A Decade of Service: An Interview with PIMS COO, Denise Feighan
This interview is part of the 2021 International Women’s Day, highlighting scientific and administrative leadership at PIMS. Ms. Feighan talks about her career highlights and some of the transitions taking place at the institute.
By Ruth A. Situma, Program Manager
As Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PIMS, Denise has her plate full. She has multiple deadlines to meet; financial reporting is due by end-month and the numbers need to add up; she has to balance some human resource issues; make sure agreements with other organizations are up to date, and that each member university has funding to run their programs. We will not broach the subject of fiscal projections, because that requires her to predict what the future holds for an organization as complicated as PIMS.
Though the pandemic has thrown lots of new and unusual challenges at PIMS, as COO, Denise makes sure these are tackled, all while focusing on the “usual” things that make PIMS what it is. When it comes to managing people and operations (and money), she’s the one to call. She has built a variety of skillsets and experience since her undergraduate days: After a BSc. in Biochemistry from the University of Calgary, she worked in various medical research labs. In 2003 she transferred from a neuroscience research lab at the University of Calgary to the UBC Brain Research Centre — a bigger and more complex lab. Denise joined PIMS in 2011 as a Manager of Finance and Administration, and became COO in 2018.
This year she marks a decade of working for PIMS, and her commitment is nothing short of remarkable. In this interview, we connect with Denise and explore her take on life at PIMS and its transitions. We have edited the interview for clarity.
You have been at PIMS for ten years, what are some of the highlights of your career at the institute?
There are a lot to choose from, but I highlight a few speakers and events that I have enjoyed during my time at PIMS.
In 2012, Robert Lang gave a PIMS Public Lecture on the Modern Science of Origami. I was amazed at some of his creations and how origami design has been involved in practical engineering problems, like airbags.
For several years, PIMS ran the Emerging Aboriginal Scholars Summer Camp for high school students. One component of this program was that students had work experience with a researcher on campus 3 afternoons a week. I felt this was an extremely important opportunity for the students.
In 2017, Cedric Villani visited PIMS from France and gave a talk called The Hidden Beauty of Mathematics. It was about the interface between mathematics and art. In 2019, Etienne Ghys did a presentation on the Geometry of Snowflakes which included many beautiful images. As a non-mathematician, both of these lectures appealed to me.
I attended a closing dinner for the undergraduate students who had participated in the 2019 Diversity in Math Summer School. During that dinner, the students were asked if they were considering grad school in mathematics. All of the students at my table (about 10) said they were excited about math and definitely considering grad school. Further conversation revealed that many of them had no intentions of advancing to grad school when they arrived at the beginning of the program. To me this is a great success story, where a PIMS program made them think twice about graduate studies.
Becoming Chief Operations Officer has definitely been a highlight of my time at PIMS!
PIMS is a consortium of ten member-universities and three affiliate universities. Not many people understand the complexities of running a multi-site organization such as this one. Can you tell us a little bit about how you approach some of these institutional complexities, and how your role ties the operation together?
The distributed nature of PIMS makes it very complex to manage. Each site has its own procedures and constraints as well as unique opportunities. I have found it helpful to separate PIMS into three areas: operations, finances and human resources. Generally, it is best to start with a high-level outlook and then work down into the details for each site. For finance, the first question is, “What will PIMS spend its money on?” An overall global budget is created based on the answers to that question. The next step is to work out where and when PIMS will spend this money. Local budgets are created for each site based on that information. The final step is to work out a system to transfer funding from PIMS Central to the sites so that the money is in the right place at the right time.
For human resources it is a matter of determining the total workload and then breaking down duties based on what tasks can best be done centrally and what would be more efficiently handled at the sites. It is important to consider that the administrative needs will be different at each site.
For operations, the question is, “How can the staff at PIMS Central support the personnel and activities at each site?” It is key to making sure that all sites are successful.
My role is to oversee each of these areas and do everything I can to keep the PIMS “machine” working smoothly.
You have served with two directors (Alejandro Adem and James Colliander) and one interim director (Martin Barlow). PIMS will be heading through another director transition in a few months, and you play an important role in that transition. What aspects will make this transition a success?
There are a couple of keys to making the transition to a new Director a success. The first is information. It is essential that the new Director has all the information he or she needs about PIMS operations, distributed structure, human resources, financial situation, possibilities and limitations. There is a lot going on and it is beneficial to understand what is happening both at PIMS Central and out at the sites. The second key is for the Director to quickly develop a strong working relationship with the staff at PIMS Central. The current staff are very experienced and are an excellent resource for anyone new.
Speaking of transitions, how has COVID-19 changed your role and that if the PIMS operations? Do you think these changes are here to stay?
COVID-19 has meant that all PIMS staff, both at UBC and the sites, are working remotely from home. It has also meant that in-person events are not happening at this time. As much as possible, PIMS has shifted to online events using Zoom and other platforms. My role has partially shifted to supporting innovations in how we promote the mathematical sciences. PIMS is trying to create the best possible environment for meetings, seminars and other collaborations to proceed virtually. I believe some of these changes are here to stay, but I hope not all of them. PIMS can definitely save money and reduce our carbon footprint by decreasing travel for some meetings, especially administrative ones. However, a great deal of good science gets done when people meet face to face and work together. I hope we will be able to eventually return to our office space in PIMS at least part time and restore the sense of community which has suffered because everyone is isolated.
Your job is complex. What grounds you, and, how do you achieve a work life balance?
Well, I am an urban hiker. I love going for long walks, especially along the beach in Kitsilano or the seawall at Stanley Park or False Creek. I am also a cross-stitch enthusiast and I enjoy Kakuro puzzles.
But the main reason I am able to carry out my job without losing my mind is because of the exceptional team of people who work with me at PIMS Central. I have great confidence in them and this helps me achieve work/life balance. I am able to turn off my Slack, email and work laptop and take breaks or, in pre-pandemic times, to travel and not be worried about PIMS while I am away.
Join us on March 8, 2021, — International Women’s Day — as we celebrate scientific and administrative leadership at PIMS.
