College Council April Highlights
College Council had its third meeting of the semester on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at the North Nampus. In the interest of keeping the Humber community informed about upcoming events, new initiatives, and important issues, I will be continuing to report the highlights of the monthly meetings. For more information on any topic, or to give me feedback on the reports, please feel free to contact me directly, at lisa.salem-wiseman@humber.ca.
Update on the Budget and Business Plan
Humber’s President, Chris Whitaker, explained that Humber’s Budget and Business Plan were approved at the last Board of Governors’ Meeting on March 25, 2014. The newly formed Executive Advisory Committee has been working to change some of the business planning and budget allocation processes so that the business planning process now drives the budget planning process.
Humber’s Business Plan for year two of the Strategic Plan includes a number of priorities and several multi-year objectives for which some foundational work has been accomplished. The Strategic Mandate Agreement process and the Ministry Major Capital Expansion Policy Framework will align the college’s strategic priorities and focus with future provincial policy direction.
Humber will remain a broad and comprehensive institution, offering a wide range and mix of credentials. The budget includes seven new programs, none of them degrees. Enrolment predictions for next year estimate a 4.4 per cent growth over the previous year, with enrolment expected to reach 31,000.
The Business Plan will be available for viewing on Humber’s Strategic Planning website: www.humber.ca/strategicplanning/
Office of the Vice President – Finance and Administration
Rani Dhaliwal, Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Tracy Fattore, Associate Vice President, Administrative Services presented the Draft Integrated Plan for Finance and Administration, explaining its alignment with Humber’s 2013-2018 Strategic Plan. This is the first fully integrated plan, and it takes a holistic approach to the planning process.
The plan’s Aspirational Purpose Statement is: “We provide expert stewardship, valued advice, and F&A services in an integrated, transparent and collaborative manner to ensure good governance, enable innovation, and enhance the student experience.”
The process used to develop and draft the plan involved conducting a benchmark study against other leading organizations like Ryerson, SAIT, and NAIT, consulting key vendors, and identifying common themes, including communication, financial transparency, information technology, space, and risk management.
The draft plan has been shared with the leadership team, Executive Advisory Committee, and Academic Operations Committee
Office of the Vice President – Student and Community Engagement
Jason Hunter, Vice President, Student and Community Engagement introduced Chantal Joy, Humber’s Director of Advising and Student Academic Support, who outlined the development of an Integrated Advising Model at Humber.
Humber is developing a cross-institutional advising model to seamlessly integrate the many types of advising that take place across the college, including career, educational, and financial advising. Currently, consultations are taking place to look at best practices for advising across Humber College, and to determine how best to integrate practices across the institution.
Some of the initiatives will include the development of a pan-campus at-risk strategy, the re-engineering of Career Services, and the implementation of targeted retention initiatives, with a particular focus on the first-year experience.
By 2018, the goal is to have an integrated advising model at Humber, based on a case-management approach, which supports the success of all students.