People and Change: Janine Wood

In each edition of the IRP Community Connect newsletter, we will speak with a faculty or staff member from across UBC to get their perspective on the IRP. This month, we speak with Janine Wood, executive administrator, Office of the Provost and Vice President, UBC Okanagan.

What is your role at UBC?

I’m responsible for the management of administrative operations for the Office of the Provost, as well as liaising with other offices and departments across our campuses.

What is your role in supporting the IRP?

I am the IRP Transition Lead for our office.

Why did you decide to get involved with the IRP?

Because of the administrative work my role requires (including working with HR and finance), the change to Workday will affect a significant portion of my work. I was excited for the opportunity to learn about the upcoming changes so that our office would be ready to go once Workday goes live. 

What are you most excited for with Workday?

This is a difficult question!  Aside from the updated interface, I’m looking forward to being able to see everyone’s relationship in the university, all the way up to President Ono. Sometimes it’s difficult to track down which assistant supports which executive, so it will be very helpful to be able to look them up through their supervisory organizations.

What benefits do you see in the future coming out of the transition to Workday? What do we have to look forward to?

From what I have seen so far, Workday is extremely intuitive and has a great interface. I’m relatively new to the university so I’ve had to learn a lot of processes on our current system, and it’s been an adventure!  I think Workday will streamline a lot of those processes. New employees and students will have a much easier time learning and navigating the system. 

What’s one piece of advice you have for your colleagues for the upcoming transition?

Embrace it! 

Where is your favourite local place to ‘unplug’?

We’re spoiled for scenery in the Okanagan. Anywhere I can get a view of the valley and feel the wind through my hair is a good place to be!