SVPA BLOG

At Humber, our goal is to provide learners with the education and skills they need to succeed in their chosen field. Our alumni make significant contributions in their local communities and around the globe with their knowledge, skills, and commitment to humanitarian efforts.

Such is the case with our Paramedic diploma program and International Development (ID) graduate certificate – two programs uniquely positioned to prepare graduates to work in emergency response and humanitarian relief fields.

Humber has made a strategic commitment to increasing accessibility for all students by adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in teaching and learning. We have also committed to increasing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as seen by the work of our EDI Task Force, its sub-committees, and the EDI mindset that is embedded in our Humber Learning Outcomes. We reach more of our students by welcoming them to the learning community, by showing them that we see them, and that they belong.

We know that the skilled trades are critical to the success of our economy. We also know that there is a significant skills gap and an aging workforce within the skilled trades. We must continue to have conversations with young people about the many advantages of pursuing careers in the 144 skilled trades and increase support for those who decide to join the next generation of skilled trades professionals.

Recently our news and social feeds have been flooded with discussions and opinions about artificial intelligence and its capabilities for our day-to-day lives. From the hilarious (poetry on topics from human anatomy to the legal system) to the practical (passing the MCAT and LSAT exams), the media reports have been diverse and plenty. These media and other attentions have fostered discussions related to the impact to the educational sector with both excitement and trepidation as to what it will mean for student learning and our teaching practices.

Last Friday may have brought record-breaking low temperatures to Lakeshore Campus; however, the weather was far from the only remarkable thing happening that day! Inside G Cottage’s BMO Innovation Lounge, the Centre for Creative Business Innovation (CCBI) and Humber Galleries presented their 2022 Fellowship Showcase, a free event open to all.

Last week’s announcement of the $30 million gift from the Barrett Family Foundation marks the largest donation made to an Ontario college. With this gift, the Foundation’s donation to Humber totals $42 million. This transformational gift, offered over 15 years, includes support for 100 student scholarships each year, new, innovative programming, and activities within the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation (CTI).

Last week, Humber welcomed Alex Coqueiro, Director of the Public Sector Solutions Architect team at Amazon Web Services (AWS), to share and explore the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to the future of post-secondary education.

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.