Award Recipients

Cheryl is an outstanding faculty respected by her colleagues and students as well as Humber community. She is an exceptional Program Coordinator for the Project Management Graduate Certificate (PMPG) program with leadership, vision, and passion, to maintaining the program industry-relevant. Cheryl is an excellent leader who provides a collegial environment where faculties and staff collaborate with mutual respect and trust for academic excellence and for the benefit of the program and the students. She provides exceptional support and extra care for the students.

Cheryl initiated and championed the Alternative Capstone Project format that took the capstone project experience to the next level, engaging industry partners and students and faculties from other programs, to provide truly multi-disciplinary project opportunities and professional experience. She was also actively and enthusiastically involved with the preparation for Humber’s International Graduate School, and successfully launched her program at the IGS in January 2021.

Cheryl was appointed as a Co-Chair of IGS Round Table to make sure the programs at IGS provide the best learning experience to all IGS students and works passionately to implement a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) component in her PMPG program to provide professional working experience to the students. She is a member of a WIL team in FAST to explore the best WIL model that can work for all FAST graduate certificate programs.

Throughout the year, Cheryl engages the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) and its members for consultation in program update and curriculum revision, consulting them in subgroups of the PAC, according to their expertise. She is a Principal Investigator of an applied research project to develop an instructional software for Project Management Simulator Software, being awarded with research grants for three consecutive terms.

Cheryl is also a part of another applied research project: Change Management Simulation Software. Alongside her team of faculties, she has been working with Humber’s Office of Applied Research and Innovation, and planning to design a simulation software for Institutional Change Management Simulation.

Marilyn fearlessly takes her advertising and marketing students to areas where they can do the most good; to change society, to amplify voices, and to do so with solid research. In turn, these research-driven learning modules, REB designations and experiences lead to job opportunities for many Humber students each year.

She is the frontline support for challenges people don’t want to talk about but must discuss, in order to make a change. Marylin’s research work and her ability to network with like-minded organizations have created memorable learning and understanding for many community organizations. Recently with the Toronto Police Services, via a Hate Crimes Brochure (2021), Toronto Police Guns and Gangs Initiative (2017-2018) and the Fentanyl initiative in association with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (2014-2017). Each of these research, marketing, and communications projects was collaborative with the client, faculty, and students. The project’s findings provided the client with real-world impact, observations, and a path forward.

Marilyn is currently taking a leadership role with her colleagues across faculties on two new research projects. The work with the Ubuntu Table Research Project is examining the connectedness between student success and wellness. She consistently demonstrates effective information gathering protocols, ethics, and question bias with students through these real-life projects. Humber students are provided hands-on research, writing, advertising and presentation experience.

Her second research project is about cannabis edibles and harm reduction. Receiving a prestigious NSERC grant, Marilyn along with colleagues in Humber’s Faculty of Community and Social services are researching education for harm reduction and identifying societal attitudes with respect to cannabis.

Marilyn has also taken the lead on internal Humber initiatives – such as the strategic Banner rollout, the college’s institutional learning outcomes (ILO), and various other marketing projects for the Ad Centre, Pixel Perfect, Humber Arboretum, and Humber Sustainability.

Outside of Humber her reputation for outstanding research shines a positive light on the work the College does in applied learning. Her distinctive work advances Humber’s reputation for critical research and thinking. Taking time with professors from Brock University, Marilyn created and presented a custom presentation on “ Advertising and Adolescence.”

It’s her passion to understand the gaps which exist in social research, and then with her students carefully, respectfully, and ethically explore why and how we can learn and do better. We need people like Marilyn to teach students to think critically and then ask and research the questions.

Marilyn’s work style is collaborative, she is a mentor and coach for new faculty, current students, alumni, and coordinators to support and align program delivery with Humber’s Strategic plans including AODA initiatives and Human Rights Equity and Diversity among other essential changes.

As Faculty Development Advisor in Teaching and Learning, Ranya Khan is a dedicated, knowledgeable and reflective educator whose commitment to inclusive education reaches students, faculty and staff across Humber. Ranya knows that fostering a sense of belonging and creating transformative learning opportunities are essential to student success. To accomplish this, Ranya integrates equity and inclusion in all that she does.

Ranya exhibits both breadth and depth of knowledge of inclusive curriculum design, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and equitable teaching strategies in higher education. Her practice is evidence-informed and grounded in the neuroscience of learning, which recognizes that learning can happen only when learners feel safe and that they belong.

With a keen interest in current scholarship related to critical theories, anti-oppression theories, critical pedagogies, and intersectionality, Ranya models transformative learning approaches by helping faculty transform themselves through deep reflection and practical application.

Ranya has articulated to colleagues that her passion for social justice and anti-oppression in education keep her motivated in her work. She models this in her advisory role, her professional activities, and her role as lead facilitator in the Teaching Excellence Program. In 2019, for instance, Ranya revamped the TEP curriculum by threading Indigenous perspectives through the course and strengthening the presence of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) fundamentals. Each year, she amplifies student voices and multiple perspectives by inviting current students from different programs to sit on a student panel and answer faculty questions about their learning experiences.

A collaborative leader in the truest sense, Ranya has co-developed and co-facilitated impactful and thought-provoking professional learning sessions at the institutional, Academic Faculty, and departmental level. In February 2020, Ranya delivered an inspiring and thought-provoking keynote address at Humber’s International Women’s Day event. In her talk, she spoke of the challenges, strengths, and triumphs of women as leaders in higher education. A co-lead on the Curriculum Working Group in the EDI Taskforce, Ranya is working tirelessly to enhance EDI and IWBKD capacity in Academic Faculties.

