The Humber College Council (HCC) held its seventh meeting of the 2019-2020 academic year on Thursday, May 7, 2020, online using Microsoft Teams. To ensure the Humber community is informed of upcoming events, new initiatives, and important issues, the College Council reports the highlights of its meetings. For more information or to provide feedback on these highlights, please contact risha.toney@humber.ca.
Membership and Elections Update
Denise Rooney [Vice-Chair of College Council] introduced the new IGNITE members of College Council: Erika Johnson, Julia Ciampa and Camila Ruiz Tacha. D. Rooney also shared that the election process came to a stall due to the rapid changes in current events. In consultation with Chris Whitaker and Laurie Rancourt, a temporary change to the membership process was proposed. This proposal allows current members to be appointed for one additional term, if they wish to remain on Council. Risa Handler [Chair of College Council] and D. Rooney will reach out to members regarding their preference.
Students & Institutional Planning – Update and Supporting Students During COVID-19
Jason Hunter [Vice-President, Students and Institutional Planning] provided an update and overview of the Students and Institutional Planning Division.
Office of the Registrar
The Office of the Registrar has been leading the process of developing enrolment plans with the Faculties, the Academic Division, and International over the past two months. Summer 2020 registration is underway, and while there will be a downturn, the numbers to date are optimistic. Fall 2020 confirmations are strong and the college plans to improve on-line services to scale. Additionally, the University of Guelph-Humber is experiencing its’ highest number for summer enrolment in its history.
The Financial Aid Office has provided over $1.5 million in additional emergency financial aid to more than 4,000 students. More than two-thirds were allotted to international students. Ninety-five percent of all international students remained in the country. IGNITE has been a significant partner, rolling out a new Tuition Bursary program to augment the Emergency Financial Aid.
J. Hunter thanked the Advancement team for profiling the SOS fund, which is part of the campaign to encourage support for students and to source additional funds.
Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA)
Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA) has been involved in institutional research, business planning, and strategic planning over the last few weeks. IPA conducted a student survey regarding the completion of the winter semester, and over 10,000 responses were received. These results have been instrumental to the planning related to academic delivery, meeting student technology needs, designing student services, and focusing financial aid to maximize impact.
Indigenous Education and Engagement
J. Hunter announced that the Aboriginal Centre has officially changed its name to Indigenous Education and Engagement and the recent appointment of Jason Seright as the new Dean. J. Seright joins the college from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, where he served for six years as the Director of Indigenous Strategy. He is currently working on a PD module that would allow staff to develop a shared foundation of awareness of Indigenous history and contemporary issues. At present, Indigenous Education and Engagement is supporting the unique needs that Indigenous students face related to the pandemic.
Libraries
Humber Libraries has been supporting faculty and students with the transition to online learning. They are strongly involved in the provincial Learning Portal, development of archives, and are managing the constantly evolving Access Copyright issues.
Community Outreach and Workforce Development
In partnership with Academic Faculties and community partners, Community Outreach and Workforce Development is leading a number of initiatives. They include the new Future Skills project (over $1 million) that develops digital literacy strategies to assist in retooling the workforce and the refurbished computer program, which allows students with limited resources to gain access to technology.
Student Support and Engagement
Ian Crookshank [Dean of Students] provided an update and noted that most student services are supporting students virtually and remotely. There are consistent demands for counselling, health, Accessible Learning Services, and Student Support and Intervention Coordinators. Each week saw new concerns raised by students as they acclimate to completing the winter semester virtually.
The Student Success Call-Back program, launched following the campus closure and continuing for the summer term, saw 64 calls made and 42 calls completed for the winter semester. A team of student services staff call students to inquire about their well-being, listen to their concerns and answer any questions they may have, and provide warm referrals to other available resources. Students expressed concerns related to finances, wellness, academic, international, career advising, and plans for the fall semester. A revamped digital engagement strategy was also launched leading to over 500+ online event attendees and 26,000 in social media engagement through various platforms. It was observed that students are interested in short 15-minute sessions on topics such as fitness, health, study tips, and cleaning.
Additional Discussion
Scott Briggs (CIO) shared that over 250 laptops, Internet service, and older phones provided to students since the campus closed. Humber has partnered with Renewed Computer Technology to offer students with financial need the opportunity to purchase refurbished desktop or laptop computers at affordable prices. The program will continue through the summer and fall terms. This partnership allows the college to provide additional support to students requiring technology access. There was also rapid deployment of academic software virtualization and the provision of access from any device allowing students to complete their studies.
Academic Division Update and Financial Impact of COVID-19
Gina Antonacci [Associate Vice-President, Academic] and Laurie Rancourt [Senior Vice-President, Academic] provided an Academic Division update regarding support for remote delivery, student support, and planning for the fall 2020 semester. It was noted that for the winter 2020 term, Humber quickly moved to a remote delivery format which resulted in curriculum adjustments. Programming requiring onsite applied learning such as apprenticeship, placement activities, and labs, will resume as soon as the campus reopens. For the summer 2020 term, programs with the ability to be delivered entirely online will be offered while programs that cannot will be deferred to subsequent semesters. The summer semester start was delayed to May 19th and will not include a study break. A new ruling by the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will recognize online learning for international students. Due to the pandemic there is an estimated 43.3% reduction in enrolment compared to the 2020-2021 plan.
To support this shift to online only course delivery the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) developed a set of self-service tools, resources, and training modules to help faculty build online course content. Program Planning, Development and Renewal (PPDR) is working with the Faculties to ensure that any program modifications are sound and supported. ITS is supporting the implementation of virtualization and software acquisition and the Office of the Registrar is supporting required changes to the academic regulations.
L. Rancourt confirmed that planning for the fall 2020 semester is underway with Academic Faculties assessing capacity to offer fall programming on a program-by-program basis and Facilities assessing the impact to space (academic and other) created by social distancing requirements. The Covid-19 Recovery Readiness Steering Committee (CRRSC) has been created to plan, develop, and lead the implementation of all initiatives required for both Humber and the University of Guelph-Humber. It was noted that it is imperative that the health and safety of the entire College community is considered when making decisions, as such different groups /stakeholders must be engaged.
L. Rancourt noted that much of the planning is based on current information and on the advice of Public Health. Factors influencing delivery options include the uncertainty with respect to the COVID-19 trajectory, travel restrictions, questions of equity, nature of programming, housing, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) guidelines, and directives from Government of Canada and Public Health bodies.
The potential fall 2020 scenarios are as follows:
- Scenario A – 14 weeks of classes, in-person, with a study week between (7-1-7).
- Scenario B – Hybrid where the term will be broken up into two 7-week blocks
- First 7 weeks focus on theory delivered online.
- Last 7 weeks allow for face-to-face delivery of practical components.
- And/or if allowed, a progressive return to campus by September 7 with as much theory as possible delivered online to reduce on-campus numbers and allow for required physical distancing.
- Scenario C – completely online, with an understanding that not all programs can be offered.
Financial Impact of COVID-19
Sanjay Puri [Vice-President, Administration and CFO) provided an update on the financial impact of COVID-19. The impact The impact for Scenario A (above) is a 10% decrease in enrollment with a financial impact (i.e. revenue loss) of $25 million; for Scenario B, the hybrid model, a 20% decrease in enrolment and a financial impact of $50 million; and Scenario C has an estimated enrolment impact of 40% and a financial impact of $75-100 million. Potential strategies to bridge the financial gap would be in areas of staffing, discretional spending, strategic and key initiatives, capital and redevelopment projects, and the operational contingency fund. Chris Whitaker [President and CEO] notes that additional relief from the government is highly unlikely, however, there may be other ways/options the government may provide support such as infrastructure maintenance funds for existing buildings.
Closing Remarks
C. Whitaker provided closing remarks and acknowledged the concerns and challenges with respect to change management and transitioning to a new normal. He is committed to maintaining employment to support Humber through this time. There has been an immense amount of work completed at the system level and it is imperative to maintain communications, dialogue, and clarity with the Humber community. Also, the need to continue to refer to government guidelines is vital as Humber moves forward in establishing a plan.