2017 graduates throw their mortarboards into the air to celebrate their success after receiving their degrees.

More than 1,750 students will cross the stage and receive degrees

UBC Okanagan’s gym and courtyard will be filled with traditional ceremony, shouts of celebrations and lifetime memories for two days this week.

More than 1,750 graduates will receive their degrees as the university celebrates the class of 2018 and convocation takes over campus on Thursday and Friday. It’s one of the largest cohorts of graduates in UBC Okanagan’s history, illustrating the growth that continues to shape the university.

“Over the past 13 years we’ve watched with pride as UBC Okanagan’s graduating classes have grown along with the campus,” says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal. “As the campus continues to develop – including with the opening of the new Commons building later this year – we look forward to seeing the impact of UBC Okanagan’s newest alumni in their communities and around the world.”

On Thursday, June 7 more than 620 graduates will cross the stage as students in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies are conferred their degrees.

Two honorary degrees will also be issued Thursday. Astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi will receive an honorary Doctor of Science at the 11 a.m. ceremony. Rosalind Williams will be presented with a Doctor of Letters at the 1:30 p.m. ceremony.

That same day, chemistry Professor Stephen McNeil will be presented with the Killam Teaching Prize, the first time a UBC Okanagan faculty member has received this prestigious award. The Killam award is given to a professor nominated by students, colleagues and alumni in recognition of excellence in teaching. The Governor General Gold Medal Winner, an award presented to the student with the highest academic accomplishment at a university, will also be presented Thursday morning.

There are three convocation ceremonies Friday, June 8 as students in the School of Engineering, the Faculty of Management, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Health and Social Development— School of Health and Exercise Sciences, School of Nursing and the School of Social Work all graduate.

Mission Hill Family Estate founder Anthony von Mandl will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws at Friday’s 11 a.m. ceremony. At the same ceremony, Education professor Leyton Schnellert will be presented with the Teaching Award of Excellence and Innovation. School of Engineering Professor Yang Cao will also be presented with the Teaching Award of Excellence and Innovation at the 8:30 a.m. ceremony that day.

Of the 1,752 degrees being presented this week, 107 students will earn their master’s degree and 33 are being conferred as PhDs. All outstanding achievements, says Buszard.

“I offer the UBC Okanagan class of 2018 my warmest congratulations on their remarkable achievements,” she adds. “Whether they go on to create a new venture, take on a societal challenge or pursue further studies, I know our graduates have the intellectual tools to flourish in the face of change, wherever they go from here.”

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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UBC Okanagan is embarking on the largest fundraising campaign for students in its 12-year history. The Blue & Gold Campaign for Students aims to raise $100 million across both UBC campuses over three years to give promising students access to a life-changing education.

“Donors in the Okanagan have already played a crucial role in building our campus and shaping what it is today,” says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-chancellor and Principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus. “We are equally committed to building greater supports for students to ensure the best and the brightest from near and far have access to a world-class education right here in the Okanagan, regardless of financial circumstances.”

The Blue & Gold Campaign for Students will support a range of student awards, including scholarships, bursaries, and experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. The awards will support students in need, students from under-represented communities, and leadership-based awards.

Tushar Dave, a recipient of the Deepak Binning Foundation Community Builder Scholarship and now a third-year undergraduate in medical biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC Okanagan, is one student who is benefitting from a UBC donor-funded award.

“The biggest factor for me was getting a UBC education here at home. I live in Kelowna and it is wonderful for me to have a UBC world-class education at my doorstep” said Dave. “Scholarships allow me to focus on what matters most: my studies. It’s important to continue supporting students so that we can give back to our communities. So that we can go to work and actually make a change in the world.”

Haley Seven Deers, a third-year history and anthropology student at UBC Okanagan, is another.

“These awards are truly life-changing for students,” said Seven Deers, who received a UBC Okanagan Aboriginal Entrance Award. “Every bit, no matter how small or large that you donate is going to have a huge impact on people’s lives. And not just on the students, but on all the people they will affect later in their careers. It’s such a beautiful thing that has such a far-reaching impact within society.”

UBC is providing matching funds of up to $5 million for new endowed donations to select Blue & Gold campaign priorities, which include bursaries and renewable entrance awards for students with high academic standing, known as Presidential Scholars, as well as for outstanding students recognized for their achievement and leadership who demonstrate financial need.

