New UBC Child Care setting receives Board 1 approval
The UBC Board of Governors Property Committee has now provided stage 1 approval for a new child care setting to be built next to Orchard Commons student residence, with the proposed site between the courtyard and West Mall. This new location will provide a number of spaces for children under 3 years of age, along with spaces for children 3 years to school age. Watch for more info as this exciting project progresses!
Learning and development opportunities: fall 2023
Take one of UBC’s free online courses, including the refreshed land acknowledgments course, a decisiveness workshop or Braving Trust with Self and Others. Plus, register today for the fall offering of Coaching Conversations, our long-running and highly-valued SHCS course, which helps leaders develop their ability to have coach-like conversations with their staff. One past participant wrote, “I think this course was hugely beneficial and I know my team will definitely benefit from me having more communication tools to draw on. I already see a difference in the questions that I ask them.” Learn more and register.
UBC Bookstore supports student and alumni entrepreneurs
Did you know the UBC Bookstore carries a wide range of fun and innovative products created by UBC student and alumni entrepreneurs? This long-standing initiative was created to align with the bookstore’s goal of supporting student entrepreneurship on and off-campus. Managed by Ruzzle Co and Joanna Ke, the program aims to inspire students to launch their business and creative projects by highlighting the success stories of their peers. The bookstore currently carries more than 30 student and alumni-created brands—everything from natural candles and healthy snacks to reusable bubble tea cups and porcelain jewelry—and is always on the lookout to discover more. Learn more.
Welcome Back Staff BBQ: back in a big way!
On September 13, the Welcome Back Staff BBQ in Vancouver returned after a 3-year hiatus. A big thank you to our Food Services culinary team who catered this event and fed roughly 4,000 UBC staff—a lineup that stretched from Flagpole Plaza all the way to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum—in just two hours. Many thanks to the other volunteers from across SHCS who helped out too! Check out this Instagram reel of the event from our very own Juliana Campbell.
New website announcement: C&A Vancouver
After many months of hard work in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications and IT teams, Conferences and Accommodation (C&A) Vancouver is pleased to share its new website—hostatubc.com. The new site provides more in-depth information on UBC’s venues, our accommodation options, planning services, catering options and more. C&A is excited to begin a new sales season with this beautiful new website.
Jump-starting our year at UBC Bookstore
The Jump Start sale on August 31 at UBC Bookstore’s Vancouver location drew crowds like the bookstore hasn’t seen in several years, with students eager to get their UBC hoodies and other merch to kick off the school year. Throughout the day, cashiers put through 3,300 transactions—which turned out to be great preparation for a very busy back-to-school season—and 92% of business that day was in-person. The latter statistic is especially notable considering an average of 40% of bookstore sales are now done online. What a great level of energy and excitement as we start the 2023/24 academic year.
New Food Services locations and menus
Congratulations to the Food Services Retail team, under the leadership of Sam Wellman, on the recent opening of Pho Real, a new Vietnamese street-food outlet in the ICICS building, plus new offerings at Ike’s Café, including Pearl Fever bubble tea. Congratulations also to the Food Services’ Catering and Restaurants team, under the leadership of Levi Semadeni, on some exciting changes at The Point: a revamped menu, plus new murals, furniture and other renovations to create a more casual and student-friendly atmosphere. Learn more on Instagram at @ubcfoodie and @thepoint.ubc—and at Food at UBC Vancouver.
Residence Mindful Market a big success!
This year’s residence Mindful Market was held on Sunday, September 3. A collaboration with UBC Sustainability, the goal of the market is to help achieve our sustainability and climate action goals by supporting a circular economy on-campus. Items for sale—including small kitchen appliances, mini-fridges, dishes, hangers, pillows, clothing, footwear and more—were donated by residents during last year’s move out. With over 200 students in attendance, we sold 350 items and raised $2,600, which will be deployed in support of campus food security. Many thanks to Ricky Biring, Gillian Wallis and Andrew Quenneville for their leadership on this project, and also to the student volunteers from the UBC Student Environment Centre. Learn more at Mindful Market and check out some photos!
Thank you to UBCO staff: Kelowna wildfires
The Kelowna wildfires presented an immense challenge for our staff and colleagues at UBC Okanagan. SHCS leadership would like to acknowledge the incredible efforts of, and offer a big thank you to, many of our staff there for their remarkable work to ensure a safe evacuation of student housing residents, conference guests and hotel guests, and in turn to provide accommodation for roughly 800 fire fighters and fire personnel—all while managing personal evacuation alerts and orders.
Brock Commons North now open
In mid-August, we opened Brock Commons North, our newest residence building, adding 316 more beds for students. A big thank you to many individuals in SHCS—specifically in Residence Life and Administration and Facilities and Building Services—for their significant efforts at every stage of the project, especially the immense team effort in recent months getting Brock Commons North ready for occupancy, moving students in, and helping make it a home. Learn more.
Welcome to Venisha Williams, Overnight Mobile Team Manager
A warm welcome to Venisha Williams, the inaugural Manager of Overnight Mobile Unit Services for Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS). Venisha started in July 2023 and will be leading a dedicated team of eight Overnight Mobile Unit Service Representatives, responsible for providing essential overnight services for students living in residence. Learn more about this new team and changes to Residence front desk services.
C&A receives Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice awards
Congratulations to our Conferences and Accommodation Vancouver team! Recently, the West Coast Suites and Gage Suites both received a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award for 2023. While West Coast Suites has received the award previously, this is the first win for Gage Suites. Recipients must have at least four stars and be rated among the top 10% of all Tripadvisor listings. Learn more.