Deadlines & important upcoming dates

FOR EVERYONE

Save the dates: 2025 Zoology summer socials

FOR EVERYONE

2025 BRC save the dates! 

• September 8, 9:00 – 11:30 am: Ribbon Cutting ceremony for expansion
• September 17, 2:00 – 4:00 pm: BRC Symposium and Open House in multipurpose room. 
• September 23-25: Introductory Workshop on the Basics of Molecular Biology  - - free for BRC members and affiliates. Offered by the BRC Molecular Biology & Ecology Lab
• October 16, all day: IBioS Symposium -  “Agricultural landscape diversification and human-wildlife co-existence: exploring synergies and tradeoffs”
• November 10-12: Eco-Evo Retreat -  Loon Lake in Maple Ridge BC
• November 20: Biodiversity Public Lecture. Justina Ray, President and Senior Scientist of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Canada, will be delivering this year’s public lecture

BRC events calendar

    Staff - 2025 Zoology Staff awardees 🌟

More about these awards

⛑️  Safety TIPs ☣️

There is a scheduled planned emergency drill for the week of August 18th. Please consider timing your experiments for this event. If you anticipate a scheduling conflict involving your experiment please let Patrick Tamkee know as soon as possible.

🗒️ FINANCE TIP🖊️

New in Workday:  Risk Information to Enhance Efficiency of Expense Report Review: when reviewing and approving expense reports in Workday, you will now see a ‘Risk Level’ and ‘Risk Insights’ at the top of each expense line. Designed to enhance the efficiency of expense report review, risk information will quickly draw attention to potential issues, specifically:

• ‘Risk Level’ provides an estimate of how significant an error/anomaly may be. The Risk Level will show as either Low, Medium or High.
• ‘Risk Insights’ provides insight into the type of the potential issue, including Amount Anomaly, Duplicate Expense or Incorrect Expense Item (expense category).

If an expense does not appear to have any issues, the Risk level will be Low and Risk Insight will show as Empty. If an anomalous, duplicate, or incorrectly-categorized expense is confirmed, the expense line should be corrected by the initiator.

🖥️  ZCU TIP 💽

1. To request data port activation in the new wing of BRC offices and labs, please email the wall port label (starting with "CCT") to zoology.support@ubc.ca.
    
2. The "fungus" printer has been relocated from Ponderosa to BRC 6th-floor kitchenette and is fully operational.

Committees and other units - updates

ZOOLOGY GRAD Program:

1. 2025W Term 1 Tuition Deadline Deferrals, applications are open until August 31:  A friendly reminder to graduate students who are waiting for their GRA or GTA salaries to pay Winter Term 1 tuition and need a tuition deadline deferral to November 30, applications are open until August 31 for 2025 Winter Term 1:
   https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cw0JHfpA16wf2RM
   
   Please note: Mimi will begin putting in GRA and Biology GTA appointments in August; students won’t be able to apply for the deferral until they have a Term 1 appointment in Workday so please let Mimi know if you’re planning to apply for this deferral and she will prioritize your appointment for processing so it’s in Workday earlier.
   
   ***Students with tuition awards typically don’t need this deadline deferral unless they require more time to pay their student fees, which share the same deadline as tuition but is not covered by tuition awards
    

2. 2025/26 Student Funding plans: Students and supervisors are encouraged to discuss students’ 2025/26 funding plans before September so students know what to expect for their budgeting. Here are some resources both parties can refer to:
   2025/26 Funding Policy
   How students are paid via Workday and Workday student
   or reach out to Mimi directly (zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca)
   
   Enrolment Services also has resources for student budgeting and financial planning
    

BIOLOGY Program: BIO NEWS - Connecting you to what's happening in the UBC Biology Program

1. Imagine Day - Tuesday, September 2! Help us welcome our undergraduate Biology students back to class! If you are available to come mingle with our students over pizza lunch, please reach out Jessica (jessica.ni@ubc.ca).
    
2. Biology TA orientation - Wendnesday September 3: from 9:00 AM to 12: 00 PM, Michael Smith Labs MSL 102. Register here:
   https://qualtricsxmqg2yztnnl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8oYQ39zjbtHsrUq
    
3. New this year: the first hour of TA orientation is mandatory for all TAs. This will be followed by a new workshop on supporting student wellness hosted by our Science Embedded Counsellor, Stephanie Seo and an experienced TA & faculty panel after that. We strongly recommend you attend the whole event.

Sex and Gender Inclusivity Canvas site

Are you interested in learning how to create an inclusive learning environment for sex and gender diverse students in your course, but not sure how or where to start? If so, then check out the Sex and Gender Inclusivity Canvas site.

This self-enrol Canvas site was co-created by students, faculty, and staff within the UBC Faculty of Science and includes key definitions/concepts, frequently asked questions, teaching materials, resources, relevant articles, and more!

CTLT Summer Institute

1. New Faculty Teaching Orientation, August 18 | 9:45 am–1:30 pm | In-person
   Kickstart your journey at UBC with this engaging half-day orientation at UBCV. Network with fellow colleagues from various departments, enhance your teaching skills and enjoy a complimentary lunch. Plus, don’t miss the special welcome from UBC Present Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon! Register: https://ctlt.ubc.ca/nfto
    
2. CTLT Summer Institute, August 18–22 | In-person & Online
   The CTLT Summer Institute focuses on the fundamentals of teaching and learning. It is designed to help participants enhance their understanding of sound teaching practices and how to implement them in their teaching contexts. The complimentary sessions focus on the fundamentals of teaching and learning for new instructors. Below are some events that may be of interest.
   AUGUST 18: Starting Strong: Preparing for the First Day of Class
   AUGUST 19: Introduction to Lesson Planning
   AUGUST 20: Fostering Neurodiversity Affirming Teaching Approaches
   AUGUST 21: Canvas Tools: Designing Interactive Courses
   AUGUST 22: Building Capacity—Networking and Resource Sharing for IBPOC Teaching and Learning Community

Reminders

Check www.zoology.ubc.ca
for news, events, resources & more

Zoology event calendar