At last week’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal’s Town Hall, a number of employees were recognized for exemplary service to the university at the annual Staff Awards of Excellence.

Congratulations to all the winners, and the significant impacts they have made to UBC Okanagan.

Enhancing the UBC Experience

Troy Campbell, Acting Associate Director for Campus Security, won the Enhancing the UBC Experience award. Campbell was recognized for bringing fresh ideas into the security office including the UBC Safe mobile app, the security bike patrol, and several workshops and seminars to help train students and staff in First Aid, self-defence and crisis management.

Campus Leadership

Undergraduate Services Librarian Barbara Sobol was presented with the Campus Leadership Award. Sobol has coordinated a series of library information and skill training sessions and she led a pilot project where student employees in the library developed programming to support and promote engagement with students on campus. Most recently, Sobol led the library’s first floor renovations and changes.

Marlis Wecels, administrative manager of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences’ Interprofessional Clinic also won a Campus Leadership Award. Wecels was recognized for her compassion, professionalism, support, productivity and excellence as “the consummate administrative manager.” She was recognized for exhibiting exceptional leadership, organizational skills, initiative and creativity, and a capacity to foster growth and development in the department.

Okanagan Spirit

The Okanagan Spirit Award was presented to IT, Media & Classroom Services’ Helpdesk team. The Helpdesk team was applauded for their outstanding commitment to customer service while helping to resolve technical issues. The Helpdesk team were also recognized for being proactive when resolving issues and accommodating requests, and having exemplary problem-solving skills. The Helpdesk team consists of: Andy Fehr, Jill MacKenzie, Paul Clancy, Paul Crang, Perry Jones, Trevor Odlum, Mark Panich, Geoffrey Pouliot and Chase Tompkins.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Award

Director of Aboriginal Programs and Services Adrienne Vedan was presented with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Award. Vedan is known as someone who always goes above and beyond her job description and attends to all duties with her “joyful attention.”

When presenting the award, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard said: “UBC Okanagan was founded in partnership with the Syilx Okanagan Nation and we have made important commitments to local First Nation Bands, Friendship Centres, Metis and Urban Aboriginal organizations. Many of these commitments are upheld and enhanced by Adrienne’s hard work to maintain good relations and to serve the needs of Indigenous communities in the Okanagan and afar.”

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Congratulations to UBC Copanagan, who logged 1,896 km from during this year’s Bike to Work Week (BTWW) from May 28 to June 3. They were one of six teams representing UBC Okanagan for BTWW.

A total of 44 faculty and staff participated from Student Services, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, the UBC Okanagan Library, the Provost’s Office, Okanagan Planning and Institutional Research, Student Housing & Hospitality Services, and Human Resources.

Team UBC Copanagan had 19 riders and its name is a combination of Okanagan and Copenhagen, the most urban-cycling friendly city in the world. It was organized by Equity Facilitator Jenica Frisque and Disability Resource Centre Exam Coordinator Stephen Atherton.

BTWW was a fantastic few days of exercise, bonding and community building for participants. UBC Copanagan collectively burned 56 870 calories — the equivalent of 187 cheeseburgers or 10 cheeseburgers each. English Foundation Program Manager Kirsten Bennett commuted from West Kelowna each day, cycling an impressive 224.8 km over the week.

The team members are looking to continue the activity and bonds created during this year’s BTWW, including group rides throughout the year. Anyone interested in joining in on group rides or simply trying out biking to campus with another cyclist can contact jenica.frisque@ubc.ca or stephen.atherton@ubc.ca.

Bike to Work Week 2018 metrics from each UBC Okanagan team.

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Each year UBC Okanagan celebrates the many years of dedicated service from faculty and staff. This year, 12 people reached milestones of working at UBC or Okanagan University College for 25, 30 and 40 years.

Those who received recognition for 25 years of service this year are:

• Martin Blum, associate professor of English
• Robert Campbell, associate professor in the Faculty of Education
• Paramjit Gill, associate professor of statistics
• Christopher Gordon, associate professor of French
• Marvin Krank, professor of psychology
• Robert Lalonde, associate professor of biology
• Dixon Sookraj, associate professor in the School of Social Work
• Diane Stoliker, library technician
• Bonnie Taylor, administrator in the AVP Students office

Both Security Manager Mike Gesi and Associate Professor of Biology Blythe Nilson were recognized for 30 years of service. And Library Technician Rose Cresswell was recognized for reaching the milestone of 40 years.

The reception was hosted by Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard and each recipient was presented with a small gift and a certificate of appreciation.

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A new home for curious students, faculty and staff to come together to dream, design, prototype and create is open for business. makerspace UBCO— a collaborative project months in the making—officially launches with an open house on Thursday, May 3 from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. in room EME 1256.

The innovative design space, up and running since November 2017, features everything from duct tape to state-of-the-art equipment like 3D printers, digital cutters, soldering stations and an automatic sewing machine. Faculty, students and staff are welcome to book time in the space, free of charge.

Faculty, students and staff are also invited to drop by the space on May 3. Professors Ray Taheri-Ardebili and Miles Thorogood will give live demos using some of the equipment that makes this space so unique.

makerspace UBCO was made possible through the collaborative efforts of faculty and students within the School of Engineering, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of Management and the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.

Funding and equipment for the space have come from an anonymous donor, the Faculty of Education, School of Engineering and Okanagan College – Women in Trades Trading (WiTT).

To find out more, visit: makerspace.ok.ubc.ca

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Here are some professional development opportunities for faculty, staff and graduate students at UBC Okanagan over the next few weeks. For a full listing of workshops, visit: ok.ubc.ca/events

New Faculty Orientation scheduled for Aug. 17

Human Resources’ faculty orientations are designed to complement academic department orientations. This half-day session is offered on August 17.

To find out more, visit: news.ok.ubc.ca/hr/2017/07/12/new-faculty-orientation-aug-30

More workshops

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The Psychology Clinic at UBC Okanagan provides empirically based assessment and therapy, and is currently accepting self-referrals for evaluation of adults with suspected learning disabilities (i.e., poor academic achievement, deficits in attention, learning, memory, and intellectual capacity) and neuropsychological disorders (i.e., traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, etc.).

The clinic is also accepting referrals for therapy for adults with emotional, psychological, and psychosocial issues (i.e., depression, anxiety, and adjustment to life changes).

As the UBC Okanagan Psychology Clinic is a training facility for clinical psychology graduate students, a registered psychologist or neuropsychologist supervises assessment and therapy services delivered by graduate student clinicians. There are associated fees using a sliding scale for services, and the fee will be determined as part of the intake process.  Services are open to faculty, staff, students and the general public.

For more information about adult assessment and treatment services, please call: 250 807 8241 (press 1) or e-mail:  ipc.ok@ubc.ca.

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Members of a newly formed Enactus UBC Okanagan team received national recognition competing in their first Enactus Canada National Exposition earlier this month.

Held in Vancouver, the national exposition allowed all Enactus teams in Canada the opportunity to showcase their efforts throughout the year and to compete against one another in business presentations.

Joining a community of Enactus groups at many other Canadian universities and colleges, the Enactus UBC Okanagan team involves student, academic and business leaders using entrepreneurial action to create a better, more sustainable world. A truly interdisciplinary group, the team includes students pursuing degrees in nursing, human kinetics, management, civil and mechanical engineering, economics, philosophy and political science.

The team had just 17 minutes on stage to present their group’s projects at the national competition. They highlighted two of the three projects created so far:

• Inventathon, a semi-annual 24-hour case competition allowing students the ability to learn new skills and take their ideas further, launched in February with the next Inventathon taking place in the fall 2017 term.

• Project Roots, soft-launched in April with a full-scale roll out planned for September 2017. An ambitious project designed to address the concern of food security, Roots is a social enterprise that will allow students on campus to access fresh and nutritious produce at prices 40 to 60 per cent below retail prices while supporting local farmers.

They were winning ideas.

The team won the Hellman’s Best Project Solution award for their food security project proposal and received the Enactus National Competition Opening Round Runner-Up Award and the National Rookie Champion award as the best new team in Canada.

A third project — not presented at the exposition — is Project FLOW, which involves a smart sensor suite being designed to allow for maximizing irrigation efforts for all farms, big and small.

“At the time of the competition, the team was officially only three months old,” said Enactus UBC Okanagan president and co-founder Erkki Annala, who just completed his first year in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

“We are deeply motivated to make a difference in the world around us,” Annala said. “Our team is led by students eager to leave the comfort of the classroom and apply our growing knowledge to real challenges that affect real people.”

— 30 —

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Celebrate Research Week culminates on Friday, March 10 at 1 p.m. with an insightful presentation by Alex Usher, post-secondary education expert and author of the widely followed and occasionally controversial ‘One Thought to Start Your Day’ blog.  Usher will be joined by Phil Barker, vice-principal research, for a focussed Q&A on innovation.

Click here for details.

Celebrate Research Week 2017 Event Schedule

Monday, March 6

BRAES Institute Open House & Poster Session

Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystems Services (BRAES) members will present posters about their research projects. Come browse and learn about the great work being done in ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and environmental sustainability on UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Science building third-floor hallway

UBC Engineering Research Night

Speakers: Shahria Alam, Liwei Wang and Jian Liu
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education Building, EME 1151

Tuesday, March 7

Rural health in rural hands: Building partnerships with a regional alliance for health research

Presented by the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention

Join us to identify ways to build action-oriented, community-engaged research collaborations that strengthen health and wellbeing in rural communities and enrich educational programs.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: ART 219
Presenters: Joan Bottorff, Mike Chiasson, Judy Gillespie, and Betty Brown 

Wednesday, March 8

Institute for Community Engaged Research Open House

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Arts building, room ART 368

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final

Graduate student competitors have just three minutes and one slide to share the depth, significance, and wider-impact of their research with the judges and audience for a chance to win top honours and prize money.

Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: University Centre Ballroom, room UNC 200

To find out more, visit: 3mt.ok.ubc.ca 

Thursday, March 9

UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration

Presented by the Regional Socio-Economic Development Institute of Canada

Bring your lunch and join us for an overview of the UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration – a partnership involving KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux, France) that has brought together

BC wine producers and international wine management expertise.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 4116
Presenters: Kim Buschert, Malida Mooken and Marcela Valania

For more information about UBC-Kedge Wine Industry Collaboration, visit: ubckedgewine.ca

Café Scientifique: Side-stepping the effects of stroke

Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Location: Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St., Kelowna
Free registration: sidestepstroke.eventbrite.ca

Friday, March 10

Alex Usher Presents: Trends Affecting Higher Education in Canada

Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 0050

For more information visit: celebrateresearch.ok.ubc.ca/schedule/usher

Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11

School District No. 23 District Science Fair

Young scientists will be on UBC’s Okanagan campus to participate in the two-day School District No. 23 District Science Fair. Students individually and in pairs interpret their science projects for judges and public viewers.

Times: Friday — 4 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday — 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Various locations, including the Engineering, Management & Education building’s Richard S. Hallisey Atrium

For more information visit: sd23sciencefair.com

The post Attend Alex Usher’s keynote presentation on trends affecting higher education in Canada appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

Celebrate Research Week culminates on Friday, March 10 at 1 p.m. with an insightful presentation by Alex Usher, post-secondary education expert and author of the widely followed and occasionally controversial ‘One Thought to Start Your Day’ blog.  Usher will be joined by Phil Barker, vice-principal research, for a focussed Q&A on innovation.

Click here for details.

Celebrate Research Week 2017 Event Schedule

Monday, March 6

BRAES Institute Open House & Poster Session

Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystems Services (BRAES) members will present posters about their research projects. Come browse and learn about the great work being done in ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and environmental sustainability on UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Science building third-floor hallway

UBC Engineering Research Night

Speakers: Shahria Alam, Liwei Wang and Jian Liu
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education Building, EME 1151

Tuesday, March 7

Rural health in rural hands: Building partnerships with a regional alliance for health research

Presented by the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention

Join us to identify ways to build action-oriented, community-engaged research collaborations that strengthen health and wellbeing in rural communities and enrich educational programs.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: ART 219
Presenters: Joan Bottorff, Mike Chiasson, Judy Gillespie, and Betty Brown 

Wednesday, March 8

Institute for Community Engaged Research Open House

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Arts building, room ART 368

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final

Graduate student competitors have just three minutes and one slide to share the depth, significance, and wider-impact of their research with the judges and audience for a chance to win top honours and prize money.

Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: University Centre Ballroom, room UNC 200

To find out more, visit: 3mt.ok.ubc.ca 

Thursday, March 9

UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration

Presented by the Regional Socio-Economic Development Institute of Canada

Bring your lunch and join us for an overview of the UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration – a partnership involving KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux, France) that has brought together

BC wine producers and international wine management expertise.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 4116
Presenters: Kim Buschert, Malida Mooken and Marcela Valania

For more information about UBC-Kedge Wine Industry Collaboration, visit: ubckedgewine.ca

Café Scientifique: Side-stepping the effects of stroke

Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Location: Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St., Kelowna
Free registration: sidestepstroke.eventbrite.ca

Friday, March 10

Alex Usher Presents: Trends Affecting Higher Education in Canada

Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 0050

For more information visit: celebrateresearch.ok.ubc.ca/schedule/usher

Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11

School District No. 23 District Science Fair

Young scientists will be on UBC’s Okanagan campus to participate in the two-day School District No. 23 District Science Fair. Students individually and in pairs interpret their science projects for judges and public viewers.

Times: Friday — 4 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday — 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Various locations, including the Engineering, Management & Education building’s Richard S. Hallisey Atrium

For more information visit: sd23sciencefair.com

Celebrate Research Week culminates on Friday, March 10 at 1 p.m. with an insightful presentation by Alex Usher, post-secondary education expert and author of the widely followed and occasionally controversial ‘One Thought to Start Your Day’ blog.  Usher will be joined by Phil Barker, vice-principal research, for a focussed Q&A on innovation.

Click here for details.

Celebrate Research Week 2017 Event Schedule

Monday, March 6

BRAES Institute Open House & Poster Session

Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystems Services (BRAES) members will present posters about their research projects. Come browse and learn about the great work being done in ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and environmental sustainability on UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Science building third-floor hallway

UBC Engineering Research Night

Speakers: Shahria Alam, Liwei Wang and Jian Liu
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education Building, EME 1151

Tuesday, March 7

Rural health in rural hands: Building partnerships with a regional alliance for health research

Presented by the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention

Join us to identify ways to build action-oriented, community-engaged research collaborations that strengthen health and wellbeing in rural communities and enrich educational programs.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: ART 219
Presenters: Joan Bottorff, Mike Chiasson, Judy Gillespie, and Betty Brown 

Wednesday, March 8

Institute for Community Engaged Research Open House

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Arts building, room ART 368

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final

Graduate student competitors have just three minutes and one slide to share the depth, significance, and wider-impact of their research with the judges and audience for a chance to win top honours and prize money.

Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: University Centre Ballroom, room UNC 200

To find out more, visit: 3mt.ok.ubc.ca 

Thursday, March 9

UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration

Presented by the Regional Socio-Economic Development Institute of Canada

Bring your lunch and join us for an overview of the UBC-KEDGE Wine Industry Collaboration – a partnership involving KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux, France) that has brought together

BC wine producers and international wine management expertise.

Time: 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 4116
Presenters: Kim Buschert, Malida Mooken and Marcela Valania

For more information about UBC-Kedge Wine Industry Collaboration, visit: ubckedgewine.ca

Café Scientifique: Side-stepping the effects of stroke

Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Location: Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St., Kelowna
Free registration: sidestepstroke.eventbrite.ca

Friday, March 10

Alex Usher Presents: Trends Affecting Higher Education in Canada

Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Location: Engineering, Management & Education building, room EME 0050

For more information visit: celebrateresearch.ok.ubc.ca/schedule/usher

Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11

School District No. 23 District Science Fair

Young scientists will be on UBC’s Okanagan campus to participate in the two-day School District No. 23 District Science Fair. Students individually and in pairs interpret their science projects for judges and public viewers.

Times: Friday — 4 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday — 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Various locations, including the Engineering, Management & Education building’s Richard S. Hallisey Atrium

For more information visit: sd23sciencefair.com

The post Attend Alex Usher’s keynote presentation on trends affecting higher education in Canada appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.