The Humber College Council (HCC) held its sixth meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year on Thursday, February 18, 2021, online using Microsoft Teams. To ensure the Humber community is informed of upcoming events, new initiatives, and important issues, the College Council reports the highlights of its meetings. For more information or to provide feedback on these highlights, please contact risha.toney@humber.ca.
Roundtable
Risha Toney [Office of the Registrar] shared an infographic showcasing the outcomes of Humber’s Virtual Pathways Fair 2021 where there were close to 5,000 page views on the site and close to 600 attendees from 14 countries attending the live panel sessions. She also shared that she is working on a new series of sessions called Power Up Your Credential! Information Sessions.
Lindsay Walker [Capital Development and Facilities Management] announced that this year Humber will be celebrating Humber Earth Month in March. There will be many activities including the 6 in 6 speaker series, International Women's Day: Lessons on Ground-breaking Leadership from Black Women, Wellness Wednesdays with the Principals Office at Lakeshore Campus and much more.
Risa Handler [Chair, HCC] took the opportunity to give a warm farewell to Bhupinder Malhotra, as February 18, 2021 was his last day at Humber. Over the past seven years, Bhupinder has been a dedicated and valuable member and executive on council. Council would like to thank him for everything he’s done and wish him all the best.
Sustainability Plan 2019-2014 Update
Lindsay Walker provided an update on the Sustainability Plan Supporting Actions. Many areas across the college have been leading sustainability initiatives. For example, events such as the Social Hackathon, the Virtual Indigenous Knowledge Gathering 2020, and the Global Systems Challenge, highlight the contributions under the culture and community pillar of the plan.
Aligning with the Teaching and Learning pillar, The Arboretum has been running the Learning by Leading program and there is now a Sustainability Education Research Guide available in the library. In addition, there is a new Sustainability specialization for the General Arts and Science Programs. There is also the Faculty Sustainability Champions group where over 50+ faculty drop in to share ideas on sustainability initiatives, EDI, systems thinking, etc. Staff are also welcome.
And finally, in alignment with the Sustainable Operations pillar, the Bike Share program has arrived at the Lakeshore campus and work on the Integrated Energy plan continues. Humber has been recognized with a host of awards, including the Zero Carbon Retrofit Award. This award was given to Humber for the retrofit done on the NX Building at the North campus. Since the retrofit, the building has seen a 70% reduction in energy use.
Academic Plan Refresh
Laurie Rancourt [Senior Vice President, Academic], Gina Antonacci [Associate Vice President, Academic] and Vera Beletzan [Senior Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Innovative Learning] consulted with Council on the Academic Plan refresh. As the Academic Plan is set to expire in 2021, this refresh is meant to maintain momentum in key strategic areas. It is aligned with the Centre for Innovative Learning and is to be completed over the next 12-18 months. The refresh will be dependent upon consultation and engagement across the institution.
Council members were asked for their input on how to ensure the consultation process for the Academic Plan refresh is inclusive and what have we learned/experienced in the past year, individually and as an institution, that will inform it. Feedback was provided to the speakers after the discussion took place in smaller MS Teams breakout rooms. College Council looks forward to regular updates.
The next meeting of the College Council will be held on Thursday, March 18, 2021. For meeting highlights, supporting materials, and opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the College Council website.