An assembly of faculty, support staff, students, and administrators, Humber College Council (HCC) is Humber’s collective employee voice, making suggestions to Humber College’s President as it relates to long and short‐term institutional priorities.

Held on October 13, HCC’s second meeting of the academic year occurred virtually and welcomed Gina Antonacci, senior vice president, Academic and Scott Briggs, vice president, Digital Innovation and CIO, Information Technology Services to share Humber’s new Academic Plan and Digital Campus Plan and seek member thoughts about the future of work at Humber as a result of these plans.

The Academic Plan 2023-2026, Looking Forward

The Academic Plan sets out the priorities and goals related to teaching and learning including programming, research and innovation, faculty and staff development, and partnerships. The new plan is being guided by three principles:

1. We co-create a learning community that enables everyone to reach their full potential (students, faculty and staff)
2. We build and protect the conditions for risk-taking, creativity and innovation to thrive
3. We are guided by Humber’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and Indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing in our decisions and actions.

The Academic Plan priorities and actions were outlined as follows:

Priority 1: Programs and Pathways for Life-long learning We will expand our range of credentials, pathways, and recognition of prior learning (RPL) processes to support transitions between high school, post-secondary education, and employment.

Actions:

1. Expand Humber’s credential mix by building capacity to offer Applied Master’s degrees and assessing the potential of 3-year bachelor’s degree programs in areas that are beneficial to students and employers.
2. Develop an apprenticeship strategy to modularize and accelerate access to apprenticeship and recognize different levels of achievement.
3. Develop a vision and plan to establish Humber as a receiving institution through pathways and recognition of prior learning (RPL).
4. Create a central hub to coordinate Humber’s pathways strategy within the Centre for Innovative Learning.
5. Enhance Humber’s international partnerships to expand pathways and increase credential opportunities for students.
6. Create a framework for developing micro-credentials that connect into pathways.

Priority 2: Personalizing the Learning Journey We will create flexible program and course delivery options that enable students to personalize their learning experience while meeting their long- and short-term educational goals.

Actions:

1. Offer a wider range of delivery options including online, hybrid, and in-person programs as well as synchronous and asynchronous delivery.
2. Build tools to support strategic decision-making in Faculties based on a principled approach around the needs of learners.
3. Re-imagine the scheduling of programs and courses to enable greater flexibility including weekend, block, and condensed programs and courses.
4. Harness new and emerging technology (adaptive, augmented reality and virtual reality) to enable the delivery of content in more flexible ways.
5. Develop a framework to assess learners’ pre-existing skills and competencies.

Priority 3: Empowering Teaching and Learning at Humber We will support our faculty and staff to initiate projects that enable innovation and create new ways of teaching and learning at Humber

Actions: Convene a working group of stakeholders to:

• Establish the criteria for project selection
• Consider potential applications to classroom integration
• Develop the process, including milestones and reporting mechanisms
• Create an experimentation hub to facilitate the projects and provide support
• Create exploration sessions for faculty and staff
• Create synergies between the Priority 3 projects and other innovation pipelines (e.g., Centres of Innovation projects, SoTL and applied research projects)

The Academic leadership will be meeting with all academic departments over the fall regarding the plan’s implementation and will conduct ongoing monitoring of initatives. For more information on the plan, visit the Academic Plan website.

The Digital Campus Plan of Tomorrow 2023-2026

The Digital Campus Plan focuses on the technology that enhances teaching and learning and allows the institution to be more agile, connected, impactful, and sustainable. Guided by the principles of People First, Equity and Inclusion, Digital Ethics and Privacy, Safety and Security, the Plan focuses on three priorities and related actions as follows:

Priority 1: Digital Fluency We will develop the digital fluency of our students, faculty and staff so they can be engaged global citizens. Growing digital fluency will increase equity, opportunity and innovation.

Actions:

• Review current offerings
• Update baseline definition of digital fluency
• Develop plans to grow digital fluency and align and integrate with the needs of the Academic, Digital and Future of Work plans and EDI Framework

Priority 2: Student Experience We will simplify and personalize the experience for prospects, applicants, students, learners, and alumni as they explore what Humber has to offer and access services.

