Updates from UBC
- August 15: UBC Broadcast: Announcing the search for a new President and Vice-Chancellor
- August 10: UBC News: UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan funding sees student projects get off the ground
- August 9: UBC Okanagan Admin News: Share the news about ProPASS with your faculty and staff
For the latest updates for faculty and staff, visit UBC Today.
Updates from VPFO
- Notice of Acting Comptroller August 12-28: Karamjeet Heer, Interim Vice-President, Finance, will be away from Aug 12-28 inclusive. During her absence, she has designated Matt Boydston, Assistant Comptroller (matt.boydston@ubc.ca), as the “Acting Comptroller”. Karamjeet will resume responsibility as Comptroller effective Monday, Aug 29.
Operations updates
Facilities
Building Operations, Custodial Services, Customer Services & Informatics, Energy & Water Services, Infrastructure Development, and Municipal Services
- Relocation of the three flagpoles: The three flagpoles (BC, Musqueam and UBC flags) have been temporarily relocated to the East Mall entrance and plaza at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre as of Monday August 15 2022. Learn more
- UBC Capital priorities: Information on UBC’s Five-Year Capital Plan 2023-24 to 2027-28 has been updated. UBC maintains a comprehensive plan for the development and renewal of institutional infrastructure to meet evolving academic needs as well as the needs of our growing campus communities. Learn more.
Finance
Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury
- Complete the Envisio User Experience survey: A short survey was sent out to Envisio users to gather insights into their experience tracking Strategic & Business Plans with the software. A reminder that the survey closes on Monday, Aug 29.
Operations & Advising
Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services
- Workday Webinars: Slides and Recording Available from Recruitment Session: If you missed this recent webinar for Managers and HR Administrators who hire through job postings, or if you attended but would like to refresh your learnings, you can now find the presentation slides and a recording on the ISC website.
- Thank you for completing the Finance Communications Survey: The VPFO Communications & Engagement team has received a lot of valuable feedback and we look forward to applying our findings to strengthen communications within the larger UBC finance community.
VPFO Shout outs
At the VPFO, we love celebrating success! Join us every week in recognizing the great work our VPFO team members are doing to support the university.
Safety & Risk Services (SRS)
- Sunny Komany, Jonathan Lau, and Amber Velay-Mah – Sunny, Jonathan, and Amber, our Campus Security patrol officers responded to a large dumpster fire near the intersection of Melfa and Acadia Road on August 14. While waiting for the fire department, Amber used the fire extinguisher from our patrol vehicle to help extinguish the fires surrounding the bin. They also removed some burning items close to the bin and the trees as they were close to igniting. None of our officers were injured. Thank you all for your bravery, quick resonse and teamwork!
- Cassandra Torres, Emergency & Continuity Planning Associate and Manmohan Mand, Community Safety Zone Manager – Kudos to Cassandra and Man for their informative sessions at the Centre for Heart & Lung Innovation Safety Day at St Paul’s Hospital last week. Man’s presentation on personal safety tips and Cassandra’s presentation on emergency preparedness and earthquake safety were very well received and greatly appreciated. Well done!
- Gontran Paget, Manager, SHCS Occupational Health & Safety – Thanks to Gontran for organizing a Human & Organizational Performance (HOP) principles workshop for members of the Occupational Health & Safety Team. The workshop was extremely valuable and the team is excited to put these principles into practice!
- Sonam Uppal, Advisor, Occupational Hygiene and Rosanna Ma, Occupational Health & Safety Associate – Thanks to their agile response in assessing and actioning the hygiene requirements for the facility to remedy a problem in the Prion Lab interstitial space that arose during facility disinfection.
Finance & Operational Excellence
- Rebecca Cai, Accounts Payable Team Lead & Dan Mathers, Credit Card Program Lead – Special thanks to Rebecca and Dan for demonstrating superb service excellence, support, and teamwork when setting up a new supplier and processing an urgent payment for Safety & Risk Services within a tight timeline. Great work!
Integrated Services Centre (ISC)
- Chris Provencher, Configuration Analyst – Shout out to Chris for his great work on the recent Optional Life Campaign, an initiative from HR Benefits that he completed with no errors, minimal tickets from the community, and within deadline. Good job, Chris!
- Joyce Wu, Report Developer – Joyce supports the university with her excellent report development skills and ability to identify solutions for complex requests. Your willingness to help and step up for the team is much appreciated, Joyce!
Well done! Want to give someone a shout out in the next edition? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca
People in motion
- VPFO Communications & Engagement is pleased to welcome Geoffrey Daniel as the Manager, Digital & Creative on Aug 17. He will oversee the strategic direction of our digital and web initiatives and work with stakeholders across the VPFO to develop efficient digital solutions.
- Balakrishna Govindavarjula (Bala) joined UBC Financial Operations’ Procurement Services Team as Buyer on Aug 10, covering for Samira Sattari during her maternity leave. Welcome, Bala, and congratulations, Samira!
- Derek Louie has been promoted to the role of Manager, Business Process & Policy in Finance, effective July 1, 2022. Congratulations, Derek!
- Pauline Li is taking up a new role in UBC Okanagan’s Infrastructure Development as Building Records Manager, effective Sept 6. She started at UBC Vancouver in 2012 and has been instrumental to the growth of the Facilities Information & Inventory Systems (FIIS) team within Infrastructure Development, Facilities over the last decade. Friday, August 19 is her last day in UBC Vancouver. Congrats and best of luck at UBCO, Pauline!
VPFO job openings
All positions at UBC are available on the UBC HR Careers website, or through the career application in your Workday account. Please note that applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on the day prior to the posting end date. The following VPFO positions are currently open:
- Full-Time Service Worker (Term – 4 Months) (Hiring for 10 Term Positions) (JR9123) – 08/17/2022
- IUOE Operating Engineer (JR9139) – 08/19/2022
- Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) Technician (JR9073) – 8/19/2022
- Manager, Service Center (JR9094) – 8/19/2022
- Senior Advisor, Privacy & Information Security Risk (JR9032) – 8/22/2022
- Mechanical Maintenance Assistant (JR9136) – 08/22/2022
- Senior Manager (JR9078) – 8/26/2022
- Senior Project Manager (JR9076) – 8/26/2022
- Operations Manager (JR9171) – 08/26/2022
- Finance Analyst, Capital Financial Reporting (JR9077) – 8/29/2022
Don’t forget to apply as an internal candidate! Please review the Apply for an Internal Job Posting guide in the Workday Knowledge Base for instructions on how to apply. Reminder to attach a copy of your resume when you apply for a career opportunity in Workday.
Other notable updates
Apply for the 2022 Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
UBC Community Engagement is now accepting applications for the 2022 Partnership Recognition & Exploration (PRE) Fund! Apply for up to $1,500 for community-university collaboration and relationship building.
PRE funding fills small resource gaps and empowers community partners to build reciprocal relationships with UBC students, faculty, and staff. We especially welcome applications for projects that advance:
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Indigenous engagement and reconciliation
- Health innovation and community wellbeing
- Sustainability and climate action
- Teaching, learning, and research excellence
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from now until December 31, 2022, OR until available funds are exhausted. This year, Community Engagement has a total of $69,000 to fund up to 46 community-university projects.
Champion wellbeing in your team; become a Workplace Wellbeing Ambassador
UBC HR’s Wellbeing team is looking for Workplace Wellbeing Ambassadors (WWAs) who will play a vital role in championing health and wellbeing for their departments and among their peers.
The next cohort of WWA applications closes on Friday, September 2.
For questions, please contact Adam Knight (adam.knight@ubc.ca).
Inclusive Leadership workshop series for managers and supervisors coming this fall
Open to all managers and supervisors at UBC, this online three-part workshop series, you will build your skills and capacity to have more courageous conversations, listen with empathy, and learn to acknowledge and disrupt the systemic barriers in the workplace to foster a more inclusive environment.
- Tuesday, September 27: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Tuesday, October 25: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 16: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Please note:
- Participants are required to attend all three sessions.
- Sessions will require active participation at times, including breakout rooms.
- ASL interpretation will be available for all three sessions.
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.
- Absolute idleness is both harder and more rewarding than it seems. For example, letting the mind roam free occasionally can make us better at creative problem-solving. This article offers three steps you can take to embrace doing nothing. Read more
Managing your mental health
HR has collected mental health resources to help you manage your ups and downs. To view workshops, webinars and events visit the HR event listing.
Our VPFO HR staff is always available for a confidential conversation. Refer to this service map to connect with the HR Advisor supporting your area.
Faculty and staff now have a dedicated phone line to access the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) confidential services, through LifeWorks, by calling 1-866-424-0770.