New census will provide UBC with important demographic data to better understand the diversity of the student body, identify barriers to inclusion and opportunities to enhance student experiences, and assess progress. 

Advancing equity and anti-racism is one of UBC’s institutional priorities. Core to advancing these commitments are efforts to identify and address systemic barriers and inequities where they exist for historically, persistently or systemically marginalized (HPSM) students. The newly launched Student Diversity Census is an important step to obtaining a more accurate understanding of student diversity and of the barriers to equitable and inclusive access to programs and services.

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Dear colleagues,

The Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) is increasingly important within post-secondary education. By using systematic, deliberate and methodological inquiry into teaching, we can make a measurable improvement in the quality and efficiency of programs and deliver excellent student learning experiences.

SoTL is also a key component for promotion and tenure for Educational Leadership Stream faculty. UBC Okanagan has existing programs to support SoTL, including ALT-2040 and teaching excellence awards. In partnership with the Institute of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISoTL) at UBC Vancouver,  the Centre for Teaching and Learning at UBC Okanagan is funding a pilot program to provide access to the SoTL Seed Grants.

SoTl Seed Program

The SoTL Seed Program provides those interested in exploring the impact of their pedagogical choices with graduate research specialists, collegial collaborations, and limited funding. Since program inception in 2014, an average of 45% of applications have been accepted every year.

All UBC faculty and staff are invited to apply. Priority is given to full-time faculty members, those who teach at the undergraduate level, and those who have not had an active SoTL Seed project in the last 12 months. The deadline for applications is May 22, 2023.

Learn More 

SoTl linkage grants

The SoTL Linkage Grants have been established to enable the synthesis, exploration and high-impact dissemination of interdisciplinary SoTL research. This pilot funding program supports the formation of interdisciplinary teams of SoTL researchers inquiring into fundamental questions in higher education that benefit from investigation in multiple pedagogical and curricular contexts.

The SoTL Linkage Grants are open to interdisciplinary teams led by tenure-track faculty members (research or educational leadership) at UBC’s Vancouver campus, co-applicants can be tenure-track members from the Okanagan and/or Vancouver campus and/or other higher education institutions.

Learn More 

Thank you in advance for your support in encouraging colleagues to apply for these opportunities.

Brad Wuetherick 
Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning
UBC Okanagan

Dear colleagues,  

We are writing to provide an update on the external review of the UBC Okanagan Faculty of Management, which is currently underway.  

We are pleased to announce that John Perrott Manager, Economic Development and Tourism at the City of Vernon, will join the external review team as a community/professional representative. Mr. Perrott joins external reviewers Dr. Kyle Murray, Acting Dean, Alberta School of Business, and Dr. Carla Carnaghan, Associate Dean, Dhillon School of Business, University of Lethbridge.   

The external review team will conduct an in-person site-visit on November 16-18, 2022.  

Students, faculty, staff and individuals and groups that interact with the Faculty of Management are invited to attend in-person and/or hybrid meetings to provide input to the external review team. You are welcome to extend this email invitation to colleagues that may be interested in attending a meeting.  

Registration is required. Please complete the following form to register to attend a session:  https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UqZEnmzDTYNVIi

Upon registration, the Faculty of Management’s Self Study document and a meeting zoom link (where applicable) will be emailed to you.  

Students, faculty and staff are also invited to submit written comments relevant to the matters under review. These comments will be considered by the external review team and the President’s Advisory Committee, struck pursuant to Policy AP8.  

Please forward your comments to Janine.Wood@ubc.ca  and indicate if you wish your comments to be anonymous so they can be redacted to eliminate your name and any identifying information. All comments will be kept confidential. The deadline to submit comments is Wednesday, November 9, 2022. Please ensure your comments are identified by name and affiliation.  

Sincerely, 

Rehan Sadiq
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Okanagan 

Brad Wuetherick 
Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning, UBC Okanagan 

The Student Demographic Data Project (SDDP) explores how we collect and use demographic data to guide reporting and policy-making that is inclusive and representative of all students. Join a panel of UBC experts for an overview of the project; hear how it supports UBC’s equity, diversity and inclusion priorities; ask questions and share your perspectives.

October 20, 2022
3:30 to 5 pm 
Online

Learn more and register to attend 

On behalf of the University of British Columbia, we wish to express our concern about the unfolding situation in Iran in response to the tragic death of Mahsa Amini.

UBC stands with the courageous women of Iran, and all who seek to protect their human rights and freedoms and stand up against repression and discrimination. We acknowledge the trauma and distress that members of our community may be experiencing in response to the situation in Iran, and would like to emphasize the UBC supports available to anyone who may be impacted.

For faculty and staff, all mental health resources can be found on the HR website: https://hr.ubc.ca/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health. This provides access to UBC’s Extended Health Benefits Plan, and our Employee and Family Assistance Program, which is a confidential and voluntary resource providing professional and emergency counselling services and additional support via phone, video, web or mobile app.

For students, our UBC Students Assistance Program is a free, 24/7 confidential wellness resource, including crisis, grief, and trauma counseling:

• UBC Vancouver Students Assistance Program
• UBC Okanagan Students Assistance Program

A variety of health and wellbeing resources, services and programming is also available to UBC Vancouver students at https://students.ubc.ca/health and to UBC Okanagan students at https://students.ok.ubc.ca/health-wellness/.

