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Jan. 09, 2020: Academic Affairs

Home/Area Reports, Meeting 01-09-20/Jan. 09, 2020: Academic Affairs
2020-01-06T10:11:53+00:00 Print Page

Jan. 09, 2020: Academic Affairs

Area Report for Board of Trustees

Enrollment

Enrollment as of 1/6/20 (registration day 46): 3588 total state FTE
Enrollment as of 1/7/19 (registration day 46): 3529 total state FTE

Core Theme

Core Theme 1: Promote student engagement, learning, and achievement

Implementing Guided Pathways:

In December 2019, over 300 surveys were completed by students from a wide range of courses. Responses to the surveys about the structure of Highline’s current pathways are being synthesized by an outside consultant. The information from the surveys will be shared with the Advising Council and the Guided Pathways Steering Committee. Depending on the extent of the changes recommended by students, Emily Coates, Director of Institutional Research, and members of the Advising Council may conduct focus groups with Highline students to make sure that changes made to the existing pathways make sense to students. In addition, Emily Coates is working with the consultant to offer an on-campus workshop later this month designed to increase our capacity to conduct focus group-based research with students.

The Guided Pathways Steering Committee kick-off event is planned for January 16-17. Approximately 45 people will be in attendance, with representation from all divisions and all employee groups. Dr. Sy Ear, Summer Korst, and I have been working with Susan Mayer, from Achieving the Dream, to develop an agenda for the kick-off aimed at increasing shared understanding about why we are engaging in this student success transformation.

Increasing student transition from non-credit to credit courses:

The Jump Start program is a learning community designed to help students transition from ABE/ESL courses to credit courses. In Winter 2020, two cohorts of Jump Start will be offered—a full time program offered during the day, and a part-time program offered in the evening. Because accessing financial support for credit-bearing. courses is a critical variable in successfully transition from ABE/ESL to college-level courses, Rashmi Koushi, ABE/ESL faculty and Laura Yanez, Transition Center program manager, will be working with Loyal Allen and a team in student services to develop a student-friendly, coordinated plan for Jumpstart students.

Faculty professional development:

On January 2, approximately 40 faculty gathered for the Winter Institute. Full-time and adjunct faculty were invited to participate in half day or full day sessions. Half day sessions included a panel of Ted-Style Talks:

  • Christie Knighton, Adult Basic Education: “Inequality Regimes: What are they, and how do they impact Highline?”
  • Diego Luna, American Ethnic and Identity Studies: “Counter Story Telling”
  • Darryl Brice, Sociology: “A Happening Waiting to Accident: Students of Color and Their Courageous Journey through Higher Education”

Other half-day sessions included a workshop on transparent assignment design led by Bob Scribner, Learning and Teaching Center program manager; an opportunity for faculty to shadow experienced colleagues in the Advising Center; a workshop facilitated by Jenni Sandler, Julie Pollard, and Bobby Dutriex on “Human Accommodation and Access-Centered Learning Spaces;” and a workshop facilitated by Tarisa Matsumoto-Maxfield on “The 4 Connections Online.” Participants also had the opportunity to attend an all-day workshop facilitated by Hara Brook and Deb Moore on implementing open educational resources in support of teaching and learning.

Teaching and Learning Enhancement Awards:

Congratulations to the following 2019 recipients!

  • Sarah Adams for building free, accessible and open online homework for Math 81/91.
  • Ellen Bremen and Lisa Voso for developing OER materials for CMST 210.
  • Rhiannon Hillman for developing OER materials for English courses.
  • Christie Knighton for contextualized math curriculum to increase math attainment, and help students transition from non-credit to credit courses.
  • Shon Meckfessel for serving multilingual writers in the transition to transfer and beyond.
  • Teresa Trillo and Christine Couch for exploring the development of a global nursing and population health course.
  • Lisa Voso and Ellen Bremen for developing a critical thinking framework for CMST& 101
  • Jodi White for revising curriculum, reducing cost and increasing accessibility in ECED& 105.

Other news: BAS in Teaching and Learning

Dr. Tanya Powers has been promoted to Associate Dean, BAS and Workforce Pathways, effective January 1, 2020. The change in Dr. Powers’ position is based on her significantly increased responsibilities for managing the teacher certification program within the BAS in Teaching and Learning. Dr. Powers has been joined in these efforts this year by education faculty, John Pizzaro, Patricia McDonald, and Jodi White. In addition, Ricaflor Fontillas joined the BAS in Teaching program in December 2019 as a program specialist. Ricaflor will focus on Certificate Advising and Admissions, Data Management, District Partnerships, and the Professional Educator Advisory Board, and will be the single point of contact for certification questions. Prior to joining Highline, Ricaflor worked for the Renton School District for the past four years, teaching 3rd and 4th Grade.

Report submitted Jan. 06, 2020, by Interim Vice President Emily Lardner, Ed.D.