Announcements

When:
December 21, 2020
Contact:
Melissa Beauchamp
Tel:
x4137
Snowy Stock Image with Humber Gives Logo in support of Unlimited: The Campaign for Humber Gives. Website humber.ca/HumberGives

This year has been particularly tough on Humber students. As we all know, the pandemic has pulled the rug right out from beneath them, and they’re struggling to get back on their feet.  

Faculty and staff already do so much for students, and we hope that as part of Humber Gives, you’ll consider making a year-end contribution to the Support Our Students (SOS) Fund to help even more struggling students. 

Here’s an example of the impact your support can make: 

“I arrived in Canada with my family in January 2020 to study at Humber. We found jobs quickly, my child was in daycare and everything was going as planned. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we both lost our jobs and were desperate – we couldn’t go back to our country because the situation was worse there. We were able to get some food from the food bank, and at the same time, I received an emergency bursary from Humber. That moment was crucial and gave me hope and conviction that me and my family weren’t alone. I just want to thank all the people that made this support possible. Thanks to that, I am able to continue my education and support my family at the same time.”  

A big thank you to everyone who has supported to date. For those who would like to make a donation but haven’t yet had a chance, there is still time to make your gift to help even more students.

Humber will be matching all gifts up to $25,000 and we haven’t yet reached this goal. Help us get there while also doubling the impact of your support.  

You can donate by: 

Every dollar truly makes a difference for a struggling student, especially in times like this. 

All donations received by December 31 will receive a 2020 tax receipt.

Thank you again for everything, and all the best for a happy and healthy holiday season! 

Alvina Cassiani and Wanda Buote 

When:
December 18, 2020
Contact:
Alexandra Hoa
Tel:
x4856

The Campus Bookstores for the winter term will be offering an online shopping experience as well as in-store shopping. Students may place their orders online or shop in-store. 

Online orders will be shipped to students' homes or to an address of their choice within 48 to 72 hours. If an item is not available in our stores, that order will be sent to another Campus Store within our chain for fulfillment. The delivery time for these orders will be 4 to 6 days. Students can also pick up the online orders in store.

In order to provide contactless service, online order pick up will be handled at the window outside the store (window in the wall) at the North Campus.

Winter Term - January 2021 Store Hours

North Campus Bookstore Store

January 4 to 15 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
January 18 to 22 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
January 25 to 29 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lakeshore Campus Bookstore Store

January 4 to 15 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
January 18 to 22 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
January 25 to 29 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Materials:

For the winter term, we will continue to provide both print and digital options for as many courses as possible. Please note that not all publisher's materials are available to the Campus Bookstore in a digital format. Digital delivery (access code) distribution can vary from providing an access code online to providing a printed code card for physical delivery. We are actively working with publishers to upload product to our systems. 

To place orders online please visit:

Your patience is appreciated during these unprecedented times. At both the campus stores, we're focused on limiting occupancy and giving everybody lots of room practicing physical/social distancing, washing our hands, wearing masks and gloves as well as regularly sanitizing common areas of each store.

The buyback program has been temporarily suspended, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Neither the North nor Lakeshore Campus bookstores will be able to perform any buybacks at this time. 

Dharmesh Patel
Store Manager, Humber North and University of Guelph-Humber Campus Store
Email: d.patel@follett.com | 0947mgr@follett.com | dharmesh.patel@humber.ca

Bijal Patel
Store Manager, Humber Lakeshore Campus Store
Email: b.patel@follett.com | 0948mgr@follett.com

When:
December 18, 2020
Posters/Attachments: Event Poster

The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning (Humber College) has identified as its Strategic Priority #7 under Pillar #3, Healthy and Inclusive Community, to continue to build a diverse and inclusive community of exceptional students, faculty and staff. The specific supporting action is to establish and implement an institutional framework and strategy for equity, diversity and inclusion that addresses the needs of both students and employees.

