College Council Highlights: February, 2015
College Council held its second meeting of 2015 on Thursday, February 12, at the North campus. 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.
January Startup
Barb Riach, Humber’s Registrar, reported on January startup. Overall, feedback from students, faculty, and administrators has been positive. There was less of a learning curve for students and faculty, fewer errors in regard to scheduling and course setup, fewer issues with Continuing Education courses, and significant improvements in apprenticeship registration. More schools have moved to course-based registration, which helps students to build their timetables themselves. In addition, many schools were proactive in setting up labs to help students with the registration process, and the Registrar’s office provided support, in order to try to build knowledge within the schools and reduce the number of student action forms (SAFs).
Many of the issues experienced in December and January related to end-of-term processes, as this was the college’s first time going through this period with the new system. These issues are being addressed and should become minimized as the college moves forward.
Feedback should be brought to your School’s PC Champion(s) or representative from the Academic Reference group.
2015/2016 Academic Calendar
Barb Riach spoke briefly about the 2015/2016 Academic Calendar. Due to an unusually late Labour Day, classes for Fall 2015 will begin on Tuesday, September 8, which is the latest possible start date. This means that classes will not end until Friday, December 18 (Friday December 11 for degrees and Friday, December 4 for Humber UNB). Due to Humber’s size, we need five business days between semesters; therefore, classes for Winter 2016 will begin on Monday, January 11.
Program Development
Beginning in September 2016, Humber’s School of Media Studies and Information Technology will offer a Graduate Certificate in Journalism, which will replace its current Accelerated Advanced Diploma in Journalism. This program will provide pathways for students from Humber’s Journalism diploma and degree programs.
This three-semester post-graduate program is well-aligned with Humber’s strategic mandate in the area of transmedia arts and design; it will prepare students to engage in real-time reporting across multiple platforms, using the latest technologies. Graduates of this program will be able to fully function in a digital environment, including social media and data-based journalism, and will have the skills and knowledge to work as media entrepreneurs/freelancers in a constantly evolving industry. Humber’s program will be differentiated from those offered at other area colleges, due to its focus on multiplatform storytelling.
The first two semesters of coursework for the proposed program will be delivered in a hybrid format, followed by a third semester, which will include an extensive internship component. A capstone project will enable the application of skills within a complex, integrated, and realistic context.
Employee Engagement Survey
In November 2014, all Humber employees – both full- and part-time – were asked to complete an Employee Engagement Survey. A representative from CCI research walked members of Council through the results of the survey. The results show that employees enjoy working at Humber, feel that Humber’s values align with their own values, and understand and agree with Humber’s strategic direction. However, there is significant room for growth in the areas of communication, performance management, change management, and recognition and rewards.
Humber’s President, Chris Whitaker commented positively on the survey process and noted that, for a first-time survey, a 50% participation rate is encouraging. He also observed that, compared to similar institutions, Humber’s results are positive, and that the data gathered in the survey will be crucial in making Humber an even better place to work. Moving forward, areas of focus will include communications, expressions of value to employees, rewards and recognition, change management, and performance management.
Ray Dyck, Director, Organizational Effectiveness, spoke about how the data from the survey will be used to improve employee engagement at Humber. Action plans will be developed at both the corporate and division levels throughout the spring. In order to gather further feedback from Humber employees during this process, Town Hall sessions will be held at the North and Lakeshore campuses at the following times:
Tuesday, March 3 12 – 1 pm North Campus Governor’s Boardroom
Thursday, March 5 12 – 1 pm Lakeshore Campus L1017
Tuesday, April 21 12 – 1 pm North Campus 7th Semester
Recess in the Library
From March 2 – 5, Humber’s libraries will be hosting Recess in The Library, in collaboration with the First Year Experience (FYE) and the International Centre. Each of the four days has its own theme - Animal Day, Wellness Day, Games Day, Arts Day – and features events and attractions such as therapy dogs, yoga and stretching, board games, and henna artists. Please promote this event to students.
LAS Conference: “A Better World”
What can we do to make a better world? What might such a world be like? Is a better world even possible? If you have thoughts and opinions about any of these questions, please consider submitting a proposal to the 6th annual Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Interdisciplinary Conference. Proposals are welcomed from all Humber faculty and staff, and the goal is to include presentations from across a wide variety of schools and divisions, to make this a truly interdisciplinary conversation.
The conference will run Friday September 25 - Saturday September 26, 2015, and the keynote address will be delivered by Greg Rogers, Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Toronto.
To view the call for proposals, and for more information about the conference and keynote speaker, please visit http://humber.ca/liberalarts/conference/home
In keeping with Council’s new mandate to report back to the President on key items, members of Council met in small working groups to discuss the evening’s presentations and to make notes that will be brought to the President.
The next meeting of College Council will be held on Thursday, March 12, 2015, at the North Campus.