The campaign will also focus on the graduate student experience including opportunities to pursue research in collaboration with community partners and organizations to provide real-life applications for public benefit.

“The student awards that I have received have really helped me to focus my time and energy on engaging with communities in a meaningful way and also to focus on field work,” said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a graduate student who studies wildfires at UBC in Vancouver. “My dream for the future is to help enable communities to co-exist with wildfire. Fire isn’t going away, but our people and our landscapes can be more resilient to fire and learn how to co-exist with it better.”

For information about the Blue & Gold Campaign for Students, visit: support.ubc.ca/blueandgold

UBC's Blue and Gold fundraising campaign for students kicked-off at the university on November 27 to a capacity crowd.

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, will host a Town Hall at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus this Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

The University of British Columbia is delighted to welcome Prime Minister Trudeau (BEd’98) on his first visit to UBC as Prime Minister.

The public and all UBC students, alumni, faculty and staff are invited to meet the Prime Minister at this special town hall in the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium.

Date: Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Time: 7 to 8 p.m.‎ (Doors open at 6 p.m.)
Location: UBC Okanagan Gymnasium – 3211 Athletics Court, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7

Online RSVP recommended

Please arrive early as this event is first come, first serve. Parking is available on campus; normal parking rates apply.

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UBC researcher and Southern Medical Program student Sandy Wright.

Variations in blood flow may be the method to pin down brain trauma

Sports-related concussions are a major public health concern and are notoriously difficult to diagnose. But new research from UBC’s Okanagan campus provides a new tool to help test athletes for recent brain trauma.

“Diagnosing concussions relies heavily on patients reporting their symptoms. While there are other tests that may be used to help clinicians make a diagnosis, they can be extremely subjective, inaccurate and, frankly, easy to manipulate,” says study lead author, a Southern Medical Program student, and PhD candidate Alexander (Sandy) Wright. “Because concussions can’t be seen on standard brain imaging, the holy grail in the concussion world has been to devise a test that can objectively say whether or not a patient has suffered a mild brain injury.”

Using ultrasound equipment to measure the speed of brain blood flow, Wright and his collaborators in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, measured the blood flow response to increased brain activity in the brains of 179 junior-level athletes before the athletic season.  Athletes who sustained concussions during the season completed the testing again at three time points after injury. Researchers found a clear link between the brain injury and changes to the brain’s blood flow response that were related to how long the athletes were sidelined from competition.

But Wright is quick to point out that sports-related concussions are extremely complex and that a single diagnostic tool—the Holy Grail—is unlikely. He suggests instead that his technique may be just one among a battery of tests that athletes may one day have access to.

“This is just one piece of an increasingly complicated puzzle,” he adds. “It could potentially be used alongside some other cutting-edge techniques being researched both in our lab at UBC Okanagan and around the world; including detecting blood biomarkers and advanced neuroimaging techniques.”

Wright says that this technique may one day help determine what degree and what type of concussion an athlete may have.

“The conversation over the past number of years suggests ‘concussion’ is not a single clinical entity, but rather a spectrum of slightly different brain injuries, all of which are difficult to detect,” he adds. “By developing some of these tests we’ve started to better understand how complex concussions really are.”

Ideally, he says, researchers will assemble a series of tests that will help objectively diagnose the injury and also provide some prognostic value and give clinicians an idea of how long brain healing might take

“The interesting part will be to assemble all of our objective tests into something that starts to resemble a grail.”

Wright’s research, recently published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation and Mitacs.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca

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New clinic leads to earlier diagnosis of GI cancers and reduces costs

Dr. Jacqueline Reid is now a first-year UBC internal medicine resident in Vancouver.

A new clinic model at Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in BC’s Okanagan region, has led to earlier diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers while also reducing overtime staffing costs, a new UBC study shows.

The study found that once VJH applied the new clinic model, called the Rapid Access Clinic for Endoscopy (RACE), the average wait time for urgent endoscopy was cut by almost 90 per cent and there were more than four times as many cancers diagnosed in those patients.

