May 8, 2012
WELCOME CHELSEA THOMPSON
We are pleased to announce that Chelsea Thompson has joined the Office of the University Counsel as Legal Counsel. Chelsea is an alumnus of UBC, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in 1999. In 2004, Chelsea obtained her law degree from University of Ottawa and was called to the British Columbia bar in 2005. She articled and practised corporate law for 4 years at the law firm of Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP before joining MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., as in house Corporate Counsel in 2009.
Chelsea can be reached by e-mail at chelsea.thompson@ubc.ca or by telephone at (604) 822-5500.
April 12, 2012
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
The University Counsel invites interested students to apply for positions on the President’s UBC Vancouver Non-Academic Misconduct Committee.
The Committee serves a very important role. It assists the President by investigating allegations of non-academic misconduct made against UBC Vancouver students under the Student Code of Conduct, and reporting its findings to the President. Members of the Committee are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the University Counsel. Except for the Committee Chair, all members of the Committee will be UBC Vancouver students. For more information about the role of the Committee, please see the web site of the Office of the University Counsel at: http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/discipline/ and the Rules of the Committee at: http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2012/02/Rules-for-the-Presidents-Non-Acad-Misconduct-Committees.pdf.
To ensure that a broad range of students are represented on the Committee, the University Counsel is inviting students who are interested in serving on the Committee to submit their names for consideration. If you wish to be considered, you should provide the following information via email by May 4, 2012 to university.counsel@ubc.ca:
- your first and last name;
- your student number;
- the name of your Faculty;
- your telephone number;
- your e-mail address;
- your mailing address; and
- an explanation of 100 words or less explaining your interest in joining the Committee.
If you wish, you may also provide a reference letter from a UBC faculty member, but a reference letter is not required.
Approximately 15 students will be selected to serve on the Committee. Quorum for each Committee meeting is the Chair and at least 2 Committee members, and meetings are set between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Meetings will be scheduled to fit the needs of the Committee members involved in each case. Training opportunities for Committee members will be provided by the Office of the University Counsel.
If you are selected to serve on the Committee, you will be contacted by telephone or e-mail by the Office of the University Counsel to confirm your willingness to serve on the Committee. If you are not selected, your information will be kept on file for one year in case vacancies arise.
April 3, 2012
CALL FOR COMMENTS – PROPOSED POLICY AMENDMENT: POLICY #88 (PATENTS AND LICENSING)
The UBC community is invited to comment on proposed amendments to Policy #88 (Patents and Licensing).
The existing Policy #88 has been in place, without amendment, since 1993. Since that time the technical, collaborative, and educational environments in which the University operates have changed significantly and the University’s practices in relation to the management of intellectual property arising from University research have evolved.
The University Counsel initiated a process to substantially revise Policy #88 in order to create a Policy that: (1) furthers the University’s mandate to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and maximize the impact that University research and inventions have on society; (2) encourages potential industry partners and other stakeholders to support research and learning at the University by empowering inventors to not only publish the results of their research, but to also utilize other non-commercial means to implement the product of their research into society without unnecessary restriction from the University; and (3) accurately reflects the University’s current practices with respect to the treatment of University inventions.
In addition to meeting these stated goals, the proposed Policy:
- clarifies that certain inventions of relevance to members of the University community (for example the product of initiatives such as the entrepreneurship @ UBC program and the Capstone Project) are not caught by the scope of the proposed Policy;
- is not restricted to commercial endeavors nor is it primarily concerned with the generation of financial gain from inventions;
- recognizes that inventions invariably incorporate a collection of intellectual property rights and accordingly that it would be unfeasible to treat the varying rights which may subsist in inventions (e.g. patents, trade secrets, know-how) distinctly under the proposed Policy;
- states clearly and unequivocally that members of the University are permitted and encouraged to discuss and publish the results of their research as they see fit, provided only that the relevant member complies with the terms of any agreement that supported the research;
- recognizes the existence of the many affiliation and research agreements that the University maintains with hospitals, governments and other industry partners;
- confirms that the University may enter other agreements with third parties to support research at the University and that in so doing such third parties may be granted rights in inventions arising from the research they have supported; and
- sets out the way in which the University will assist members of the University community in seeing the product of their research implemented in practical applications that positively impact society.
The proposed amendments are now being published and all members of the University community are encouraged to provide their comments. Please submit feedback to the Office of the University Counsel at university.counsel@ubc.ca by October 7, 2012.
UBC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES UPDATES
The Board of Governors has approved the following at its meeting on April 3, 2012:
- Amendment to Policy #61 - Postdoctoral Fellows; and
- Amendment to Policy #86 – Extraordinary Expenses – Grant and Contract-Funded Employees
April 2, 2012
WELCOME LIZ MOXHAM
We are pleased to announce that Liz Moxham has joined the Office of the University Counsel as Legal Counsel (Charitable Giving). While she will be involved in a range of legal matters from time to time, Liz’s primary responsibility will be to provide legal advice and services relating to charitable giving to UBC and to work closely with UBC’s Development Office.
Liz already knows UBC well, having been a part of the Development staff in the Faculty of Medicine for the past 3 years. Prior to that, she was with the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and the tax group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She earned her Commerce degree and Law degree at the University of Alberta and her Master of Laws at the University of Melbourne. She is also a Certified Fund Raising Executive and has published and been an invited speaker on a variety of subjects related to charitable giving. We are delighted to have the benefit of Liz’s expertise in tax and trust law as well as her experience in fund-raising.
Liz can be reached by e-mail at elizabeth.moxham@ubc.ca or by telephone at (604) 827-4421.
