Humber College Council Highlights - October 2018

College Council Highlights – October 11, 2018

The Humber College Council (HCC) held its second meeting of the 2018/2019 academic year on Thursday, October 11, 2018 at the North Campus. To ensure that the Humber community is informed of upcoming events, new initiatives and important issues, College Council reports the highlights of its monthly meetings. For more information or to provide feedback on these highlights, please contact marie.kyrinis@humber.ca. We apologize for the delay in posting the highlights.

 

ENROLMENT UPDATE, REGISTRAR’S OFFICE

Barb Riach, Registrar, gave an overview of Humber’s enrolment numbers for fall 2018.

The fall 2017 faculty strike had a long-range impact on the application process for 2018/2019. Prospects were delaying their applications until a strike resolution was found. This shortened the recruitment and conversion process, bringing our numbers down overall. As a segmented group, the “strike withdrawal cohort” numbers are positive – 41 per cent of Humber students that withdrew during the strike have returned to Humber to resume their studies.

National trends for postsecondary education institutions include an increase to the international student enrolment to offset the decline of domestic enrolment, in part, due to a small(er) domestic high school prospect pool. On a positive note, Barb commented that Ontario colleges, in general, are partially protected from the overall national decline in domestic applications due to the almost 50/50 ratio of non-direct applicant pool to direct high school applicant pool. The next high school population increase (as it relates to prospective students) is predicted for 2021 to 2023. Final audit of enrolment totals will be completed in November 2018.

Projections are estimated at 27,000 full-time, enrolled students.

Pathways and laddering or stacking credentials are on the rise. Humber has prioritized any initiatives that help move students onto a transferable pathway. At this time, 300+ students have executed a block-transfer into another Humber program (mainly a diploma to degree pathway).

 

THE FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE (FYE): EVOLUTION!

Shaun Carson, Manager, Campus Life and Student Conduct gave a presentation on the evolution of the First Year Experience program, a student life initiative, targeting first year students.

FYE matches first year students with senior students to provide first year students with an on-campus connection and peer mentoring. Highlights include:

  • In 2017, almost 2,200 students enrolled in the FYE program plus 108 mentors
  • Fall 2018 is the first year that students enjoyed the benefit of FYE’s Strong Start program fully embedded into their curriculum. It runs for 6-weeks at the beginning of each academic year.
  • An Early Alert program launched in 2016, targeting students struggling with academics.
  • The next step is an Upper Year Experience pilot program that builds on the FYE model. Similar programs run at Western and McGill.

 

CAMPUS SERVICES: OVERVIEW

Paul Iskander, Director, Campus Services and Sanjay Puri, Director, Financial Services and Planning presented an update on Campus Services at Humber.

The Campus Services business unit underwent an extensive services audit. External market researchers with various expertise were brought in to evaluate and develop recommendations.

The outcome is a Campus Service Strategy with a clear vision leading to 2023.

Observations and next steps for residence, food services and retail, and conference services were made including: 

  • 1400 residence beds available; 300 students on the waitlist; review admissions, cleaning protocol, and demand analysis report 
  • Wayfinding issues earmarked for the food services and retail areas; implement tool to track performance and service commitments, and food safety 
  • Considering centralized college-booking system to support conference services 
  • Improving the data collection and accountability chain of responsibilities 

 

CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, EQUITY & DIVERSITY: UPDATE 

Nancy Simms, Director, Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Diversity and Jodie Glean, Manager, Human Rights, Equity & Diversity reported on a recent audit of the Centre’s services and programs. The Centre conducted a survey in May 2018, measuring stakeholder satisfaction levels. Seventy per cent of clients rank the Centre as good to excellent. 

Survey Outcomes and Centre News: 

  • More outreach for non-full-time employees is needed. As a pilot, the Centre ran a highly-successful Human Rights training on a Saturday morning (September 2018) with 80 people registered. 
  • All human rights policies at Humber are under review to bring them up-to-date. 
  • Humber’s Gender Diversity Policy is used internationally at other postsecondary education institutions as the standard for schools looking to build a similar policy. 
  • Upcoming Knowledge Cafes for equity/diversity/inclusion (EDI) topics are being organized. Watch the Communiqué for more news. 
  • The Employment Equity Program has re-launched to help attract/retain under-represented groups at Humber. 
  • The Ontario Human Rights Commission published the Policy on accessible education for students with disabilities. It is an excellent report on how educational institutions are on the frontline dealing with young adults with mental health challenges. 
  • Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) update: As a publicly funded institution in Ontario, we are mandated to meet and excel at these legislated standards. The Centre is building tools for staff and faculty use. Making sure documents are accessible (AODA standards) when distributing to students or others and when posting documents to the web is the responsibility of all faculty and staff: o The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers workshops for staff throughout the year. Check offerings at: humber.ca/centreforteachingandlearning. 
  • The School of Media Studies has a fee-for-service one-day workshop, scheduled throughout the year: humber.ca/makingaccessiblemedia. 
  • The School also offers a free, online course at: humber.ca/makingaccessiblemedia. 

 

IGNITE’S NEXT LEVEL STRATEGIC PLAN 

Ignite executive - Monica Khosla (President), Jeremy Largo-Afonso (VP North) , Graham Budgeon (VP Lakeshore), and Maheen Nazim (VP UGH) - presented the Next Level project, the 3-year Strategic Plan. 

The process began in August 2017 with IGNITE member research, to help shape IGNITE’s purpose and priorities for the next few years. Monica, Jeremy, Graham and Maheen have a busy year ahead as they address key priorities from the Next Level Strategic Plan on behalf of their constituents. The priorities identified were Student Life, Personal Life, and Future Life. In addition, each executive presented on their initiatives for the 2018/19 year. 

The next meeting of the College Council will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2018 at the North Campus. For meeting highlights, supporting materials, and opportunities to provide feedback please visit the College Council website at: humber.ca/wearehumber/committees/college-council.