UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 06 | Mar. 22, 2001

Digest

Adjust your salaries

A market adjustment of $1 million will be applied to the salaries of management and professional staff represented by the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff at UBC.

The adjustment of 2.3 per cent to the overall salary grid and to the base salaries of individual employees will be applied to all job families except the seven job families that are at or near the market median salary level.

The excluded job families are: Athletics; Bookstore Management; Building Maintenance; Computer and Data Processing; Development Office; Educational Programming; Residence Co-ordinator.

The adjustment resulted from independent market survey data on more than 50 UBC job families.

The adjustment will appear on March 31 pay cheques and is retroactive to Jan. 1.

Go native

The third annual Pacific Northwest Native Plant Sale will be held April 8 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the UBC Botanical Garden. Admission is free.

This year, threats of water shortages in the Lower Mainland are expected to draw gardeners searching for plants that thrive in dry conditions.

The sale is the largest event of its kind in Western Canada or Washington State and many of the more than 300 species of native plants for sale are difficult to find say organizers.

The sale is co-sponsored by the university's Friends of the Garden and the Native Plant Society.

Nominate for NSERC awards

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is accepting nominations for the annual Michael Smith Awards and the 2001 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.

The Michael Smith awards recognize individuals and organizations who make an outstanding contribution to the promotion of science in Canada through activities that encourage popular interest or develop science abilities.

They honour Nobel Prize-winner and UBC Prof. Emeritus Michael Smith. Up to five awards will be given.

The Herzberg Medal is NSERC's highest honour. It is awarded annually in recognition of sustained excellence and influence in research by an individual in Canada who has substantially advanced the natural sciences or engineering fields.

In addition to the medal, the award winner will receive $1 million over a five-year period for either the recipient's university-based research or to be directed in some related way, such as the establishment of research scholarships.

All researchers at Canadian universities and in government or corporate research labs are eligible for the Herzberg Medal. Deadline for nominations is April 15.

For details on the Herzberg awards visit www.nserc.ca/about/award_nomin_e.htm or phone (613) 995-5829. For details on the Michael Smith awards visit www.nserc.ca/msmith/en or call (613) 947-2524.

Joint biotechnology degree offered

UBC and the B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT) have created a new Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology that will be offered jointly through the two institutions.

Developed with the support of B.C.'s biotechnology industry, the degree is designed to meet the growing demands for skilled workers in that sector.

After completing one year of pre-entry studies, students will take two years at BCIT followed by two years at UBC. Four co-op work terms as well as industry-sponsored projects form part of the program.

"This is a good example of the post-secondary sector, industry and government coming together to create another leading-edge program of benefit to students," says Neil Guppy, associate vice-president, Academic Programs.

Courses begin in September and the program will graduate its first students in 2004.