I am very pleased to announce that Alena Shah is the new Associate Dean, Program Planning for PPDR.

Alena joins us from Ontario Tech University, where she most recently held the position of Manager of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs. As part of the senior management team responsible for graduate studies at Ontario Tech, her role was to ensure effective planning, management and implementation of the School’s academic, operational and financial functions. Working directly with Faculties, a primary focus was developing and operationalizing innovative new graduate programs, including pathways and cotutelle agreements, as well as direct oversight of nine functional areas within the school including: quality assurance, policy and regulations, recruitment, admissions, registration, thesis, communications, finance, graduate student engagement and postdoctoral fellows.

Prior to her role in Graduate Studies, Alena worked within Quality Assurance as an Academic Planning Officer responsible for the development, implementation and facilitation of curriculum enhancement workshops across the university; providing expert advice to faculty and program staff on all aspects of curriculum development, mapping courses to program learning outcomes and authentic assessment methods. In addition to her roles in Graduate Studies and Quality Assurance, Alena also has experience working within Labour Relations and Student Life and holds Ontario College of Teachers’ qualifications.

Alena has completed a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership degree from Western University. Her doctoral work focused on developing meaningful experiential learning opportunities by using continuous improvement practices to enhance equitable access for adult learners while maintaining compliance with Ministerial guidelines.

At Humber, Alena will be responsible for initiatives related to overall program planning, focusing on collaboration within the Centre for Innovative Learning and with other partners on the development and implementation of Humber’s Pathways, Recognition of Prior Learning and Flexible Learning strategies and goals. This role is also instrumental in building linkages between Post-Secondary Education (PSE) and Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) by developing Quality Assurance standards and processes. Alena’s first day is November 7.

Please join me in welcoming Alena to Humber.

Nichole Molinaro
Dean, Program Planning, Development & Renewal