Announcements

When:
August 17, 2020

As announced earlier, emails have started to roll out to staff from Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness with the Return to Campus Agreement. The email you will receive will come from dse@camail.docusign.net

Please note that this email is not spam or a phishing attempt. Once you receive the Return to Campus Agreement, kindly follow the instructions to complete and electronically submit the form by August 31, or before returning to campus, whichever comes first.

If you cannot complete the document in DocuSign, please reach out to your manager to arrange for delivery in an alternate format.

When:
August 11, 2020
Contact:
Nancy Simms

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) bring together employees who share a common identity, characteristic and set of interests. They create a culture of inclusion that enhances employee engagement and further supports organizations’ vision and values.

Myth #1: ERGs give some employees special privileges over others.

Fact:
This notion is so pervasive that some employees worry about the optics of joining a group for fear they will be seen as exclusionary—or, worse, as benefitting from tokenism. I’ve heard young women say they shy away from women’s groups for fear that joining will harm their relationships with male colleagues. They don’t want to be perceived as having advanced “because they are a woman.” The truth is that most ERGs arise from a lack of networks and developmental opportunities for employees from backgrounds that differ from those of the majority of an organization’s senior leaders. Employees from minority [equity-seeking groups] groups are more vulnerable to being excluded from the powerful informal networks that enable “insiders” to gain important knowledge about a company’s unwritten rules, advancement opportunities, and access to influential sponsors. Research has repeatedly shown that women tend to have fewer high-level sponsors than men. Women of color [racialized women], including Black/African women, have networks containing the fewest White men—and it’s very hard to advance in most corporate environments in North America without White male allies. ERGs are formal ways of distributing professional opportunities more broadly and fairly throughout an organization.

Myth #2: Having “special groups” for certain employees furthers exclusion.

Fact:
A common myth is that by separating employees into groups or clubs, ERGs run contrary to inclusion. ERGs often grow out of some employees’ desire to connect with others who have similar backgrounds and experiences, but they also advise organizations on how to connect with employees who are often marginalized, ultimately promoting career development and culture change that expands inclusion for all. ERGs have helped organizations counteract exclusionary policies, for example by helping to shape domestic partner benefits for LGBT employees at Ford. Internally, they educate colleagues on cultural differences and raise awareness to improve the overall work culture for everyone. Without strategic planning, some ERGs are so focused on social networking that they are perceived as unwelcoming to those who do not share the identity around which the group was formed. But well-managed ERGs are (1) visibly supported by key business leaders and (2) hold events that are open to all employees. Such groups foster connections like never before; for example, one-third of Chevron’s employees belong to an ERG. In short, unlike more informal networks, ERGs can actually increase cross-company connections and lead to greater inclusion.

Myth #3: Employee networks are social clubs with little impact on the business.

Fact:
Since ERGs first appeared at companies in the 1980s, their potential (and realized) impact on companies has evolved significantly! The first area of impact has typically been employee engagement; an ongoing Catalyst survey shows that participation in ERGs was linked to higher employee loyalty and satisfaction. Companies like Sodexo and Dell have seen employee engagement improve exponentially as a result of ERGs. Many studies link higher employee engagement to enhanced productivity and performance. Second, nearly all formal ERGs expand professional development through trainings, information sharing, workshops, mentoring, and visible events. This development extends externally, as many ERGs form important community partnerships that bring in new hires and enhance organizational reputation. Finally, roughly half of ERGs are now known as Business Resource Groups, given their increasing focus on client, product, or service-related innovation and development. From Campbell Soup Company, which leveraged its women’s groups to increase sales of certain product lines, to Chevron, which was given valuable advice on Hispanic marketing opportunities by its Latino ERG, Somos, ERG impact on the bottom line continues to multiply!

In short, ERGs are not social clubs created to hurt or disadvantage those who don’t share the identity of the majority of their members. They are an increasingly crucial resource that smart companies invest in to bring together employees, develop and engage talent, and deliver better results across the board.

Source: https://www.catalyst.org/2015/11/19/busting-myths-about-ergs-one-resource-at-a-time

When:
August 11, 2020
Contact:
Seeret Samra

Be a leader in connecting students and creating an amazing campus culture.