“The results were significant,” says Dr. Jacqueline Reid, the study’s first author and 2017 graduate from the Southern Medical Program based at UBC Okanagan. “With shorter wait times, cancers can be detected and diagnosed much earlier and patient outcomes can be improved.”

Endoscopy, where a diagnostic instrument is inserted into an organ or cavity, is used to investigate a number of internal health issues. Often used to detect an illness that may not show up on an X-ray, the test can help identify tumours, ulcers, internal bleeding or inflammation.

Reid, now a first-year UBC internal medicine resident, measured the impact of RACE by comparing six months of 2016 hospital data to the same timeframe from 2015, before the rapid access protocol was implemented. Data shows that the time from referral from a family or emergency doctor to actually having an endoscopy was significantly reduced from 97.7 to 12.1 days.

Dr. Hamish Hwang, VJH general surgeon and clinical assistant professor with the UBC Department of Surgery, says RACE re-aligns existing hospital resources by dedicating endoscopy time for these patients. And he notes it’s a model that could be adapted to fit within other community hospitals right across the country.

“The new clinic uses a direct-to-endoscopy process for worrisome symptoms like bleeding or weight loss,” he says. “When we get referrals from within the hospital or from family physicians in the community, patients bypass an office appointment and get their scope within two weeks.”

The RACE clinic also helped alleviate the burden on staffing and reduced overtime costs by dedicating time for patients in hospital requiring an emergency endoscopy. During the study, nursing overtime costs for the hospital decreased by 69 per cent.

As lead author of the study, Hwang underscores the importance of cooperation between physicians and administrators needed to adapt the RACE model to VJH and put it into action, and evaluate its effectiveness scientifically.

“The new clinic is a great example of how, when people put their heads together, they can improve patient care and lower costs,” adds Hwang.

The full article was published in the BC Medical Journal.

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More than 1,650 students will receive their degrees at UBC’s Okanagan campus this week.

For many, it’s one of the biggest milestones of their lives—graduating from university. At UBC’s Okanagan campus, nearly 1,650 students will reach that milestone this week as the university gears up for six convocation ceremonies.

Convocation starts Thursday, with four ceremonies, and wraps up Friday with two additional ceremonies. During these two days, UBC will confer 33 doctoral degrees, 148 master degrees, 1,465 undergraduate degrees and an honorary degree to Canadian artist Alex Janvier.

This is the twelfth graduating class at UBC’s Okanagan campus and the number of graduates has more than tripled since 2006, when UBC Okanagan’s very first graduating class of 468 crossed the stage.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Okanagan campus Deborah Buszard says this year’s graduates join the more than 325,000 alumni who have successfully graduated from UBC and continue to be members of the UBC community.

“Members of this, our twelfth, graduating class have already shown themselves to be accomplished change-makers and innovators on campus and in the community,” says Buszard. “They are extraordinarily talented and I have no doubt they will be a force for positive change wherever they go.”

While Convocation is a time to celebrate students, UBC also recognizes outstanding faculty at the event. Ramon Lawrence, an associate professor in Computer Science and Christine Schreyer, an associate professor of anthropology, will be presented with the Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation. And Security Manager Michael Gesi will be presented with the President’s Service Award for Excellence.

Convocation ceremonies will be webcast live at: graduation.ok.ubc.ca/event/live-webcast

Thursday, June 8

8:30 a.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Freshwater Sciences, General Studies (Science), Interdisciplinary Studies (Sciences), Microbiology, Zoology

11 a.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences 
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Anthropology, Computer Science, Economics, Gender and Women’s Studies, General Studies (Arts), Geography, History, Indigenous Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies (BSAS – Arts), International Relations, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics

1:30 p.m.—Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences & Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in: Art History, Creative Writing, Cultural Studies, English, French, Interdisciplinary Performance, Interdisciplinary Studies (FCCS), Philosophy, PPE, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish, Visual Arts

4 p.m.—Faculty of Applied Science: School Of Engineering
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for students in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Friday, June 9

8:30 a.m.—Faculty of Education; Faculty of Management
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Management

11 a.m.—Faculty of Health and Social Development: School of Health and Exercise Sciences; School of Nursing; School of Social Work
All Ph.D., master, or undergrad degrees for Human Kinetics, Interdisciplinary Studies, Nursing, and Social Work

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