developing a course called “Privacy & Information Security—Wherever You Work” that focuses on key messages employees will need to consider in the hybrid work environment.
- Service Now: The PrISM team recently presented its use of ServiceNow to deliver the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) process to the BC Attorney General and Minister. They are considering a similar initiative and were keen to learn about the benefits of this Service Management platform.
- Why has anti-Asian racism resurfaced: To promote the National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism, UBC created a series of videos where prominent Asian Canadians and allies share their perspectives on anti-Asian racism. Sʔəyəɬəq Elder of Chinese and Musqueam Ancestry, Larry Grant of Musqueam, discusses the persistence of anti-Asian racism in Canada on the VPFO website.
- VPFO HR on-site support schedule: Due to increased safety measures, the VPFO HR team will be working from home on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. For any questions, please contact Senior HR Manager, Arvind Kang.
- June 14: Kasia Burza, Matt Furgal
- June 15: WFH
- June 16: Gregor Macdonald, Matt Furgal
- June 17: WFH
- June 18: WFH
Other notable updates
Cybersecurity tips & tricks: Beware of Phishing
At UBC, we are responsible for substantial amounts of personal information, and protecting this information is everyone’s responsibility. Over the next few weeks, we’ll share tips on how to protect ourselves and the information that we work with — starting with phishing emails.
- Watch for the [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] banner. An email from a UBC colleague should never have the External Email banner applied.
- Read emails carefully. Is the email in context of the conversation? Is it written in the same style that you would expect from the sender? Are there typos or misspellings that seem odd?
- Don’t open attachments or click on links that you aren’t expecting, especially if they require a password to open
- If in doubt, always forward the email as an attachment to security@ubc.ca. The team can verify the safety of the email before you open it. This will cause you minimal delay and the team are happy to do this.
- Think you’ve clicked on a potentially malicious link? Contact security@ubc.ca immediately and reset your CWL password.
Learn more on the UBC Privacy Matters 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.
- Lately do you find yourself not functioning with the mental quickness you used to? Well, you’re not alone. This relatable New York Times article discusses how pandemic stress and multitasking can affect memory in a real way.
- What exactly is a migraine? And what causes it? This short TED animation explores what we know— and don’t know— about this complex disorder.
- Have you ever gotten up from the couch and returned to see your furry friend curled up in your spot? Here are a few potential reasons why dogs steal your spot as soon as you get up.
Have an article for your peers? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca.