Who’s teaching whom? As one of its community outreach initiatives The Business School has teamed up with COSTI Immigrant Services to implement its Women of Courage program.
The objective? Provide opportunities for women living in situations of domestic abuse to complete a continuing education certificate in either Computerized Accounting Clerk or Administrative Services. That’s just the academic component. The multi-faceted program also includes weekly counselling sessions, workshops for job-search preparation, and a field placement component to enhance the probability of the participants getting long term jobs. While one would expect the women to benefit from the experience, Humber has learned a lot, too.
In place since January 2009, the ultimate goal of the program is simple: Improve the livelihood of the women. Graduates not only obtain an academic credential, but can also dramatically improve their skill sets, knowledge, self-esteem, and self-confidence. All of these will significantly increase their chances of obtaining fulfilling work and decrease the risk of returning to an abusive situation.
Humber’s Wanda Buote, who shepherded the initiative into being, points out that the Women of Courage program works from many angles, benefitting both the agency and the college. “COSTI needed an academic partner and we fit the bill. COSTI manages the screening and selection process in accord with its mandate to provide educational, social and employment services to help any immigrants in the greater Toronto area attain self-sufficiency in Canadian society. Humber designed the program to meet COSTI’s needs and those of its clients.”
To implement the program, The Business School uses existing courses but adapts them to accommodate for the needs of the COSTI students. For example, Humber synchronizes day care with courses to run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Of course, this is no free pass, and as the credentials are the same as other students receive, so too are the demands of the classes. The students can use the credits they earn for upgrade to other programs so they can further their education if they want to. In fact, some of the women have gone on and taken more courses.
This program has also had a big impact on Humber staff. The process of delivering the program teaches a lot about flexibility, maintaining the integrity of courses, and striking the right administrative balance. Faculty members take sensitivity training and a diverse student body can only benefit everybody, as the saying goes, “all boats rise with the tide.”
Women of Courage aligns perfectly with Humber’s commitment to community outreach initiatives, and this has a direct impact on the college’s reputation. It's a rewarding experience for faculty, staff and administrators to raise sensitivity and awareness of at-risk groups. The staff who fully invest themselves in the program have a sincere sense of pride in being associated with an initiative and an organization effecting positive change in the community. It's not just talk, or something you read in a brochure. It's real.
Looking to gain her independence and re-start her career, Graceanne Wangari thought she’d give the COSTI Women of Courage program a try. As an immigrant from Kenya, she knew about COSTI’s services through a friend, but not about the program. Wangari’s high school passion had been accounting but there were roadblocks. The opportunity to earn her Accounting Clerk certificate was too good to pass up and since graduating in the summer of 2010 Wangari has been working at an employment agency, handling accounting for the firm and payroll for 100 people per week. She loves it.
Adjusting to college was, it turns out, not that hard for Wangari.
She had attended post-secondary institutions in Kenya so she had some ideas of what to expect at Humber. She says the fast-track program, with so much to learn in a short time, coupled with other commitments such as work, wasn’t easy, but she “had a mind to succeed.” It helped that she found her instructors were first-rate motivators and very supportive. Within her peers, Wangari found a cooperative, sympathetic and fun group, all working toward finding the path that was right for them.
“The program was interesting since students tried to accommodate each other’s ways of learning, especially in the classroom. We worked well as a unit.” Wangari likes the kind of personal instruction she received at Humber. She recently met with her academic advisers to see about continuing her education. After completing four courses during the summer, Wangari is back at Humber this fall pursuing the 3 year Diploma on her career path towards her Certified General Accountants (CGA) designation. This is consistent with Wangari’s advice to others. “Reach for your goals. Don’t be distracted by life and difficulty. Invest in yourself; you are your own greatest asset. Your utmost satisfaction comes from making a career out of something you love and being successful at it.”
Graceanne pictured in Humber's Accounting Centre
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