Vantage College Committees

Service Committee Assignments 2025–2026

Listed below are committee descriptions and suggested goals. It is recommended that each committee meet at least twice per term. At the end of each academic year, the chair of each committee will be asked to write a short summary (maximum one page) of the committee’s activities that year.

In addition to these service committees, Vantage representatives also sit on UBC-wide committees:

Enrolment Executive Committee (Academic Director)
Academic Model and Transformation Advisory Committee AMTAC (Academic Director)
Associate Deans Academic and Students advisory group (Academic Director)

Academic Executive

Goals: interpretation of university-wide policies and practices into the context of Vantage College programs, share information about program development and student success, and collaborate on Vantage-wide initiatives.

Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, Chair)
Bagherzadeh, Alireza (Vantage One Engineering, ex officio)
Gadhia, Atul (Manager of Advising)
Lekhi, Anka (Vantage One Science chair, ex officio)
Rea, Jackie (Vantage One Arts chair, ex officio)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)

Program Committees

Goals: coordinate the curriculum in a Vantage program (Applied Science or Science) or in the Vantage Academic English Program, promote collaborations between instructors, advocate for teaching innovations.

In addition to these committees, adjudication of admissions and transition into degree programs is provided by program chairs and student advising for each program.

Academic English Program

Academic Director (ex officio)
Ferreira, Alfredo
Riccardi, Daniel
Shaw, Weaver
Todd, Brett
Walsh Marr, Jennifer
Wilson, Brian
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Chair)

Program Committee, Applied Science

Abelló, Juan
Bagherzadeh, Alireza (Vantage One Engineering, Chair)
Chan, Tina
Gadhia, Atul
Ghaemi, Roza
Goh, Ernest
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio)
Motavas, Saloome
Najarian, Siamak
Prodanovic, Vladan
Walsh Marr, Jennifer
Wilson, Brian
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)

Program Committee, Arts

Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio)
Burton, Strang
Garcena, Arbee
Lanthier, Michael
Lightfoot, Jennifer
Meadows, Craig
Prest, Stewart
Rea, Jackie (Chair)
Wilson, Brian
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)

Program Committee, Science

Allen, Meghan
Dennis, Beth
Donnelly, Caitlin
Ferreira, Alfredo
Gadhia, Atul
Ives, Joss
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio)
Lekhi, Anka (Vantage One Science, Chair)
Leung, Fok-Shuen
Pete, Shandin
Riccardi, Daniel
Rieger, Georg
Shaw, Weaver
Thomas, Anne
Wilson, Brian
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)

Vantage Committees

If you are interested on serving on any of these committees below, you can email your expression of interest to suzie.lavallee@ubc.ca

Diversity, Accessibility, Intercultural Communication & Reciprocity (D.A.I.R.)

Goals: advocate diversity and equity, respond to access, diversity and equity issues, promote a culture of inclusion and justice.

Gadhia, Atul
Lekhi, Anka
Walsh Marr, Jennifer

Health & Safety / Space & Facilities

Goals: ensure Orchard Commons meets the standards set out by Worksafe BC. Coordinate allocation of space and approve alterations at Orchard Commons, develop IT initiatives for Vantage programs, respond to Vantage-specific IT issues.

Todd, Brett
Tsiu, Oscar
Wilson, Brian (Chair)
Zhang, Lynn

(LINK to ANNUAL REPORT HERE)

Professional Development and Awards

Goals: organize educational and professional development programs, nominate staff and faculty for awards, i.e. university-wide awards, Vantage TA award, Vantage Staff award, Vantage Educational Innovation award, and Vantage Teaching award.

Ferreira, Alfredo
Riccardi, Daniel
Vaez Ghaemi, Roza
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra
Zhang, Lynn

Student Awards

Goals: Propose and adjudicate student awards, including the Vantage One Excellence Award, from the applicant pool for the coming academic year.

Abelló, Juan (Chair)
Bagherzadeh, Alireza, Vantage One Engineering program chair (ex officio)
Chan, Tina
Donnelly, Caitlin
Lekhi, Anka, Vantage One Science program chair (ex officio)

(LINK to ANNUAL REPORT HERE)

Sustainability

Goals: Foster a culture of climate optimism within our interdisciplinary unit by promoting sustainability-focused engagement among students, staff, and faculty.