Alongside Regina Hartwick, Associate Dean of Indigenous Education and Engagement, Ranya co-organized and co-facilitated the Reading for Resurgence Faculty Indigenous Book Club. In January 2021, Ranya co-developed and co-facilitated an interactive faculty-wide EDI Session in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences. In the spring of 2021, she led the English Department’s EDI Institute event, as well as Inclusive Educator training with Early Childhood Educator faculty. And, inspired by recent sociopolitical movements, Ranya developed and facilitated a successful webinar series called “Addressing Microaggressions and Managing Difficult Conversations in the Classroom.”

In her professional practice, Ranya exhibits courage and resilience as a faculty leader with a laser-focused mission: to support faculty in developing themselves as reflective practitioners, removing learning barriers for all students and fostering a sense of belonging for everyone in the classroom.

Ranya Khan actively ensures that individuals feel connected to each other by offering her own experiences and creating opportunities for individuals to comfortably share their own lived experiences, whether it is anonymously, in a group setting, or by leveraging different technologies. Put simply, her work exemplifies community building and belongingness.

Richard Alvarez has been a full-time Professor in the Paramedic program since 2008 and during this time has demonstrated leadership in developing an effective learning environment for students both in and outside the classroom.

Upon graduation from the Humber College Paramedic Program in 2002 and Advanced Care Paramedic Program in 2004, Professor Richard Alvarez worked as a paramedic for Peel Regional Paramedic Services. His continued work with PRPS affords currency and relevance to his teaching practice.

As an educator, Rich employs creativity and innovation in delivery methods and assessment strategies including the use of authentic assessments. Richard’s use of creativity and innovation to authentically assess students is best evidenced by his collaborative work with the Faculty of Health Sciences Continuing Education Department. The collaboration, co-led by Rich places paramedic students and acute & critical care nursing students in an interprofessional high fidelity simulated collaborative scenario. The collaborative simulation starts with a trauma in the pre-hospital environment that then requires transport and handover to a trauma/emergency care (Acute care) nursing team. The simulation focuses on safe patient handover and interprofessional team collaboration in trauma care.

In addition to the support of student success and deeply meaningful learning, Richard provides peer-to-peer mentorship and support to colleagues in the paramedic program, Humber College and Paramedic Services. In the academic year, 2020/21 Rich collaborated with the Centre for Teaching and Learning to develop an online asynchronous preceptor course. The preceptor course supported the mentorship and education of Advanced Care Paramedics from partnered Peel Regional and Halton Region Paramedic Services. ACPs that undertake the ACP preceptor course are attending to further their career goals of becoming an ACP preceptor. Previously ACPs were challenged to attend the preceptor course due to competing shift work schedules and demands. With the change in the preceptor course format to an online asynchronous delivery format, Rich mentored the development of an additional 100 ACP peers in the 2020/21 ACP preceptorship course.

His dedication to lifelong learning, student success, innovative teaching practices, and authentic assessment provide the foundations for his leadership inside and outside of the classroom.

Sandra joined the University of Guelph-Humber in 2011 as the librarian supporting the Business program. Sandra moved to the Humber Libraries team in 2015 and became the liaison librarian for the School of Media Studies and Information Technology, now the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts, at the Lakeshore campus.
She is devoted to student success and her teaching practice is exemplary. She visits classes to teach students research and digital literacy skills and plans her lessons with great attention and care. Sandra’s focus is on learning outcomes that develop facility with current and relevant resources students may use in industry when they graduate, emphasize strategic research skills that can be used across both library and non-library platforms, and cultivate the digital fluency skills required to evaluate and synthesize information, be it statistics or academic journal content. Recognizing employers place tremendous value on research skills in new graduates, Sandra’s goal is to teach students the skills they need for both their academic and career pursuits.

As the Assessment Librarian, Sandra leads the Library’s quality assurance practice. She develops student and faculty surveys as well as focus groups and she corrals the mountain of data the Library produces across multiple systems. Sandra consults with team members and managers to ensure they get reliable and useable data to inform our operational and strategic planning processes. She collaborates with the Library’s marketing team on promoting surveys and selecting the prizes offered for completion.

Knowing students often need additional help outside of class, Sandra enthusiastically meets with students individually or in groups in the Library to ensure they receive the assistance they need to succeed. Sandra also does an amazing job enabling the library team to advise students through her leadership of the Library’s research help practice.

She is very supportive of faculty looking to build research assignments, create or update reading lists, add resources to the Library’s collection and supports faculty pursuing their own research interests. Sandra’s approachable, encouraging and helpful manner has made her a favourite with students and faculty alike.

Sandra is an excellent mentor and leader, which can be seen in her approach to her responsibilities as a co-lead for the Library’s research help services. Together with her co-lead, Sandra completely re-envisioned research help services during the pandemic, recommended a plan of action, and implemented it, always focusing on student success and staff support.

Sandra is also passionate about excellent service delivery, which can be seen in her work as Chair of the Library’s Customer Experience (CX) Committee. Sandra led the committee to collaboratively develop the first library service charter and create a comprehensive program to instill a customer service lens in all we do, complete with training sessions, reminders, tips, and incentives.

Sandra represents Humber Libraries on one Humber and two provincial assessment committees. Sandra’s efforts have made Humber Libraries a leader in the Ontario College Library system with respect to assessment.