An assembly of faculty, support staff, students, and administrators, Humber College Council (HCC) is Humber’s collective employee voice, making suggestions to Humber College’s President as it relates to long and short‐term priorities outlined in the institution’s Strategic Plan. To ensure the Humber community is informed of upcoming events, new initiatives and important issues, HCC reports the highlights of its monthly meetings through this medium.

HCC held its fifth meeting of the 2021-2022 academic year on Thursday, January 20, 2021.

WINTER 2022 UPDATE

Derek Stockley, Associate Vice President, Academic tabled an update on the Winter 2022 term. Decisions related to the implementation of the term were based on guidance from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, Public Health, and the Chief Medical Officer, and on the on-campus activity required for practical courses so that students could graduate on time. Courses were commenced online as of January 10th, with labs and courses requiring hands-on learning to resume on campus starting Monday, January 23rd.  Approximately 3500 students will return to the North campus and 700 to Lakeshore that week. Commencing March 7th, all in-person classes are expected to resume on campus (unless otherwise communicated).  

Barb Riach, Associate Vice-President, Enrolment Management & Registrar announced that approximately 24,500 full-time students registered for Winter 2022 semester. Compared to the past, this is lower than previous years (e.g., last year ~26,000 students registered). International travel and study permit delays continue to impact enrolment, and many students are still choosing to wait for on-campus activity to return. The strong employment market is also a factor.

Changes at the provincial level have enabled colleges to process applications earlier. As a result, Humber has been processing fall 2022 applications for domestic students since November 2021. By the middle of February, Humber should know what enrolment numbers will be.

CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT UPDATE

Angelo Presta, Associate Vice-President, Capital Development and Facilities Management provided an overview of Capital Development and Facilities Management (CDFM). The unit is made up of two areas:

1. Capital Development includes new infrastructure projects and existing building renovations.
2. Facilities includes the management of 3.1 million square feet of space (maintenance, cleaning, sustainability, energy management, and parking and transportation services).

Strategic Infrastructure Projects: Scott Valens, Director, Capital Development presented updates on the following:

1. Finch West LRT (completion in 2024-2025; North Campus): Will have two entranceways. Metrolink will build the new entrance road into Humber off Hwy 27.
2. 170 Birmingham Parking Lot (completed; Lakeshore Campus): A gated lot that requires a permit to enter, it accommodates 344 vehicles, will have a shuttle bus to provide transport from the lot to the Lakeshore campus and uses new sustainability infrastructure for water drainage.
3. 110 Carrier Drive (completion in 2024-2025): A two-story addition with receiving areas will be built to accommodate increased capacity for apprenticeships and skilled trades.
4. Humber Cultural Hub (completion 2025; Lakeshore Campus): Includes a student residence, pedestrian walkway, loading dock, recording studio, public walkway though the building with an informal amphitheatre/gathering space, small performance hall for internal Humber use, 3 film studios, large performance hall / multiuse facility for external-to-Humber use, Indigenous classroom, cafeteria, gym, ambitious sustainability targets, geothermal heating, and much more.

Capital Projects 2021/2022: Khon Ta, Associate Director, Campus & Space Planning presented on the following:

1. International Graduate School (IGS): Located by Yonge and Bloor the IGS consists of three floors (level 4-6) of 39000 sq ft and is accessible by TTC. The space includes flexible and regular classrooms, a lab, study room, game zone, wellness area with green space, and computer labs. With the exception of the principal’s office, all offices are bookable by staff or students.
2. Faculty of Business Office (North campus): Located on the second floor of building E, the offices are now easier to locate because of a newly expanded entryway.
3. BCTI (North campus): The building now includes three conference rooms with movable walls, a storage area, and a kitchen. These rooms replace the Seventh Semester which has been removed.
4. Multi-Year classrooms (North campus): 15-30 classrooms on the second floor of building D benefited from improved accessibility and public space this year.
5. Retail Space (North campus): Located within the heart of the North Campus are a number of new/enhanced spaces: the Tech Zone, the Street Café, a town square, a Subway, a feature wall, renovated Bookstore and related storage space, an expanded Sustainability Office, hallway and outdoor space. The Doris Tallon Room was relocated to the NX community room - #111.

Several new projects are planned for 2022-2023, including, but not limited to:

• An Idea Lab at the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE)
• A new Hearing Instrument Specialist (HIS) Lab
• CNC Machine Lab Expansion
• Office renovations for FAST and the Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion

Integrated Energy Master Plan (IEP): Spencer Wood, Director, Facilities Management provided an update on the IEP, the college’s strategic approach to reducing energy use over a 20-year period. Amongst the IEP goals is achieving a 50% reduction in energy per square foot and water consumption per student, as well as a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve these goals, the college is integrating sustainability goals and tactics within operations and capital projects. Several of Humber buildings have reduced their energy and water use, using tactics like drawing on solar energy and scaling up thermal insulation. Examples include the ETS building, the BCTI and NX Building. Similar approaches will be continued such as replacing the North Campus heating system, which currently uses steam pipes, with a hot water one. It is anticipated that this project will cause some disruption on campus over its five-year life cycle and will incur $25 million in costs, however, it will also result in a 20%+ reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG).

Parking: Angelo Presta presented on behalf of James Irvine, Manager, Transportation and Parking Services.  Humber has repaved its North campus Lots 1, 13 and 14 and will be paving the Arboretum Road and some sidewalk installation from E Lane Entrance to the Arboretum this summer (2022).  At Lakeshore, the new parking lot at 170 Birmingham Street was completed. Due to the construction of the Humber Cultural Hub, there was a permanent loss of 200 spaces in Lot 1, but 344 were gained through the Birmingham Street lot – resulting in 144 new spaces in total.

As of September 2021, there has been an elimination of cash payments at the North and Lakeshore campus lots through the implementation of debit and credit and various pay by phone apps. A new staff multi-use pass is being tested due to the COVID hybrid work environment. Currently, it is only being tested at North campus due to technology limitations (parking gates), however, if it proves successful, expansion to the Lakeshore campus will be considered once the Humber Cultural Hub is completed. Additionally, new parking control equipment has been installed at 85 Woodbine Downs.

Starting September 2022, Humber will electrify the North campus shuttle bus service, replacing the current diesel buses to reduce the carbon footprint. Once tested at the North campus, the college may consider electrifying the bus service at the Lakeshore campus as well.

NEXT HCC MEETING

The next Humber College Council meeting will be on Thursday, February 17, 2022 through Microsoft Teams.

For questions or comments about HCC meeting highlights, contact regan.mancini@humber.ca. For supporting materials or opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the College Council website or contact shovani.samalia@humber.ca.