The Humber College Council (HCC) held its seventh meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year on Thursday, March 18, 2021, 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.

Roundtable

Donna O’Brien-Sokic [Faculty of Media & Creative Arts] brought forward a student concern that there is a communication gap related to international students extending work visas and participating in internships as part of their program. Laurie Rancourt [Senior VP, Academic] will relay this concern to the Dean of International and determine next steps.

Applied Research & Innovation.

Ginger Grant [Dean, Applied Research & Innovation] and Raeshelle Morris [Innovation Program Manager, Applied Research & Innovation] provided Council with an overview of what is involved in building a research culture at Humber. The Applied Research & Innovation (ARI) department is made up of five key areas: Innovation, Research & Development, Operations, Humber Press, and the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SOTL).

G. Grant discussed how at Humber, we conduct phenomenon-driven research which is most relevant to polytechnic education. Research is conducted in this way to protect the institution, our ability to innovate, and to reduce risk. We follow our strategic pillars and explore how to operationalize our vision and mission of lead, transform and differentiate. Ideas are encouraged to be brought forward to the ARI department.

As an educational institution, Humber has access to various funding sources including tri-council grants – NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR. The ARI can help determine if an idea can qualify for a grant. Five College and Community Social Innovation fund grants were filed last year and awaiting approval. In 2020, Humber was 6^th in Canada for research potential, rising from 30^th in 2017. At the moment, we are close to seven million dollars in holding grants. The ARI has created a database on organizations, researchers, and students interested and involved in research, as well as research areas, projects, and awarded grants. See their website for more details.

The department holds various ‘building capacity' workshops and trainings – including grant coaching sessions - offered to all staff across all faculties and departments. Stay tuned for several sessions being held in the spring. There are also plans for a Summer Innovation Buffet podcast series to be held in June and July.

Government Relations Update

Kelly Jackson [Associate Vice president, Government Relations, Marketing, and Communications] and Jennifer Larson [Public Affairs Manager, Government Relations, Marketing, and Communications] provided an update on Government Relations (GR) activities at Humber over the past year. There are several GR goals, one of which is to connect Humber’s vision and priorities to those of government.

An overview of advocacy priorities during COVID-19 was provided. These included class size caps and exemptions, and the summer reopening pilot; and the nursing and engineering degree approvals. Humber recently hosted the Premier of Ontario at the launch of Humber’s standalone nursing degree. Looking ahead to Spring 2021, both the provincial and federal budget will be presented as well as an announcement on the annual tuition fee framework. Advocacy on class size caps will continue as this will have an impact on planning for the Fall 2021 semester.

J. Larson highlighted the Humber Cultural Hub as a case study on how GR is involved. Considerations for GR are monitoring funding opportunities and creating grant applications; increasing awareness of the project and its benefits; engaging with key stakeholders including government officials, community groups and individuals, and relevant local (i.e. Arts & Culture) organizations; and considering potential issues such as permit or planning challenges, impact of the pandemic on arts & culture, and community concerns related to the impact on the neighbourhood.

Council members were asked to consider and provide input on what is Humber doing well that would be important to communicate to government and where can Humber improve upon their communications, related to what government may not understand about Humber. Feedback was provided to the speakers after discussion took place in smaller MS Teams breakout rooms.

Farewell to Cynthia Lessard

Risa Handler [Chair, HCC] took the opportunity to say thank you and give a warm farewell to Cynthia Lessard. This was Cynthia’s final College Council meeting as April 1 was her last day at Humber. As the Executive Assistant to the Senior VP Academic, Cynthia was the Secretariat on Council. From minute-taking to planning to contributing to the overall direction of Council, Cynthia played an integral role on HCC and its executive for over four years. Cynthia is pursuing her passion for teaching and we wish her all the best.

The next meeting of the College Council will be held on Thursday, April 15, 2021. For meeting highlights, supporting materials, and opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the College Council website.

After 33 years at Humber College, Joe Andrews, principal, Orangeville Campus has announced his retirement as of August 31, 2021.

As a proud Humber graduate and after charting a very successful career in Canadian media, Joe was hired as a professor in 1988 in the Radio Broadcasting program. Committed from day one to making a difference in the classroom, Joe inspired his students to be the best they could be in preparation for the competitive media world.

In 1990, Joe was appointed Coordinator of both the diploma and post-graduate Radio Broadcasting programs where the faculty team collectively guided hundreds of today’s well-known personalities, radio news journalists and media leaders. He was also instrumental in helping Humber to secure the first FM radio license for a college in Toronto. 

Progressive throughout his Humber career, Joe continued to take on additional responsibilities over the years and even found time to complete a Master’s Degree in Communications in 1998. Joe has been a key and valued member of several Humber committees, has represented the institution on international projects, and has received both education and industry recognition including; Humber’s Outstanding Faculty Award, a NISOD Award of Excellence, the first inductee to the Humber Radio Hall of Fame in the Builders Category, and the Robert A. Gordon Leadership Award for his leadership of the Orangeville Campus project.

A passionate postsecondary educator, Joe has championed the vision of the Orangeville Campus since October 2005 in the capacity of Director Community Relations, Director of Campus Operations and as Campus Principal linking Humber to the Dufferin County region while leading an incredible operations staff and faculty until its closure in June of this year.

I have had the pleasure of working closely with Joe since my arrival at Humber in 2014 and wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank him for his professionalism, his dedication, and his unwavering commitment to Humber and the Orangeville community. It was obvious to me from day one how much Joe cares about Humber and our students, and how much he loves the work that he does. I was not surprised then to hear that Joe plans to remain professionally active after his retirement. He will continue to fulfill his current part-time elected role on Orangeville Council and also plans on dabbling in some media consultancy projects.

To ensure that friends and colleagues have the opportunity to connect with Joe before he retires, we will be organizing a farewell event in the coming months. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Joe on his well-deserved retirement and wishing him well as he leaves to spend more time with family and friends, and to continue the renovations at his cottage north of Parry Sound.

Laurie Rancourt
Senior Vice-President, Academic

Dear Humber staff,

Last week, the Ontario government has enacted a province-wide shutdown which began over the weekend and will last for a period of at least four weeks.

Teaching and learning at Humber remains unchanged and will continue as scheduled with the current protocols in place.

During this period, staff on campus must be limited to only those necessary for the delivery of in-person learning and campus operations.

For those working on campus, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of the health and safety protocols that we have in place and ask for your continued cooperation in helping to make our campuses as safe as possible.

Health and safety measures include: 

• Masks or face coverings are mandatory on campus. Exceptions include staff in personal workspaces in which 6 feet/2 metres of physical distancing is possible, or those with a medical exemption. Mask exemptions necessitating accommodations will require verification or medical documentation. This will help determine appropriate accommodation measures specific to the individual. Please use this resource for how to wear a mask safely.
• Physical distancing is to be maintained as much as possible, particularly as cases of variants of concern increase in the community. Where physical distancing is not possible, additional health and safety protocols will be introduced.
• Screening protocol in place each time learners and employees access facilities.
• Required health and safety training and orientation.
• Reduced class sizes based on required class size caps and physical distancing.

In addition to the measures outlined above, staff and students on campus are asked to practice proper, regular hand hygiene by washing their hands and/or using hand sanitizer.

You can find information on how and when to report COVID-19 here. Remember that if you have COVID-19 symptoms, are feeling unwell or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, contact the COVID Reporting Health Team at covidreporting@humber.ca or 416.675.5007.

If any of these apply to your situation, do not come to campus until you have heard back from the COVID Reporting Health Team.  

For the latest information, visit humber.ca/updates.  

As health and safety is a shared responsibility, we appreciate your ongoing support and commitment to keeping our community safe.  

Take care and be well,

Lori Diduch 
Vice-President, Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness

There are so many advantages to using OneDrive over the H-Drive.

Availability: Anywhere, anyhow – on your laptop, a public computer, or your mobile. As long as you have a connection to the internet, you have access to your files.

Space: Staff and students are provisioned with 500 mb of H-Drive space and 1 tb of OneDrive space – that’s 1,000,000 mb!

Collaboration: OneDrive allows a better process for sharing a document.

Learn the basics of a variety of Microsoft 365 apps and WebEx by signing up to 1:1 Virtual Coaching at its.humber.ca/coaching.