VPFO Update | The week of November 7, 2022

Updates from UBC & VPFO


Our Strategic Plan

Our plan & our people

The VPFO is made up of diverse individuals doing important work to support the university. Join us as we spotlight champions of our strategic plan and how they drive UBC forward. 

Jen Sheel, Director, Municipal Services: Creating inclusive spaces beyond the public realm

Jen takes pride in what her team does... and it shows. When you meet Jen Sheel, one of the first things you see is her dedication to making UBC a place that invites and builds connections. 

In this Q&A, Jen shares how she delivers the best for UBC in the multiple roles she plays — a leader, a team player, a visitor on the Coast Salish Territory — through VPFO's strategic directions and values.  

Read more about how Jen and her team connect to the VPFO strategic plan.

Review our plan on Envisio 

Log into Envisio to find the latest progress on our strategic plan.


Operations updates

Facilities

Building Operations, Custodial Services, Customer Services & Informatics, Energy & Water Services, Infrastructure Development, and Municipal Service

  • Custodial Services realignment: As of Nov 7, UBC Facilities is implementing the new simplified Custodial Services staffing model to provide all staff with full-time opportunities and facilitate professional development and increased opportunities for improvement. Learn more
     
  • Weekend windstorm: The Municipal team responded to this past weekend’s intense windstorm. We lost approximately a dozen trees and there were several reports of property damage. Approximately 18 downed trees were reported around campus, resulting in crews being called out to mitigate impacts.
     
  • NAFA Clean Air Award Program: This year, UBC Facilities received eight NAFA Clean Air Awards for its outstanding air filtration practices. Special thanks to Facilities' Building Operation teams for promoting the use of high-efficiency filtration products and great maintenance practices across campus. Learn more

Finance

Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury

  • Payroll calendar for 2023: The complete payroll calendar for 2023 is now available on the UBC Finance website
     
  • 2022 Financial Information Act: The BC Financial Information Act requires that public institutions publish certain supplementary information. Review the 2022 Financial Information Act Report on the UBC Finance website
     
  • PeopleSoft has been decommissioned: As of October 31, 2022, PeopleSoft HRMS and FMS has been decommissioned. Learn more
     
  • Working together to ensure proper and timely payments to payees: Read this guide on the UBC Finance website to find out what UBC staff can do to ensure accurate and timely payments for payees.
     
  • Attend the UBC Change & Transition Community of Practice (CoP) session: Operational Excellence is presenting at the upcoming UBC Change & Transition CoP on collaborating to move the culture at UBC toward continuous improvement. Register and learn more  

Operations & Advising

Communications & Engagement, Human Resources, and Safety & Risk Services 

  • New strategic plan communications campaign: Communications & Engagement recently launched a campaign to tell the story of how VPFO team members connect their work with our strategic plan — starting with Jen Sheel, Director of Municipal Services. Read the story
     
  • Resources on weather and thermal stress safety: As we approach the colder weather, Safety & Risk Services (SRS) has shared resources to help you identify signs and symptoms of cold stress, prevent exposure, and find additional support. Learn more
     
  • Safety & Risk Services Communications Survey: The VPFO Communications & Engagement team is conducting a short survey to gather feedback and suggestions from SRS team members to strengthen communications planning.  
     
  • New Noise Awareness course available for workers at risk of hazardous noise exposure: SRS created a new self-paced, online course on Noise Awareness designed for supervisors and workers that are at risk of hazardous noise exposure. Register and learn more

People of the 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. 

Facilities 

  • Municipal Services’ Soft Landscape team – Special thanks to Heads, Phil Beck and Chris Longford and the Soft Landscape team for their exceptional support following this past weekend's intense windstorm. We lost approximately a dozen trees and there were several reports of property damage. Several downed trees were reported around campus, resulting in crews being called out to mitigate impacts. Great teamwork!      

Finance & Operational Excellence 

  • Tony Cheung, Configuration Analyst – Kudos to Tony for his hustle, creativity, and persistence in finding solutions. Your drive to understand underlying business reasons for configuration changes makes you integral to the ISC Finance team. Thank you!

Safety & Risk Services

  • Peggy Paduraru, Richard Wambolt, Samuel Yumvihoze, Tejasdeep Singh from the Chemical Safety Team – Shout out to the team for completing their first whole building (Michael Smith Laboratories) for the Chemical Safety Inventory Initiative! The initiative seeks to uncover and correct unsafe conditions with respect to chemical inventory and storage – and that is definitely how things are turning out! Great work, team! 
     
  • Rosanna Ma, Occupational Health and Safety Associate – Thank you for Rosanna for her work on the newly launched Noise Awareness course, which is now available for the community on UBC Workplace Learning (WPL)!  