Peer Mentors are senior students that act as advisors and offer support to incoming students. A Peer Mentor’s primary responsibility is to assist incoming students with the challenges associated with the transition into their first year of college. The Peer Mentor role is a volunteer position and can be added to your Co-Curricular Record (CCR).

Peer Mentor Expectations:

Peer Mentors are expected to mentor a group of first year students throughout a mentoring period (approximately 12 weeks). Mentors are expected to be available for three to five hours per week, via email, text, or in-person. Peer Mentors are representatives of Humber and are expected to act in accordance with Humber's Code of Student Conduct.

Click here to view the full Peer Mentor position description.

How to Become a Peer Mentor:

Click here to apply to become a Peer Mentor. You will be contacted within a few days for a short interview to help us learn more about your fit with FYE.

Please send this along to student who may be interested! Students can contact fye@humber.ca with any questions about the Peer Mentor role. 

When:
August 10, 2020
Photograph of brick cottages from across a field with cement platform in foreground

The second installment of our Summer Soundscape Series is now live! In A Mystery at Humber College you follow Benjamin, a Humber College student on a break from classes in 1983. What starts as a relaxing walk by the (original) shoreline of Lake Ontario soon turns into a quest for answers as he encounters an unexpected mystery and picks up clues along the trail.

Through our Summer Soundscape Series we are taking participants back in time to experience the Lakeshore Grounds of the past. Every few weeks we are dropping self-guided soundscape tours to help you envision what the area looked and sounded like at these different times. You can download an audio file to take with you on a journey around the grounds or watch a video version from the comfort of your own home.


A Mystery at Humber College and our first soundscape, A Day at the Lakeshore Teachers’ College, can be found at lakeshoregrounds.ca/soundscapes.

When:
August 7, 2020
Posters/Attachments: Event Poster
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Posters/Attachments: Event Poster
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Posters/Attachments: Event Poster

Financial Services Update – July 2020

With your help, we have successfully completed the 2019/20 year end audit.

We have had to make some changes to our operations since our last communication on March 19, 2020, as working remotely has required us to do so. The following information should assist you going forward as we continue to work from home:

a) Ordering supplies when working from home:

Given the duration of the current work from home situation, staff may require items or supplies that would typically be available in the office; as a result, Financial Services has revised processes to accommodate these requirements and conditions. Any supplies and/or equipment required to work from home should be pre-approved by the requestor’s manager prior to any purchase. Managers should reference the expense reimbursement policy and procedure and should use their discretion with regards to approving items requested due to need for staff to work from home. Wherever possible, the most cost effective option should be approved. Once approval is granted, the requestor may purchase the supplies and the complete the Employee Reimbursement form, attach electronic copies of receipts and submit their request for reimbursement via email to the Manager that pre-approved their initial request.

Completed Employee Reimbursement forms must include appropriate FOAP allocation and electronic receipts and can be circulated via email to your Manager for approval. Managers are able to approve an employee reimbursement by one of two ways:

  1. Signing the completed form electronically and emailing the signed form, receipts and FOAP’s to Accounts Payable, or
  2. Emailing the completed form, receipts and FOAP’s to Accounts Payable indicating their approval in the email.

As per usual practice, staff will be reimbursed by electronic funds transfer. Please keep all original claims and receipts for audit purposes, as we may contact you to provide these up to seven years from original date of claim. Any questions regarding employee reimbursements should be directed to Accounts Payable.

b) No PO, No Pay Process

Humber will be implementing a ‘No PO, No Pay’ process effective September 1, 2020. ‘No PO, No Pay’ means that without a valid Purchase Order (PO) issued by the College, payment of vendor invoices will be refused or delayed.

To ensure best practices and compliance to our Purchasing Procedures, vendors should only deliver products or services after they receive a valid PO number generated from Banner either verbal or in electronic form through our standard requisition to PO process. It is the responsibility of the requisitioning Faculty or Department to provide the Purchase Order number to the vendor before the goods and/or services are received.

