Dear Humber faculty, staff, and students, 

The Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) is thrilled to invite you to our Summer 2023 Innovation Workshop Buffet 2.0. This free workshop series is designed to nurture the skills required for the New World of Work in all sectors. 

Dates:  June 13 to August 2

Time:  11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (free lunch provided) 

Location:  North Campus  

Our workshop series features seven (7) dynamic sessions facilitated by our team of experts. Whether you're looking to enhance your professional skills, broaden your knowledge, or explore new opportunities, this buffet of workshops has something for everyone. 

Take a look at the exciting lineup!  

These sessions will cover a wide range of topics, including empathy, engaging experiences, creative problem-solving, data analysis, values-driven innovation, fostering a culture of innovation, and cultivating organizational health. Each workshop will provide valuable insights and practical knowledge to equip you for success in the ever-evolving professional landscape. 

Participation in the Summer 2023 Innovation Workshop Buffet 2.0 is completely free for Humber Faculty, Staff and Students. Seating is limited, so we encourage you to secure your spot early. To register for any of the workshops, please click on the workshop titles above. 

You can also visit us at humber.ca/research/upcoming-events. 

We look forward to serving you at the table as we nurture the skills required for the New World of Work. If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. 

Best regards, 

Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) 

Here are this month's new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra. For more details, please follow the links below:

Set exemptions for anonymous grading

To improve the ability to manage student exemptions, instructors are now able to set exemptions for anonymously graded assessments from the Student Overview page by clicking on ‘add or edit exemptions’ found in the overflow menu (‘…’).

Note: Instructors can now enable anonymous grading on tests by going into the test settings and checking the Anonymous marking box.

Add exceptions from Gradebook grid view and Student Overview page

The exceptions workflow can now be accessed from the Gradebook grid view (click on the corresponding grid block) and Student Overview page (‘...” menu). Instructors may need to grant a student exception for these reasons:

• Provide additional attempts
• Reschedule due dates
• Grant extensions

‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ support for Custom Calculations

For greater flexibility, instructors can now use the ‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ option* for any gradebook calculation regardless of whether it contains operators with functions and variables.

*Enabling this setting ensures that students see their actual grade earned-to-date out of all the assessments you have graded so far.

Upload questions from a file to tests and assignments

Up until now, instructors could only create new questions in tests, assignments, or question banks. Now, instructors can create questions offline in a text file (tab-delimited TXT file) and upload them into a test. Review the related Ultra Help page for details on formatting requirements.

Journals Grades & Participation list filters

To help manage journal entries, new Student and Grading Status filters have been added to the Grades & Participation view in Journals to provide instructors the option to view students based on grading status.

The full list of June updates including Course Link improvements are available on the Blackboard Help Center website.

Need additional support? The IL Support Centre is here to help!

Dear Humber community, 

I am writing to inform you about a delay in processing accommodation letters for our learners with disabilities. Unfortunately, this delay was a result of an unexpected issue with the server hosting our data management system, Clockworks, since May 26. Service has been temporarily unavailable for staff, learners and faculty. As a result, we were unable to access the necessary information required to process our accommodation letters, and coordinating other support services in a timely manner.

We understand the importance of providing equitable access and support to our learners in the implementation of their academic accommodations. Our team has worked diligently to resolve the issue, and operations have been restored. 

To mitigate the impact of this delay, we will continue to support our learners with the following interim measures:

• We will utilize previous accommodations letters developed from the prior semester, if one exists, for reference. 
• We will prioritize accommodation requests based on urgency, and the specific needs of the learner(s). Our goal is to address critical matters as quickly as possible while working through the backlog of pending requests, which is expected to be complete by June 5; and 
• We will keep impacted learners informed of the status of their accommodation letters with support from the Accessible Learning team. 

We recognize that the delay may raise concerns or questions, however, do not hesitate to reach out to us at accessible-learning@humber.ca. 

Thank you for your understanding and patience. 

Desta McCalla
Associate Director, Accessible Learning Services

A hold and secure was initiated at Humber College's Lakeshore campus on Tuesday, May 30 at 11:47 a.m., followed by a lockdown of the Welcome Centre at 12:36 p.m. Police conducted an on-site investigation of campus buildings. Police determined there was no risk to public safety and the hold and secure of campus and lockdown of the Welcome Centre were lifted at 12:45 p.m.  

The safety and security of the Humber community is always of the utmost importance. We thank staff, students and visitors for the cooperation and thank Toronto Police Services for the quick resolution.