Well done! Want to give someone a shout out in the next edition? Submit your kudos in your local recognition program or email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca

People in motion

  • Michael Guimond, who supports the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences as a Director of Finance, will provide part-time support to the Comptroller team as Matt Boydston transitions into the Interim Comptroller role over the coming months. He will continue to report to the Dean of Pharmaceutical Sciences during this transitional period. 
     
  • Esther Li has been promoted to Senior Financial Processing Specialist in Treasury as of October 31. Congrats, Esther! 
     
  • Josephine Shen joins the Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) team today as a Financial Analyst. 
     
  • Pam Corrigal has joined the Capital Reporting team within the Comptroller group as Financial Analyst, Capital Reporting, as of October 24. 
     
  • Chuck Wigg has joined Finance & Operational Excellence as Procurement Officer - Construction as of November 2. 
     
  • Julia Carandang joins the ISC today as Service Centre (ISC) Representative.

Read more about our people on the VPFO website.

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:

  • Oper/Drvr-Heavy Equip (JR8236) – 11/8/2022
  • Manager, Treasury Contracts & Real Estate (JR10194) – 11/9/2022
  • Customer Payment & Revenue Clerk (JR10256) – 11/9/2022
  • Financial Analyst (JR10154) – 11/10/2022
  • Payroll Operations Support Specialist (JR8939) – 11/11/2022
  • Millwright (JR10231) – 11/11/2022
  • Trades 2 - Steamfitter / Pipefitter (JR7935) – 11/14/2022
  • Safety Advisor - Scientific Diving (JR10156) – 11/14/2022
  • Payroll and Staff Records Clerk 3 (JR10319) – 11/16/2022      
  • Millwright (JR7181) – 11/18/2022
  • Power Engineer (EWS) (JR10419) – 11/21/2022   
  • Financial Proc. Spec 3 (Gr4) (JR9321) – 11/21/2022       
  • Supply Chain Analyst (JR10330) – 11/23/2022       
  • Trades 2 - Bricklayer (JR8528) – 12/30/2022   

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

Participate in UBC's Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11

2022 marks the 72nd year that the University of British Columbia has hosted a Remembrance Day ceremony.

All UBC community members are invited to join the event in person (if you are based at UBC Vancouver) or virtually—to honour and remember all those who served in times of war, military conflict and peace. 

Learn more
 

Workday HR (HCM) and Payroll Enhancements List Now Live

The Integrated Service Centre (ISC) recently published its list of planned enhancements for Workday HR (HCM) and Payroll. Enhancements — changes that add new functionality or features, or improve an existing process — are an important part of the continuous improvement of Workday.

The ISC works with business owners, such as Central HR, to evaluate and make updates to our system that deliver value to UBC and the community. Sharing this list is a way to give visibility into this process.

The list of Workday Finance Enhancements was published in June 2022.

Learn more about Workday Enhancements.
 

Helpful resources for holiday challenges

If you are feeling anxious or stressed about this upcoming holiday season, you aren’t alone.

Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) offers an extensive suite of services to support you – from providing wellness coaching or advising on family issues to offering legal support. 

Access the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) confidential services, through LifeWorks, by calling 1-866-424-0770.

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. 
 

EDI: Ensuring employment equity at UBC

Last summer, the federal government introduced the Pay Equity Act, which ensures workers in federally regulated workplaces are paid equally for equal work and employers provide notice of their pay equity process. 

At UBC, we are committed to equity in employment, with the fundamental principle for recruitment and retention of faculty and staff being individual achievement and merit. 

Read UBC's 2020 Employment Equity Report or review a summary of the report on the UBC Equity & Inclusion website
 

Congratulations to the winners of Facilities' Pumpkin Carving for the Kids event! 

After a two-year hiatus, Facilities was delighted to welcome children from the Cariboo Daycare children to University Services Building (USB) in their Halloween costumes last week!

Congrats to the victorious pumpkin carvers: 

  • Staff's favourite: Metal Shop's Sesame Street (first place) & Red/Blue Zone's Pumpkin Carriage (#2) 
  • Children's favourite: North Gardening crew (#4)
  • Special mention: Municipal (#5) and the Carpenter Shop (#3).  


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.

  • UBC Beyond, sat down with Adrian Ziemczonek from the UBC Pharmacy Clinic to discuss the coming Flu season. Find out what else we can expect from this flu season, including the impact of COVID, and what you can do to prepare. Read more
     
  • Embracing humanity in the workplace, while radical in concept, doesn’t have to be hard. Leaders, try this framework for making more human-centered decisions. 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. 

Access the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) confidential services, through LifeWorks, by calling 1-866-424-0770.

The VPFO Update is a weekly snapshot that captures important university updates, work across VPFO departments, and relevant resources.

This will be reposted, along with past issues, at vpfo.ubc.ca/news

Questions, news or feedback?


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