Area Report for Board of Trustees

The time between mid-December and mid-January shifts includes the rush to complete Fall Quarter, followed by a well-deserved break for everyone, which precedes a week of preparing for the long stretch of Winter and Spring quarters. The new year is off to a good start. As of January 2, overall FTE’s were 429 higher than they were last year on the same day. We anticipate that enrollment will continue to increase until classes start on January 8.

The report below highlights innovative work in our division:

• Scholarships for seniors and kids to participate in Continuing Education activities;
• A day-long event with representatives from Business and Business faculty focused on identifying the current work of a typical professional in business management in the Pacific Northwest
• A successful 13 credit paraeducator cohort program that was offered at the HUB in Fall 2023

Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members

• Continuing Education Department: We created two separate Flipcause donation pages that will help support our Senior Scholarships and STEAM Summer Camps for Kids funds.
  • Senior Scholarships: Over the past year, thanks to several endowment funds through Highline’s Foundation Department, we provided over 100 fully-funded scholarships, totaling over $15,000, to students 55+ who needed financial support. Unfortunately, there is not enough funding in the endowments to support the ask from our community.  We have created a Flipcause page to allow our community an opportunity to help our seniors continue their educational experiences.
  • Summer Camp Scholarships: In partnership with Green River College and Highline’s MaST Center, last year was our pilot year for STEAM Summer Camps for Kids.  A major obstacle for kids/parents was the cost of the program.  Our priority is to lower the pricing of each camp to make it more affordable for those families who may be facing financial insecurities.  Ideally, we can secure grant funding/corporate donations.  We are also looking to our community members for financial support as well through Flipcause.

Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

On December 15, Highline hosted its first DACUM in at least five years. According to the DACUM International Training Center, the DACUM process (also known as “developing a curriculum) “involves a panel of expert workers and a skilled facilitator working together to precisely identify the duties and tasks performed in a job or occupation. The panel of experts collectively and cooperatively describe the job or occupational tasks in the language that those within their industry can understand and embrace. The duties and tasks (sometimes called competencies) become the foundation of competency-based training programs by identifying what must be taught to the worker or student.”

The purpose of this DACUM, which focused on identifying a profile of the work done by a typical professional in business management in the Pacific Northwest, was to better align the learning outcomes of our AAS and BAS in Business Management with current industry expectations. The results from this day will be used by faculty to revise Highline’s Business Management pathway, both the AAS and the BAS.

This DACUM process was led by the team of Sherri Chun (Division Chair for Business), Tanya Powers (Associate Dean for BAS Programs) and Gabrielle Bachmeier (Dean of Workforce Partnerships and Extended Learning). External partners participating included:

• Mike Ronan, Ernst & Young
• Stephanie Sornsin, Cengage
• Richard Mockler, Self-employed consultant
• Heather Slee, T-Mobile
• Elodie Jollet-Gergov, Lynden Logistics Inc
• Stefan Feller, Highline College/Govt
• Theresa Franklin, Expediters International
• Joe Sky-Tucker, Business Impact NW
• Robert Livington, Homestreet Bank
• Heidi Smith, Target
• Brian Poissant, West Monroe
• Justin Hatley, Verus
• Tom Green, Port of Seattle
• Brittany Steward, Fairmont Hotel
• Deepak Devasthali, St. Anne’s

Faculty members Mary Kajoka, Cathy Cartwright, Kelly Converse (Teal), and Nikolay Barkov participated, along with Sinai Espinoza Hernandez (Workforce Outreach and Recruitment Specialist) and Josh Gerstman. Dave Cunningham facilitated.

Core Theme 3: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: Create a more inclusive working environment and a more valued, visible relationship with communities we serve

• Continuing Education Department:

Fall Quarter: A cohort of 23 recent refugee students completed a 13-credit Paraeducator Training & Placement Hybrid Program at The FW Hub. Thanks to the support from Highline’s Education Department, the DSHS Office of Refugee & Immigrant Assistance, and Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Seattle, these students are now equipped with the knowledge and experience needed to become Paraeducators in our communities.  This program was made possible through a grant that covered tuition, provided personal laptops for each student, and offered ongoing support services from JFS, including math preparations for the ParaPro Assessment test. The students also gained practical experience through externships at local schools, and several have received job offers following program completion. A special thank you to the two amazingly dedicated Highline instructors, Patricia McDonald and Christie Knighton, who went above and beyond guiding these students in their educational careers.  This was an amazing collaboration with all parties and we are hopeful this can happen again next Fall Quarter.