The University provides a fulfilling environment in which to work, learn, and live, reflecting our values and encouraging the open exchange of ideas and opinions.
Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
Gautama Buddha
UBC’s workforce is 21,000 strong. That’s 21,000 unique worlds: individuals with their own families and friends, volunteer commitments, and myriad personal passions. Where they meet is at work, and together they have created not only a world-leading academic institution but also one of Canada’s best places to work.
Recognizing that an organization is its people, UBC strives first to retain the faculty and staff who have shaped its present success and then to attract those who can best help it uphold the commitments made in this plan.
UBC sustains an inclusive atmosphere of collegiality and respect by increasing its investment in the coordinated orientation of new recruits, development and recognition programs, health and well-being initiatives, and leader training and support.
Spectacular natural surroundings and visionary campus plans help make UBC an outstanding place to work, learn, and live. But at the heart of UBC’s world are its people.
Actions
- Ensure processes and supports are in place to recruit first choice applicants for staff and faculty positions
- Expand opportunities for professional and personal development and career progression at UBC
- Expand faculty/staff relocation services to the Okanagan campus
- Increase linkages between performance and academic priorities, administrative effectiveness and the budget framework
- Develop and implement effective communication vehicles for faculty and staff
Outcomes
- The Board of Governors adopted The University Community on Campus – UBC’s Housing Action Plan, to improve housing affordability and choice on the Vancouver campus for faculty, staff and students
- A Faculty Staff Housing and Relocation Services Office is in place at each campus to provide one-stop services for relocation, housing and work-life issues
- The Ideas Lounge opened in November in the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, providing an environment for faculty to come together to exchange ideas. A Faculty Connections Club was initiated on the Okanagan campus to facilitate connections and to integrate new faculty into the community.
- A Strategic Communications Committee was established on the Okanagan campus in response to a need identified in the Work Environment survey.
- A central Internal Communications unit has the mandate to engage internal audiences and shape the culture of UBC through an effective internal communications strategy and roadmap.
Actions
- Increase coordination of mid-level plans to provide a respectful, inclusive and collegial work environment
- Diversify and expand healthy workplace initiatives
- Ensure that academic and administrative heads and directors have the training, time and support they require to be effective
- Continue to implement recommendations of the Task Force on Family Responsibilities
Outcomes
- A pilot of Lynda.com, an online collection of instructional videos designed to provide just-in-time training in a variety of areas, including professional business practices and new technology skills is underway on both campuses until March 2015
- Career Navigation at UBC supports employees to navigate possible career opportunities, and create a personalized career development plan
- HR Okanagan led establishment of Two Communities of Practice on mental health and psychological wellness in the workplace: one includes local community partners and one includes representatives of Canadian Universities.
- Both campuses increased the health promotion offerings for faculty and staff including expansion of THRIVE week to focus on mental health in the workplace.
