BC's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 82
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BC’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Employees can have a global impact at UBC
O
ne of the most
satisfying things
Shannon Dunn has
experienced working
at the University of
British Columbia (UBC) is that
she not only built her career there,
she helped to build the Okanagan
campus. That’s something she
never dreamed of when she joined
the university 22 years ago.
“It’s been a great personal
development opportunity,” says
Dunn. “I have had opportunities
beyond my own role to learn and
benefit from others’ experiences
and develop a talent muscle that I
didn’t know I had.”
UBC is a leading global
research and learning university.
Its campuses in Vancouver and
Kelowna have over 70,000
students from across Canada and
from around the globe. UBC’s
community is supported by 20,000
employees.
For Dunn, working at UBC is
an exciting, continuous learning
curve. Since the opening of the
Okanagan campus in 2005, she’s
been a part of eight building projects, not usually part of a business
manager’s job description.
“It’s really thrilling when you’ve
taken something that was just a
thought, an idea you write down,
to the finished product and to
finally see it physically there,”
she says.
“I don’t know where else I would
have experienced that and see a
place that grows at this pace and
changed this much. There were
3,000 students on this campus in
2005 and now it’s over 11,000. It’s
just remarkable.”
The freedom to think big and
recreate the world while following
your passion is baked right
into UBC’s culture, says Adam
Charania, vice-president, human
resources.
“The beauty of UBC being such
a research-intensive, teaching
university is it allows people to test
boundaries, to create and innovate
so that which was once impossible
is now possible,” says Charania.
“It’s really cool to get up in the
morning and come to work at a
place where people are researching and teaching what is going to
be the future of the world.”
To empower its employees to
connect with that world-changing
web of invention, UBC takes
a comprehensive approach to
supporting them, whether they’re
on or off campus. Continuing
education is a top priority,
and Dunn used UBC’s tuition
waiver program to earn her
master’s degree.
I’ve never seen such
a dedicated group of
20,000 people who are so
committed to doing the
best for our students and
community while making
the world a better place.
— Adam Charania
Vice-President,
Human Resources
Safety and risk services staff at UBC share resources with the wider community at the university.
Employees also receive a health
spending account to promote
physical well-being. The mental
health benefits now include an
enhanced employee assistance
plan that provides for unlimited
counselling.
Employees like Dunn also
discover they can have multiple
careers, often extremely varied,
thanks to UBC’s career advancement and leadership programs.
“What I ask employees is ‘How
can I, as a leader, help you be
the best version of yourself and
how can I help you continue your
development?’” says Charania.
“We never want to lose people
so we help them stay within UBC