An EDI Taskforce comprising of students, faculty, support and administration staff, alumni, community and industry partners was created to lead this initiative. The EDI Framework will address the following four (4) program areas and five (5) program streams:

  1. Access & Equity: Students and Employees
  2. Curriculum and Programs
  3. Campus Culture
  4. College-wide Communication and Engagement Strategy

Over the past several months, the EDI Taskforce has been socializing the high-level draft objectives for all program areas with members of the Humber community. Many members asked for detailed work plans, which were provided upon request. Thank you all for your thoughtful feedback which has allowed us to further refine the draft objectives. All program areas have integrated the feedback received, where possible.

We invite members of the Humber community to review the most updated version of the objectives (as of December 17, 2020) for all program areas.

When:
December 17, 2020

Purchasing Services Announcement:

Purchasing Services is pleased to announce that a new Vendor of Record (VOR) has been established for the provision of printing and related services to the college. The new VOR is a result of collaborative procurement process by Purchasing with OECM who has negotiated and finalized the printing contract. This VOR will see Humber entering long-term service agreement with several pre-approved suppliers under this VOR.

We have awarded a 2020 Vendor of Record Agreement for provision of printing services (2020-420P) to the following vendors:

Avant Imaging & Integrated Media Inc. Email: rongiorgio@aiim.com
Brown Book Company (BBC) Limited Email: jennie@brownbook.ca
McLaren Press Graphics Ltd. Email: julie@mclarenpress.com
Staples Business Advantage Canada Email: SBACanadaCSC@staples.com
Xerox Canada Ltd. Email: alain.boudreau@xerox.com

What You’ll Get:

  • Wide variety of print products, such as books, catalogues, calendars, flyers, folders, and more, available on any substrates required.
  • Cutting-edge print techniques, including digital and offset.
  • Choice of finishing and binding techniques.
  • Related services, including prepress services, order fulfillment, warehousing and/or inventory, scanning, direct mail services and more.
  • High-volume production facilities to meet your lead times.
  • Products that support your environmental and sustainability requirements.
  • By leveraging and centralizing our purchasing power and streamlining how we work, we will be more efficient, deliver innovative services and goods, and most importantly, work together to reduce costs to our budgets.
  • The agreements with the above vendors are effective from November 20, 2020, to July 27, 2023, and have an option to extend the term for one additional period of up to two years.

VOR Implementation 

  • Contracts with each vendor in this VOR is valid until July 27, 2023 and effective immediately.
  • The suppliers with whom you have current in-progress jobs are to continue to completion. New printing projects should start with the preferred VOR vendors.
  • New projects placed with these suppliers should follow current purchasing procedures.* 

*Current Purchasing Procedures:

  • Projects under $25,000 can be authorized using any one vendor from VOR and providing their quote (without going to RFP).
  • Projects between $25,000 and $100,000 can be set up simply by providing three (3) quotes for the project (without going to RFP).
  • These quotes can be self-assessed by you and your team to choose the preferred vendor for your project.  
  • Please reference “2020-420P” in the comments section of your Banner purchase requisition when using this VOR.

If you have any questions regarding this VOR, please contact: 

Kevin Viflanzoff, BCom, MBA, CSCMP
Associate Director, Purchasing
kevin.viflanzoff@humber.ca

When:
December 17, 2020

As part of the ongoing work related to the LRT construction project at the North Campus, construction crews will be relocating hydro poles and underground cables. The work will start in January 2021 and will last for five (5) months, approximately. It will take place on:

  • Hwy. 27, from 200 m. north of Humber College Blvd. to 200 m. north of Finch Ave. W.,
  • Finch Ave. W., from 50 m. west of Hwy. 27 to 100 m. east of Westmore Dr.,
  • Humber College Blvd., from Hwy. 27 to Arboretum Blvd.

Once relocated, outages will be required to switch power from the old to new infrastructure. Those directly affected by outages will be notified in advance.

A notice with more details will be coming soon.

When:
December 15, 2020

Janet Lising is retiring after almost 35 years. 

Janet started in the Graphics Department in 1986. Since then, Janet moved to the Library, where she has taken on various roles, most recently, for the past 15 years, as our Office and Circulation Services Manager.

