An assembly of faculty, support staff, students, and administrators, the Humber Polytechnic Council (HPC) is Humber’s collective employee voice, making suggestions to Humber Polytechnic’s President as it relates to long and short‐term institutional priorities.
ENROLMENT & BOARD OF GOVERNORS UPDATE
Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan, Humber President & CEO
Enrolment
The entire post-secondary sector is facing immense financial challenges amidst the rapidly evolving policies and changing federal government directives. Post-secondary institutions have had to plan for future semesters amidst both financial and enrolment uncertainty. Since January 22, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced more than 25 policy changes which has created immense challenges for international student recruitment and overall enrolment efforts. At the centre of this there have been changes to the programs available that are eligible for post-graduate work permits.
Humber’s ability to weather this storm is different from other post-secondary institutions. Humber’s prudent financial management has given the institution a 12-18 month window to collectively work through these budget challenges that lay ahead. Additionally, Humber is not feeling the immediate impacts because it does not have a private college public partnership – a step that many institutions took in response to tuition decreases imposed by the provincial government in 2018.
For the 24/25 academic year, Humber had doubled down on our recruitment efforts, and this has allowed us to increase both domestic and international enrolment, and this has allowed us to mitigate the financial impact this year. This term, preliminary numbers indicate that domestic enrolment has increased by 6.9 per cent and international enrolment by 1.1 per cent. Humber is one of two institutions in the sector to use its entire PALS allocation.
Humber’s program mix is changing. Due to federal changes targeting labour market identified programs, we are seeing a decline in business programs and increases in health, human services, applied sciences, skills and technologies. We are making tremendous efforts in new program development that aligns with changes both federally and provincially. Due to the new rules from the federal government, Humber is projecting a decrease of more than 30 per cent in the total number of international students over the next two years.
Humber is currently below its enrolment corridor as per its agreement with the Ministry, however, it is not being penalized so long as Humber demonstrates a clear plan to address our enrolment commitments and makes substantial increases in programs that align with labour market demands (e.g., STEM). Humber is expecting revenues to decrease by about $40 million. At the same time, standard inflation will increase our expenditures by $15-25 million leaving a budget gap.
To navigate this challenging period, Humber will be guided by seven principles: Students first; Employees matter; Transparency and accountability; Focus on core activities and risks; Be efficient and opportunistic; Take a long-term view; and Invest in our Future. To address the revenue gap, the Executive Team is being asked to return to reduction plans and Humber is forming a new revenue generating team and is inviting the Humber community to provide ideas. Humber will not use universal cross-cutting measures.
Humber hosted two in person Town Halls – January 28 at the Lakeshore Campus and February 3 at the North Campus to provide more information on Humber’s budget situation.
Board of Governors
As the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) is currently undertaking a fact-finding review, there are limits to what the President can discuss relative to this issue. Dr. Vaughan confirmed that eight of Humber’s Board of Governors tendered their resignation on January 17, followed by the resignation of our IGNITE student Board member. Humber is fully cooperating with MCU’s review, and our institution’s operations and administrative functions remain steady and uninterrupted.
FORGING DEEPER PARTNERSHIPS
Tyler Charlebois, director, Centres of Innovation Network
Humber Inspired Pillar 2 focuses on Deeper Partnerships and leveraging Humber’s powerful convening ability. By 2030, Humber wants to be the go-to destination for partners who want to solve problems, increase productivity, commercialize their innovations, and succeed in a competitive market. This includes building new partnerships. Themes within this pillar include:
Applied research and innovation: A focus on applied research and innovation and creating a culture of creativity that embraces failure and exploration, leans into innovation, and drives towards productivity – one that aims for Humber to be a Top 10 Research College annually. Humber needs to secure $10 million in research funding annually to achieve a top ten status.
Employability and Entrepreneurship: Provide and nurture multiple approaches to support student employability through initiatives such as ENACTUS, Hack-a-thons, career societies, and capstone projects and developing an incubator where students can turn their brilliant ideas into businesses – making their side hustle into their main hustle.
Following the presentation, a discussion ensued on how Humber can become the “go-to” destination for industry and community partners and improve the culture of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship at Humber.
NEW PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Gina Antonacci, senior vice-president, Academic and Nichole Molinaro, dean, Program Planning, Development and Renewal
Humber is developing new programs to add to its credential mix. To determine what Humber develops, Humber reviews labour market needs, ministry priorities (STEM), sector competition, applicant and enrolment data, resource needs, post-graduate eligibility, and domestic student demand. Foundational to our decisions is ensuring Humber has comprehensive programming in all six Faculties.
Humber had identified the following program areas for development:
- Advanced Computing
- Energy Systems/Clean Energy/Sustainability
- Analytics/Data Science/Digital Infrastructure
- Digital Security/Forensics/Cybersecurity
- Medical/Health Sciences
- Skilled Trades
The development of new programs involves Feasibility Reports, Financial Assumptions Tables and Analysis, and a review by the Board of Governors and the Ministry.
NEXT HPC MEETING
The next Humber Polytechnic Council meeting will be held virtually on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS about HPC meeting highlights, can be directed to regan.mancini@humber.ca. For all other inquiries, contact shovani.samalia@humber.ca.
