Ontario Regional Meeting

Many faculty members understand and appreciate the need to create inclusive learning environments where students see themselves reflected in their learning: a place where students feel like they belong. The challenge they face is doing so effectively in increasingly diverse learning environments. In this panel discussion, faculty members from Colleges within Ontario will share some of the strategies that they have used to create inclusive learning environments and empower all their students to embrace diversity. Attention will be given to strategies that help to support the creation of a sense of belonging and empowerment for international learners in our physical and virtual learning spaces. Panelists will address some of the challenges faced and discuss practical approaches for overcoming them. Both classroom and learning space strategies and curriculum development approaches will be explored. During this interactive panel discussion, participants will be encouraged to share some of the practical strategies they have used to create inclusive learning environments. The discussion will culminate with a co-creation of strategies to promote a sense of belonging and empowerment in the learning space.

Key Audience:  Faculty; new professionals, 4-7 years experience, 7-10 years experience, over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Moderator: Sarah Sinclair, Professor of Composition and Literature and Program Coordinator, Sheridan College
• Panelist: Thi Thanh Truc Le, Professor of English, Humber College
• Panelist: Redwan Zinan Siddiqui, Professor of Supply Chain Management, Humber International Graduate School
• Panelist: Darryl Bautista, Academic Programs Manager, Seneca College

The number of international students studying in Canada has increased by 31% from 2021 to 2022 (CBIE, 2023). 72.5% of international students intend to work in Canada upon completion of their studies (CBIE, 2023). Many of these international students are choosing Ontario graduate level certificates as a pathway to launching their professional careers and immigrating to Canada.

To respond to this significant shift in the enrollment landscape in Canadian post-secondary institutions, changes in the approach to student engagement programming, services, and career education are necessary to help mitigate barriers that international learners experience.

Drawing upon the research and data at both an institutional level and across Canadian post-secondary institutions, the IGS has purposefully developed programming that targets the unique needs and barriers faced by international graduate learners. During this session we will share our current programming while engaging in discussions around lessons learned, promising practices, and our direction looking ahead.

Key Audience:  Administrators, Faculty, Industry Partners, Professionals

Presenters:

• Todd Le Blanc, Associate Director, Student Experience, Humber International Graduate School
• Rina Di Mito, Manager, ICHub, Humber International Graduate School

Internationalization of higher education is multifaceted and involves several internal and external institutional collaborators. Well-designed experiences including short-term programs provide opportunity for global engagement for students who are unable to participate in traditional study abroad. Short-term programs can lead to more equitable and inclusive participation for students from diverse backgrounds. This workshop will walk participants through the life cycle of partnership development and faculty-led trips, from negotiating international agreements to pre-departure training to risk management and support in-country by sharing experiences with three different institutions. How do you draft and negotiate international agreements? How do you prepare students and faculty for departure? Has your approach to risk management changed post-pandemic? The Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) Program forced many institutions to examine wrap-around support and pre-departure orientation. This session will bring together new and experienced International Education practitioners in a collaborative knowledge exchange and experiential activities with the aim of learning from each other. This session is ideal for those working directly on international agreements, pre-departure training, logistics, development, delivery, and/or management of short-term outbound mobility programs.

Key Audience:  Faculty, ;Administrators, Professionals

Moderator:

• Francesca Hernandez, Manager, International and Exchange Students, Mohawk College

Presenters:

• Dawn White, Director, International Affairs, Algoma University
• Taylor Jaehrling, Coordinator, Global Engagement and Mobility, Algoma University
• Kimberly Deonanan, Global Learning Support Officer, Mohawk College
• Ahmed Baghdady, Manager, International Agreements, University of Waterloo

With the increasing number of international students being enrolled in post-secondary institutions this creates a cultural communication quagmire. International students bring a diversity of cultures, experiences, and perspectives to college campuses. These cultural differences can be challenging for international students to integrate into the Canadian college communities, especially if language and cultural barriers exist. Professors may need to be culturally sensitive and aware of potential differences in norms, values, and expectations to create an inclusive learning environment. This may require additional effort in terms of curriculum design, assessment methods, and classroom management. To support faculty in navigating these cultural differences in the learning environment, Mohawk College developed a self-taught, 6 module course called the International Faculty Toolkit that educates and supports faculty in understanding the different languages, communication styles and cultures of students and pedagogical styles required in the culturally diverse classroom. The International department also worked with faculty and the College’s Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation to develop online and face-to-face workshops to support faculty in navigating the Toolkit and learning the content. This presentation will cover the rationale for the development of the course, the six module components and the future role of the International Faculty Toolkit.

Key Audience: Administrators, Faculty; new professionals, 4-7 years experience

Presenters:

• Sandra Gruosso, Manager of International Partnerships and Programs, Mohawk College
• Rob Bajko, Professor Learning & Teaching Consultant – International Education

Ontario higher education institutions are under increasing pressure to apply a strategic enrolment management approach to international recruitment in order to meet a variety of different goals including higher conversion rates, nationality diversification and targeting recruitment efforts for undersubscribed programs. The first step to relieving this pressure and achieving an institution’s strategic recruitment goals is to understand the data available. Supported by up-to-date ApplyBoard and IRCC data, this session will highlight study permit trends globally, for Canada, and more specifically at Ontario institutions. Additionally this session will assess the recent performance of top source markets, new emerging markets and upcoming study permit trends. It will also aim to highlight opportunities for growth while focusing on regional trends within the province

Key Audience:  Administrators Professionals; New professionals, 4-7 years of experience, 7-10 years of experience, Over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Teeba Alfasar, Associate Director, Partner Relations, ApplyBoard Inc.
• Aaron Mckee, Partner Relations Manager – Ontario Universities, ApplyBoard Inc.
• Ian McRae, Partner Relations Manager – Ontario Colleges, ApplyBoard Inc.

Many institutions are challenged not only with the recruitment of international students, but also their retention and success. Failure to retain international students can have profound impacts on institutions, including budgetary and reputational concerns. Therefore, enhancing the international student experience is critical to the advancement and success of institutional recruitment and retention goals. When working in decentralized systems, it can be challenging to maintain consistency, especially across large institutions. This session explores how professionals focused on international student experience, support, and success can work together more strategically to increase international student recruitment and retention numbers. We will also review measures that can be used to enhance student integration into post-secondary institutions and Canadian society. As our current work and educational landscape has recently shifted to include more of an online presence, students now expect a virtual option for things like meetings and workshops. Therefore, measures should include virtual options about specific topics, which will be discussed in the session. Additionally, we will review measures that can assist with international students being able to engage with their school prior to arriving, in order to increase the chances of a successful student journey.

Key Audience:  Professionals; Administrators

Presentation One — Preparing for Success: Measures to implement that can help international students succeed in an unfamiliar educational system and society

• Filippo Savone, International Student Advisor, Durham College

Presentation Two — So, you’ve recruited international students – now what? Leveraging strategic institutional partnerships as a tool for international retention

• Mayoori Malankov, International Student Advisor and Immigration Specialist, York University
• Nethmi Kultilake, Manager, International Student Experience, York University
• Althea Parala, Manager, International Student Success and Engagement, York University

In this session, we will be discussing recent immigration policy changes and the challenges advisors may face when advising international students and how to navigate these challenges. Some of the topics may include PGWP application under Study permit maintained status and visitor record, Spousal Open Work Permit application as a dependent of a foreign national who is in the transition period of a PGWP holder.

This session, divided into two parts, will examine the recent immigration policy changes affecting international students. In the first part, we will present an overview of IRCC announcements made within the last year and the challenges advisors may face when advising international students, and how to navigate these challenges. In the second part, participants will engage in a panel discussion to reflect on recent policy changes to proactively develop strategies in their professional practice.

Key Audience:  Administrators; Faculty; Industry Partners; Professionals

Presenters:

• Melinda Meng, International Student Advisor, Seneca College
• Shi Yue Zhang, International Student Advisor, Humber College

Presentation One — Student Engagement for Intercultural Development

Intercultural engagement is a key tool for enhancing equity, diversity, and inclusion on postsecondary campuses. Increasing enrolment of international students does not always correlate with enhanced intercultural exchange. This session will provide attendees with an understanding of international student engagement and a consistent set of tools to implement engagement in higher education. Major strategies include: developing student peer leader programming, engaging pre-established student groups, building partnerships across campus, and offering casual opportunities for engagement. Participants will learn about building trust and engaging with student communities to enhance intercultural exchange as well as improving student-facing service and program delivery.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn how to engage diverse student communities in the enrichment of student services and student support programs.
2. Discuss strategies for engaging, building relationships, and trust with student groups.
3. Understand common challenges of working with student groups and how to create a plan of action to find solutions.

