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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Realigning Operational Excellence to Support Key Initiatives for the VPFO and UBC
The VPFO Senior Leadership Team has been working together to review, simplify, and prioritize the projects in our portfolio’s Strategic Plan. To enable key projects for the VPFO and UBC, we’re realigning some of our key resources.
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Diving into biodiversity and sustainability: Environmental education and cultural exchange at St’a7mes School
This initiative brings together individuals from various backgrounds and communities, including Elders, settlers, and Indigenous communities; and aims to foster cultural exchange, a deeper understanding of biodiversity and sustainable practices, as well as an enhanced collective responsibility for the environment.
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Upcoming road closures on UBC Vancouver campus as of June 19, 2023
Find more information about upcoming road closures around the UBC Vancouver campus as of June 19, 2023. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
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Are you setting up your international supplier correctly?
In order to ensure smooth processing of supplier invoices and purchase orders, please ensure international supplier setup and change requests are completed well in advance. Here are a few reminders from our Customer Support team in UBC Financial Operations.
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Helen Yung — Get to Know UBC’s New Comptroller
Fresh onto campus, we’ve taken the opportunity to ask Helen more about herself, her views on leadership, and what excites her about working with the VPFO and UBC.
People of the VPFO
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Meynardo Villarica steps into new role as Architectural Head in Building Operations
Meynardo joined Building Operations in September 2012 as a carpenter in the Yellow Zone Carpenter and later became the Sub-head for the Carpenter Shop. Bringing a wealth of trade and customer service experience, Meynardo will help to build out processes…
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Staff change as VPFO Administration helps support the President’s Office
Sandy Zarka will be seconded as the new Manager of Administration and Executive Assistant to the Interim President for the Presidential transition period. While Sandy is with the President’s Office, Holly Rail will continue in her current role as executive…
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Nicholas Potovsky joins Infrastructure Development as the Accessible Buildings Planner
Co-created with the UBC Centre for Accessibility, this newly created role will help UBC develop accessibility design guidelines for new and existing campus buildings. Nicholas is a registered architect with over 10 years of experience in the design of new…
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David Sequeira joins Custodial Services as Assistant Supervisor
In his new role, David will oversee the dayshift Custodial Services team and will work out of the Life Building. David comes to us from the Office of the Dean at the Faculty of Education with responsibility for Faculty-wide health…
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Fabiola Ruiz-Aguilar joins Safety & Risk Services as Safety Advisor, Scientific Diving
In her new role as Dive Safety Officer, Fabiola is responsible for developing, strengthening and growing the Scientific Diving program in compliance with WorkSafe BC, Canadian Association for Underwater Science (CAUS) and CSA Ocean Sciences — after all the earth…