LFS Today Feb 9, 2022

 News  

Killam Teaching Prize – Calls for Nominations open for 2021-22

This is the last chance to nominate instructors for the Killam Teaching Prize! The Killam Teaching Prize is awarded to acknowledge outstanding teaching and learning contributions made by teaching faculty in LFS. Among the criteria taken into consideration while nominating a Faculty Member will be the ability to motivate students and stimulate critical thinking, sustained teaching excellence and development of innovative approaches to teaching methodology and curricula.

Do you know a teacher that has inspired you?  Nominate them for the Killam Teaching Prize.

Nominations are being accepted until this Friday, Feb 11th on a webform and can be made by anybody. Nominees will be contacted and invited to submit their Killam submission package by Feb 25th. The prizes will be awarded on recommendation of the Killam selection committee of faculty and students. More information and the nomination link can be found here: https://lc.landfood.ubc.ca/killam-award/

LFS in the News

Sean Holowaychuk and Chris Bennett speak about a summer international field-study course that they teach in Indonesia. Vice-Provost International

CTLT Resource: Improved Inclusive Teaching @ UBC website

Looking for Inclusive Teaching resources? The CTLT and Equity & Inclusion Office have added filters, icons and a brighter display to the Inclusive Teaching @ UBC website help faculty and staff find resources more easily. Visit now to browse materials by topic area or course stage.

Browse Inclusive Teaching resources

Wellness Wednesday

Dr. Eli Puterman, an associate professor at UBC’s School of Kinesiology, and the UBC Beyond discuss ways to improve your motivation to exercise with at-home or app-based workouts that will help you stay active and combat depression.

Seven tips to keep you active and help boost your mental health

 Events  

Feb. 14-18 – UBC Climate Emergency Week (Virtual)

We’re in a “Code Red” for humanity and all non-human beings on this planet. The climate emergency requires urgency, action, accountability, and justice. What it also requires is more care for ourselves, care for each other, and care for our planet.

UBC’s first ever week-long series of virtual dialogue events, actions, celebrations, and community building activities.
We start the week with our kick-off event featuring a welcome from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Elder Larry Grant, our keynote speaker Dr. Ingrid Waldron, and moderator Temitope Onifade.

See the full list of events here.

Feb. 28 – UBC Change + Transition: A Coach Approach to Change

Topic:  A Coach Approach to Change
Date: Mon, Feb 28^th 2022
Time: 1pm-2:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom (details will be provided after you enroll)

About this session:
At the end of this session, you will have a contextual understanding of the value of taking a coach approach to leading change and learn when and how to use a coach approach to get the most benefit.

In previous workshops, we shared the importance of understanding the many hats a leader wears while leading and engaging in change.  An important hat is that of the coach.     ​

In this session, you will learn more about how this ‘leadership hat’, core coaching skills and the UBC COEC (Connect, Open, Explore, Close) model can elevate your connection and engagement with your stakeholders (e.g. team, peers, other leaders, sponsor) and help them more successfully navigate and sustain the change journey.

About the community of practice:
As part of the longer-term vision for building change capacity and capability across UBC, this year’s CoP will focus on building leadership capacity and capability for leading change. For those new to the group, the CoP invites leaders to share stories (success and challenges), harness cross disciplinary expertise, engage with and learn from the approaches of others, and explore emerging trends and innovations in change management.

As always, the community of practice is open to all faculty and staff. We welcome you to share details of this session with others who may be interested.

Enroll here

 Deadlines  

Mar. 11 – NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

Eligible faculty members may apply for the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) program. Through these awards, you can receive a wage subsidy of $6,000 to hire an eligible student to work on research and development in your lab.  Professors gain valuable help in furthering their research while supporting students in their learning.

The LFS quota for the NSERC USRA has been announced by the UBC Centre for Student Involvement and Careers (CIS&C). The Faculty of Land and Food Systems has 4 NSERC USRA 2022-23 awards. These awards can be held in the summer (May – August 2022), fall (September – December 2022) or winter (January – April 2023) terms.

The LFS internal deadline for the NSERC USRA is Friday March 11, 2022; the LFS evaluation criteria and process are available on the LFS Research Support website.

Similar to last year, UBC will continue to have non-NSERC grant holders receive approval from their Associate Dean or appropriate designate as part of the application process.

Continuation of accommodations due to COVID-19:

• Remote supervision of projects will be permitted. Supervisors must hold regular meetings with USRA holders via phone or video calls.
• Work terms do not need to be 16 weeks long, and can be less than 12 weeks.
• Full value ($6,000) of the award will be honored once application is approved by NSERC.
• For the student’s salary, Faculty Supervisor are no longer required to top-up 25% of the award value. However, NSERC requires that the supervisor pays a minimum salary of $6,000 regardless of the length of the award term and BC’s minimum wage requirements must be met. The minimum wage in BC is currently $15.20 per hour.
• For faculty members who intend to apply to the NSERC USRA, please ensure that COVID-19 safety measures and considerations as well as contingency plans are included when submitting their application. Questions we would encourage faculty to consider: Will the USRA be feasible given the COVID-19 safety plans as per Faculty/School/department? Can the USRA be done safely?

Additional information about the program can be found on the Faculty and Staff webpage. Student eligibility information is available on Student Services website.

Please contact LFS Undergraduate Student Research Awards lfs.nserc-usra@ubc.ca if you have any questions.