College Council Highlights: January, 2015

College Council held its first meeting of 2015 on Thursday, January 15 at the North 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.

Message from Humber’s Vice President Academic
Laurie Rancourt, Humber’s new Vice President Academic, addressed Council, beginning by commenting on how impressed she is by the many amazing things occurring at Humber. She went on to explain that one of the main priorities she will be working on over the coming months is the articulation of an Academic Plan; however, she acknowledged that the building blocks for the academic plan are in place and that the academic plan is already living and growing at Humber. In the future, as this process develops, she will provide College Council with a presentation on its progress. Vice-President Rancourt closed by commenting on the remarkable level of cross-institutional involvement and discussion that occurs at Humber and specifically at College Council. 

Staff Professional Development Support and Benefits
One of the foundations for success in Humber’s Strategic Plan is to “invest in accomplished and engaged employees who are supported in delivering an exceptional student experience.” In keeping with this, Humber is committed to providing growth opportunities for all of its employees. Christy Lihou, Manager, Academic Staff Relations, provided an overview of the various forms of professional development opportunities available to full-time and part-time faculty and staff at Humber.

Depending on one’s employee status, support and assistance may include: the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP); the Employee Scholarship Fund; tuition reimbursements for dependents; tuition subsidies; sabbaticals; paid professional development days; the Teaching Effectiveness and Teaching Excellence programs offered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning; Corporate training; and Support Staff Appreciation Week (SSAW).

For more information, please visit: http://hrs.humber.ca/learning.html

Telephony Update
Ryan Burton, Director, I.T. Planning and Client Services, gave a brief introduction of the new Unified Communications system that Humber has begun to implement. In contrast with the current telephony system, which includes some components that are decades out of date, the new system incorporates many exciting new features that will change the way we communicate across the college.

These include:

• Brand new desk phones, each with colour display and a built-in directory
• The ability to access voicemail from Outlook
• The ability to use any computer as a phone
• Video calling and conferencing features
• The ability to share and collaborate on documents with callers
• The ability to record a session for later reference and to share the recording with participants.
• The ability to forward calls to a mobile device or other number
• The ability to move a call from desk phone to mobile device
• Optional headsets and Bluetooth speakers

ITS will be meeting with individual departments to ensure the unified communications system is implemented to meet specific needs.  As new telephones are installed, ITS will provide early life cycle support, resources, and training.

For more information, including the orientation presentation, roll-out schedule, and reference guides, please visit: http://humber.ca/staff/its/unified-communications

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 held on Thursday, February 12, 2015, at the North Campus.