College Council Highlights: April 6, 2017

Humber College Council (HCC) held its eighth meeting of the 2016-17 academic year on Thursday, April 6 at the North Campus. To ensure the Humber community is informed of upcoming events, new initiatives and important issues, College Council reports the highlights of its monthly meetings. For more information or to provide feedback on the highlights, please contact denise.rooney@humber.ca or bhupinder.singhmalhotra@humber.ca.

Humber’s Community Integration through Cooperative Education – (CICE)

Presenters: L. Salem-Wiseman [Associate Dean, School of Health Sciences] and R. To [Program Coordinator] and Student Darryl Nguyen provided an overview of the CICE program offered through the School of Health Sciences. The program has been in existence for more than 30 years. The Fall 2016 semester had 124 applicants; 35 students were accepted.

This two-year program is for students with an intellectual disability who have not graduated with a high school diploma or had any post-secondary education. Rather, students have graduated with a certificate of achievement and/or Ontario Secondary School Certificate. The CICE program provides students with the whole college experience. Students are integrated into elective courses and are able to choose a subject of interest from any other program among eligible options. Students have two field placements during their program. One placement is on campus and the other is in their home community. The CICE program partners with Humber schools and departments to provide on campus placements.

Student Darryl Nguyen provided feedback on his experience in the CICE program, which included how he has enjoyed his classes, student life, as well as how the program is helping with his personal development.

Chris Whitaker Remarks

1. Whitaker, President, Humber College, provided an introduction and brief overview relating to Humber’s Strategic Planning Process and the development of the new Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA).

The current Humber Strategic Plan 2012-2017 is coming to an end and the process for the consultation and development of the 2018-2023 Plan has begun. The SMA will help inform the new Strategic Plan. During this process, Humber will engage the entire organization and many stakeholder groups. As part of the planning process, the accomplishments of the current plan will be reviewed, as well take into account how the environment has changed, both internally and externally. Humber will continue to extend their leadership and vision in Polytechnic education.

Humber’s current SMA agreement is expiring, and we are now in the process of developing the second SMA (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020). These agreements outline program strengths and differentiations of each college and university in the province. The government looks at how Ontario and each school can work together to build on their strengths (e.g. reducing overlapping programs between schools).

SMA

Presenters: G. Antonacci [Associate Vice President, Academic] and B. Riach [Registrar] provided an update on the process and development of the 2017 – 2020 SMA as the current agreement is expiring. The final submission is due June 1, 2017.

As indicated above in Chris Whitaker’s review, the SMA requires us to identify areas of program strength, differentiated strength and how we intend to grow. The areas include student experience, pathways, retention, credentials, student satisfaction, Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Access and Equity, Applied Research Excellence, Partnerships and Innovation, Economic Development and Community Engagement.

A new funding formula is being introduced for the college system that will require us to look at enrolment growth in different ways. The SMA document components that must be completed, in addition to identifying strengths and the 11 areas noted above, are:

• Aspirational focus – what the institution aspires to be.
• Mission, Vision and Future vision (already included in the Strategic Plan).
• Financial piece around sustainability.
• Enrolment perspective, including institutional goals relating to International students, plans and programs relating to Apprenticeship.

Next steps include meeting with individual schools, Academic Deans and Associate Deans.

Peer Assisted Learning Support

Presenter: M. Chai (Manager, Peer Assisted Learning Services - PALS) provided a PALS update. The department’s focus is to support students in their learning and provide services that will help them to be successful.

Services include:

• Learning Skills Workshops offered throughout the school year
• PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions)
• Peer tutoring – students can sign up for a peer tutor for up to three hours per week
• Note-taking services either using Note Taking Express (NTE) or Box.com. Students using this service must be registered with Accessible Learning Services.
  • With NTE, students record audio in their classes using a digital recorder or an app. Transcribed recordings are uploaded to the student’s secure account within 72 hours.
  • BOX.com: For students who are unable to use a recorder (i.e., visually or hearing impaired) a note taker will take notes, which are then placed in the Box.com drop box.

Skills Ontario

Presenter: J. Harding [Applied Technology Faculty] provided highlights of the upcoming Skills Ontario competition.

• Skills Ontario is a not-for-profit organization, which promotes the skill trades and technologies, helping make students aware of careers that are available. The Skills Ontario Competition is being co-hosted by Humber at the Toronto Congress Centre from May 1-3, 2017. There are more than 2100 competitors participating in 67 skilled trades and technologies, including plumbing, culinary, landscape, automotive, aesthetics, photography, electronics, website development, sheet metal and welding. As part of the competition, students are required to bring a résumé and have a job interview with HR students who are also competing.
• Gold medal winners from the Ontario competition will go to the Canadian nationals scheduled in Winnipeg at the end of May. Gold medal winners from the nationals will compete at the World level.
• Humber will have a shuttle on May 2 to and from the centre in order to support our students. More information can be found at skillsontario.com or contact John Harding, Carl Oliver or Tina Antunes.

Update on Membership/Elections and CICAN Conference

1. Handler provided an update on College Council membership and elections:
   • All members should have received an email regarding their membership status, and a call for nominations appeared in the Communique.
   • Elections will be held May 1 and 3 and results will be announced May 11 at the College Council meeting.

CICAN Conference

N. Adamson announced that Risa Handler and Rose Anthony would be attending the CICAN Conference in Ottawa scheduled April 30 – May 2.

The next meeting of College Council will be held Thursday, May 11 at the Lakeshore Campus. For meeting highlights, supporting materials, or opportunities to provide feedback please visit the College Council website at: humber.ca/wearehumber/staff/committees/college-council