During Janet’s 33 years with the Library, she has proven to be our main point of contact between so many departments and individuals. We know replacing someone with her institutional knowledge, connections, and legendary baking skills will be a tall order.

Janet’s last day “in the office” will be December 23, 2020. We want to thank her for her commitment to Humber, and we hope you all join us in wishing her the very best as she embarks on a much-deserved retirement.

When:
December 16, 2020
Screen shot of new Program & Courses search module on humber.ca

There will be some changes to humber.ca that will improve the way people search for programs and courses on the Humber website.

In order to improve the overall user experience on our website, the Government Relations, Marketing and Communications team has been exploring revising our main Program & Courses Search Module on humber.ca to be inclusive of all full-time and non-full-time offerings.

Over the past months, we have been working with the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning and Corporate Training Solutions to identify how we can improve our presentation of our non-FT certificates, courses and workshops to prospective and returning students, so that they can see the entire breadth of our offerings.

Here’s how it will work:

When you visit the main humber.ca landing page, under the Programs and Courses Tab, you’ll find four sections: 

  • Full-time Programs
  • Continuous Professional Learning
  • Experience Online Learning
  • Pathways and Transfer Options

Under Full-time Programs, you can now search for online programs. The new Continuous Professional Learning tab also allows you to search by campus location or online. It will combine all Humber offerings that are non-fulltime, like our Continuing Education courses and programs, and workshops offered through the Corporate Training Solutions department. The Experience Online Learning tab will also allow users to move to the Future Students Page that showcases how in-class learning is experienced at Humber. 

Additionally, given the change in our program delivery resulting from the impacts of COVID-19, we need to review how we present our online offerings to those seeking professional and continuing education. 

Finally, it is important that we begin to house all of our non-FT offerings within our main search module in advance of the implementation of the FlexReg project.

This update was made possible by the collaboration of Continuing Education, Corporate Training Solutions, Education Training & Solutions and Community Outreach and Workforce Development.

When:
December 16, 2020

The Humber College Council (HCC) held its fourth meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year on Thursday, December 10, 2020, 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 denise.rooney@humber.ca.

HCC Holiday Fundraising Initiative

Karen Stefou [Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellness] provided an update of the fundraising initiative for Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter. Staff who wish to donate to the shelter may do so through the Canada Help’s page that has been set up on the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness website.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/humber-faculty-of-health-sciences-wellness-support

Core SEM Update

Gina Antonacci, [Associate Vice-President, Academic] and Barb Riach, [Registrar, Office of the Registrar] provided a strategic enrolment management (SEM) update. Also included was a Program Development update.

B. Riach provided an overview of an environmental scan with regards to enrolment. She noted that the expected previous decline in 18–24-year-old domestic students is forecast to change, and rise in the early 2020’s. As well, there has been an increase in international student enrolment to offset the domestic shortfall. Since COVID-19, enrolment forecasts have changed due to the significant uncertainty especially with international students. International students are now able to travel to Canada yet there have been extensive travel restrictions put in place and students have been unable to secure travel documents such as visas. The Canadian Government has made some changes to help accommodate international students to study online while gaining Canadian education credentials. Enrolment projections have been revised to accurately reflect the challenges and possible space restrictions due to physical distancing requirements.

The college is encouraged by the strong enrolment numbers from the summer and fall semesters and especially by the returning students who have continued with their schooling; the numbers are close to pre-COVID-19 rates. The largest shortfall has been with new international student enrolment, yet on a positive note most international students have chosen to defer their start date rather than completely withdraw.

The overall strong enrolment numbers speak to the efforts of how staff were able to pivot services to online, and in many cases reach more potential students with events such as orientation and open house. As of December 7, there are close to 20,700 students registered full-time for the winter semester and we fully expect to meet our enrolment targets. The recruitment team will be hosting online events for potential high-school students which typically they would visit in person in the past.

Program Development Update

G. Antonacci provided Council with an update on new programs starting at Humber in 2021. These include diploma, degree, and graduate certificates.

