Vantage College Committees

Service Committee Assignments 2026–2027

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 (Principal, Academic Director)
Associate Deans Academic and Academic Directors Committee (Principal, Academic Director)
Associate Deans Faculty (Principal)

Leadership Committee

Goals: Setting of strategic goals/targets/priorities, strategic steering of Vantage College portfolios, budget management, development of Vantage College-specific policies for Faculty and Staff.

Fox, Joanne (Principal, ex officio Chair)
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio member)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio member)
Schmiesing, Susanne (Director, Business Development & Operations, ex officio member)

Academic Executive Committee

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, ex officio Chair)
Motavas, Saloome (Vantage One Engineering Chair, ex officio member)
Allen, Meghan (Vantage One Science Chair, ex officio member)
Lyon, Katherine (Vantage One Arts Chair, ex officio member)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio member)
Gadhia, Atul (Academic Advising Manager, ex officio member)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager, ex officio member)

Program Committees

Goals: coordinate the curriculum in a Vantage program (Arts, 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

Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio Chair)
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio member)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager, ex officio member)
Ferreira, Alfredo
Lightfoot, Jennifer
Martin, Jodie
Mehdian, Noosha
Pringle, John
Riccardi, Daniel
Shaw, Weaver
Walsh Marr, Jennifer

Program Committee, Applied Science

Motavas, Saloome (Vantage One Engineering Program Chair, ex officio Chair)
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio member)
Chan, Tina (Applied Science Academic Advisor, ex officio member)
Gadhia, Atul (Academic Advising Manager, ex officio member)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio member)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager, ex officio member)
Abelló, Juan
Bagherzadeh, Alireza
Ferreira, Alfredo
Frigaard, Ian
Goh, Ernest
Li, Jing
Najarian, Siamak
Prodanovic, Vladan
Riccardi, Daniel
Trudel, Elizabeth
Walsh Marr, Jennifer

Program Committee, Arts

Lyon, Katherine (Vantage One Arts Program Chair, ex officio Chair)
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio)
Ghadia, Atul (Academic Advising Manager, ex officio member)
Garcena, Arbee (Arts Academic Advisor, ex officio member)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager, ex officio member)
Burton, Strang
Im, Hee Yeon
Lanthier, Michael
Lightfoot, Jennifer
Lou, Adrian
Mehdian, Noosha
Prest, Stewart
Starnes, Jason

Program Committee, Science

Allen, Meghan (Vantage One Science Program Chair, ex officio Chair)
Arias-Hernandez, Richard (Academic Director, ex officio)
Ghadia, Atul (Academic Advising Manager, ex officio member)
Dennis, Beth (Science Academic Advisor, ex officio member)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra (Academic English Program Director, ex officio)
Wilson, Brian (Curriculum Manager, ex officio member)
Fameli, Nicola
Ferreira, Alfredo
Lekhi, Anka
Liang, Jinting
Martin, Jodie
Mehdian, Noosha
Pete, Shandin
Pringle, John
Rieger, Georg
Shaw, Weaver
Thomas, Anne

Vantage Committees

If you are interested on serving on any of these committees below, you can email your expression of interest to academic.director@vantagecollege.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
Lyon, Katherine
Walsh Marr, Jennifer
Zheng, Susan

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.

Wilson, Brian (Chair)
Tsiu, Oscar
Zhang, Lynn
Zheng, Susan

(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 (Co-Chair)
Riccardi, Daniel (Co-Chair)
Zappa-Hollman, Sandra
Zhang, Lynn

Student Awards

Goals: Committee struck annually (in partnership with the International Student Initiative) to adjudicate the Vantage One Excellence Award for the coming academic year.

Motavas, Saloome (Chair)
Gadhia, Atul
Martin, Jodie
Lyon, Katherine
[International Scholarship Program, non-voting, member-at-large to be confirmed]

(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.