The University of British Columbia envisions a climate in which students, faculty and staff are provided with the best possible conditions for learning, researching and working, including an environment that is dedicated to excellence, equity and mutual respect. –UBC’s Statement on Respectful Environment for Faculty, Staff and Students.
With over 65,000 students and 16,000 faculty and staff on our campuses, UBC is highly diverse with many communities. Fostering a culture of social connection supports a meaningful campus life experience for all of our communities.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and respect are key values in building and sustaining campus environments where we can all thrive and be well. Initiatives such as the Positive Space Campaign, a commitment to attracting and retaining a diverse faculty and access to an Equity Enhancement Fund for projects that promote diversity, inclusion and cultural understanding have all contributed towards UBC being a respectful environment and consistently named one of BC’s Best Diversity Employers.
Creating the best possible environment for everyone to live, work, learn and play leads to a stronger sense of belonging and connection and a happier, healthier, more connected campus community for all.
Featured Stories for 2022-23
UBC Human Resources launches the Centre for Workplace Accessibility
Launched in April 2022 by UBC Human Resources, the Centre for Workplace Accessibility (CWA) serves as a central hub for resources, tools, and programs to support faculty and staff with disabilities or chronic health conditions on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Informed by UBC’s Inclusion Action Plan, conversations with community members, and employment equity data, CWA aims to centralize support and resources, minimize the over-medicalization of disability, and build disability inclusion literacy within the UBC community.
The CWA offers person-centered, confidential, and individualized accessibility support, where clients guide next steps in the process and others are involved only with their consent. A remarkable 100% of CWA clients surveyed expressed feeling safe and welcomed to discuss their needs.
The CWA also manages the new Workplace Accommodations Fund, which aims to remove barriers and facilitate full and equitable participation in the workplace by providing funding for accessibility and accommodation solutions.
During its inaugural year, the CWA launched a user-friendly website highlighting the physical, digital, and workplace accessibility resources available to UBC’s faculty and staff. Through collaboration with the Ergonomics Program, the CWA also developed the ErgoAccess Demo Program, offering demonstration tools and equipment to enhance productivity and comfort.
Education is a key part of the CWA, with presentations, courses, and webinars designed to enhance disability inclusion literacy across UBC. This commitment to safe, person-centered support for disabled faculty and staff members underscores the importance of the CWA and its services.
Celebrating joy and creativity at the 2023 IBPOC Connections Faculty & Staff lunch
In March 2023, following two years of virtual meetings and gatherings at a distance, the IBPOC Connections Faculty and Staff Lunch provided a much-welcomed space to rekindle in-person connection and a sense of belonging at UBC.
Hosted by UBC’s Equity and Inclusion Office in partnership with St. John’s College, the event sought to break through some of the usual and formalized expectations of meetings and gatherings and offer a casual environment for fun, community building and connection. Some 100 participants attended, including faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows.
“When planning this event our dream was that we all leave this place reminded that being racialized, Indigenous, Black, a Person of Colour means that we are part of a joyous, creative, and playful community,” says Madison Tardif, co-organizer of the event and programming lead for the IBPOC Connections Faculty & Staff program with the Equity & Inclusion Office.
Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion, and Dr. Henry Yu, Principal, St. John’s College delivered welcoming remarks, after which the guests were invited to participate in several activities curated to inspire joy and creativity. Those activities included arts and crafts, a slam poetry performance from Pablo Akira Beimler and a salsa dancing class from Natalie Armendariz and Aisha Sallad from the UBC Salsa Rueda Club. “Crowd-sourced” lists of books, films, podcasts and music ideas by IBPOC authors and artists were also generated.
Learn more about IBPOC Connections
Inspiring hope, love, and care at this year’s UBC Climate Emergency Week
This past February, the Sustainability Hub and the Climate Hub joined together with campus partners to present the second annual UBC Climate Emergency Week. Stretching over two transformative weeks, this initiative featured 32 events organized in partnership with 29 groups, both within and beyond UBC. Based in the values of hope, love, community, and care, this year’s Climate Emergency Week aimed to convene and energize the community through a greater focus on art and advocacy. The week evolved into a space for collective mobilization across campus, spotlighting the climate emergency and the need for united action for justice, people, and our planet.
A variety of spaces and offerings attracted over 450 people to diverse events, workshops, direct action, and creative expression. Partners uplifted existing and new initiatives, fostering a sense of mutual support and collective action. Highlights included a thought-provoking opening "Climate Slamposium," impactful youth-led demonstrations against deep-sea mining and for urgent climate action, imagining alternative climate futures through a collaborative board game, illuminating speaker and panel discussions featuring renowned figures, and engaging hands-on workshops on diverse topics, including biodiversity and sustainable communities.
Learn more about CEW
Explore the recordings & outputs
New equity-focused workshops highlight diverse wellbeing perspectives
Building on feedback from the UBC community (Including an IBPOC survey conducted in 2021 and recommendations from UBC’s ARIE Taskforce), the UBC Vancouver Workplace Wellbeing team hosted 22 workshops created and led by IBPOC facilitators representing diverse perspectives on wellbeing, with more than 1,000 participants.
The workshops covered a wide range of topics and perspectives such as Decolonial and Anti-Racist Approaches to Wellbeing, Understanding Energy Through Ayurveda, Inclusive Leadership for Managers and Supervisors, Healing Not Harm: Practicing Community Care & Pod-Mapping, Trauma-Informed Imposter Syndrome (for IBPOC/BIPOC faculty and staff), Navigating Race-Based Trauma and Grief (for IBPOC/BIPOC faculty and staff).
This initiative highlights UBC's commitment to supporting diverse communities, perspectives, and experiences to help create a stronger sense of belonging and connection for all.
Learn more about UBC HR events
Promoting health equity and inclusivity through the Sustainability Scholars Program
Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, the Health Equity, Promotion and Education team and Workplace Wellbeing team at UBC Vancouver partnered with the Sustainability Scholars program to explore the gaps in mental health and physical activity programs and services that are available to equity-seeking groups on campus and help identify opportunities for improvement.
The scholar's key findings and recommendations were shared in a report titled “Promoting Health Equity and Inclusivity in Wellbeing at UBC: Research and Engagement with Equity-deserving Groups.” The insights were shared with members of the UBC Wellbeing network to inform campus-wide planning and action that supports student and employee health equity.
Read the project report here
Community-focused Climate Slamposium kicks-off Climate Emergency Week
During Climate Emergency Week at UBC Vancouver campus in February 2023, the UBC Climate Hub hosted the Climate Slamposium – an event bringing together student researchers, activists, and others engaging in climate justice to share their work in fun and creative forms.
Combining elements of a slam poetry event and symposium, the Climate Slamposium provided a platform where attendees and participants could showcase, explore, and uplift the multifaceted dimensions of climate justice. In this dynamic space, climate grief, love, activism, hope, and the voices of UBC’s student leaders and storytellers were highlighted and celebrated.
Listen to CBC coverage on CEW
Celebrating community connections with the Summer on the Mall series
After spending the past two summers with many community members working and learning remotely, the Community Programs and Outreach team within Campus + Community Planning was inspired to celebrate summer, reanimate campus, and support social connections. This led to the creation of the vibrant Summer on the Mall series – a string of pop-up events that took place along Vancouver campus’ Main Mall during the months of July and August in 2022.
From moments of mindfulness at outdoor yoga sessions to engaging lunch hour concerts, a pop-up mini-golf course and more, the Summer on the Mall series was full of free festivities and fun that encouraged students, faculty, staff, and campus residents to take time to connect, relax, and enjoy the beautiful UBC campus together.
Learn more about Summer on the Mall
Postcards Home event nurtures local and global connections
During November’s Thrive month, the Global Engagement Office and UBC Okanagan Library collaboratively organized Postcards Home – an event bringing together students to write messages and send postcards across the globe to their friends and family.
With over 200 students participating, the event became a bridge connecting individuals with their distant friends, family, and loved ones. In addition, the event provided a unique interactive space for students to express themselves creatively and connect with their peers. The event was one of several initiatives funded by the UBC Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Fund.
Learn more about Postcards Home
Empowering the UBC community through the Inspiring Community Grants
In a commitment to strengthen community connections, Campus + Community Planning’s Community Development and Transportation unit partners with the Vancouver Foundation’s Neighbourhood Small Grants each year. Together, they administer the Inspiring Community Grant, enabling the UBC community to share their skills and create opportunities for social connection.
This past year, over $10,000 in funding was awarded to 24 outstanding projects through the grant program, which awards up to $500 towards community-led projects that strengthen social ties and support community-building.
From a youth-led coding camp sparking innovation, to the launch of a community podcast exploring current health research happening in the Downtown Eastside, to cultural Diwali celebrations, UBC community members came up with creative and inspiring ways to share their talents and create community and connection on campus!
Learn more about the 2022 grant recipients
UBC United Way Champions Fund brings communities together to foster social connection
This past year over $500K was raised through the UBC United Way Campaign, drawing contributions from nearly 800 individual donors. Central to the core objectives of the United Way Campaign is to bring communities together and foster social connection.
The Champions Fund specifically, which made about 700 impressions during its campaign, removes event planning barriers for UBC United Way volunteers. Volunteers have enthusiastically voiced how the fund acts as "an opportunity to increase interactions between our multiple office spaces and units, and to foster team building through group activities," promoting a sense of togetherness among colleagues on campus.
By helping colleagues share their skills and passions, the Champions Fund nurtures a sense of belonging and fosters a community that thrives both within and beyond UBC. The UBC Champions Fund was one of several initiatives funded by the UBC Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Fund.
Learn more about the UBC United Way
UBC ARTIVISM: Festival embraces politics of the body
UBC Artivism, an annual festival presented by the UBC Arts & Culture District, boldly challenges dominant narratives and spotlights the creative voices of marginalized and minority communities within and beyond the university. In 2022, the festival theme, “Politics of the Body,” garnered resounding popularity with a total of 15 events that drew 1,346 attendees.
Among these events, "BODYMAPPING: The Stories We Carry," received deep appreciation from participants. This event provided a safe space for attendees to share their lived experiences through artistic expression, fostering vulnerability and connection.
Positive community sentiment for the festival was shared by many in attendance, including Tasheal Gill from SAD Magazine who shared: “It’s often hard to see formal institutions like universities as places that could hold space for the celebration of Queer and BIPOC arts. But even within these institutions, we can see a shining shift towards highlighting voices of underrepresented groups. The UBC club Exposure, which partners to produce the student initiated and led festival, intends to do just that. The student-led organization looks to build a conscious, creative community and accomplished exactly that through a month-long event called ARTIVISM.”
UBC Artivism received funding from various sources including the UBC Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Fund.
Learn more about UBC Artivism
Hot Lunch program enhances workplace connections
The Hot Lunch program, a cross-campus staff networking initiative, is proudly hosted by St. John’s College and co-sponsored by the office of the Vice-Presidents with the special support of Human Resources. Originating from a desire to create innovative ways to build relationships, strengthen networks, and nurture a more inclusive and collaborative working environment at UBC, the program has gained popularity since it first launched in 2014.
Notably, the program has been cited as a contributing factor for UBC topping four categories in BC’s Top Employers awards in 2022. The program’s roster of guests has included prominent UBC leaders including Dr. Margaret Moss, Michael White, and UBC’s 15th President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Santa Ono.
Learn more about the Hot Lunch Program
For more examples of teams embedding Social Connection action across the university, please visit our Stories page here.
Targets & Indicators
Below are data metrics relating to Wellbeing Strategic Framework Social Connection.
Feel Part of a Community
10% increase in UBC community members feeling part of a community by 2025.
Metrics
Measure
I have a group, community, or social circle at school (my workplace) where I feel I belong (feel at home, known connected to, support in my identity) (% who strongly agree or agree)*
UBC Vancouver
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Undergraduate Students | 42% | -15% (decline) |
| Graduate Students | 44% | -15% (decline) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 54% | B |
| Staff | 55% | B |
| Faculty | 51% | B |
UBC Okanagan
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Undergraduate Students | 46% | -8% (decline) |
| Graduate Students | 47% | -15% (decline) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 53% | B |
| Staff | 57% | B |
| Faculty | 39% | B |
Source: CCWS 2021 (during COVID pandemic) and baseline for students from CCWS 2019 (pre-COVID pandemic)
Measure
% First-year students that visit Collegia (Vancouver only) at least once a week
| Campus | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Vancouver | 22% | -11% (decline) |
Data: Baseline from 2019/20 (pre-COVID pandemic); Latest data from 2021/22 (during COVID pandemic)
Measure
I feel that I am part of a community at UBC (% who strongly agree or agree)*
UBC Vancouver
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 63% | -7% (decline) |
| Staff | 65% | -7% |
| Faculty | 57% | -6% |
UBC Okanagan
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 63% | -4% (decline) |
| Staff | 69% | -6% |
| Faculty | 47% | -5% |
Data: Latest data is from WES 2021 (during COVID pandemic) and baseline data is from WES 2017 (pre-COVID pandemic)
Inclusive Environment
10% increase in UBC community members reporting that their beliefs, identity and experiences are valued by 2025.
Metrics
Measure
At my institution, I am respected regardless of my personal characteristics, identity or background (e.g., gender, ethnicity, international status, disability, etc.). (% who strongly agree or agree)*
UBC Vancouver
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Undergraduate Students | 71% | B |
| Graduate Students | 68% | B |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 67% | B |
| Staff | 69% | B |
| Faculty | 57% | B |
UBC Okanagan
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Undergraduate Students | 79% | B |
| Graduate Students | 68% | B |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 67% | B |
| Staff | 69% | B |
| Faculty | 56% | B |
Source: CCWS 2021 (during COVID pandemic)
Measure
My diversity is valued in the workplace*
UBC Vancouver
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 69% | -5% (decline) |
| Staff | 71% | -5% |
| Faculty | 62% | -5% |
UBC Okanagan
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 67% | -1% (decline) |
| Staff | 75% | 0 |
| Faculty | 47% | 6% |
Data: Latest data is from WES 2021 (during COVID pandemic) and baseline data is from WES 2017 (pre-COVID pandemic)
Measure
People treat each other with respect and consideration in my workplace*
UBC Vancouver
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 78% | +1% |
| Staff | 80% | +2% |
| Faculty | 74% | +1% |
UBC Okanagan
| Population | Data | Change from baseline (B) |
| Staff and Faculty combined | 75% | +6% |
| Staff | 79% | +4% |
| Faculty | 65% | +7% |
Data: Latest data is from WES 2021 (during COVID pandemic) and baseline data is from WES 2017 (pre-COVID pandemic)