A university degree is part of our identity in the working world, and often stands as common ground to make a new connection. Even years after the degree hangs on the wall, our network of peers continues to grow.

UBC has a strong penchant for alumni relations and believes in supporting the lifelong community you join when becoming a UBC student. Their new complex, the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre was born to facilitate relationships of likeminded students and alumni.

The centre, located at the corner of University Boulevard and East mall in the Vancouver Campus, is home to classrooms, social spaces, a lounge library and café. Its other main function, a selling point for those who aren’t Thunderbirds, is as a conference and events venue.

The 41,700 square foot facility can house anything from corporate meetings to fundraisers and weddings. The smallest space, ideal for meetings or web-conferences, is an intimate size of 350 square feet. For those looking to host a larger-scale event, parties of up to 400 can fit inside the reception-style space.

Although built in the spirit of alumni relations, the complex was designed to accommodate all types of events. Its diverse selection of spaces boasts advanced technology for audio, video, telecommunication services, digital signage and web-conferencing.

To ease the process of event preparation, the centre provides front-of-house staff to support planning. In-house kitchen and catering staff are also available.

Check out this article from Meetings Canada for more info!

Public chooses Help! Teeth Hurt! as recipient of social entrepreneur support kit from alumni UBCalumni UBC has revealed that the winner of its 2015 “your evolution” program is Help! Teeth Hurt! – a project aimed at creating a specialized dental clinic for adults with developmental disabilities. The organization will receive a “social entrepreneur support kit” including a mentoring session with UBC President, Professor Arvind Gupta.

“your evolution” empowers social entrepreneurism projects undertaken by UBC alumni around the world. It’s an innovative, online project-sharing platform that uses the strength of the UBC network to connect and support alumni working on socially beneficial projects. This year approximately 300 projects were uploaded to the “your evolution” website and 10 finalists were selected. The public has been voting at www.yourevolution.ubc.ca and this week Help! Teeth Hurt! was named the overall winner with a total of 1024 votes.

Help! Teeth Hurt! is a project founded by lawyer and UBC alumna Joan Rush.  The mother of an autistic son, Joan discovered that many adults with developmental disabilities fall through the cracks in terms of dental care.  Adults suffering from conditions such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism can't be treated in a typical dental office and often require treatment under general anesthesia.  Many adults with developmental disabilities also have complex medical conditions, which require that they be near a hospital intensive care unit while under sedation.

There is currently no specialized dental clinic in B.C. that includes a general anesthetic suite for these adults, and dental students currently receive little or no training in how to treat them. The resulting problem is that many adults wait years for treatment in hospital and suffer serious and irreversible decay.

The goal of Help! Teeth Hurt! is to create a specialized dental clinic for adults with developmental disabilities at the UBC Hospital. This clinic would treat adults with disabilities and be a training centre for students of dentistry, medicine, and social work.

As the winner of this year’s “your evolution” Help! Teeth Hurt! will receive a “social entrepreneur support kit” including:

•  Professional photography session or the production of a video to help its cause.
• A mentoring session with UBC President, Professor Arvind Gupta.
• A mentoring session with entrepreneur, venture capitalist and Chairman of Rising Tide Fund Ossama R. Hassanein. MASc’74, MBA’76 – a member of UBC’s start an evolution Campaign Cabinet.
• Access to a consultation with a UBC faculty member in an area most relevant to the project’s needs (e.g. business, law, engineering, computer science).

alumni UBC is calling on members of the University of British Columbia (UBC) community who are making a positive change in the world to tell their stories as part of its “your evolution” program.The program isan innovative, online story-sharing platform that uses the strength of the UBC network to enable alumni, faculty, staff and partners to connect and support fellow alumni working on projects they are passionate about. UBC graduates, students, faculty, staff, volunteers, and donors who are involved in a socially beneficial project are urged to upload their stories up until March 1 to www.yourevolution.ubc.ca. Ten projects will be shortlisted by March 9 and the public will be asked to vote for their favourite. While only one prize will be awarded, all entrants will receive valuable exposure for their projects via the website and social media.

The winner will receive a “social entrepreneur support kit” including:

• Professional photography session or the production of a video to help its cause
• Mentoring session with UBC President, Professor Arvind Gupta
• Access to a consultation with a UBC faculty member in an area most relevant to the project’s needs (e.g. business, law, engineering, computer science).

For further information and to enter your project, visit www.yourevolution.ubc.ca.

Last week, Business in Vancouver explored the benefits of mentoring and networking by speaking with UBC alumnus, Carmen Lee of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association. Through the networking and mentorship programs alumni UBC is building lifelong connections between graduates and UBC.

Read the full story here.