Spring Convocation – Chris Whitaker’s address to graduates

Spring convocation (June 16, 17 and 18) saw more than 4,000 graduates cross the stage at the Toronto Congress Centre over three days and nine ceremonies. This year, President Whitaker’s remarks were tailored to each graduating school, using examples from many different areas of study. This speech was prepared for the School of Health Sciences, which celebrated its graduates on Thursday, June 18 at 3 and 7 p.m.

Humber College
2015 Spring Convocation
President’s Remarks

The World is Your Classroom

Good afternoon,

Members of the platform party, honoured guests, faculty and staff, family, friends and especially our graduates – I’m thrilled to welcome you to today’s convocation. And I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s excited to be here.

These ceremonies are my favourite time of the year – a time for all of us to celebrate the many successes of our students, and also a chance to reflect on the new beginnings and endless possibilities that await our graduates.

This is a significant year for me because it’s my third year at Humber and chances are, I saw many of you at your orientation when I was also brand-new to the college.  Remember that mix of fear and excitement, feeling a bit anxious wondering what was to come? And that’s just me I’m talking about.  We started our Humber journey together, but, unlike you, I still have work to do here before I graduate.

And while we’re going to spend much of our time together today recognizing the accomplishments of our graduates, convocation is also an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped them along the way.

To Humber’s faculty and staff, I cannot thank you enough. Our students wouldn’t be here today without your consistent support, wisdom and encouragement, from orientation through to right now. When I speak with students, they tell me that they feel valued here – as learners, and as people.

Time and again, I hear what a difference it makes that our professors and staff know their students’ names. So many of you have made yourselves available at all hours, simply because you have been needed. You have shown our students that they count and that someone cares about them – and that is a lesson that extends far beyond the classroom.

Thank you also to friends, families and loved ones for supporting and cheering on our graduates – even through the occasional all-nighter to cram for that impossibly tight deadline.  

(And to think, they did all that work while Tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming selfies and pictures of food, Skyping and Snapchatting.)

And now, to our graduates: all your hard work has paid off.  You may have all arrived here from different places, but today you have ended up at the same place together.  In choosing and completing a Humber education, you’ve made a wise investment in your future.

Let me elaborate on that because there’s a message here that should give you both confidence and motivation.

I think it’s obvious to most people that, globally and locally, we are still coming out of some tough economic times.

Youth unemployment, people without jobs and jobs without people are important issues that concern us.  At the same time however, we should acknowledge that this is not the first or last time we will face a struggling economy and challenging job market.  

So experience tells us that while in all journeys worth taking there will be uncertainty, achievements and setbacks, those with the right combination of skills, knowledge and attitude are the most likely to succeed - which leads me back to the education we offer at Humber.

If success for you is defined as being career-ready, then to borrow from one of our popular slogans, “We got you.”

But don’t just take my word for it. Ken Coates, from the University of Saskatchewan, pointed out in a recent report on modernizing postsecondary education that the strength of a college experience lies in its ability to meet the needs of industry, and in giving students the job-ready skills they need to succeed. 

We have further evidence to back this up. Third-party research shows that employers are consistently happy with how Humber grads perform in the workplace.  And surveys of Toronto-area college students indicate that ours have the highest level of confidence that they’re getting the necessary skills and knowledge to serve them well in their future.

Most of you came to Humber with a specific career in mind. You wanted to be a nurse, a paramedic or an early childhood educator.  

And now, you’ve reached your goal – but you have actually achieved so much more. You embody the much broader mission of a Humber education:  to develop highly skilled and broadly educated citizens who can contribute to a global economy.

In order to sustain your career as a skilled professional, you need those specific technical skills you came to Humber to learn. You need to know how to listen for a heart murmur, how to correctly dose a baby with antibiotics and how to help an amputee gain their independence.

Along with these technical skills, you also need essential skills – often described as employability skills, but really, they’re life skills. And although they’re also described as “soft skills”, they’re some of the most difficult to master.

I’m talking about things like the ability to communicate, problem solve, think critically and creatively and work as part of a team. I’ve heard it said that your hard skills get you your job, but whether you keep it most likely depends on your soft skills.

Throughout your courses and programs, you’ve had to develop and practice these essential skills in order to achieve competence in technical areas.

Our philosophy of education also incorporates a strong focus on the value of lifelong learning, which is an important mind-set to have in a dynamic and ever-changing society and economy.   

Lifelong learning is one of those essential “soft” skills: being open to new perspectives and experiences and using them to build on what you already know.

Lifelong learning is about being adaptable and recognizing that change is constant – that our jobs and careers likely will change over the course of our lives. To succeed, you’ll need the skills and attitude to adapt to and anticipate changes even before they happen. This is where creativity, collaboration and problem solving – all of which you’ve learned during your time at Humber – will serve you well.

Lifelong learning, of course, started even before you began your first class at Humber, it continued throughout your education, and it will continue through your life – especially so if you embrace it.  

One example of this can be seen in a trip taken by a group of health sciences students during Reading Week this year.

Accompanied by their professor, Francisca Burg-Feret, a group of 10 students travelled to Guatemala to provide health care to children living in an orphanage and to families in remote parts of the country. The learning experience, I’m told, was absolutely irreplaceable and unforgettable.

Never stop looking for ways to learn from the world – it has a lot to teach you, especially if you seek knowledge in places that may be far outside your comfort zone.    

I hope my comments have given you some food for thought and encouragement as you move on from today. In graduating, you have demonstrated that you have met and exceeded the high standards demanded by our programs.

Your Humber education will serve you well no matter what path you choose – whether that’s more schooling, pursuing your career or just exploring life.  You have the skills, knowledge and capacity to achieve your own success and contribute as global citizens.

Thank you for sharing the precious resource of your time with us. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed and benefitted from your experience.   I also thank you for contributing in many ways to the life of Humber. Our faculty and staff have learned from you just as you have learned from them.

At orientation I encouraged you to take full advantage of all Humber has to offer, to stretch yourself, try new things, and get out of your comfort zone, because that’s what learning is about.  My wish for you as you leave here is that you continue to approach all you do in the same manner.

In closing, it is my pleasure to welcome you as Humber alumni. Now more than 200,000 strong, including almost 8,000 this year alone, our alumni are doing great things all over the world in business and technology, in health care and communications, and in media, hospitality and the arts.

Everyone here today is proud of all you have achieved. You are now and forever part of the Humber family, and like all families, our doors are always open and you’re always welcome home.

Stay in touch, tweet often, post your pictures and remember: 

We Are Humber! Thank you!