Humber Polytechnic President Ann Marie Vaughan addressed faculty and staff regarding governance concerns during a town hall at the Lakeshore campus’ G building on Tuesday morning but said she could not take questions about the resignation of nine members of Humber’s board of governors.
The town hall, exclusively for the polytechnic’s faculty and staff, comes after the Ontario government, as first reported on Jan. 23 in an article by The Toronto Star reporter Janet Hurley, launched a “fact-finding exercise” into Humber’s governance practices, asking its board of governors to refrain from proceeding with its performance review of Vaughan.
A letter sent from David Wai, deputy minister of colleges and universities, on Jan. 14, asked members to refrain from in-camera meetings and exchanging communication without the president’s presence. That left members feeling they could not do their jobs and resulted in the mass resignation of nine of the 16 members, also reported by The Toronto Star on Jan. 18.
Humber student and IGNITE Board of Directors Ana Downes, who was also a member of Humber’s board of governors, quit on Jan. 21.
Along with Downes, the resignations include chair Akela Peoples, vice chair Anne Trafford and members Ali Ghassi, Earl Davis, Lekan Olawoye, John Breakey, Joseph Carnevale and Pauline Larsen. Breakey, Davis and Larsen were government appointees, while the other five were from outside Humber.
Humber’s board now consists of seven members, three external and three internal, along with the president.
During Tuesday’s one-hour address to staff and faculty, Vaughan said the town hall would be an “honest, data-driven conversation.” The president acknowledged the financial challenges faced by colleges and universities since the federal government announced the cap on international student visas.
Vaughan said Humber will see a decrease of over 30 per cent in international student enrolment in the next two years. That is paired with a 20 per cent drop in domestic enrolment since 2020. She was open about the fact that this could mean cuts to the budget, programs and employees.
The president said Humber currently has a budget gap between four and six per cent. This equates to a number between $18 million and $28 million of a $630 million budget.
“I don’t want to be disingenuous in this conversation by saying there will be no impact on employees’ jobs at Humber,” the president said. “However, we have the evidence to show that working together and staying focused on our principles and strategic goals will allow us to minimize these impacts.”
Vaughan announced the upcoming launch of a new website where staff can submit “new revenue-generating ideas” to help the institution stay in the enrolment corridor determined by the province.
The enrolment corridor sets limits for the number of students an institution can enrol, a mechanism used by the provincial government to regulate funding for post-secondary institutions.
“I'll be forming a new revenue-generating team to complete finding the remaining difference [in the budget gap]. I'm looking forward to hearing from each and every one of you on new revenue-generating activities,” she said.
Vaughan said Humber has been able to “double down” on recruitment efforts as results show an increase in both domestic and international enrolment — 6.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively, according to a preliminary winter report. Retrospectively, this has allowed the polytechnic to mitigate its financial impact this year.
The president assured attendees at the town hall that Humber’s operations remain unaffected and that members of the board continue to work and ensure governance practices are respected.
She welcomed the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to continue its fact-finding review.
The polytechnic is still working on finishing the recruitment process for its board of governors.
Bob Barrett, whose family’s name is linked to Humber’s Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation and donated $30 million to Humber in 2023, which made him a top donor. He was one of the signatories on a letter sent to Nolan Quinn, the minister of colleges and universities, with a copy sent to Premier Doug Ford, asking for a thorough review of the polytechnic’s governance practices to be thorough and independent.
As reported by The Star on Jan. 27, the letter also urged the review’s scope to include an examination of the ministry’s role in ensuring due process for the polytechnic board about the third-party complaint that prompted the governance review.
The second town hall will be hosted at the North campus on Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. at the Barrett Centre.
“It’s the facilities, the student affairs, it’s everybody who has leaned in to get us through this challenging time,” Vaughan said. “Frankly, that’s the value of Humber. It’s the community and it’s the fact that we come together in good times, but also in challenging times.”
