Top Stories
Coming soon, Service Centre launches Twitter account @UBCFixMySpace
UBC students and visitors have been looking for a way to easily report non-emergency service requests, and we have been looking for an easy way to collect feedback on the spaces we operate and maintain. Voila! To meet this need, we are creating a Twitter account @UBCFixMySpace. This communication channel will be monitored by our Service Centre who can then create an SR for items needing our attention. Since the person who tweets the issue will not receive ongoing status updates as they would through the PeopleSoft tool, Building Administrators are still encouraged to use the online PeopleSoft tool so they can track their request.
The twitter account will quietly go live next week and over the coming month we will be promoting this new account to the campus community through newsletters and, with help from the Custodial team, with new posters in building washrooms.
If you have any questions about how the new Twitter account fits into our customer service, please contact the Service Centre.
Structural glass replaced in MOA Great Hall
In mid-October, a piece of structural glass spontaneously broke in the MOA Great Hall. While Dan Myers was removing this glass, another structural piece of glass broke overhead. Fortunately no one was injured and Dan was able to remove the remaining broken fragments. Last week, both pieces of glass were successfully replaced!
Thanks to the following for making this sensitive work happen in a timely and safe manner, and using their expertise throughout this challenging job; Dan Myers, Bill Provenzano, Kevin Morris, Corky Cortusan, the labour crew, sheet metal and mechanical shop for their respective assistance.
The client is happy to get their Hall back and extremely pleased with the outcome.
Leadership training module 3 complete – supervising in a unionized environment
Over the last few weeks 120 of our supervisors, managers and superintendents went through the third installment of the leadership development training program. This course was on supervising in a unionized environment and focused on role clarity and how to collectively be firm, fair and friendly when it comes to directing work and our workforce. This course built on the skills introduced in the first two courses, namely:
- Effective Communication – where we learned to drop our biases and stories, listen and inquire and provide effective clear and timely feedback, and
- Emotional Intelligence where we learned how to observe verbal and non-verbal cues to figure out how someone is really feeling and then to appreciate our own reaction to difference situations so we can become more helpful and better at engaging in challenging conversations productively
The remarkable part about this third course is that the content was built in partnership with HR and our Unions, and then the course was presented with those keys partners present. We did this to ensure that we were creating the best content for the subject. We were able to answers most questions as they came up and reinforced the message that we all want the same outcome – safe, productive and engaged employees. We all recognize that we have the best chance at success for this outcome when our front line supervisors can direct our work force consistently in a way that is fair, firm and friendly and they can do so with the full support of our managers, HR and our Unions.
Want to learn more about Building Operation’s Leadership Development Program check this link – https://buildingoperations.ubc.ca/staff/projects-programs/. The next course open to all employees is Having Difficult Conversations in April. Look for signup sheets in the hall across from the Tool Crib.
T4/T4a statements are now available online
UBC faculty, staff, and student employees can now download their T4 and T4A statements for their tax returns via the Faculty and Staff Self-Service portal.
How to download your T4 Statement:
- Log-in to the Faculty and Staff Self-Service portal, using your Campus-Wide ID Login (CWL). If you are off-campus, you will need to connect using VPN.
- Click on HRMS Self-Service.
- In the My Pay column of the screen, select Year End Slips to see the content agreement to receive your Statement electronically for the current and previous years.
- Note: Faculty and staff who choose not to accept the agreement will receive their T4/T4A Statements in late February, consistent with the requirements of the Canada Revenue Agency.
For more information on your taxes or obtaining your tax slips, please visit the Payroll “Your Taxes” page.
This announcement will also be distributed by broadcast email to both campuses on February 15th.