Updates from UBC
- October 4: UBC Broadcast: Support this year’s UBC United Way campaign
- September 29: UBC Bulletin: Announcing the 2022/23 Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters Competition
- September 29: UBC Broadcast: Update: UBC’s COVID-19 Rapid Testing Program
- September 29: President’s Update: Orange Shirt Day | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
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.
- Oct 5 & 7: The Working Mind for Managers: Mental Health Training for Managers
- Oct 19: Intersectional Approaches to Understanding Mental Health
- Oct 27: Return to Work Resilience with Thara Vayali
- Self-guided: Wellbeing in the Workplace
- Self-guided: Preventing Burnout: Managing stress, emotions and our tendency to give
- Self-guided: Feeling safe and engaged returning to the workplace
- Self-guided (until Oct 15): Dealing with sleep issues
To view more workshops, webinars and events visit the HR event listing.
Return to campus: Supporting your mental health
Have you signed into LifeWorks? Do you know you can access psychological professionals through your extended health benefits? Have you thought about becoming a Not Myself Today ambassador?
As we start a new academic year, many who are returning to campus will experience excitement, while others may have concerns and feel some anxiety. UBC offers a range of mental health resources to support you and your team.
Operations updates
Facilities
Building Operations, Energy & Water Services and Infrastructure Development
- Building our senior leadership team for our next challenges: The Facilities senior leadership team has been working hard to prepare our team for the future, including making key organizational changes and improvements. Read AVP, Facilities, John Metras’ full message to learn about the new changes that will help the Facilities teams work more closely and effectively.
- Project list for Infrastructure Development/Properties Trust: September 2021 construction project list is now available on the Facilities website.
Finance
Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury
- Claiming unidentified payments: Please check through the list of unidentified wire transfers and direct deposits (updated as of Sept 16) to see if any payments belong to your department.
- Strengthening Financial Reporting with the VPFO: The VPFO is creating a new Director, Financial Reporting role that will bolster oversight for the Financial Reporting department within the Comptroller group. An internal search and recruitment will be launched soon.
- Second Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt cohort completed: The second cohort of the Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training — a two-day workshop designed for managers and team members who lead small projects — took place on Oct 1 & 4. The next cohort will take place on Dec 3 & 6. Learn more
- New Notifications in Workday – Expiring Training Records: Starting Sept 20, employees will receive notifications in Workday about any training that expires in 60 days, so that employees can re-take any necessary training before it expires. Learn more
- New training course for Timekeepers in Workday: A new course is available for those with a Timekeeper role in Workday. Learn more
- Integrated Renewal Program – Student Town Hall (Recording): The recording of IRP Student Town Hall on Sept 29, 2021 is now available on the IRP website.
Operations & Advising
Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services
- Responding to the community’s questions and concerns: Safety & Risk Services has been responding to questions and concerns from the community about rapid testing, self-declarations, and proof of vaccination concern. For information about the COVID-19 Safety Plan and guidelines, visit the SRS website.
- Distributing reusable non-medical masks on campus: In alignment with the mask mandate, Safety & Risk Services has distributed around 65,000 reusable non-medical masks to faculties and departments to date.
- VPFO HR on-site support schedule: Starting in October, the HR team will be in the office from Tuesday to Thursday. For any questions, please contact Senior HR Manager, Arvind Kang.
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.
- Lance Adams joined Operational Excellence as Business Analyst – SRS on October 1.
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:
- Occupational and Research Safety Associate (JR4428) – closing Oct 5
- SubHead Trades 2 – Metal Worker (JR4424) – closing Oct 8
- Buyer (JR4518) – closing Oct 13
- Project Manager II (JR4550) – closing Oct 18
- Sr. Procurement Officer (JR4517) – closing Oct 18
- Programmer Analyst (JR4506) – closing Oct 20
- Managing Director, Building Operations (JR4524) – closing Oct 24
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
Verify your COVID-19 vaccination status at UBC
If you have declared that you are fully vaccinated, it’s time to upload your proof of COVID-19 vaccination. By submitting your proof of vaccination, you are exempt from participating in COVID-19 rapid testing. The process is simple and should only take a few minutes.
Thank you for supporting a safe environment at UBC.
Learn more and upload your proof
Tuition waivers for UBC employees
As a UBC employee, you and your dependent family members may be eligible to take many UBC courses without paying some or all of the tuition fees? Depending on your eligibility and employee group, you could access up to 12 credits or the dollar value of certain UBC courses.
Join the 4th annual Privacy Matters @ UBC Symposium
Faculty and staff at UBC are better equipped than ever before to combat cyber criminals and properly manage personal information. However, just as tools and tactics adapt and evolve, so too must our policies and strategic planning.
The 2021 Privacy Matters @ UBC Symposium will focus on what is in store for the PrISM program as it reacts to and initiates, continued privacy and information security education for all of UBC.
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.
- For leaders at any level, the single best way to grow is to lead and then get feedback. But you also need to respond wisely, and organizational psychologist David Burkus PhD explains how.
- As many of our team members seem to have enjoyed the tortoise snacking ASMR video — here is a video of a guinea pig eating a strawberry, available on the Animal ASMR YouTube channel.
Have an article for the VPFO team? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca.
A note from VPFO Communications & Engagement
Over the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed some changes to our weekly newsletter.
The VPFO Monday Update started last year as a way for our portfolio to stay connected and share important operational information during COVID-19.
Things have changed so much since we distributed our first newsletter, and we want to ensure that the VPFO Update adapts to your changing needs while continuing to deliver content that is informative and relevant to your work at the VPFO.
Fill out a brief one-minute survey to tell us what you think about these new changes and how we can better serve your needs.
Thank you and have a great week!
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