Updates from UBC
- August 6: President’s Blog: COVID-19 Concerns
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.
- July 23 – September 3: Weekly mindfulness sessions: Join your community to practice mindfulness to improve your ability to manage stress and feel more connected while working from home.
- August 10 (Part 1) & 18 (Part 2): Understanding Mental Health: This session aims to increase mental health literacy while providing tools and skills to respond effectively in a caring and respectful way.
- August 11: Positive Space: Learn about sexual and gender diversity, the structures that harm the LGBT2SQIA+ community, as well as inclusive practices that make UBC a more welcoming and inclusive place.
Operations updates
Finance
Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury
- Fiscal Year 2021/22 Period-End Dates: Reminder that the period-end dates for the remaining months of this fiscal year are now available as a PDF and on the Finance website. Learn more about the project to optimize period close processes
Operations & Advising
Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services
- Health and safety audit on the VCHRI: Safety & Risk Services recently performed an Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) audit for the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Research Institute.
- Working with Facilities on project consultation: Safety & Risk Services has been working with Facilities consulting on the School of Biomedical Engineering and Human Kinetics and Kinesiology projects.
- Planning for upcoming student orientation events on campus: In preparation for the return to campus in Fall, Safety & Risk Services is working with VP Students to plan for upcoming student orientation events.
- New photos available for use on Flickr: We recently added some new photos of VPFO members maintaining safe building ventilation on campus to our Flickr library. Visit the VPFO Flickr to see the collection, as well as other photos of VPFO teams that are brand compliant and free for UBC staff and faculty use.
- 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.
- August 9: Monica Haab, Gregor Macdonald
- August 10: WFH
- August 11: Matt Furgal, Daisy Chan, Rachel Lau
- August 12: WFH
- August 13: WFH
People in motion
Please join us in welcoming those who are joining us, celebrating promotions, and saying goodbye to team members who are moving on to their next steps.
- Agnes Mester, Jack Lloyd and Helga Pereira joined the ISC Service Centre team as Service Centre Representatives on July 26.
- Erin Anderson is joining the ISC Change and Communications team as the Change and Communications Strategist today.
- Best wishes to Annie Mullins who began her maternity leave on August 3. Tracy Wong will be providing communications support for the Finance group while Annie is on leave.
VPFO job openings
All positions at UBC are available on the UBC HR Careers website, or through the career application in your Workday account. The following VPFO positions are currently open:
- Team Leader ISC Service Centre (JR3533) – closing Aug 10
- Director, Finance Transformation Projects (JR3377) – closing Aug 15
- Sr. Financial Spec 1a (Gr 8) (JR3675) – closing Aug 19
- Report Developer (JR3656) – closing Aug 20
- Lead Advisor, Privacy and Information Security Risk (JR3663) – closing Aug 16
- Emergency Management & Continuity Planning Advisor (JR3576) – closing Aug 18
Please remember to apply as an internal candidate. This ISC Knowledge Base article shows how: How do I apply for an internal job posting?.
Other notable updates
How Lean Six Sigma drives change at UBC and beyond
In part one of this series, we looked at a foundational understanding of Lean Six Sigma. We learned that Lean Six Sigma is a process-focused approach to driving operational excellence across functional areas.
This week, we’ll focus on how Lean Six Sigma can be used across UBC to make better business decisions and drive operational excellence.
Read the full article on the Operational Excellence website.
Going the extra mile – the custodial teams helping UBC transition back to campus
When COVID-19 impacted the university last year, it meant that many of UBC’s faculty and staff had to transition to remote work. For the Custodial Services team, their role required them to stay on campus. These same staff are now working behind the scenes to help UBC as it transitions once more.
Read the full feature on UBC Today.
Get vaccinated to protect everyone in the UBC community
UBC strongly encourages all community members to get fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before returning to campus. It’s safe and easy.
Register for your second dose today.
Helpful news
Some interesting news articles our team members 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.
- Did you know that it cost $26 billion to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Or that it’s the first Olympic Games to use artificial intelligence to help with security? Here are some of the wildest facts about the Tokyo Olympics.
- Even if you can’t do a cartwheel, you can learn a lesson from Olympians about mental fortitude and focus. This FastCompany article offers tips to meditate like an Olympic athlete.
Have an article for the VPFO team? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca.