LFS Today Dec 17, 2020 | LFS Intranet 2020

Paid Leave for Staff Between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

As you may be aware, certain UBC staff are eligible for paid leave during the university’s seasonal closure – the three normal working days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. This year’s seasonal closure falls on Dec. 29, 30, and 31, 2020.

This paid leave is addressed in the collective agreements with CUPE 2950 and non-union technicians/research assistants. While there is no official policy in place for Management & Professional staff, the Faculty values the well-

For Faculty administrative units, the Faculty is happy to announce that we will again be granting paid leave to M&P staff.
For grant-funded M&P positions, the Faculty realizes the nature of research grants and advises supervising Faculty members to consider central HR’s recommendations.
For part-time staff, Christmas leave will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
More information on Christmas leave is available online.

December 24, 2020

These are unprecedented times and December 24 is considered a regular work day. For this year only, the Faculty would like to further acknowledge all the hard work and effort by staff and faculty by granting December 24 as a paid day off. This would be in lieu of our holiday celebrations and would be treated separate from vacation time. Following the same format as the above paid leave between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day:

For Faculty administrative units, December 24,2020 will be a paid day off.
For grant-funded positions or positions within Centres, the Faculty advises supervisors and Centres to consider providing this day off.

For those who have already booked this time off in WorkDay, please speak with your supervisors first before removing it from your absence calendar.

Canada Research Chair Announcement

We are pleased to announce that Frederik Noack is a new Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Economic and Environmental Interactions. Congratulations to Frederik! He is among the Fall 2020 CRC recipients announced yesterday by Hon. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. The Government of Canada is investing approximately $195 million to support new and renewed CRCs across Canada. Read the UBC news release.

– David Kitts, Associate Dean, Research

New Director of the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council

Professor Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk has been acclaimed as the new Director of the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare (NFAHW) Council Board. Congratulations Nina! Read the full statement here.

Professor David Fraser is the outgoing Director, who has been an enthusiastic member of the NFAHW Council since October 2010.

LFS in the News

Assistant Professor Matias Margulis was quoted in an article for the Globe & Mail: Canadian agriculture industry looks to add muscle in Canada-U.K. trade talks.

Associate Professor Jennifer Black was quoted in an article for the National Observer: COVID-19 hurting Canadians’ food security and mental health: StatCan.

Holiday Crime Prevention Tips

UBC Campus Security would like to share the following tips to help prevent crime over the holidays:

Closing and locking all office and exterior building doors & windows. All intrusion alarms are armed when away.
Protecting your building and office keys to prevent your workplace from being targeted.
Turning off office lights and electronic equipment. Illumination can provide visibility of valuable equipment from outside the building, inviting theft.
Closing all blinds and curtains on ground floor windows.
Portable equipment, tools, laptops and external data devices should be securely lock away.
Locking valuable personal property out of sight or taking it home.
Ensuring all your data devices are encrypted for security.
Working late on campus? Let someone know, check in regularly or when to expect your return home.

On campus, if you witness a crime or observe a suspicious person or activity, call Campus Security at 604 822 2222 or RCMP, 604 224 1322 (non-emergency) or 911.