Key Audience: Administrators, Faculty, Professionals; new professionals, 4-7 years experience, 7-10 years experience, over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Kamaljeet Kaur Bindra, International Student Advisor, Western University
• Andrew Metcalfe, Program Coordinator of Student Arrivals and Orientation, Western University

Presentation Two — Reaching Underrepresented Groups: Designing Focus Groups to understand and address barriers to international exchange for racialized students

Practitioners agree that international exchange programs can help students develop valuable skills, yet racialized students are underrepresented in such programs at Queen’s University. Our research project sought to understand why, speaking with students who identify as racialized in small focus groups, providing space to share their motivations, experiences and anxieties around international exchange. In this session, we will discuss the methodology behind our focus groups and explain the reasons why we decided that speaking with students in this format would be the best way to build trust and learn about their experiences. We will then go into the themes that emerged from the focus group discussions, placing them in the context of Queen’s and Ontario more broadly and elaborating on the impact of intersecting identities on student responses, before engaging with participants to explore how we might best respond to some of the ‘key stories’ that emerged from those sessions. We will end by summarizing how this project will help to make Queen’s programs more accessible to ALL students.

Key Audience: Administrators; new professionals, 4-7 years experience, 7-10 years experience, over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Tom Collier, Coordinator of Global Partnerships, Queen’s University
• Aleisha Fernandes, Focus Group Facilitator and Research Associate, Queen’s University

Presentation Three — Queer Up, It’s Not That Bad: – making pre-departure positive for LGBTQ2S+ students

Most often, predeparture orientation information for LGBTQ2S+ travellers is focused on letting students know how risky it is to be ‘out’ in many places around the world. We can’t claim to be reducing barriers for underrepresented groups to study abroad, only to scare them off at pre-departure orientation. This session will explore LGBTQ2S+ student travel through the lens of decolonization and EDI and highlight ways to help Queer students imagine the possibilities for positive self-exploration and identity development. Bring your examples, experiences and questions to share, and help us re-set the tone of predeparture orientation for LGBTQ2S+ students

Key Audience: Administrators, Faculty, Professionals; new professionals, 4-7 years experience, 7-10 years experience, over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Lynne Mitchell, Director and International Liaison Officer, University of Guelph
• Kal Ing, Global Engagement Programming Assistant, Wilfrid Laurier University

Presentation One — Inspiring Change Through International Medical Service Learning in Guatemala

Through innovative community partnerships, an interprofessional team of Humber students and medical volunteers have provided primary health care to three under-resourced communities in Guatemala for seven years. The data collected from our students and partners indicate the impact is twofold: meaningful experiential learning for students and improved health care to under-resourced communities. We will share a framework for creating and implementing a sustainable and ethically responsible short-term medical service trip (MST). Through video, engagement activities, and discussion, attendees will learn how the Humber MSTs provide students with the opportunity to develop their skillsets to lead and innovate in their future practice.

Key Audience: Administrators, Faculty, Professionals; new professionals, 4-7 years experience, 7-10 years experience, over 10 years experience

Presenters:

• Francisca Burg-Feret RN BScN MN, Professor Bachelor of Nursing, Humber College
• Heidi Siu RN BscN MN PhD, Professor Bachelor of Nursing, Humber College
• Ryan Patterson, Video Producer, Marketing and Communications, Humber College

Presentation Two — Fostering Global Citizens in Early Childhood Educators: A Framework for Community Engaged Faculty Led Trips Abroad

This session will discuss how educators can foster student skill development, and specifically early childhood educators who are active members of their local and global community through the context of Humber College’s faculty-led trip to Antigua, Guatemala. The presenters will share the process of planning a faculty-led trip and ensuring that respect for the Mayan culture is at the forefront of the planning and curriculum. Presenters will discuss how to support students from the time of application to the moment they arrive back home from the trip, and students who participated in the placement abroad will be in attendance to share their key takeaways. This session will provide a framework of best practices for creating an academically enriching experiential learning opportunity for students, while also ensuring sustainable and community engaged travel abroad.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty; Professionals

Presenters:

• Roxana Zuleta, Professor, Early Childhood Education, Inclusive & Responsive Education
• Katheline Aguilar, Program Support Officer (Assistant to Associate Dean), CICE Program, Inclusive & Responsive Education – Child & Adult
• Manisha Maharajh, International Coordinator, Humber College

Presentation One — There is no T in STEM – rethinking how technology is impacting post-secondary subject areas, and the opportunities for international education

