(L to R) Bree Beveridge, UBC 23 24 Co-Associate Director, CEIH, Jenny Li, Education Program Assistant, UBCH, Courtney Smith, UBC 23 24 Co-Associate Director, CEIH, Carrie Krekoski, Assistant Director, Education, UBCH, Salina Schmidt, UBC 23 24 Curriculum & Facilitation Manager, CEIH, Teah Bryce, UBC 23 24 Operations Coordinator, CEIH, Michelle Hamilton, Education Program Manager, UBCH
The Integrated Curriculum Team—comprised of staff from the Office of the Vice-President, Health (UBC Health) and the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health (CEIH) was recently awarded the 2025 President’s Staff Award for Collaborative Excellence. The award exemplifies collaborative excellence in delivering the Integrated Curriculum, an interprofessional program that is a required component of 14 health professional programs at UBC.
The team builds strong relationships based on reciprocity, respect and a deep commitment to reconciliation. The team skillfully coordinates this complex program which spans multiple faculties, departments and schools, and extends across distributed sites in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory in Vancouver, Sylix Territory in Kelowna, Lheidli T’enneh Territory in Prince George, Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Territory in Victoria, and sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), q̓ʷa:n̓ƛ̓ən (Kwantlen), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), and sʔi:ɬqəy̓əɬ təməxʷ (Semiahmoo) Territories in Surrey.
The Integrated Curriculum Team builds strong foundations for teamwork by grounding the work in a commitment to kindness, relational approaches, strong communication and collaborative decision making—values and principles rooted in both Western and Indigenous perspectives. They have also demonstrated resilience and innovation in addressing challenges — from advocating for in-person curriculum delivery to better support team-based learning and Indigenous pedagogies, to conducting accessibility audits to ensure equitable participation. The team consistently goes beyond program delivery by responding to evaluation feedback and adapting curriculum to better support student learning and wellbeing.
The collaboration and dedication of the Integrated Curriculum Team ensures that this valuable program runs smoothly and continually evolves to benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, communities, and the future health workforce.
President’s Staff Award for Collaborative Excellence
The President’s Staff Award for Collaborative Excellence is presented to a group of staff who demonstrate exceptional team effectiveness through meaningful collaboration, shared expertise, trust and respect, inclusivity, and effective resolution of conflicts or differing perspectives. They perform synergistically to overcome significant challenges and obstacles and achieve a common goal over and above the expectations of the job – and deliver high-value, high-quality outcomes that benefit the university and/or greater community. They collaborate and contribute beyond their own unit to make UBC a first-choice place to work, research, and teach.
This article was originally published by UBC Human Resources (Focus on People) and has been slightly edited.