Monday Update

Last week’s updates from UBC

February 12: President’s Blog: Weekly Update
February 10: UBC Broadcast: External audit of gender diversity

Managing your mental health

HR has collected mental health resources to help you manage our ups and downs. Our VPFO HR staff is always available for a confidential conversation.

February 17: Mindfulness Made Simple
January – March: Through the Lens: A series of interactive workshops designed to enhance UBC’s understanding of diversity, while offering practical ideas for creating a more equitable and inclusive campus.
February 19: Adaptive Resiliency by Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute
February 19, 22, 25: Adaptive Resiliency by Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute
February 25: Cops in the Head: The Enforcers of Imposter Syndrome

Operations updates

Facilities

Building Operations, Energy & Water Services and Infrastructure Development

Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) seed funding: In partnership with Sustainability, four projects were selected by the CLL steering committee for funding, including Energy & Water Services’ Building a Carbon Capture and Conversion Ecosystem project. This is the first year the committee is running a funding competition for CLL projects. For information on CLL funding and projects, visit the Sustainability website.
Priority routes: A special thanks goes out to Municipal and Custodial Services during one of Vancouver’s snowiest days over the long weekend. The teams were on campus ensuring the priority routes were clear so buses, emergency vehicles and those living and visiting the campus could move around as safely as possible. Thanks for their leadership, dedication and commitment. For snow and ice treatments for priority routes, visit Building Operations website.
Hot Lunch with John Metras: If you missed the Virtual Hot Lunch with John Metras on January 27, or would like to revisit the talk, the event can be found on St John College’s YouTube page.

Finance

Comptroller, Finance & Operational Excellence and Treasury

Aa1 rating for UBC: Bond credit rating company Moody’s has given UBC an Aa1 rating, reflecting “an outstanding market position”. Read more on the UBC Finance website.
Year end call-in session: On Feb 19 from 1pm to 2pm a call-in session is being held to review 2020/21 year end timelines and procedures. Please note that the year end schedule will be made available prior to the session. Register here.
Supplier set-up: Setting up new suppliers early and completely is increasingly important as we head towards fiscal year end. A new page has been created on the UBC Finance website to support the community when initiating supplier set-up.
Pre-approved mask suppliers: To facilitate the sourcing and purchasing of reusable, non-medical masks at UBC, Financial Operations — in partnership with SRS — has secured non-exclusive contracts and fixed pricing with three qualified suppliers. Read more on the Finance website.

Operations & Advising

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

What is a land acknowledgement? At UBC you’ll often hear or read that twe are situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of indigenous peoples. It’s an important part of our recognition of territory and our relationship with indigenous people. Visit the EDI section of the VFPO website to learn more about how acknowledgement is part of UBC living our values.
COVID-19 Rapid testing pilot project: The rapid testing pilot project launched last week in Orchard Commons on Tuesday, Feb. 9. SRS has been assisting Student Housing in the launch piloted to voluntary first year students in Totem Park Residence, and voluntary first year students and staff in Orchard Commons. This initiative is a collaboration between Health Canada, Providence Health Care, as well as Vancouver Coastal Health, UBC’s School of Nursing and Student Housing and Community Services.
COVID-19 complaints: SRS is partnering with RCMP for Covid-19 related noise complaints on UBC Vancouver campus.
VPFO HR on-site support schedule this week:
- February 15: Hope you enjoyed some time with family!
- February 16: Matt Furgal, Kasia Burza
- February 17: Sonia Lachar, Gregor Macdonald
- February 18: Arvind Kang, Kasia Burza
- February 19: Matt Furgal, Gregor Macdonald

Other notable updates

Workday Release coming in March 2021

Workday releases software improvements in March and September each year. UBC’s first release since go-live is scheduled for March 13. To implement the release, Workday will be unavailable from 11:00 pm, March 12 to 7:00 am, March 13.

Workday releases contain both mandatory updates and optional items. To minimize the impact on the community while maintaining the system and supporting stabilization, we’ll only adopt mandatory features from this release. This will also allow us all to focus on critical upcoming activities, including fiscal year end.

As the ISC teams review the release details, They’ll be sharing further information and updates in Workday this Week.

Inviting IBPOC/BIPOC faculty and staff to participate in a wellbeing supports survey

Through this survey, Human Resources hopes to gather feedback from IBPOC/BIPOC faculty and staff at UBC on programs, resources, and other supports that you feel will contribute to your wellbeing at work and your overall success – an inclusive, fair, and equitable workplace benefits everyone.

UBC named one of BC’s Top Employers in 2021

UBC is recognized as one of BC’s Top Employers in 2021. This designation recognizes the British Columbian employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work and the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

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.

We’re all navigating a lot of change at the moment, and the concept of “change saturation” is a helpful one to understand. Change Management organization Prosci has shared a piece on strategies for reducing change saturation that may be helpful for our teams and leaders as we continue to manage big and small changes in our organization.
Sometimes stress can be contagious… HBR has some suggestions on how to make yourself immune to secondhand stress.
Last week we had a typo in the link: here’s the corrected link for 7 unexpected signs you’re a lot more successful than you think.

Have an article for your peers? Email communications@vpfo.ubc.ca.