Happy new year and welcome to the official blog of the Senior Vice-President, Academic. I look forward to writing posts regularly, contributing thought leadership, and having guest posts written by individuals from within and outside the Academic Division. The new Academic Division website was created to ensure there is one virtual place where we can share important information, news and updates. You will find links to the Academic Plan and the Digital Campus Plan, and we will continue to populate the site with information about academic initiatives, including regular updates on the progress of the Academic Plan. Please use the contact us function to reach out to me with any questions or feedback you may have. 

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new employees who began working in the Academic Division in January. We had 19 new full-time faculty members begin this month. I encourage you to take part in everything Humber has to offer, beginning with the Teaching Excellence Program. I know that the staff in the Centre for Innovative Learning are eager to support you through your teaching journey. I am also pleased to welcome several new support and administrative staff members into various positions across the Academic Division, all of whom have an important role to play in supporting student success.

We introduced two new academic programs this month – a graduate certificate in Artificial Intelligence with Machine Learning in the Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology, as well as the new RPN to BScN Bridging, Bachelor of Science Honours Degree program for graduates of the Practical Nursing Program in the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness. We are always developing new programs that reflect the needs of the Ontario labour market and I will continue to share new program information with you as each is approved.  

Later this month, our students will have an opportunity to learn about pathways that are available to them at our annual Pathways Fair. This first-ever hybrid event will involve approximately 40 domestic and international institutions and will take place at the North campus (January 24), at the Lakeshore campus (January 25) and at the International Graduate School (January 23) from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  Please feel free to share this information with your students.

As announced at the Academic Townhall in November, we have created a forum for Program Coordinators to share experiences and discuss topics of interest. The first meeting will take place on January 27. I appreciate how important the Program Coordinators are to the experience of our students and to the success of our programs and look forward to learning from you.

I am excited about the year ahead – and look forward to working with all of you as we accomplish our goals. As always, thank you for all that you do for our students and for one another.