Actions:

Enterprise Web Strategy

• Modernize Humber’s web services platform, including alignment with the AODA.
• Create a centralized digital experience platform and content management system for multiple websites and digital end points (e.g., digital signage, apps and ONECard).

Enrolment and Admissions Rethinking

• Create an engaging, automated, timely and accurate admissions process that integrates seamlessly with enrolment management processes, and offers personalized applicant communication and enhanced data and analytics.

Student Journey and Service Excellence

• Build and adapt services to assist students when they need it most, wherever they may be.
• Offer personalized customer service through technology to enhance the student experience.

Digital Identity

• Ensure that new platforms enable the full range of digital identity information and support us in creating, managing and securing digital identities for the Humber community.
• Ensure new platforms enable the full range of digital identity information to be accurately captured and reflected, and that our digital identity system is supported by a strong information security framework.

Priority 3: Digital Workplace We will support our employees in the transformation and future of work so they can collaborate, be effective and stay connected with campus culture.

Actions:

Future of Work – on-campus, hybrid, anywhere

• Enhance digital equity so that staff can access technology and are equipped with the skills to use it successfully.
• Support employee communication, engagement and connection to the campus culture and community.

Recruitment and Talent Management (Human Resources Management System)

• Implement the next phase of the Human Resources Management System, including a focus on recruitment processes enhancement, and the introduction of new talent management capabilities.
• Continue to build upon the priorities of remote/hybrid work, flexible learning, digital campus, well-being and inclusion, and the ability to retain and recruit top talent.

Financial Information System review

• Implement a new financial information system along with functional enhancements to improve process workflow and efficiency, including user experience and analytics.

Advanced Data Analytics

• Enhanced data analytics to provide better insights on students’ learning and support needs, while informing strategic enrolment management.
• Improve data tools, processes, and employee skills to modernize data management platforms and share insights for decision-making.

For more information visit the Digital Campus Plan website.

For information on the plans’ creation, visit the Academic Plan and Digital Campus Plan website.

CONSULTATION

HCC Members engaged in small group discussions about the two plans, answering the following questions posed by the presenters:

1. How do you see our evolving digital campus changing the way you work or teach?
2. How do the Academic Plan priorities intersect with the work you do or will be doing in the future?

NEXT HCC MEETING

The next Humber College Council meeting will be held virtually on November 10, 2022.

For questions or comments about HCC meeting highlights, contact regan.mancini@humber.ca. For supporting materials, meeting minutes or opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the College Council website or contact shovani.samalia@humber.ca.

This month, we are putting the Sustainability Spotlight on Scott Iles, Site Services Coordinator and avid pollinator gardener. 

Learn how Scott builds a more pollinator friendly environment both at Humber and his own home.

When it comes to transfer and mature students, there are myths that continue to persist as to who they are, how they perform in the classroom and their likelihood of persisting to graduation. 

In the studies below, learn how research is helping to debunk these myths:

• An Investigation and identification of the determinants of success of students who transfer to Trent University.
   
• The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) on Credential completion—new research from CAEL found that adult students who participate in PLA are 17 percent more likely to complete, compared to those without PLA (CAEL 2021)
   
• More research is needed about transfer students inside and outside the classroom.  We would like to challenge the Humber community to help fill these gaps by taking advantage of some of these amazing funding opportunities available provincially to get you started.

http://humber.ca/transferstudentweek

Humber Researchers are invited to participate in the Research Data Management Survey as part of the Humber College Institutional Research Data Management Strategy. Please complete this survey if you have engaged in scholarship, research, and creative activity (SRCA) and participated in data collection, creative production, analysis, and storage of SRCA research data in the last five years. 

The purpose of the Research Data Management Survey is to:

• Identity and fully understand the different types of data that are collected at Humber College;
• Determine how researchers collect, manage, and share their research data during their research;
• Provide recommendations for workshops and training to support best practices in research data management.

If you can spare 10 minutes, access the survey or QR Code and complete it by November 2, 2022.

For any questions about the survey,  please contact Rose-Marie Dolinar, Research Specialist, Office of Research & Innovation at rose-marie.dolinar@humber.ca.