Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members;  Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve & Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

• It was my great pleasure to serve on the post tenured review committee for math instructor Barbara As an administrator, serving on a post tenured review committee provides an opportunity for me to get to know some of our faculty colleagues a bit more, through class observation, student evaluations, and reviewing their self-assessment.
• Our “Follow the Supply Chain to Vietnam” study abroad program 2025 received 24 applications from Highline College students. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, we were only able to select four applicants and two alternates for the trip. A big “thanks” to the Global Programs team (Mina Vo, Sam Kaplan, Mary Kajoka, and Kaitlin Bermingham) for their work with interviewing and selecting the student applicants.
• Public Safety is currently conducting a semi-formal lighting survey on campus. The Illuminating Engineering Society standards for schools and institutions recommend all sidewalks and pathways be illuminated to at least 10 Parking lots should be illuminated to at least 30 lux. Lux is a unit of measurement for light that’s falls to the surface. Our light meter measures lux equal to one lumen per square meter. We are currently conducting a survey for each building to include satellite locations and all parking lots.
• David Menke participated in the free speech forum held on January 28th. The forum was used to educate students about free speech and assembly rights, and “Free Speech Zones” on campus. The panelist wanted students to leave the forum empowered to exercise their rights and use student resources.
• It was a blast to celebrate “Tết” (Lunar New Year) with the Vietnamese Student Association on January 22nd. In addition to traditional food and games, the students also showcased various musical talents during the It was definitely a very successful event with at least 100 students, staff, faculty, and community members in attendance. Please check out the article from The Thunderword on the event here.

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

• We have begun bargaining with our classified staff, represented by WPEA, for the 2025-27 contract. Unlike the full scope bargaining with faculty, Highline College is limited in our authority to negotiate (nearly all) compensation items, without OFM We will, however, do our best to support our classified staff in bargaining with other working conditions and concerns.
• Global Programs hosted “Highline Welcomes the World Week” between February 24th and 27th. Several workshops were offered including Experiential Learning to Vietnam, Myanmar Students’ Journey, and Arts Around the World. Sarah Peterson, Chief of Office of Refugee & Immigrant Assistance for Washington State, also facilitated a presentation on the status of refugees and immigrants in our state.
• David Menke attended the Des Moines Police Department advisory board meeting on January The topics discussed were current hiring practices, limited agreement with Burien CARES for animal response, and immigrations activities.
• Facilities installed a new pollution monitor in partnership with WA State of Ecology on the roof of building 8. This meter is accessible for instruction purposes on campus. Additionally, a new rainfall meter was also installed in partnership with King County on the roof of building 24.
• In preparation for the future Welcome Center capital project, we have relocated the University of Washington seismograph machine from building 16 to building

Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY: Promote a campus culture which fosters equity and inclusivity supporting employee growth and development, and institutional capacity for transformation

• The Welcome Center Planning Committee, comprised of faculty and staff representing their respective areas, is beginning to explore a more definite location (footprint) for the future building. Given our limited buildable areas, the new Welcome Center may impact some existing buildings during construction. The Committee is evaluating some options to minimize disruption to instruction and It is expected for the state to fund the design and construction of the Welcome Center in the 2027-29 biennium.
• In preparation for the Welcome Center project, Facilities conducted a feasibility study for demolition of parts of building 16 during the construction phase. In addition, we are also looking at a feasibility study for relocating the Pantry to building 25A.
• The Student Activity Center Planning Committee has also begun their work with brainstorming sessions for a potential new gym, with capacity for multiple basketball courts, a multi-purpose room, a video game room, and other common areas for student hangout. The Student Activity Center is being envisioned as a future replacement for our current aging 50-year-old pavilion gym. Unlike the Welcome Center, however, athletic and sport facilities are not typically funded by the state capital system. The goal of the Committee, as such, is to develop the vision into a concept proposal for our students to evaluate for a possible self- funded project.
• We are looking to wrap up the sewer replacement project in a few The affected areas in the East and North Parking Lots will be re-striped. We are planning for a complete re-pavement of the lots later in the summer.
• The accountability audit has Unlike the annual financial statement audit, accountability audit focuses more on compliance, internal controls, and other internal processes. This is our first accountability audit in at least five years.

FISCAL & BUDGET

• The new Second Quarter financial report is being submitted this month for the Board to review. We are continuing to see improvements in our financial standing due to increases in enrollment.
• Budget Advisory Council had officially “kicked off” the FY25 budget planning cycle with their initial meeting on January 22nd. The College, however, is faced with quite a bit of uncertainty over the state of our (state) budget. As reported earlier, the Legislature while still early in their session must address a $10-12B shortfall in the next few Unfortunately, we may not know many details of the FY25 state budget until later in April.
• The various Executive Orders at the federal level further added even more uncertainty to our institutional budget The federal funding freeze and then the “unfreeze” created some chaos in our processes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Heather McBreen, my Executive Assistant, is now an accomplished and published author. She was recently featured in the Seattle Times to introduce her first and new book, “Wedding Dashers” Congratulations to Heather! We all look forward to reading her two other books to be released in the future to complete the series.