February 16, 2012
UBC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES UPDATES
The amendments to the following policies have been approved by the Okanagan Senate on January 25, 2012, the Board of Governors on February 2, 2012 (effective February 3, 2012), and the Vancouver Senate on February 15, 2012:
- Policy #17 - Appointment of Registrar and Librarians (Joint Senate and Board Policy); and
- Policy #18 – Appointment of Designated Senior Academic Administrators (Joint Senate and Board Policy)
February 6, 2012
CALL FOR COMMENTS – PROPOSED POLICY AMENDMENT: POLICY #89 (RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN PARTICIPANTS)
The UBC community is invited to comment on proposed amendments to Policy #89 (Research Involving Human Participants).
The current version of the Policy #89 – Research and Other Studies Involving Human Subjects – was approved in 2002 and has not been substantively reviewed since then, other than a revision in May 2009 of the Procedures associated with the Policy.
The current version of the Policy #89 was created in large part in order for UBC to become compliant with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans which was issued in 1998 so that UBC would continue to be eligible to receive funding from the Tri-Council granting agencies.
Over the years since its approval, the current version of the Policy #89 has proven to be incompatible with the changing realities of contemporary research, and it was determined that changes needed to be made to the current version of the Policy #89 in order to ensure that Policy #89 and its associated Procedures were sufficiently flexible for practical application. Also, it became necessary to update and revise Policy #89 when a second, revised version of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (“TCPS2”) was issued in December 2010.
Key elements of the proposed Policy are:
1. The term “human participant” has replaced the term “human subject” in order to reflect the fact that individuals who choose to participate in research generally play a more active role in such research than the term “human subject” conveys, and also to reflect the varied degree of involvement in research by human participants depending on the type of research being conducted.
2. UBC confirms that the research environment at UBC continues to be one in which human participants are properly protected and the following three core ethical principles, as enunciated in TCPS2, will be applied by all UBC-sanctioned research ethics boards: (1) respect for persons; (2) concern for welfare of human participants; and (3) justice.
3. UBC-sanctioned research ethics boards are mandated not only to review but also to maintain ongoing oversight of the ethical acceptability of research involving human participants that is conducted under the auspices of UBC and to apply the above-noted three core ethical principles in so doing.
4. An ethics approval issued by one UBC-sanctioned research ethics board may be recognized by all other UBC-sanctioned research ethics boards, and a research project conducted by one researcher or group of researchers at more than one UBC site shall require ethics approval from only one UBC-sanctioned research ethics board.
5. Receipt by a researcher of research ethics approval from a UBC-sanctioned research ethics board in respect of a particular research project does not necessarily mean that such research project may be commenced or continued, as in some cases, in addition to seeking research ethics approval, a researcher must also seek approvals from other UBC officials or committees or from other agencies.
6. UBC is authorized to enter into alternative ethics review agreements with other institutions in order to facilitate collaborative research projects involving researchers, data or human participants from more than one institution.
7. UBC’s confirms its commitment to academic freedom and independent research by stating that its core values and organizational structure together ensure that research activities that take place under UBC’s auspices are undertaken with integrity, in a manner consistent with the three core ethical principles, and free from undue interference.
8. The proposed Procedures associated with the proposed Policy have been simplified and restructured so as to become more user-friendly.
All members of the University community are encouraged to provide their comments on the proposed amendments to the Policy. Please submit feedback to the Office of the University Counsel at university.counsel@ubc.ca by March 30, 2012.
February 3, 2012
UBC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES UPDATES
The Board of Governors has approved the following at its meeting on February 2, 2012:
- Amendment to Policy #75 - Appointment of Graduate Students to Teach a Course Requiring a Board of Governors Appointment (Effective February 3, 2012);
- Amendment to Policy #97 – Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment (Effective February 2, 2012); and
- Amendment to Policy #125 – Retained Risk Fund for Major Capital Projects (Effective September 27, 2011)
January 16, 2012
UBC SEEKING TWO LEGAL COUNSELS
The Office of the University Counsel is currently recruiting for two legal counsel positions. Please see the attached advertisements for more information:
December 1, 2011
CALL FOR COMMENTS – PROPOSED POLICY AMENDMENT: POLICY #61 (POST DOCTORAL FELLOWS)
The UBC community is invited to comment on proposed amendments to Policy #61 (Post Doctoral Fellows).
Policy #61 (Post Doctoral Fellows) was first approved in 1995 and was last revised in 1997. It is currently inconsistent with University practice and Policy #86 (Extraordinary Expenses – Grant and Contract-Funded Employees) with respect to paid maternity/parental adoptive leave and other benefits for postdoctoral fellows. The Office of the University Counsel convened a policy review committee to undertake a review of Policy #61 to bring it into alignment with current terms and conditions for postdoctoral fellows appointed at UBC. The policy review committee unanimously supports the proposed amendments presented for public comment.
Key elements of the proposed amendments to the Policy are:
- Terms and conditions with respect to paid maternity/parental/adoptive leave and other benefits have been updated to reflect current University practice and Policy #86 (Extraordinary Expenses – Grant and Contract-Funded Employees).
- Recognition of the difference between postdoctoral fellows who are employed by the University and postdoctoral fellows who receive funding from external funding sources, and clarification throughout the policy where this difference affects the terms and conditions of a postdoctoral fellow’s appointment.
- Clear articulation of the role and responsibilities of postdoctoral fellows at the University.
- The language and structure have been updated to bring the Policy in line with the University’s current policy standards.
All members of the University community are encouraged to provide their comments on the proposed amendments to the Policy. Please submit feedback to the Office of the University Counsel at university.counsel@ubc.ca by January 31, 2012.