Winter 2021

  • Health Sector Regulatory Compliance (Graduate Certificate)
  • Cloud Computing (Graduate Certificate)

Fall 2021

  • Advertising – Art Direction (Graduate Certificate)
  • Bachelor of Engineering – 3 separate streams offered
  • Retirement Home Management (Graduate Certificate)
  • Bachelor of Social Science – Addictions and Mental Health
  • Bachelor of Science – Nursing
  • Computer Programming & Analysis (Advanced Diploma)

Innovative Approaches to Remote Delivery

Laurie Rancourt [Senior Vice-President, Academic] introduced Vera Beletzan [Senior Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences & Innovative Learning] and Gina Antonacci [Associate Vice-President, Academic] to discuss the rapid transformation of teaching and learning during a pandemic.

Teaching and Learning 

As a result of the sudden shut down of the college due to COVID-19 in March, Humber took a rapid pivot approach between March and May to ensure that our high-quality teaching and learning for our students was maintained. Several initiatives were established including a Learning Continuity Kit for faculty, Student Learning Kit, a 10-step plan to building an online course, Tech Designated Pivot teams, software upgrades, course trailers and a Blackboard template redesign.

There will be permanent changes made with faculty support including, targeted and specialized webinars, ED-venture days, online conferences every 2 months and on-demand professional learning webinars. Student support will include course trailer videos, upgraded student supports, enhanced Humber-Online experience and student outreach and workshop offerings. The feedback from both faculty and students has been excellent and reassuring.

Project-Based Work Integrated Learning (WIL)

Work placements which are integral to the theory/practice connection were impacted because of the pandemic. To ensure students were able to participate in meaningful experiential learning that was connected to their field of practice, projects were created to provide the necessary learning outcomes. For example, the Faculty of Social and Community Services Criminal Justice degree students, in collaboration with Toronto Police and the Scarborough-Guildwood Business Improvement Area, developed a Mapping Community Resources Project to respond to homelessness in the community. The Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology Interior Design students re-designed current Humber spaces to respond to the reality of COVID-19 and to envision college learning space of the future. The International Centre developed on the heels of cancellation of travel-based learning the Beyond COVID-19: Global System Gap Challenge. This unique opportunity helped students, both current and potential, demonstrate and articulate the Humber Learning Outcomes (HLO’s) in a meaningful way. There were 390 participants from 27 different countries, and 125 staff and industry partners involved in this challenge.

The impact on the future of WIL as a result of the past few months is that they will continue, as the outcome has been favourable. This forward-thinking mindset enables us to integrate the HLO’s into WIL in a purposeful way. Thus, the experiential learning outcomes has been transformed in innovative ways while still aligning with our strategic plan.

Closing Remarks

Chris Whitaker [President and CEO, Humber College] addressed College Council with year-end closing remarks.  He took the opportunity to thank members for their ongoing commitment. He also noted that the Humber response to the pandemic became an opportunity to transform post-secondary education through collaboration while staying true to our strategic plan and priorities as well as maintain our quality of program delivery.

C. Whitaker spoke to other successes that have resulted over the past few months including: multiple town halls that have been a success with strong engagement and attendance; a remote work policy has been developed; deficit reduction; and the college has maintained a strong commitment to employees.

The next meeting of College Council will be held online on Thursday, January 21, 2021. For meeting highlights, supporting materials, or opportunities to provide comments, please visit the College Council website.

When:
December 16, 2020
Contact:
Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness

Wrapping up our Wellness Series before the holiday break, we would like to take this opportunity to share some resources that you may wish to explore as you pause, recharge, and re-centre.

Healthy Work From Home Resources found on the HROE website guide you through a variety of topics to support your wellness journey – take a moment to discover and learn!

Looking for some Ergonomic Tips? Visit our Occupational Health and Safety website to gather advice on a healthy home office set-up..

