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.

Executive Leadership Team

Simon Bates | Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning
Gord Binsted | Dean, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan  
Marcia Buchholz | Vice-President, Human Resources  
Lesley Cormack | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Okanagan Campus
Ainsley Carry | Vice-President, Students
Matt Dolf | Director, Strategic Support | UBC Wellbeing Office

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.

Advisory Committee Members

— Chaired by members of the UBC Wellbeing Executive Leadership Team

Alison McLean | 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
Eshana Banghu | VP Academic & University Affairs | Alma Mater Society| Vancouver campus
Guy Faulkner | Professor | School of Kinesiology | Vancouver campus
Sara-Jane Finlay | Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion | Vancouver campus
Brianne Howard | Director, Academic Support, Office of the Dean and Vice-Provost | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies | 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
Dale Mullings | Associate Vice-President, Students | Okanagan campus
Margaret Moss | Director | First Nations House of Learning | Vancouver campus
Linda Nowlan | Executive Directors | UBC Sustainability Initiative | 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
Student Senate Caucus | Vancouver campus
Kavie Toor | Managing Director | 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.

Strategic Support Team Members

Levonne Abshire and Kelly White | Co-interim Directors | Health Promotion & Education | Student Health & Wellbeing | UBC Vancouver
Melissa Baker-Wilson | Manager, Nutrition and Wellbeing | Student Housing and Community Services | UBC Vancouver
Carleigh Benoit | Manager, Work Re-Integration Accommodation Program | Human Resources | UBC Okanagan
Matt Dolf | Director, Strategic Support | UBC Wellbeing Office | UBC Vancouver
Melissa Feddersen | Wellbeing Specialist | Health and Wellness | UBC Okanagan
Alicia Hibbert | Senior Lead, Workplace Wellbeing Strategies | Health, Wellbeing & Benefits | Human Resources | UBC Vancouver
Crystal Hutchinson | Workplace Wellbeing Strategist | Health, Wellbeing & Benefits | Human Resources | UBC Vancouver
Sara Kozicky | Food Insecurity Project Manager | UBC Wellbeing Office | UBC Vancouver
Natasha Malloff | Director | Health, Wellbeing & Benefits | Human Resources | UBC Vancouver
Natasha Moore | Planning & Evaluation Advisor | UBC Wellbeing Office | UBC Vancouver
Alyssa Reyes | Physical Activity Manager | Athletics and Recreation | UBC Vancouver
Gabriella Scali | Content and Engagement Strategist | UBC Wellbeing Office | UBC Vancouver
Karen Selby | Planning & Evaluation Advisor | UBC Wellbeing Office & HR Health, Wellbeing & Benefits | UBC Vancouver
Julie Stachiw | Manager, Nutrition and Wellbeing | Student Housing and Community Services | UBC Okanagan
Amanda Swoboda | Wellbeing Strategist | Human Resources | UBC Okanagan
Roger Wilson | Director | Health & Wellness | UBC Okanagan

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.

Community of Practice Members

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 Office: Matt Dolf, Natasha Moore, Gabriella Scali, Karen Selby

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 Wellbeing Priority Area pages.

Join the Conversation!

Interested in learning more about championing and supporting wellbeing in your department or faculty? We want to help!

Request Form

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

For Faculty and Staff

For UNA Community Members

For Indigenous Community Members

First Nations House of Learning

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.

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