Once a vendor has received their PO, they must quote the PO number on their invoice, and submit it to the College for payment upon completion of their deliverables. Any invoices which are received without a valid College Purchase Order will not be processed for payment and will be returned to the Vendor. Vendors will be notified of this change via email.

c) Eliminating physical cheques:

As of August 1, 2020 we will be moving to EFT ONLY (electronic funds transfer) with a few exceptions. Here’s how you can help:

  • Encourage your vendors to submit their invoices electronically to accounts.payable@humber.ca and sign up for EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to ensure faster payments,
  • All new vendors will be EFT only

d) Depositing Cheques:

Financial Services will no longer accept a scanned copy of cheques. All cheques must be forwarded to Financial Services, Attention: Accounts Receivable along with the Miscellaneous Deposit Receipt Form to accounts.receivable@humber.ca as the actual cheque is required in order to be deposited with the Bank. Please make the necessary arrangements to send any physical cheques to the Financial Services department (B311) via interoffice mail. Accounts Receivable will be on campus in the middle and end of the month to deposit these cheques to the bank and post the transactions in Banner.

Note: The physical cheque becomes stale dated after 6 months from the cheque payment date and will no longer be able to be deposited.

e) Payments owed to Humber:

Please encourage customers/vendors to send funds owed to the College via EFT (electronic funds transfer) rather than cheques. Here is Humber’s EFT Info. Please complete the Miscellaneous Deposit Receipt Form and email accounts.receivable@humber.ca and instruct the vendor to send the EFT remittance advice to accounts.receivable@humber.ca as well. For any further inquiries, please contact accounts.receivable@humber.ca.

For staff that need to reimburse the College for non-payroll expenses; send an email money transfer (etransfer) to etransferpayments@humber.ca, and complete the Miscellaneous Deposit Receipt Form and submit to accounts.receivable@humber.ca.

f) Student Payments:

The Financial Services team has implemented email money transfer for all payments required to students.

  1. The Cash Office remains closed until further notice. Any questions related to Cash Office functions should be directed to: binder.sehmi@humber.ca.

 Other Key Contacts:

Contact: For the following services and requests:
purchasing@humber.ca
  • sole source, new vendor forms, change order requests, invoice discrepancy resolutions

mastercard@humber.ca

  • purchase card cancellations, limit change request, other purchase card and Chrome River requests

accounts.receivable@humber.ca

  • expecting electronic payment and any other payments

treasury@humber.ca

  • treasury inquires, journal entry support

finance@humber.ca
  • Banner, Chrome River, general inquiries

financesecurity@humber.ca

  • Finance Security access

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we continue to work from home to flatten the curve and protect ourselves and our community from COVID-19.

Feel free to reach out to kelly.tsoumagas@humber.ca should you have any questions and/or concerns that you would like to discuss so we can continue to work together.

When:
August 6, 2020

Humber College held a virtual Q&A session for the community on August 6 with an update on the status of the Humber Cultural Hub and timelines for the project.

The archived presentation and Q&A can be found here.

The committee plans to hold bi-monthly sessions to touch base on the project and relevant happenings on campus. If you would like to attend a future session, please email culturalhub@humber.ca.

When:
August 6, 2020
Contact:
Safa Al-Haji

This is your last chance to sign up for the at-home Waste Audit Challenge!

The Waste Audit Challenge is a way for you to monitor the waste you produce at home (especially, your workspace) and learn waste management tips. To sign up and receive your tracking sheet before Monday, August 10, click here.

Don't forget that the winner of the Waste Audit Challenge will receive a $100 e-gift card to The Green Jar shop. The Green Jar shop is a Black-owned package-free shop in Toronto, ON that prioritizes reducing single-use plastics. The shop contains package-free items ranging from personal care to household necessities. 

Make sure to connect with us on social media (@SustainHumber), as we will be sharing waste management tips throughout the two-week challenge.

When:
August 5, 2020

Starting on August 5, licensed staff from the City of Toronto's Urban Forestry department will be coming to control an invasive plant species in the Humber Arboretum with selective, targeted use of a pesticide. This work is vital in protecting the health and well-being of our local plants, animals, and ecosystems because the targeted species, dog-strangling vine, crowds out native vegetation and young trees and reduces the abundance of insects and other wildlife. Dog-strangling vine has a particularly negative impact on monarch butterflty populations, as the monarch butterfly mistakes the invasive plant for milkweed and lays eggs on plants which will not provide appropriate food for the monarch caterpillars.

The treatment area is marked with signs at every entry point around its edge. Information signage will be posted by city staff, along with the standard warning signage, to provide more information to Arboretum users. Warning signage is posted 24 hours before treatment, and is removed 48 hours following treatment, according to Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change guidelines.

