February 26, 2015

Top Stories

EAOS lays out the path for it’s next steps

The EOAS launch was a fantastic opportunity for all of us to get together and talk about how we approach maintenance and where we would like to be in the future.

The EAOS team took the feedback that was gathered from the launch and other interviews and—across many long meetings—have drawn together a framework for capturing the current state of our asset management.

The next step will be to meet in Fact Finding sessions next week to discover a snapshot of where we are right now. To see all of the planned steps through  to September, the timeline for phase 1 is available from the EOAS section of the Building Operations website as a PDF handout to print and share.

New building transition team makes a difference at new sub and alumni centre

Our new building transition team has been working at the new SUB and the Alumni Centre for the past 3 weeks. Key trades were recently assigned to the team who will—once they have their site safety orientation next week—walk through the buildings and identify how to get their larger teams ready for each particular building.

The purpose of the transition team is to get Building Operations at the table with the contractors and identify equipment, safety, and training issues before we take ownership of new buildings. By being in the building before it opens we’ll also be better prepared for both our day-to-day work as well as possible concerns that the occupants may identify.

The next building on the horizon for the new transition team will be the Engineering Centre which will be coming our way in May.

Campus security’s tips for a safe working environment available on www3.buildingoperations.ubc.ca

We’re all a bit more aware of personal and building security since the break-in at USB. While the potential for conflict, aggression or violence at UBC is moderate, everyone has a right to feel safe here.

To help us, Campus Security have given us some tips to help us be more vigilant about our personal and building safety.

The tips are available from our Staff tab at www3.buildingoperations.ubc.ca.

Building operations WES survey results coming in two weeks

On February 25 there was a university-wide town hall presenting the big picture results for the 2014 Workplace Experience Survey (WES). The general feedback for all of UBC is that things are looking pretty good overall—people are proud to work at UBC’s Vancouver campus.

Our unit-specific results will be available in about two weeks. We’ll take a bit of time to work with the results and then we’ll schedule a town hall in April where we’ll come together as team to review and discuss the results that you shared with us. This will be our chance to talk about how we can put the results to work to keep improving our workplace experience.

Large public realm project for university commons

Work will commence on East Mall from Agricultural Road to University Blvd this week and will be ongoing through to the mid-September. In order to help reduce the congestion in the area, UBC related service vehicles should avoid the area when possible. Please plan your work and routes around this project work site.

Please check the campus construction map and plan your parking before you leave.

Digital screens now live in all shops except custodial

It all began with you
In September, all of Building Operations took part in a discussion about our communications preferences and needs—what was working and what we could improve. One of your great ideas was to make our network of digital signs more relevant to the shop or location they serve and more relevant to the work we do. In October shop talks, all of Building Operations saw the first paper mock-up based on your ideas. Now our first working model in live in your shops.

What’s on screen?
The new digital sign design is live on all screens, except for Custodial C&CP and LSC which need an IT upgrade to accept the new design. The upgrade should be completed by the end of the week. The content in the “news ticker” is currently coming mostly from BOLT, but over the next few weeks we’ll be working to get the behind-the-scenes processes ready so that your shop’s screen can show information coming from your shop, for your shop.

Share your ideas
If you have feedback either share it with your head or manager, you can email it to news.buildingoperations@ubc.ca, chat with your supervisor, Caroline Soriano, or Chris Freek.

Task force building operations emergency plan to be completed by feb 27

Task Force Building Operations is scheduled to be completed by Feb 27/15. This means we will have a document that will guide us for the initial response for campus operations after a significant earthquake event.

This is one of many task force documents being created – others are for security and mass care (housing and feeding the population stuck on campus).

Key staff will be involved with detailing the approach in the coming months.

Quick updates

  • NPS score remained at 82% with 49 valid responses: 47 promoters and 1 detractor
  • Farewell to Lloyd Yip, electrician
  • Hiring of head steamfitter and manager of municipal proceeding