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  
Deborah Buszard | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Okanagan Campus
Ainsley Carry, Vice-President, Students
Matt Dolf, Director, Strategic Support, UBC Wellbeing  
Barbara Meens Thistle, 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.

Advisory Committee Members

— Chaired by members of the UBC Wellbeing Executive Leadership Team

Michelle Berner | Managing Director, Total Compensation | Human Resources | Vancouver campus
Joan Bottorff | Professor & Director | Institute for Healthy Living & Chronic Disease Prevention | Okanagan campus
Ian Cull | Associate Vice-President, Students | Okanagan campus
Eric Eich | Vice-Provost and Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs | Vancouver campus
Gillian Henderson | Director, Human Resources | Okanagan campus
Max Holmes | VP Academic & University Affairs | Alma Mater Society| Vancouver campus
Brianne Howard | Director, Academic Support, Office of the Dean and Vice-Provost | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies | Vancouver campus
Sara-Jane Finlay | Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion| Vancouver campus
Carole Jolly | Director, Community Development | Campus & Community Planning | Vancouver campus
Shelley Kayfish | Director, Campus Operations and Risk Management | Okanagan campus
Nick Pang | Pharmacy Student Senator & Co-Chair | Student Senate Caucus | Vancouver campus
Andrew Parr, Managing Director, Student Housing and Hospitality Services | Vancouver campus
Pouya Rezaeinia | Vice-President, Students | Graduate Student Society| Vancouver campus
Heather Robertson | Executive Director, Student Health & Wellbeing | Student Development & Services
James Tansey | Associate Professor and Director | UBC Sustainability Initiative| Vancouver campus
Janet Teasdale | Managing Director, Student Development & Services | 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.

Strategic Support Team Members

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
Sara Kozicky, 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
Melissa Baker, Workplace Wellbeing Strategist, Human Resources (interim)
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
Alicia Hibbert, Planning & Evaluation Advisor, UBC Wellbeing

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 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?

For Vancouver campus, contact Matt Dolf

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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