Humber College
President's Breakfast
Monday, August 25, 2014

Good morning and welcome!

It’s great to be here this morning to have breakfast with all of you. I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer and are as excited as I am about the start of another academic year.

In addition to welcoming back our faculty and staff, I would like to extend a special welcome to members of the Humber board of governors as well as our community and educational partners, elected officials, and ministry colleagues. I know we have students, alumni and Humber retirees in the room, and I want to recognize former president John Davies.

I also want to thank my family and especially my wife Vicki  for sharing me with Humber.

Today marks my third President’s breakfast and let me start by saying how honoured and humbled I am to have the privilege to serve and work with you as we continue to focus on the success of our students. I thoroughly enjoy coming to work every day, and want to thank the Humber community for the warm welcome and support I’ve received.

I like to say that great institutions are built on great traditions, and the President’s Breakfast certainly qualifies. It’s an opportunity to check in as the semester begins, give you a “state-of-the-nation” update, so to speak, and some sense of the year ahead.

More importantly, it is a celebration of Humber and the wonderful people that make up our community. Indeed, we have a lot to celebrate. This morning we will be granting our 2014 recognition awards and I want to offer my personal congratulations to all recipients for their outstanding contributions to the college.

These are interesting times for higher education. What we do is more important than ever, yet at times we feel pressures in delivering on our promise. Our shifting landscape is driven by changing demographics, evolving technology and the impact of a global economy. Within this context we face increased competition, declining levels of public funding and changing directions in government policy.

Despite these challenges, opportunities exist to make significant contributions to our students, system and province. Humber has had success in an environment that has not been kind to all institutions. Not only have we experienced unprecedented enrolment growth (30 per cent increase  since 2009 – about double the provincial average. ) we have done so while investing in people, programs and buildings and enhancing our financial stability.

We are recognized leaders in postsecondary education and are known internationally for innovation and excellence in teaching and learning, but we don’t rest on our laurels or take anything for granted. With a spirit of continuous improvement we embrace the challenge of leading in an environment of change, working together in the pursuit of our mission and vision.

So today I want to talk to you about how we are positioned for the future and the things we will be focusing on this year. After time well spent developing our strategic priorities and strengthening our foundations, the coming year will see us make significant progress in establishing Humber as a differentiated provider of polytechnic education.

As you may know, during the past year Ontario colleges and universities have gone through a process of negotiating Strategic Mandate Agreements, which are designed to better align our institutional priorities with the government’s vision for postsecondary education. The Strategic Mandate Agreement identifies our institutional strengths and areas of future program growth and focus, and assists ministry decision-making in support of system and college goals.

Strategic Mandate Agreements are informed by the government’s Differentiation Policy Framework. Released this past year, the framework signals a more active government stewardship role in encouraging less duplication across our institutions and a more efficient system. The intent is to transform our postsecondary system in such a way that our colleges and universities operate more as complementary parts of a whole providing affordable access to education.

While change takes time to understand and adjust to, we can all appreciate the need to work towards a sustainable system that strengthens outcomes for learners and all stakeholders.

The idea of focusing on each institution’s strengths is not new to any of us. Organizations operating in a competitive environment are always looking for ways to improve, develop areas of specialization and promote their distinctiveness in order to succeed.

So what does this mean for Humber?

Our strategic plan anticipates and aligns with new government directions, while finding the balance between maintaining access to our many opportunities and asserting our distinctiveness. With our proud college roots at the core of what we do, we will continue to evolve as an institution just as our learners and their requirements keeps changing. 

Our polytechnic identity will increasingly become our primary point of differentiation. Based on our range of credentials, pathways between them, and our hybrid approach combining theory with practice, we prepare lifelong learners equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for personal and professional success.

Of the numerous elements of our evolving polytechnic model, our expanded range of credentials has become a key characteristic that we will continue to leverage as a unique strength. Research this past year by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (known as HEQCO) on differentiation in the college sector confirms that four-year baccalaureate degrees are the main point of distinction in our sector. For well over a decade Ontario colleges have been able to grant degrees, but only half of the 24 have chosen to do so, and of those, only a few, with Humber at the top, were identified by HEQCO as comprehensive providers of four-year degrees. 

With more than 3,500 students enrolled in 21 degree programs we are providing unprecedented access to career-oriented degrees through direct entry or pathways from diplomas. This is in addition to the more than 4,000 students enrolled annually in the University of Guelph-Humber, our integrated degrees and diploma programs offered through our innovative partnership with the University of Guelph. We hope to build on and enhance this highly successful model with the submission of a major capacity expansion proposal to the MTCU this fall.

As another distinctive feature of our portfolio, we are also the largest provider of graduate certificate programming at Ontario colleges. Every year 3,000-plus students already holding undergraduate credentials enroll in more than 30 programs to further prepare for careers – an increasingly popular model for graduate studies and employment. This is a further sign of how our program and student mix continues to evolve in a different direction from most colleges.

While our polytechnic identity is the first level of differentiation, the next level is about developing distinctiveness in programming. Several initiatives are underway in this regard.

During the past year we have made significant progress in developing a framework for a more integrated long-term enrolment plan. Our strategic enrolment management process is intended to ensure we maintain a portfolio of healthy, high quality programs that meet labour market requirements and that we provide the supports to create optimal conditions for students to succeed. 

Creating interdisciplinary Centres of Innovation, built around clusters of affinity programs in areas of strength and anticipated growth, has also been a significant priority. While work continues on identifying the centres themselves, we’ve seen emerging themes in areas of transmedia, health and wellness, and design.

The recently finalized strategic mandate agreements introduce a new layer of complexity into our long-term enrolment and academic plans. In these agreements we are being encouraged to identify our areas of future program growth and focus, and to do so within an environment of constrained growth. The years of double digit enrolment increases are gone and we have settled on a more modest forecast of about two per cent annually for the next few years.

There are definite benefits to slower growth. We have talked a lot about growth pressures and the need to focus on balancing quantity with quality. Humber also has the lowest square footage per student of any college, almost half the provincial average. Our campus development plans will provide some relief to the pressures we are experiencing, although the primary focus in our building is the quality of the learning environment, not just making room for more students.

Colleges have long been known for being learning-centred and student-focused, however our funding models have not been based on this qualitative dimension that is a recognized strength at Humber. With the newly introduced directions in provincial policy, we are all being challenged to rethink how we measure institutional success, and our strategic plan reflects the shifting focus to value – rather than volume. 

Through a consultative process we identified five priority areas for future growth as part of the SMA process, a list that was supported by the ministry’s independent analysis. The result of our SMA negotiations preserve and recognize our comprehensive program mix and breadth of credentials – both consistent with our polytechnic identity. Our graduate certificates and degrees have been experiencing higher rates of enrolment growth than certificates and diplomas, and this will continue. As an Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, we have room to add more degrees within our 15 per cent ceiling.

In summary the five broad clusters approved for Humber’s future focus and growth are:

1. Transmedia Arts and Design
2. Community Services and Social Justice
3. Health and Wellness
4. Business
5. Technology

I want to emphasize and make clear that identifying these clusters does not mean that areas not on the list are any less important. It only means we do not expect the same level of new program activity and enrolment growth as we do in the five areas of focus.

Our strategic priority of sustaining excellence in teaching and learning reflects our desire to support the quality of all our programs. As stated in our formal commitment to students, we wish to provide an exceptional and consistent learning experience for all learners. This means investing in programs,  people and support services and developing standards to guide resource allocation. Building on progress made in in the past year, several projects are underway to support this,  including an integrated student advising model based on research and best practices.

Many other initiatives to support teaching and learning excellence will come together as we begin the development of a multi-year institutional academic plan. Additional elements to be incorporated will be strategies for Humber Online, Applied Research, work-integrated learning, essential skills, and entrepreneurship. Under the leadership of the VP Academic, the plan will complement, reinforce and be informed by work on our SEM plan.

The third overarching strategic priority of maximizing the impact of partnerships speaks to our efforts to better leverage the many relationships we have for the benefit of students and our partners. Under the newly created VP Advancement & External Affairs portfolio, with support from the academic school deans, we will develop a business and industry engagement strategy. We will finalize and implement an Alumni Engagement Strategy and prepare for a Humber fundraising campaign to support long-term resource requirements.

Under the external portfolio we will continue our integrated internationalization strategy developed this past year to better serve our growing international community and better prepare the institution and all students for success in a global economy.

Our Community Outreach and Workforce Development unit will continue to enhance our work with community groups through our newly created Humber Community and Partnership Fund. We also want to better leverage opportunities provided by our Humber Community Employment Services centres and the many contacts they have through their network of employers.

To finish off my overview of priority areas for the coming year, here are a few points related to our Foundations for Success. Let’s start with the physical changes going on at our campuses.

You cannot arrive or even drive by the North Campus without being aware of the biggest construction project in Humber’s history - the Learning Resource Commons. The LRC, (which will be renamed and hopefully not alphabetized,) will be occupied this spring and fully open for students in the fall of 2015. Supporting our commitments to students, this new front door to the North Campus will allow us to consolidate and streamline student services and make sure that those who walk through our doors meet with the best possible experience right away.

It has been incredible to watch this facility take shape as concrete is poured, girders welded, and glass installed. Personally, I miss the occasional distraction of watching the cranes out of my office window, but I’m delighted the work is rapidly progressing on time and budget. This fall we will be developing our backfill plan for the 80,000 square feet of space to be vacated when the LRC is occupied. We all know and feel the pressures of our space requirements, and we will ensure there is a fair and open process to hear needs and concerns, assess and re-assign space.

Also at North, we’re adding two extra storeys to the F building, which houses many of our health sciences programs. Finally, we’re launching the inaugural collaborative learning spaces – interactive, flexible classrooms set up in accordance with the latest research and feedback on classroom design.

At the Lakeshore Campus, we will soon break ground on a new Welcome Centre at the corner of Kipling and Lakeshore, as well as a new athletics centre. There are also plans to resurrect Building G – and although it will be sad to say goodbye to those funky painted faux windows, a usable space will be much more advantageous.

And we continue to serve the needs of students at our Orangeville campus as we phase in growth plans with a renovated state of the art exercise lab, accessible to the community, in support of the introduction of the Fitness and Health Promotion program.

To enhance the use our physical spaces and throughout the college, we will continue the implementation of an integrated sustainability plan.

Across all campuses, we’ll be investing in a new telephony system - one that will more seamlessly integrate mobile, desktop and traditional phone technology.

As technology is the backbone of our business operations, I’d like to acknowledge everyone involved in our ongoing Enterprise Systems rollout, and thank you for working through the challenges that come with implementing a new system.

The final but most important areas of focus in our foundations for success are about our people, how we work to support each individual, and how we work together to accomplish our goals.

In our strategic and business plans you will hear the words collaborative and integrated repeatedly. Humber has always been a caring and supportive community and we want to build on that strength by embedding important principles about how we work into our business processes, resource allocation and decision making.

We will continue to review and enhance our internal committee structure to improve alignment and communication, as well as provide opportunities for greater participation and input from all stakeholders. We will continue our town hall meetings on issues related to our strategic directions and I look forward to continuing my small group conversations with faculty and staff initiated this past year through the CTL.

The theme of working together and supporting each other is woven throughout our plan and is well captured by our commitment to living the values of a learning organization. As an organization based fundamentally on human interaction, people are our greatest resource. Recognizing this is critical to our continued ability to retain and attract the best talent in an increasingly competitive labour market. Engaged and valued employees make a real difference in the success of our students and programs and leave us better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the dynamic environment we operate in.

Engaging our people also means continuing to develop a culture of innovation which values the sharing of different perspectives and provides an environment where people are comfortable and encouraged to try new things – an environment that understands experimentation and risk are part of individual and organizational learning and we all have much to contribute.

In simple terms we need great people to achieve great things. As you’ve heard in my messages today we are asking a lot from the organization and our people, because there is much to do, to stay relevant, and to remain leaders in postsecondary education.

To support the organization in managing change we are doing a number of things in addition to our ongoing commitment to investing in professional development. We will assess essential skills and competencies required to achieve college goals and provide targeted support as necessary. We will continue to improve our performance management system through consultation to better meet individual and college needs. We will also this year conduct an employee engagement survey and act on results.

Since arriving at Humber I have been continually amazed at the enthusiasm of our faculty and staff and their willingness to go above and beyond (to borrow a phrase from one of our schools) to support our people, students and communities.