Technology is disrupting every area of post-secondary education and increasingly we at Humber have started finding new and unique opportunities to engage with international educational institutional partners, explore new opportunities for global engagement, and expand the conversation on EDI to include technological equity.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty; Industry Partners

Presenter: David Neumann, Professor – Faculty of Media and Creative Arts, Humber College

Presentation Two — The value of virtual vs. in-person design charettes to foster global student engagement

A charrette is an intensive collaborative strategy that brings together students and professionals from different disciplines to collaborate, to ideate and to form solutions. Professors Zaiba Mian and Orla Keane from the Bachelor of Interior design program at Humber will compare their recent experiences with in-person and virtual design charettes involving schools from across the globe. The intention is to highlight the benefits of in-person learning as we move towards a virtual landscape. Educators often talk about the value of learning from failure, and this will be highlighted during the session.

A global virtual charette that Humber Interior Design students engaged with in Winter 2023 held much promise, but surprisingly was less successful than faculty and students had hoped.

This will be contrasted with an in-person charette held in Copenhagen where a multi-disciplinary group of students from Humber had a very positive experience. The session will also involve a second-year student who will discuss their experiences with the virtual charette. This session will offer a range of perspectives related to both in-person and online engagement.

Key Audience: Faculty; Industry Partners

Presenters:

• Zaiba Mian, Program Coordinator, Humber College
• Orla Keane, Professor, Humber College

Presentation Three — Grassroot interdisciplinary international collaborations: Case study of building capacity and inspiration through challenging times

The COVID crisis brought challenging times to higher education institutions. In such times, faculty is key to innovation in the classroom through creation of experiential learning opportunities based on re-visioning internationalization, partnerships and collaboration. The ultimate goal is to educate global, critical thinkers and doers for a better, sustainable future. This case study shares the initiative and experience of five interdisciplinary faculty members from Humber College and a Brazilian university. The faculty members sparked grassroots classroom interdisciplinary collaborations and forged a bottom-up institutional partnership at the beginning of the pandemic. The purpose was to offer a new experiential learning tailored to the online COVID classroom and capitalizing on the changing world. We share our faculty perspectives and lessons learnt from this experience. We connect our experiences to transformative, distributed and change leadership. Our results show that such grassroots experiences are enduring, flexible and adaptable to variety of classroom objectives and purposes. These findings support calls for more power and autonomy to rest with faculty in times of dynamic challenges. Loosening institutional control over classroom partnerships and collaborations will offer built-in flexibility and network resilience for higher education institutions in future challenging scenarios.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty; Industry Partners; Professionals

Presenters:

• Rossie Kadiyska, Program Coordinator, Humber College
• Anne Frost, Program Coordinator, Humber College
• Annette Borger, Program Coordinator, Humber College

How can universities assist international students in developing communities and a sense of belonging before they begin the process of moving to Canada? This session will highlight a wide range of transition initiatives in three phases: social media and digital content creation from the student lens; strategic outreach to students and other stakeholders at the time of an offer of admission is received, to summer orientation and beyond leveraging digital, in-person and social initiatives. Findings in this session were developed through data-driven and theory-based approaches to better serve the rapidly evolving student demographics. We will discuss the successes and challenges of community building initiatives for international students and ways to incorporate the student voice and perspective in the retention of international students. Our group welcomes open dialogues, brainstorming, and resource sharing with other professionals working with international students to enhance students’ transition experience.

Key Audience: Administrators; Professionals; Industry Partners

Presenters:

• Prabhjot Vig, TMUIC
• Avni Dogra, TMUIC
• Tony Vo, York University
• Tiffany Guan, York University
• Michelle Elizabeth Taylor, Regional Manager (Middle East & Africa) International Enrolment, Queen’s University

Presentation One — HUMBER – Map the System

Map the System is a post-secondary global competition run by Oxford University, where student teams do in-depth research on a social or environmental issue and then create visual system maps that illustrate and communicate the problem’s complexity. In this presentation we discuss how this competition has been implemented at Humber College through a faculty-led initiative. We
also discuss how the initiative has worked to strengthen intra-institutional and interdisciplinary relationships within the college and deepened collaboration with international partnerships – with the overall purpose of increasing systems thinking competencies in students and addressing complex equity and sustainability problems. We draw on our experience embedding Map the System in Humber classes, expanding the program across Humber’s schools and faculties, and facilitating a COIL project between Humber’s international partners in New Zealand and Denmark. Our key learnings and insights will be shared, including how this project achieves 21st century learning outcomes and supports personalized learning and UDL principles. Finally, session participants will walk away with strategies to get started with systems thinking in the classroom.

