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
Matt Dolf, Director, Strategic Support, UBC Wellbeing  
Barbara Meens Thistle, Vice-President, Human Resources  
Andrew Parr, Acting Vice-President, Students

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
Guy Faulkner | Professor | School of Kinesiology
Gillian Henderson | Director, Human Resources | Okanagan campus
Max Holmes | VP Academic & University Affairs | Alma Mater Society| 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
Debra Martel | Associate Director | First Nations House of Learning | Vancouver campus
Ben Pollard | Strategic Plan Implementation | Office of the President| 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
Melissa Baker, Manager, Nutrition and Wellbeing, Student Housing and Hospitality Services
Carleigh Benoit, Manager, Work Re-Integration, Accommodation Program, UBC Okanagan
Lyz Gilgunn, Physical Activity Manager, Athletics and Recreation
Crystal Hutchinson, Workplace Wellbeing Strategist, Human Resources (on maternity leave)
Natasha Moore, Planning & Evaluation Advisor, UBC Wellbeing
Gabby Scali, Content and Engagement Strategist, UBC Wellbeing
Karen Selby, Planning & Evaluation Advisor, UBC Wellbeing
Roger Wilson, Director, Health & Wellness, UBC Okanagan

Working Groups

Working groups, comprised of student, faculty staff and community stakeholders from both campuses, have been formed to support four UBC Wellbeing priority areas. Each working group develops a "Framework for Action" to help guide goal setting and facilitate cross-cutting initiatives in each of the five priority areas. For more information on working groups, 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.