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

Dear colleagues,

Since the inception of UBC Okanagan in 2005, our campus has experienced tremendous growth—both in student population as well as our research and program offerings. This dramatic growth has included an expansion of health-related activities and programming across all faculties at UBC Okanagan. Earlier this year, UBC Health, which facilitates health-related collaborations across all disciplines at UBC’s two campuses, released its strategic plan—Better Health Together.

Now is an opportune time to build on the current momentum on the Okanagan campus around health-related activities. Recent growth and evolving plans and opportunities are a good foundation for strategizing health-related programming at UBC Okanagan. We are pleased to announce that the Office of the Provost is undertaking an external review of the campus’ health programming and activities, with an emphasis on enabling collaboration, growth and better support for health-related teaching, research and community engagement—across and within all faculties, as well as with our Indigenous and community partners.

READ THE FULL MESSAGE

The following resources have been prepared for UBC Okanagan faculty to help guide a safe return to the classroom this Fall. These documents may be revised in the coming days as additional information regarding public health guidelines and measures becomes available.

Safety in the classroom
This flowchart describes plans for supporting a safe return to the classroom.

Classroom welcome slide
This is a sample slide that faculty might adapt for use in their classes to outline key messages to students. 

Guidance for start of term teaching
This webpage provides detailed guidance on a number of questions and potential scenarios for in-person learning in Fall 2021.

For more information about UBC’s response to COVID-19, updates, FAQs and resources, visit ubc.ca. For UBC Okanagan-specific updates, visit ok.ubc.ca/covid19.

Over the past few months, UBC Okanagan has made significant investments into upgrading classroom technologies to support faculty and students for the upcoming academic year. Each centrally managed classroom is now equipped with a camera and microphone to enable classroom recording and/or hybrid teaching.

Learn more about using how to get started with new classroom technologies, what to expect in the classroom and how to access support services online: https://ctl.ok.ubc.ca/2021/09/01/classroom-technologies-for-fall-2021-courses/.

Dear colleagues,

On August 18, 2021, following the federal government’s recognition of September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, UBC President Santa J. Ono shared with the UBC community information on the observation of the statutory holiday for UBC campuses and distributed learning sites. We would like to take this opportunity to further clarify the resulting changes to the Academic Calendar.

As per UBC Okanagan Senate policy, the addition of a statutory holiday requires a slight shift of the Academic Calendar. One extra teaching day will be added at the end of the Winter term; the Winter term session dates will be Sept. 7 to Dec. 8, 2021. Exams will start one day later; the exam period will be Dec. 11 to 22, 2021, inclusive of and using all dates within.

This amendment was recommended by the Senate Academic Policy Committee and approved by the Senate Agenda Committee, using its delegated authority of Senate under Rule 25 of the Rules and Procedures of Senate. Should you have any questions about the above-noted change to the Academic Calendar, please connect with your manager.

We also encourage you to learn more about our campus’ declaration of truth and reconciliation commitments and the meaningful and important collaboration taking place on our campus and in our community in partnership with the Syilx Okanagan Nation. Another excellent resource is the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan.

For more information on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, please refer to President Ono’s recent UBC Broadcast.

Sincerely,

Ananya Mukherjee Reed
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan

Lesley Cormack
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal
UBC Okanagan

Every year, UBC Okanagan celebrates the outstanding and innovative teaching taking place on our campus. We recognize the dedication and passion of faculty members who strive to inspire our diverse student body and prepare them for remarkable futures.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2020/21 Teaching Excellence Awards and the 2020/21 Killam Teaching Prize. Recipients of these awards are exemplary role models who have made a significant impact on the culture of teaching and learning at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Read the full announcement

2020/2021 Award recipients  

On March 25, 2021, the UBC Okanagan Senate voted in favour of a motion to direct UBC Okanagan Faculties to stop using remote invigilation tools that involve automated recording and algorithmic analysis of data captured during invigilation, except in cases where the use of such ‘remote proctoring software’ is required by external accreditation bodies. This motion is effective immediately.

The Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic is working with Deans and Faculties in implementing the Senate’s decision. We know that this change, coming late in the term, will impact the planned final assessments for some courses. Support will be available for instructors, such as providing extra TA resources for alternative methods of invigilation and/or exploring alternate options for final course assessments. The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is available to support instructors and TAs. Contact the CTL Help Desk at ctl.helpdesk@ubc.ca.

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that effective May 1, 2021, Brad Wuetherick will assume a five-year appointment as Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning. In this newly established role, Brad will provide strategic leadership, vision and coordination for the teaching and learning mission at UBC Okanagan.

Brad joins us from Dalhousie University, where he served as Executive Director, Learning and Teaching, for the past eight years and as a senior team member in the Office of the Provost and VP Academic. As Executive Director, he oversaw the growth and transformation of the Centre for Learning and Teaching, including the creation of an Enrichment Program for Teaching Assistants, a Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning and the creation of portfolios focused on diversity, inclusivity, internationalization and indigenization.

Of Métis ancestry, Brad served as co-chair of Dalhousie’s Indigenous Council for the past five years, championing a number of key Indigenous initiatives on campus. Brad helped establish Dalhousie’s Indigenous Studies and Elders-in-Residence programs. He was also part of the team that created Dalhousie’s Indigenous Strategy focused on the establishment of Dalhousie as the medical-doctoral research university of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.

Brad’s legacy at Dalhousie includes work related to the implementation of a framework for the holistic evaluation of teaching; the development of guiding principles for planning the future of online and extended learning on campus post COVID-19; and the creation of an accessibility strategy to foster an inclusive and equitable learning environment.

An internationally recognized scholar of teaching and learning in higher education, Brad has been an investigator on nearly $5 million in externally funded research projects, including a project supporting Indigenous student pathways into health research (funded by CIHR) and a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant supporting a systematic review of online medical education. He has more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and more than 200 invited or peer-reviewed presentations, workshops and keynotes at conferences and institutions nationally and internationally. His research has focused on topics such as undergraduate research and pathways into research (particularly for Indigenous students); mentorship, equity and student success; the scholarship of teaching and learning; and academic development. In recognition of his global impact in the area of teaching and learning, Brad was recently appointed as a Fellow with the US-based John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education—the first Canadian to receive this appointment.

Prior to his work at Dalhousie, Brad served in roles related to teaching and learning, undergraduate student affairs, continuing education, experiential learning and undergraduate research at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta. During the past decade, he also served a term as Vice-President for Canada on the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and as Chair, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning on the Board of Directors for the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the search committee and to the many staff and faculty who contributed to this search.  I would also like to thank Heather Berringer, Chief Librarian and Associate Provost, Learning Services, and Tanya Forneris, Interim Academic Lead, Centre for Teaching and Learning, who have provided stewardship of the teaching and learning portfolio during the transition.

Sincerely,

Ananya Mukherjee Reed 
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan