UBC Wellbeing
Contact & Support
To be a global leader in championing wellbeing for our faculty, staff, students, and community members, we must work together, embracing wellbeing in our campus culture, promoting and supporting wellbeing in both large and small ways, and helping one another address challenges.
It is this strategic, collaborative, system-wide approach that defines UBC’s approach to wellbeing. It is not the effort of a single unit or department, but something we create collectively, with everyone contributing to making UBC a better place to live, work, learn and play.
UBC Wellbeing Executive Leadership Team
The UBC Wellbeing Executive Leadership Team provides oversight and decision-making support to ensure that UBC moves toward becoming a wellbeing-promoting university, embedding health and wellbeing in all that we do: into everyday operations, business practices, and academic mandates.
- Simon Bates, Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning
- Gord Binsted, Dean, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Deborah Buszard | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Okanagan Campus
- Ainsley Carry, Vice-President, Students
- Matt Dolf, Director, Strategic Support, UBC Wellbeing
- Marcia Buchholz, Interim Vice-President, Human Resources
UBC Wellbeing Advisory Committee
The Wellbeing Advisory Committee is made up of a dedicated group of academic leaders, senior administrators, and student executives on both our Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. They represent leadership across portfolios at UBC and are a driving force in supporting wellbeing as a priority on our campuses, addressing why wellbeing matters, and recognizing how it can be better integrated into the strategic, academic, and operational work of the university. The Advisory Committee typically meets quarterly.
— Chaired by members of the UBC Wellbeing Executive Leadership Team
- Rehana Bacchus | Director, Academic Support, Office of the Dean and Vice-Provost | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies | Vancouver campus
- Tarique Benbow | VP University & Academic Affairs | Graduate Student Society | Vancouver campus
- Michelle Berner | Managing Director, Total Compensation | Human Resources | Vancouver campus
- Joan Bottorff | Professor & Director | Institute for Healthy Living & Chronic Disease Prevention | Okanagan campus
- Julia Burnham | VP Academic & University Affairs | Alma Mater Society| Vancouver campus
- Ian Cull | Associate Vice-President, Students | Okanagan campus
- Eric Eich | Vice-Provost and Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs | Vancouver campus
- Guy Faulkner | Professor | School of Kinesiology
- Sara-Jane Finlay | Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion | Vancouver campus
- Gillian Henderson | Director, Human Resources | Okanagan campus
- Carole Jolly | Director, Community Development | Campus & Community Planning | Vancouver campus
- Shelley Kayfish | Director, Campus Operations and Risk Management | Okanagan campus
- Margaret Moss | Director | First Nations House of Learning
- Nick Pang | Pharmacy Student Senator & Co-Chair | Student Senate Caucus | Vancouver campus
- Andrew Parr, Managing Director, Student Housing and Hospitality Services | Vancouver campus
- Samantha Reid | Executive Director | Office of the Vice President, Students | Vancouver campus
- Heather Robertson | Executive Director, Student Health & Wellbeing | Student Development & Services
- Victoria Smith and Jean Markus | Co-Executive Directors (interim) | UBC Sustainability Initiative | Vancouver campus
- Kavie Toor | Director, Facilities & Business Development | UBC Athletics & Recreation | Vancouver campus
Strategic Support Team
Under the guidance of the Wellbeing Advisory Committee, a Strategic Support Team of staff from key wellbeing supporting units on both campuses works with faculties, units and departments to integrate wellbeing into their practices, policies and unit cultures. Supports for wellbeing include:
- Assisting with strategic planning;
- Communications and engagement;
- Planning and evaluation;
- Facilitation and connections;
- Bridging research and practice.
- Matt Dolf, Director, Strategic Support, UBC Wellbeing
- Patty Hambler, Director, Health Promotion & Education, Student Development & Services
- Natasha Malloff, Director, Health, Wellbeing and Benefits, Human Resources
- Melissa Baker, Manager, Nutrition and Wellbeing, Student Housing and Hospitality Services
- Carleigh Benoit, Manager, Work Re-Integration, Accommodation Program, UBC Okanagan
- Levonne Abshire, Health Promotion Strategist, Health Promotion & Education, Student Development & Services
- Alyssa Reyes, Physical Activity Manager, Athletics and Recreation
- Crystal Hutchinson, Workplace Wellbeing Strategist, Human Resources
- Natasha Moore, Planning & Evaluation Advisor, UBC Wellbeing
- Gabriella Scali, Content and Engagement Strategist, UBC Wellbeing
- Amanda Swoboda, Wellbeing Strategist, Human Resources, UBC Okanagan
- Roger Wilson, Director, Health & Wellness, UBC Okanagan
- Erica Roberts, Planning & Evaluation Advisor, UBC Wellbeing (interim)
- Sara Kozicky, Food Insecurity Project Manager, UBC Wellbeing
- Alicia Hibbert, Senior Lead, Workplace Wellbeing Strategies
Community of Practice
A “Community of Practice” enhances connections for staff connected to health, wellbeing, and sustainability promotion but without necessarily having a mandate for systems-wide work. This group focuses on knowledge sharing, capacity building, innovation, and collaboration to connect communities and embed wellbeing across the institution.
- Arts & Culture District: Deb Pickman
- UBC Food Services: Sarah Kozicky
- HR Health, Wellbeing & Benefits: Natasha Malloff, Crystal Hutchinson, Melissa Lafrance, Miranda Massie
- UBC Recreation: Alyssa Reyes
- Student Development & Services, Health Promotion & Education: Patty Hambler, Levonne Abshire, Diana Jung, Hillary Stevens, Kelly White
- UBC Okanagan Campus Health: Casey Hamilton
- UBC Okanagan HR: Carleigh Benoit, Wellbeing Specialist TBA
- UBC Okanagan Health and Wellness: Roger Wilson, Wellbeing Specialist TBA
- UBC Wellbeing Secretariat: Matt Dolf, Natasha Moore, Gabriella Scali, Alicia Hibbert
Other regularly invited groups include: University Sustainability Initiative, Campus + Community Planning, UBC Health, Equity & Inclusion Office, First Nations House of Learning
Committees
Comprised of student, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders from both campuses, committees support our Wellbeing Priority Areas. Each committee develops a "Framework for Action" to help guide goal setting and facilitate cross-cutting initiatives in each area.
For “Built & Natural Environments” and “Social Connection,” efforts are already underway within key supporting units, and the need to create a separate committee is currently under review.
For more information on committee membership and initiatives, visit the priority area pages:
Join the Conversation!
Interested in learning more about championing and supporting wellbeing in your department or faculty? We want to help!
Resources to Support your Wellbeing
UBC offers a number of resources and services to support your own wellbeing, including counselling, benefits information and health and wellness programs.
For Students
- Student Services: Health and Wellness (UBC Vancouver)
- Student Services: Health and Wellness (UBC Okanagan)
- Access and Diversity
For Faculty and Staff
For UNA Community Members
- Campus + Community Planning I UTown@UBC Community Programs and Services
- University Neighbourhood Association I We Are Community
For Indigenous Community Members
Tools for Integrating Wellbeing
If you are looking for tools and resources to help better integrate wellbeing into your teaching, learning or workplace environment, please visit the Tools and Resources section for a variety of communication resources, workshops and classroom supports.
Sign up for Wellbeing News
The bi-monthly Wellbeing Round-up email contains wellbeing-related news from across our campuses. Contact gabriella.scali@ubc.ca to sign up.
UBC Wellbeing Annual Status Report
Check out the work happening across our campuses to support faculty, staff and student wellbeing.