In recognition of the first anniversary of the tragedy of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, colleges, polytechnics, and universities across Canada are remembering those lost.

Today, Humber College lowered our flags to half-staff to remember those aboard Flight 752.

More than 20 post-secondary institutions lost students and faculty when the plane crashed in Tehran in early 2020.

The COVID-19 Resuming On-campus Operations Steering Committee, which was established in the spring, has concluded its work. The committee was created to plan and lead the implementation of all initiatives related to the reopening of campus facilities and the return of staff and students to campus after the full spring 2021 campus closure. 

Any items that were in the scope of the Steering Committee have now been transferred to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). 

Some of the associated subcommittees, like the COVID-19 Watch and Monitoring subcommittee, will continue to operate and report into the EOC. 

Thank you to Gina Antonacci, AVP Academic and Angelo Presta, Senior Director, Capital Development and Facilities for co-chairing the Steering Committee and to all those who have supported its work.

After five years of work as an academic administrator, Dr. Andrew Scott has decided to return to his first love: teaching in Humber’s Bachelor of Music program. As the new program co-ordinator, Andrew will focus on academic supports for the Faculty of Media & Creative Arts’ largest degree, as well as ongoing curriculum development to ensure that Humber better meets the evolving needs of its music students. His priority for the Winter 2021 semester will be to create pathways between Humber’s music offerings to support the music ecosystem and reinforce the Humber Music brand of excellence at all levels of music education.

To ensure a smooth transition, Heather Lowry will move from her role as Associate Dean of Interaction Design (IDC) to Associate Dean of Music & Fine Arts (MFA). Heather has over eight years of experience in academic administration, seven of which included managing the three fine arts programs within MFA. She will continue to act as Associate Dean to the IDC programs until a replacement is hired.

Samantha Araza will continue to support Heather, moving with her to the MFA cluster, while Marsha Duggan will bring her considerable knowledge of college operations to IDC. Samantha and Marsha will work closely with Heather to prioritize faculty engagement and student success through this process.

Hannah Burgé Luviano will continue to assist students and faculty as Program Manager, focusing on equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. She will work directly with Guillermo Acosta to develop and implement the Faculty’s EDI strategic plan. 

Please join me in welcoming Andy, Heather, Hannah, Samantha and Marsha to their new roles and thanking them for their hard work and continued leadership.

Guillermo Acosta
Senior Dean, Faculty of Media & Creative Arts

It is with mixed emotions that I share that Heidi Marsh has accepted an exciting new role as Director of Faculty Development and Academic Technology at George Brown College.

Heidi started at Humber in 2015 as Director, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, where she led the development of Humber’s SoTL strategy focusing on evolving the knowledge and practice of teaching and learning within Humber and across the sector. Under Heidi’s leadership, Humber has contributed to the sector through numerous SoTL research projects, including the design of 21^st century learning spaces, the efficacy of virtual reality simulations, the impact of educational technology, such as real-time polling tools, and the assessment of sustainability literacy.

In addition to her leadership of the SoTL portfolio, Heidi has also headed Humber Press, re-launching a new podcast this month, publishing a book on the future of and role of Polytechnics in Ontario, and launching the Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE).

In 2019, Heidi took on the role of acting Director, Teaching and Learning where she has provided exceptional leadership, notably through the challenges of the pandemic. Heidi collaborated with the Innovative Learning teams on developing Humber’s 10-Step Process, supporting faculty to rapidly and successfully move courses from a face-to-face to virtual delivery. Heidi has worked tirelessly in the past months to ensure that Humber faculty have had the necessary tools to transition their teaching online in ways that support student success.

Across Humber, Heidi has become known for her thoughtful and knowledgeable contributions across a variety of areas, and for her collaborative leadership approach. Some of her accomplishments include the redesign of Humber’s flexible, collaborative learning spaces, an institution-wide investigation on academic misconduct at Humber, the Cutting EDge initiative, a UDL pilot project in partnership with ALS, and activity within the Global Polytechnic Alliance and Humber-Seneca Strategic Partnership.

Heidi will be with us until January 22. As part of the transition plan, I am pleased to announce that Lara McInnis will serve in an acting capacity while we undergo the search for Heidi’s replacement in the coming weeks.

Heidi will be missed by many here at Humber, including myself. Please join me in congratulating Heidi and wishing her continued success.

Vera Beletzan
Senior Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning