Bachelor of Behavioural Science - Postsecondary Education Quality ...

histories about the environment, work, family, marketplace, politics, arts, sciences,
and technology.
Citizenship: To provide the community with educated graduates who are ethical,
professional, and productive in the public workplace and who are informed and
engaged citizens.
Relevance: To evolve in a manner that is responsive and relevant to students and the
changing circumstances in which they live.
The New PEQAB Breadth Standards – 2009
When PEQAB released its new breadth standards in 2009, Humber was the first college
to prepare and submit a comprehensive program breadth application. The PEQAB
reviewer of that submission (Dr. Peter Emberley, Professor of Political Science, Carleton
University) concluded that Humber‘s capacity to offer breadth education meets or exceeds
the Board‘s requirements. Dr. Emberley‘s submitted a very positive and detailed report of
Humber‘s breadth package and provided Humber with some interesting suggestions for
course areas of development for the future. In his report conclusion, he wrote:
Over all, if my own students participated in Humber College’s breadth courses, I am
certain that they would be animated, would experience the thrill of true intellectual
discovery and debate, and in the process constitute themselves as a community of truly
intellectual seekers.
Following Dr. Emberley‘s review of Humber‘s breadth/liberal arts curriculum against the
Board‘s new requirement and the Board assessment of that review, Humber received
notification from the Ministry that ―the Board found Humber‘s overall capacity to offer a
liberal arts curriculum within its degree programs in applied areas of study to be
satisfactory.‖
The Humber Breadth Task Force
The breadth component of its programs is an important consideration in the design of
each and every degree program at Humber. Over the past ten years, as the number of
degrees offered increased and the fields of study expanded, there emerged a need to
review the purpose and complexity of the degree breadth courses. Included in this
assessment was the desire to consider the weighting of core and non-core courses (which
affects not only the content of the core area of study but also affects student transferability
and credit recognition), the overall goals and status of the non-core breadth courses,
student satisfaction with the range of non-core course offerings, the approval process for
breadth courses and the areas of future growth of breadth education at Humber.
In 2010 the Vice President Academic struck a Humber Breadth Task Force to review the
comprehensiveness of the degree breadth package. Members from Humber‘s Degree
Council were asked to sit on this committee in addition to other faculty representatives.
This faculty-driven task force was asked to review the current state of breadth and
prepare a list of recommendations to the Vice President Academic. The task force was
supported by key academic administrators from two academic schools, the planning and
development office and the office of the registrar.
The Breadth Task Force solicited opinions from academic school heads, faculty members
and students. Town hall sessions were held at both campuses and suggestions and
Bachelor of Behavioural Science Section D, Page 6