Legislation: The Cosmetic Pesticide Ban, Regulation 63/09 under the Pesticides Act, allows some exceptions for non-cosmetic use of pesticides including a forestry exemption. The use of pesticides in forestry is essential to protect trees from competing vegetation in the maintenance or establishment of a forest. For more information about the Ontario Legislation call 416.325.4000 or visit ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/pesticides.

For more information about City of Toronto Forestry Management, please visit toronto.ca/trees.

 

When:
August 5, 2020
Contact:
Casey Norris
Quarantots Kids' Art Call

Humber Galleries Virtual Field Trips and Call for Kids' Artwork

Quarantots – Kids Creating Artwork for Seniors and Essential Workers

Humber Galleries is excited to announce our new call for artwork: #Quarantots!

This summer, Humber Galleries has partnered with some wonderful cultural institutions and attractions around Toronto to create some brand new Quarantots Virtual Field Trips. Each Tuesday we'll be posting a special virtual field trip or online exhibition on our social media channels for you to visit from the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is explore the weekly exhibitions and turn one of the pieces you see there into a brand new work of art! Once you've got your masterpiece is complete you can send us a photo on social media using the hashtag #Quarantots or through the submissions form below and we'll add it to a special online gallery at the following Monday.

These artworks won’t just be online though! We want to bring some colour and positivity to the residents and front-line workers at long-term care homes. We’ve partnered with a few long-term care homes around Toronto that are beyond excited to receive some kids’ art that they can display. Let’s help bring more creativity and positivity and show them we are thinking of them! 

Check out humbergalleries.ca/quarantots or @Humbergalleries on social media for more info on how to get involved.

When:
August 5, 2020
Contact:
Ginette Ng-Tin-Sze

Coverage for Over-age Student Dependents

If you have an over-age dependent who is college or university-bound, you can help prepare him or her by ensuring that your child is still covered under your group insurance benefits. Please see below.

Deadline to submit Confirmation of Enrolment is August 31, 2020.

If you require assistance please do not hesitate to contact your Compensation & Benefits Specialist:

  • Hannah Song (A-I)
  • Ginette Ng-Tin-Sze (J-M)
  • Denise Giacomelli (N-Z)

Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology
GROUP INSURANCE BENEFITS COMMUNIQUÉ
Important Information

Coverage for over-age student dependents

If you have an over-age dependent who is college or university-bound, you can help prepare him or her by ensuring that your child is still covered under your group insurance benefits.

Dependents over the age of 21 (but under age 25) may still be eligible for benefits coverage if they are:

  • full-time postsecondary students
  • financially dependent on you

What you need to do

  1. Advise your Compensation & Benefits Specialist by providing a Confirmation of Enrolment which confirms that your dependent qualifies as an over-age dependent. Otherwise, the dependent child’s claim will be declined.
  2. After you inform your Compensation & Benefits Specialist, whenever you submit claims, simply check “Yes” where it asks you to confirm if your dependent is a full-time student.  
  3. When over-age dependents visit the dentist, they can let the dentist know that they are in school full time. This is important because most dentists submit claims electronically.
  4. You can print an extra paper drug card that your over-age dependent can present at the pharmacy. Otherwise, simply indicate “full-time student” whenever you submit a paper claim form for their drug claims. 

Note: If the drug card is not used for all the drug purchases, your reimbursement could be affected due to pharmacy mark-ups on the cost of the drugs. This means that you may have to pay more out-of-pocket.

Keep your Compensation & Benefits Specialist informed of any change in status. Prompt notification of changes in the status of your covered dependents is very important to ensure continued coverage.

Post-secondary school needs proof of coverage

If your over-age dependent’s postsecondary school needs confirmation of your dependent’s benefits coverage, and you use Sun Life’s Plan Members Services website, you can print coverage information that your over-age dependent can give to their school. Sign in to Sun Life’s Plan Member Services website. Next, click ‘Profile’, ‘Personal Info’, and then ‘Personal and dependent information'.

Simply print the page that appears. Your over-age dependent can give it to their school and may receive a refund on their fees.

Coverage for students studying abroad

If your dependent is studying abroad (except in the United States) their benefits coverage may be extended beyond the 60 day limit under the out-of-country coverage. Please contact your Compensation & Benefits Specialist for more information and well in advance of the dependent departing Canada.

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