College Council Highlights: March 2016

March 21, 2016

College Council Highlights: March 2016

Humber College Council held its third meeting of the Winter semester on Thursday, March 10, 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.

Upcoming Events   

The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences will be hosting the 7th annual LAS Interdisciplinary Conference on September 30 and October 1, 2016. This year’s keynote speaker is noted author and professor, Laura Penny (University of King’s College, Halifax) and the theme is “What You Think You Know is Wrong: Questioning Certainties.” For more information, please see: humber.ca/liberalarts/conference

Proposals from all fields addressing any topic related to this year’s theme are now being accepted. Please email proposals in .pdf format to lasconference@humber.ca by Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

Orangeville Campus Update

Laurie Rancourt, Senior Vice President, Academic, and Joe Andrews, Principal, Orangeville Campus, gave an update on the Orangeville Campus. The campus is moving to an “access agenda” with regards to future programming, meaning that the focus will be on flexible, shorter-term, community-focused programs, and programs that function as stepping-stones to other programs. The campus is being promoted with the message “you don’t need to go far to get far,” appealing to students who may not want or be able to move away to complete two to four years of postsecondary education.

One of the strengths of the campus is its existing on-site operational support, including the library, food services, and recreational services. Recent improvements include the addition of “virtual counseling,” and enhanced connectivity on campus. Another strength is the many partnerships with community organizations, including school boards, sports organizations, theatres, festivals, and First Nations groups.

KPI results for 2014/2015 showed that the students are very satisfied with the learning experience, and especially with graduate employment, due to strategic programming based on community needs.

Academic Integrity

Eileen DeCourcy, Associate Vice President, Teaching and Learning, gave a presentation on the work that the Academic Integrity Task Force has been doing to build Humber’s culture of Academic Integrity. One of the Year 3 Initiatives in the Strategic Plan is to study institutional academic integrity practices based on international standards and best practices.

The International Centre for Academic Integrity defines Academic Integrity as “a commitment to the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and the courage to act on these values even when faced with adversity.” Humber’s approach to Academic Integrity reflects a shift away from trying to prevent and respond to academic dishonesty, and toward creating a culture that values and strives for academic honesty. An Academic Integrity Task Force, with college-wide representation, was established in 2014-2015, to support this shift in focus. Next steps include launching an institutional survey, after which the Task Force will make recommendations, propose a plan, and establish working groups.

Kristan Lingard, Associate Dean, School of Hospitality, Recreation, and Tourism, and Jennie Miron, Professor, School of Health Sciences, shared what their schools have been doing:

  • The School of Hospitality, Recreation, and Tourism has shifted its focus from grades and credentials to learning, personal development and growth, pursuit of knowledge, and citizenship.
    • The school has developed a statement of values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage. The students, faculty, staff and administrators are collectively responsible for demonstrating and upholding these shared values.
    • For students, the school offers a mandatory i-Succeed student success course, runs Academic Integrity in-class activities across the curriculum, includes Academic Integrity statements on a variety of documents, and offers Academic Integrity Awards.
    • For faculty, there are professional Development days and “PowerUp” sessions, a weekly “Tuesday Tip” email, a school-wide Academic Integrity Committee, and an I-drive folder of resources. As well, Academic Integrity is an agenda item at all school meetings. 
  • Since 2012, the School of Health Sciences has overhauled its policies, practices and processes related to Academic Integrity.  Initiatives include:
    • The formation of a school-wide Academic Integrity Council
    • Research into a Technology Devices Storage Bag
    • Implementation of Academic Integrity Awards
    • Implementation of an Academic Integrity Pledge. In 2014, the school pledged 600 first year students. This grew to 1000 in 2015, and 1500 in 2016.

Humber Online Update

Eileen DeCourcy gave a presentation on Humber’s online programming, beginning with an overview of e-Campus Ontario, an online portal which offers students access to online courses and programs available both through OntarioLearn and through institutional websites. Officially launched in Fall 2015, e-Campus Ontario currently provides access to over 13,000 college and university courses, as well as 534 fully online programs.     

Humber conducted a review of Online Learning in 2014, which included roundtable discussions with faculty, a student survey (1,239 responses), and an external review of course inventory.  Currently, Humber offers over 450 online courses and 60 fully online certificates and diplomas. In 2015-2016, nineteen new courses are being built, including one premium eCampusOntario-funded course (GNED 101, offered by the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences). Over five new courses are scheduled to be built in the near future.

Faculty support is offered through the Instructional Support Studios at both the Lake and the North (Monday-Friday) and through the Open Learning Centre (Saturday-Sunday). Virtual and scheduled on-site support is available for Orangeville faculty. Support is also available via phone, email, and virtual desktop.

New features of Humber Online include course trailers, faculty profiles, easy access to help, and improved search features.

In keeping with Council’s 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 Humber College Council will be held on April 21 at the North Campus.