College Council held its fifth meeting of the Winter semester on Thursday, May 7, at the Lakeshore campus. In the interest of keeping the Humber community informed about upcoming events, new initiatives, and important issues, I will be continuing to report the highlights of the monthly meetings.  For more information on any topic, or to give me feedback on the reports, please feel free to contact me directly, at lisa.salem-wiseman@humber.ca.

Academic Planning Process
Laurie Rancourt, Senior Vice President, Academic, gave an overview of the process of developing Humber’s Academic Plan. The Academic Plan will establish a common frame of reference with regards to Humber’s academic priorities and their future evolution. 

She pointed out that a strong foundation already exists in Humber’s unique polytechnic identity, which includes industry partnerships, a wide range of credentials, internal and external pathways, innovation and entrepreneurship, and applied research. The Academic Plan will be a short document that articulates how the activities in the different Academic Schools fit into this existing identity. 

The preliminary draft Academic Plan is due August 31, 2015, with the release date of the finalized plan set for November 2015.  There will be many opportunities for the Humber community to participate in the creation of the plan, through focus groups, surveys, and requests for draft reviewers.

If you have suggestions or recommendations, please send them to Laurie Rancourt at academicplan@humber.ca

eLearning at Humber
Mark Ihnat, Director, e-Learning, took Council through the past year of e-Learning at Humber. Online learning is growing at Humber, with increasing numbers of online students and online or blended course offerings every year. Topics covered included the following:

Student Support

• The Online Learning Centre (OLC) offers proctoring of student tests and exams
• The OLC produces print materials such as a student Blackboard survival guide and bookmarks
• The OLC has a Facebook page and help page

Faculty Support

• A wide variety of workshops run frequently at both North and Lakeshore campuses, as well as in webinar form. Recent and current offerings include “Introduction to Blackboard,” “Creating Community through Communication,” “Online Strategies to Improve Academic Integrity,” and “The Social Media Classroom.” 
• The Centre for Teaching and Learning offers Instructional Support Studios at both the North and Lakeshore campuses (including weekend support through the OLC), and virtual and scheduled on-site support for Orangeville. Support is available face to face, as well as via phone or email.
• A Gold Master Blackboard course, available to all faculty as a .zip file, focuses on maximizing the Blackboard experience through providing best practices and an expanded offering of learning objects, including animation videos. The course will be launched in website form in the upcoming year.

For additional information about and assistance with Blackboard, please visit www.humber.ca/bb91help and follow @Blackboard on Twitter.

For upcoming developments in eLearning at Humber, including a new MOOC course planned for 2015, please follow @eLearningHumber

Program News
The current Tourism and Hospitality Management – Event Planning diploma, offered by the School of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism, will be undergoing a reclassification and renaming process, at the request of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. At the request of industry stakeholders, it has been decided that programs will operate with title stems of either “Tourism” or “Hospitality” but not both. Beginning in September 2016, the program will be called Hospitality – Event Management. The change is subject to Board of Governors’ approval, which is scheduled for May 26, 2015.

Protected Disclosure Policy
Jennifer Cosway, HR Manager, updated Council on Humber’s new Protected Disclosure (“Whistleblower”) Policy. The policy will apply to all members of the College community.

What is Protected Disclosure?
Protected disclosure refers to any disclosure that is not frivolous or made in bad faith, made by a person concerning an actual or perceived wrongdoing.

Why is Humber Developing a Policy?
Due to an increasing interest in transparency of public service organizations, along with increasing legislative requirements, it makes sense for Humber to have a process in place for disclosing wrongdoing.

What is the Process for Submitting a Complaint?
Complaints will be made in writing and forwarded to the office of the president. The process does allow for anonymous complaints to be made, but the language in the policy makes it clear that anonymity may limit the scope of the investigation. Complaints will be reviewed by Humber’s President (or designant), who will determine if the complaint is within the scope of this policy and what the next steps will be, including who will investigate the complaint.

In keeping with Council’s new mandate to report back to the President on key items, members of Council met in small working groups to discuss the evening’s presentations and to make notes that will be brought to the President.

The next meeting of College Council will be the annual two-day retreat, held from Monday, June 8 – Tuesday, June 9, 2015, at the North Campus. The theme is “Technology Supporting Learning and Student Engagement,” and the meeting will be attended by current, outgoing, and incoming members.