April 15, 2014

2014-2015 Business Plan and Financial Budget approved by Humber's Board of Governors

I am pleased to announce that the Humber Board of Governors has approved both the 2014-2015 Business Plan and Financial Budget, allowing us to continue the important work set in place with the approval of the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan last year. The Business Plan outlines a second year of key  activities and initiatives that will move us closer to achieving the five-year goals articulated  in the Strategic Plan, and is supported by the planned revenues and expenditures outlined in the Budget.

In the spirit of meeting our strategic plan commitment to strengthen our business planning and resource allocation model, the Executive Advisory Council – supported by the executive team – led a collaborative and consultative process to develop the 2014-2015 Business Plan and Budget. The Board of Governors has expressed appreciation of the process, which will continue to evolve as we gather feedback and learn together.

This continues to be a time of transition for Ontario’s postsecondary institutions, as we collaborate and consult with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities around the development and implementation of the Ontario Differentiation Policy Framework for Postsecondary Education. Humber, with our distinct polytechnic identity, is well positioned to occupy a place of leadership in these ongoing discussions as we look ahead to a future where a student’s path is not constrained by the traditional college-or-university dichotomy. The fact that we are projecting a 4.4 per cent enrolment growth in 2014-2015 indicates that we are on the right track.

To that end, we are investing in initiatives for 2014-2015 that will support our students through their postsecondary journey. Supporting student success is at the heart of everything we do, and forms the basis of all of our decision making.

Some of these initiatives are visible: extensive infrastructure work at both the North and Lakeshore campuses is underway or slated to begin in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, with development at our Orangeville campus planned further in the future. We are introducing seven new programs across all three campuses. We’re adding 44 full-time staff members and are increasing our part-time staff as well.

Other projects are less immediately visible, but have the potential to positively impact our students’ experience in significant ways. Chief among these is the implementation of a comprehensive strategic enrolment management planning process, which focuses on seamlessly supporting our students from orientation to enrolment to retention to graduation and beyond. This process will incorporate the collaborative decision-making processes that were developed and used to great effect during the drafting of the Strategic Plan.

Building on our commitment to teaching and learning, we are also working to focus Humber’s programs and credentials in areas of demonstrable strength, excellence and distinctiveness, and which reflect both student and future labour market demand. This is particularly relevant in light of the provincial government’s current policy direction on differentiation, which requires all postsecondary institutions to enter into Strategic Mandate Agreements with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities that will include agreed areas of strategic enrolment growth in specific program clusters. Finally, we will be looking at further optimizing our industry and community partnerships by expanding our focus on entrepreneurship and applied research, developing opportunities for work-integrated learning with industry, and refining the process for identifying and establishing Centres of Innovation.

Overall, we plan to invest almost $364 million in projects directly related to student success and our objectives outlined in the three pillars of the Strategic Plan.

Of course, these goals are made possible only due to the ongoing dedication and passion for excellence shown by our faculty, support staff and administrators. There is much work to be done, and much hope for the future, and I thank you for your role in bringing these exciting times to life.