You can dictate your documents with Word. The new dictation toolbar, voice commands, and auto-punctuation make creating content with your voice fast and easy. The Dictate feature is found at the top-right in the ribbon.

Once you click the dictation icon, a small window will appear at the bottom of your document. Click the microphone icon to start. To view the settings, click on the cog icon. You can choose from a list of languages, set auto-punctuate, and even set a profanity filter. If set, the profane word will display as dots.

Learn more about Dictation at the Microsoft Support webpage.

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

Many of you are aware that Melanie Chai, Associate Director, Advising & Career Services will soon be setting off on parental leave. We will certainly miss her skilled leadership during that time but are also very excited for her and her family as they prepare to welcome a new addition to their ranks.

I am pleased to announce that, Christina Alcena (she/her), currently the Manager, Equity & Student Life, is the successful incumbent for the role of Interim Associate Director, Advising & Career Services, filling in for Melanie during her absence.

As the Manager, Equity & Student Life, Christina led significant organizational change that brought the Student Diversity & Inclusion Hubs together with Student Life in service of common student success and retention outcomes. Christina worked closely with this new team to advance key objectives related to supporting students from equity-deserving groups and growing our transition programming to meet students’ evolving needs, with specific attention to inter-sectional identities and in response to the ever changing learning and employment context. This included supporting the team through a complete re-invention of our offerings – Orientation, FYE, The BASE & LGBTQ+ Resource Centre - to an online environment that would continue to deliver meaningful support, engagement and community engagement for students.

During her tenure, Christina has also played a critical role as a member of Humber’s EDI Task Force, has served as a member of the Humber Gallery Committee as well as the Black/African Employee Resource Group (ERG), and made great strides in advancing the Humber-Seneca Polytechnic Partnership. Christina holds a Masters of Education Curriculum, Teaching & Learning and is currently an EdD candidate for a Doctor of Education in Social Justice Education at OISE. 

Christina’s track record in her most recent role, her knowledge of Student Success & Engagement and Humber, together with her education and 9+ years of experience both inside and outside of post-secondary education, position her well to support the Advising & Career Services team in advancing their priorities in the next 20 months. Christina’s official start date as the Interim Associate Director, Advising & Career Services is May 10, although she will be engaged with both teams leading up to her start date and until her current position is filled. 

I hope you will join me in congratulating Christina on this new assignment. We are grateful to Christina for taking on this secondment and excited for her contributions to this portfolio. 

Chantal Joy
Associate Dean, Transition & Academic Support
Student Success and Engagement
Pronouns | She/Her/Hers (Info on Pronouns)

Adriana Mema knew from a very young age that she is a builder. "Ever since I was young, I remember playing with sand on the beach and building alongside my brothers all sorts of roads, bridges, and obviously castles out of that wonderful material," confirmed Mema.

Mema immigrated to Canada from Albania in 1999 with one goal: to continue pursuing her love of buildings. However, when she arrived, she found there was resistance to women working in the construction industry. "The majority of women in construction at the time were working in the office and dealing with administrative duties," she said. Mema had a choice, be complacent or disrupt this societal inequity.

Find the full story here.

As part of the Consent Peer Education Program (CPEP) and Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Diversity's Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) programming in April 2021, students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to participate in our SAAM Challenge! Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in April, a prompt will be provided on the CPEP Instagram and through the Humber Communiqué to encourage people to take an action in recognition of SAAM. Participants who share a photo addressing the prompt by emailing it to cpep@humber.ca will be entered into a raffle to win a $150 gift card; all entries must be submitted by Monday, May 3 at 12 p.m. to be eligible for the prize!

Today's prompt is...During SAAM, I Am…: Reflect on your feelings during SAAM and find a way to capture them as creatively as possible.