Welcome to the VP Finance & Operations portfolio
The nine divisions of the VPFO are responsible for the stewardship of UBC’s physical and financial assets, as well as safety and risk management for our university community.
We oversee a $3.98 billion budget, a $3.38 billion endowment, and all facilities on both campuses, as well as managing the university’s relationships with UBC Investment Management and UBC Properties Trust. In all the portfolio’s responsibilities, we are committed to the values of innovation, unity and accountability.

VPFO Strategic Plan 2024–2027
Having a strategic plan gives us a clear path, keeping everyone on the same page. Learn more about where we’re going next and how we plan to get there.
News from the VPFO
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VPFO Finance Realignments Following Workday Go-Live
Many members of our VPFO team played key roles in launch of Workday at UBC, and following the success of go-live we are ready to continue modernizing our core business processes, improve how we are structured, and transform the way…
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Consolidating capital expertise in the VPFO
We are pleased to announce the creation of a new Capital Financial Management team that will be responsible for the oversight and governance for UBC’s significant capital operations (i.e. over $1B ongoing/multi-year projects).
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Campus Security honours victims of the Kamloops Residential School
This week, Campus Security has put on orange epaulets in shared grief and to pay our respects to the children of the Kamloops Residential School, their families and communities.
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Changes to support VPFO Finance priorities
Over the past few weeks, Vice-President Peter Smailes and our portfolio leadership team have shared their insights into how our unit priorities align with our portfolio strategic plan. We would like to share more specific details about one of those initiatives, a change to how the VPFO’s internal finance teams are structured.
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Operational Excellence Website Launches
UBC and the VPFO are currently undergoing a series of transformational changes. Our new Operational Excellence team has been created to help us navigate these changes. Visit the newly launched website to learn more about what Operational Excellence does and…
People of the VPFO
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Philippa Horton Joins Financial Operations as Associate Director, Procurement Partnerships
In this new role Philippa will be responsible for overseeing the university’s team of Procurement Partners, and working with faculty and administrative units to ensure they are receiving a high level of procurement, sourcing, and payment support.
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Frank Crudo returns to Building Operations as Senior Manager, Architectural
We are excited to welcome back Frank, joining Building Operations’ Trades division and leading the architectural trades. As the Senior Manager, Frank will be responsible for the short and long-range planning of building architectural systems and the supervision of staff…
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Kishani Gibbons promoted as Director, Customer Services & Informatics with Building Operations
Effective March 5, 2020, Kishani will formally take on the Business Services team, forming the new division Customer Service & Informatics in Building Operations.
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Jeetender Amritsar joins Building Operations as Facilities Manager
Jeetender is the successful candidate to take over the Teal zone after Rob Macdonald retires at the end of March 2020. He will start his new role on March 2, 2020.
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VPFO Pink Shirt Day 2019/20 Staff Video
To capture the spirit of inclusion, in 2019 we worked with our partners at UBC Studios to create a video that captures some of the excitement. The video was played for all staff at the 2020 event.