May 14, 2015

Top stories

Purchasing process under review

We heard and we listened.  As a result, it has been recognized that the purchasing process has a great potential for savings and a positive impact in our budgets.  Discussions have begun to review and to streamline current processes.

Thank you all who have provided feedback and suggestions.  Cost savings is always a bright idea.

Do you have more ideas and solutions? Keep sending them to brightideas.buildingops@ubc.ca.

Does training attendance impact costs?

Yes it does.  As a reminder to all scheduled for Core Safety Training, please plan your jobs accordingly so you can attend.  It is critical that those scheduled to participate attend so as not to negatively impact costs.

Centennial programming starts in September 2015

The university first welcomed its first class of 379 students on September 30, 1915.  To commemorate this historic event, President Arvind Gupta announced today that the launch of the university’s Centennial and the official opening of the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre will take place on September 30, 2015.  The official close of the Centennial will be Alumni Weekend on May 28, 2016.

Building Operations submitted 3 ideas for content in the UBC Centennial website.  One idea was chosen…the Centennial Tree!  Congratulations Jeff Nulty and Collin Varner for your submission.  Stay tuned.

Learn more about “UBC 100″ and get regular updates by visiting ubc100.ca.

UBC Spring convocation starts May 20. Watch out for increased traffic and closures

Graduation Ceremonies are on May 20 – 22 and May 25 – 27.  Guests are asked to park at the Rose Parkade and/or the Museum of Anthropology.  To meet the high parking demand, Rose Garden permit holders will not have access to the parkade for the duration of Congregation.

Please refer to the map below and note the drop-off zone on Crescent Road out front of the Chan Centre.  Please plan your route to your work sites accordingly.

Explore the current state of asset management in USB’s main hallway and online (part II)

Building Operations’ EAOS project has just completed a review of the current state of asset management in Building Operations. From all the valuable information gathered, the EAOS team has posted the updated version of the documents along the hallway by the Centre.  Please take some time to review it as it contains updates from all shops.

Each week, for the next four weeks, EAOS will share a high-level summary of 3 of the 12 areas we examined in the Current State Analysis:

  1. Roles and Responsibilities
  1. Resource Optimization
  • We need a formal Resource Optimization Strategy that has someone as a responsible entity for defining and maintaining what  “Resource” and “Demand” are. We also need to make sure we collect the relevant data in a reliable way so we can track Resource and Demand levels.
  • Read the summary of our resource optimization current state online.
  1. Expert Staff

You’ll find the full Current State Analysis in the main hallway of the USB or you can review our more comprehensive summary online.

Story Boards to be archived on May 15

As we prepare for the next phase of the program, all story boards in the hallway will be archived.  These will be used for reference as we progress onto the next phase.

For our benchmarking initiative, we will be conducting our research online and speaking with maintenance organizations to find best practices.  The next organization we will benchmark against is the City of Vancouver in early June.

Alumni building anticipated full occupancy May 30

The Alumni Centre’s substantial completion was declared on May 4, 2015.  It should be noted that the building is still in provisional/partial occupancy with UBC Properties Trust.  Full occupancy is anticipated on May 30.

Quick updates

  • RMS developing Emergency Operations training. Stay tuned for training details.
  • Leaving UBC: Jim McLaughlin
  • NPS Score increased to 82%; with 35 responses and 3 new promoters