Key Audience: Administrators, Faculty, Professionals, Industry Leaders

Presenters:

• Sara Hassan, Professor, Humber College
• Elinor Bray-Collins, Professor, Humber College

Presentation Two — A unique COIL course that involves 4 countries, electrical trade students and grades 5-6 students

This proposal aims to share a unique, virtual Global Learning Opportunity project involving 100, Mohawk College Electrical Trades students and approximately 80 international students in grades 5-6 from four countries: Croatia, India, Morocco, and New Zealand. The presentation outlines the development, opportunities, issues and new thinking around Collaborative Online International Learning spanning four time zones and shares the multi-media, Do-it-Yourself projects created by the college students as well as the reciprocal creations of the international students. The presentation will discuss the impact intergenerational, intercultural and interdisciplinary global learning opportunities had on the development of intercultural competencies, sustainable problem-solving, empathetic communication and equitable collaboration in post-secondary trades students. It will also show how the international students engaged with the college students increased awareness of their postsecondary futures, as well as their sense of global citizenship. Highlighting UN SDG #17 – creating peaceful partnerships, and the impact experiential learning may have on creating opportunities for young people, college students, JF the Robot, and international educators, the presentation showcases how COIL enhances post-secondary trades students’ development of intercultural competencies, and explores how these same projects might encourage young international students to pursue higher education in general, and skilled trades and/or international education, specifically.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty

Presenters:

• Sandra Gruosso, Manager, International Partnerships and Programs, Mohawk College
• Rob Bajko, Learning & Teaching Consultant – International Education, Mohawk College

Presentation Three — Maximizing Learning: Exploring Different COIL Models for Enhanced Student Engagement & Intercultural Development

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiatives have gained increasing popularity in higher education, offering accessible opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and internationalization. Different models of COIL – from fully remote, to hybrid, focused subject matter to interdisciplinary collaboration, in the classroom to outside of the classroom, short to long, from academic credit to cocurricular – all lead to a range of diverse learning outcomes for participants. Drawing on COIL case studies from the Faculty of Social and Community Services at Humber College, this presentation will explore different models of COIL, and ask participants to consider how we can learn from, and apply, various structures to enhance student engagement, global learning and intercultural development, combining different strategies, and balancing costs and benefits, to maximize the COIL experience.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty

Presenter: Ayesha Amin, Global Learning & Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, Humber College

Ontario’s college and university Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs) currently include performance metrics that reward student participation in experiential learning. Our sector has seen both an increase in work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities and an increase of international students who are keen to participate in these opportunities. The goal of this
session is to explore WIL-related challenges facing Ontario Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) and to consider innovative approaches intended to ensure that international students are not disadvantaged in their efforts to engage in the wide range of WIL opportunities available.

Key Audience: Administrators; Professionals

Presenter: Marc Arnold, International Student Immigration Advisor, RISIA, University of Toronto

In 2019, Humber College, in partnership with two Vietnamese universities, established its Summer Program in Vietnam – an immersive learning experience for students, which allows them to travel to cities and sites throughout Vietnam, while studying at world-class universities with Vietnamese professors and students, and engaging with local communities through various outreach projects. Accompanied by Humber faculty from the Department of Liberal Studies, students learn first-hand about another country, its diverse cultural traditions, the challenges faced by disadvantaged communities, and the importance of sustainable tourism.

While earning an elective credit, students expand their worldview, gaining a deeper appreciation of the role education plays in creating opportunities for social and economic mobility, adding real-life context to their Humber education. Guided by the Humber Learning Outcomes combined with a UDL focus, the 2023 course and its assessments endeavor to facilitate collaboration, inspire innovation, and foster leadership and professionalism, while encouraging critical thinking and global citizenship. During this session, faculty and students will discuss the program and their experiences with global education, and students will present their work and share their insights about global immersive learning. Session attendees are invited to pose questions and interact with both faculty and students.

Key Audience: Administrators; Faculty; Industry Partners; Professionals

Presenters:

• Candace Iron PhD., Professor and Program Coordinator, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Humber College
• Naveen Joshi PhD., Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Humber College
• Kimmy Do, MSc., Manager, Global Initiatives and Partnership Development, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Humber College