From writing books, to organizing lecture series and conferences, to delivering workshops and papers, we are contributing to professional development. From supporting fundraisers and cultural celebrations, to participating in campus clean-ups, and volunteering to assist non-profit agencies, we are community builders modeling service learning.

From shipping musical instruments to Zambia, to working with disabled children in India, helping to design and build schools in Uganda, and building entrepreneurial capacity in Indonesia, we are contributing to international development.

From participating in the North American Indigenous Games and the Paralympics, to winning provincial and national athletics titles, and Skills competitions, we are competing with best in class

I could go on and you all have your own examples, but I think I’ve made the point that our success takes many forms and is achieved in many ways thanks to the people in this room.

The reason we’re able to do all this is right here, all around me. Our dedicated staff, faculty, students, alumni and friends of Humber give this place its energy and atmosphere of support, warmth and humour.

And on that note, I would like to say a few thank yous.

First, to the Humber Students’ Federation, whose representatives are here today – the HSF plays a huge role in supporting our students and the life of the college, and I thank you for all you do.

To our many community, government and business partners here today – your support is integral to our success. Our students are able to achieve great things largely because of our close connections to the community around us, and I look forward to continuing many fruitful relationships.

Thank you as well to Humber’s Board of Governors. I would like to especially recognize Joan Homer, who is completing her service on the board and completing her term as chair. Joan, thank you for your years of contribution – you have helped make Humber a better place for all of us. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Audrey McKinney,  the new chair of the Board of Governors. Audrey, I look forward to working together as we continue to make Humber a strong and vibrant place to learn and work.

My thanks to our fantastic executive team: Rani, Deb, Alister and Jason, you are invaluable sources of advice and support for me and for your teams. They say that a wise leader should surround themselves with people smarter than they are. For some reason I’ve never seemed to have problems doing this. I also want to thank Deborah Green the best EA on the planet (as she likes to remind me), the person who keeps me on track and who literally is the office of the president and the board of governors.

And for some news that many of you have been waiting for. Our long and extensive search for our new Vice President Academic has come to a successful conclusion. I am pleased to announce the appointment of Laurie Rancourt, current president of Northern Lights college in British Columbia. Laurie began her college career in Ontario at Cambrian College before moving on to College Boreal where she has served as VP Academic, VP Corporate Services, Registar, Dean and professor. Laurie will be arriving this week to begin the transition. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the academic management team who has demonstrated tremendous leadership during this interim period the past year. I have learned much from each of you and I look forward to your continued success working with our new VP.

Finally, to our incredible faculty and staff. I have already said a few things trying to convey your importance and my appreciation for all you do, but it’s worth saying it again. From Lakeshore to North, to Orangeville and all points in between -  Birmingham, West Mall, Carrier, Woodbine Downs, UGH and our Community Employment Services offices – Thank you!

Every single person has a role in contributing to the success of our students and your enthusiasm and commitment is contagious and unrivalled .

As a college, we are moving beyond a time of internal transition – a new president, a new strategic plan, a new brand – to a time of realization and execution. There is a good deal of change happening inside and outside Humber’s walls, but we are well positioned not only to ride the waves of change, but to be leaders in setting the course. Through hard work and dedication we have accomplished much, and we will keep working to further transform Humber in exciting ways.

We have set lofty goals for ourselves but our students deserve nothing less. Our plan to support them is aspirational and ambitious, but I’m confident it’s also realistic and achievable. Strengthen, sustain, and maximize. While the words are aligned with our three overarching strategic themes, they are more than that. Those words reflect the positive spirit that is an integral part of Humber.

Symbolic of our energy and commitment to pursue our goals is the ongoing WE ARE HUMBER campaign, launched one year ago along with the strategic plan. The real strength of this update to the brand is not in the catchy phrases we can attach to it, although those can be very inspiring. WE ARE first and foremost for me refers to a recognition that we are all in this together. By truly appreciating the strength we have, our collective knowledge and creativity will work for the benefit of all.

We know who we are, and we know what we do well.

We are leaders. We are teachers, administrators, helpers, friends and supporters.

We are Humber!

Thank you for joining us today, and all the best for the new academic year.