Your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a support service that provides immediate and confidential assistance for any work, health or life concern. A wide variety of services are available including:

Financial Support

Legal Support

  • Credit/debt management
  • Budgeting
  • Bankruptcy
  • Financial aspects of separation/divorce
  • Insurance
  • Income tax planning
  • Retirement planning
  • Family law
  • Landlord and tenant issues
  • Separation and divorce
  • Summons, warrants and subpoenas
  • Custody and child support
  • Wills and estate planning
  • Consumer protection

Nutrition Support

Family Support

Connect with a Registered Dietitians for advice about:

  • Weight loss/gain
  • Lowering cholesterol levels
  • Getting off the diet "roller coaster"
  • Reducing high blood pressure
  • Boosting energy
  • Regulating diabetes
  • Healthy eating on the go
  • Preventing heart disease
  • Accommodating shift work
  • Preventing osteoporosis
  • Eating a well-balanced vegetarian diet

Family Support consultants can provide information on the following:

  • Daycare centres and after-school programs
  • Schools, educational services and special needs programs
  • Parenting classes
  • Emergency home care services
  • Seniors’ accommodations/nursing homes
  • Caregiver support groups
  • Rehabilitation and home support programs
  • Palliative care
  • Outreach and transportation services
  • Adoption and multiple birth services
  • Expectant and new parenting

Career Support

Health Coaching

Working with a career counsellor, you can address a wide range of topics, including:

  • Stress
  • Work-life balance
  • Career planning and redirection
  • Preparing effective resumes and cover letter
  • Coping strategies
  • Steps to avoid burn-out
  • Finding focus in life, and making it a priority
  • Retirement planning

Health Coaches are Registered Nurses and Occupational Health Nurses who offer practical, personalized support for physical health issues, such as:

  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Migraines
  • Asthma, Allergies
  • PMS, Menopause, Andropause
  • Gastrointestinal concerns (Crohn’s Disease, ulcers)
  • Weight management
  • Healthy eating
  • Smoking cessation
  • Responsible alcohol use
  • Stress management
  • Exercise as a component of a healthy lifestyle

Naturopathic Services

Professional Counselling

Naturopaths provide solutions that may work in connection with traditional providers, but will not focus on solutions that require drugs or conventional medicine. Topics addressed by this program include:

  • Address sleep difficulties
  • Manage stress
  • Take steps to age well
  • Balance work and personal life
  • Stay healthy and prevent illness
  • Managing your health at work
  • Improve digestion
  • Live well as a shift worker
  • Boost energy levels
  • Deal with jet lag
  • Recognize mind-body connections
  • Build your immune system
  • Make good food choices
  • Understand midlife health changes

 

EAP can help with the following issues/concerns:

  • Relationship Problems
  • Life Stages
  • Family Issues
  • Communication
  • Work Relationships
  • Workplace Stress
  • Bullying
  • Harassment
  • Abuse
  • Depression
  • Addiction
  • Grief
  • Anger Issues
  • Parenting Advice
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Personal Growth
  • Stress & Coping Techniques
  • Conflicts
  • Personal Resiliency
  • Work/Life Balance
  • Work Performance
  • Anxiety
  • Smoking Cessation
  • Coping with Illness or Injury
  • And More

Full time employees can connect with a professional by visiting the EAP website where you will find options to chat online, email, or phone for assistance (1-844-880-9137).

For additional EAP information, please visit our HR website.

 

This is a busy time of year and we encourage you to take a moment to pause, recharge, and re-centre.  We wish you all the best as you celebrate this holiday season and we look forward to connecting with you in the New Year.

 

Sincerely,

Your Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness Team

When:
December 15, 2020
Teams Meeting Tip - Breakout Rooms

Break out the bubbly! Breakout rooms are enabled in Teams Meetings now!

The meeting organizer can create up to 50 Breakout rooms for the meeting. Participants can be automatically or manually assigned into a room. The organizer can join any of the breakout rooms, switch participants, send announcements, recall all participants, and more.

Learn the basics of Teams Meetings by signing up to 1:1 Virtual Coaching at its.humber.ca/coaching.

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