Peaceful protests are at the heart of advocating for human rights and freedoms, and UBC echoes the message of bringing an end to violence against women.

Rehan Sadiq
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem, UBC Okanagan

Gage Averill
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem, UBC Vancouver

Marcia Buchholz
Vice-President, Human Resources

The executive search firm Perrett Laver has been retained to support the search for UBC Okanagan’s next Provost and Vice-President, Academic. In the coming weeks, Perrett Laver will be consulting with the UBC community to familiarize themselves with key opportunities and challenges for the role, as well as ideal traits and competencies of a successful candidate. The community is invited to submit confidential feedback on this topic in writing to barbara.siqueira@perrettlaver.com by February 28, 2022.

Read the full announcement 

Effective February 1, 2022, Dr. Rehan Sadiq will serve as UBC Okanagan’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic pro tem.

Dr. Sadiq is a Professor of Civil Engineering and a Distinguished University Scholar and currently holds the position of Executive Associate Dean in the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan. He is also a co-lead of the Life Cycle Management Laboratory at UBC.

Dr. Sadiq holds a PhD in civil engineering from Memorial University and has been a registered professional engineer in BC since 2010. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, Engineers Canada and Engineering Institute of Canada. Dr. Sadiq is a world-leading researcher in the areas of asset management of water supply systems, environmental risk analysis and lifecycle assessment of built environment, with over 600 peer-reviewed publications to his name.

Read the full announcement 

Dr. Marie Tarrant has accepted the position of dean pro tem in the Faculty of Health and Social Development effective January 1, 2022, as we continue the search for the next dean. Dr. Tarrant has served as a professor and the director of the School of Nursing on the UBC Okanagan campus since 2016. Prior to joining UBC, Dr. Tarrant was deputy head and professor at the School of Nursing, University of Hong Kong. She has extensive teaching and administrative experience in undergraduate and graduate-level nursing programs.

Read the full announcement here

This month, UBC Okanagan will undergo its first Quality Assurance Process Audit (QAPA) external review. This process was developed by the Degree Quality Assessment Board’s (DQAB) Quality Assurance Audit Committee and seeks to ensure that public post-secondary institutions periodically conduct rigorous, ongoing program and institutional quality assessments. All public institutions in British Columbia participate in a QAPA external review once every seven years. External reviews are an important means of promoting accountability and transparency across educational institutions and are an opportunity to continuously improve academic excellence.

Read the full message.

This year UBC established an Anti-Racism Initiatives Fund to support projects that celebrate and elevate diverse communities and advance anti-racism efforts at UBC. An annual allocation of $100,000 is available at UBC Okanagan. I am pleased to announce seven recently funded proposals on our campus.

Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Picturing Anti-Islamophobia: An Exhibition of Cartoons Challenging Racism

Yasaman Lotfizadeh, Master of Arts student; Hussein Keshani, Associate Professor; and Ahlam Bavi, doctoral student
This project will create an engaging and accessible event, a physical and online exhibition as well as a catalogue of curated cartoons that promote critical thinking about Islamophobia, change racist attitudes and foster empathy for Muslim communities.

The UBC Anti-Racist Reading Book Club and Reading Series

Kevin Chong, Assistant Professor
This reading series aims to increase awareness of how reading and creative writing are affected by racism through book club discussions with high-profile writers of colour who have written about racism in society, writing and publishing.

Irving K Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Anti-Racist Feminisms: A Speaker Series

Heather Latimer, Assistant Professor and Atmaza Chattopadhyay, third-year student
This speaker series will host five internationally renowned experts on anti-racist feminisms — an area of expertise lacking in current course offerings.

Anti-Racist Thought and Activism in History

Jessica Stites Mor, Associate Professor and Francisco Peña, Associate Professor
This initiative features guest speakers who will guide discussions on how past experiences and historical models of anti-racist activism can contribute to ongoing thought and anti-racist work.

Enhancing Racial and Cultural Inclusivity in UBCO’s Interprofessional Clinic

Ian Wellspring, doctoral student; Nina Gregoire, anticipated doctoral student (2021); and Carley Paterson, anticipated doctoral student (2021)
This project will evaluate the use of, and perceived barriers to, the UBCO Interprofessional Clinic (IPC) by marginalized groups and yield actionable information and collaborative opportunities as to how the IPC can be more inclusive and anti-racist.

Irving K Barber Faculty of Science

Diversity in Biology Speakers Series

Robin Young, Assistant Professor and Karen Hodges, Professor
This speaker series will invite early career researchers from diverse, under-represented communities to showcase their research in the biological sciences through presentations and moderated discussions.

School of Engineering

Advocacy and Allyship for Racialized Engineering Students

Jannik Eikenaar, Assistant Professor and Sam Charles, Communications Manager
The experiences of racialized students in the School of Engineering will be shared through a series of short videos, encouraging students, faculty and staff to become allies to racialized students and creating a more inclusive environment.

I look forward to seeing the evolvement of these inspiring projects and their positive impact on our campus community.

Warmly,

Ananya Mukherjee Reed
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan