Meet Our Sponsors: Deborah Buszard

As Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal at UBC in the Okanagan (UBCO), Professor Deborah Buszard provides overall leadership for the Okanagan campus, including on initiatives and priorities. An Executive Sponsor for the Integrated Renewal Program (IRP), Professor Buszard ensures the Workday implementation is aligned with UBC’s strategic priorities. She recently shared her thoughts on the coming changes Workday will have on the UBC community.

Among all the 3-letter acronyms at UBC, what makes the IRP stand out to you?

We certainly love our acronyms, don’t we? To me, IRP represents a unique system that will transform our existing outdated workflow into a modern simplified process. The IRP will transform a wide range of administrative activities to make our processes more intuitive and responsive to the needs of stakeholders.

As UBC embarks on this transformation and shifts to Workday, what are some key benefits you foresee as a result of this change?

We currently spend a significant amount of valuable time managing administrative tasks and tracking down reliable information from a variety of sources across internal systems. Doing that type of transactional work – sometimes more than once – takes us away from the more involved, creative, and imaginative ways we can support and contribute to the university’s academic mission. Soon, all UBC data will be in one system – no dual entry – available in such a way that is intuitive and accessible directly to whomever requires it across our campuses.

Think about what we as a community will accomplish when units across UBC have an intuitive system that meets their needs and offers more efficient and less laborious ways of doing things!

Transformational change can present challenges and disruption to our day-to-day. In the face of change, what advice do you have for the UBC community to stay centered and successfully navigate through this journey?

It’s important to remember that although change can seem overwhelming at first we have an excellent network in place to support us as we take these important next steps. The best way to equip ourselves for a change is to gain knowledge. I encourage everyone to look for opportunities to learn more about upcoming changes and ask questions!

With a new implementation timeline in the planning stages, how would you encourage the UBC community to stay engaged with the IRP?

Stay informed and get trained!

The IRP Community Connect newsletter is a great way to stay informed with what is happening – subscribe here. Training is also available to everyone and is tailored to meet a variety of learning preferences - I encourage everyone to take training opportunities! Explore options for training here.