Area Report for the Board of Trustees

Responding to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth expressions of professionalism and human solidarity at Highline College and in the Academic Affairs Division that are extraordinary. Faculty are shouldering the tasks of shifting their modes of instruction to reach learners remotely, supporting each other in formal and informal ways, participating in statewide, national, and departmental conversations about how best to create conditions for students to learn remotely. Staff are figuring out how to address challenges and new situations in professional and imaginative ways. Everyone is focused on how we can support learners and our community through this time. The common refrain across stakeholder groups is that we are in this together, and together we’ll get through it. I’ve tried below to highlight some specific things I know about. I am mindful, however, that there are countless other acts of imagination, generosity, and solidarity going on in our division (and at Highline) that I haven’t chronicled here.

Helping faculty and staff understand COVID-19:

Respiratory Care Program Manager Nicki Bly has been serving as the in-house expert on how to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus on campus. Before Governor Inslee’s order to stay home and stay healthy, Nicki consulted with faculty and staff across campus, walking through spaces with them and providing advice about how best to limit the spread of the virus. She has consulted with faculty in the ceramics lab, the music performance spaces, and the fitness center among others. She has worked with staff in the tutoring center, the cohort learning community rooms, the placement and testing center, and the library. Nicki’s skills as an educator have helped many of us understand the simple steps we can take on campus to limit the spread of the virus.

Preparing for remote teaching and learning:

Highline’s Instructional Design Team (Marc Lentini, Education Technology Director, plus faculty members Sue Franz, Tarisa Matsumoto-Maxfield and Avery Viehman) have worked tirelessly to help Highline faculty prepare to teach remotely. In the past two weeks, 170 faculty have attended something offered by the ID team, including participating in web workshops, taking advantage of personalized CanvAssistance, or reviewing resources in the Canvas Contingency course. Faculty are sending regular appreciations of the teams’ efforts, most recently this:
“I just wanted to give a shout out to our amazing ID team and say that I hope they all win a wifi-free vacation to a deserted island (or at least a large bonus) after so generously and patiently assisting all of us. They are absolutely invaluable!”

Matching support to faculty expression of needs:

While the Instructional Design team began offering workshops on how to use Canvas and Zoom, Interim Dean for Transfer Raegan Copeland and Division Chair Dusty Wilson developed a method for surveying faculty who had not taught a fully online course in the past two years at Highline and were scheduled to teach this spring quarter about the support they felt they needed to be successful teaching remotely. Potential responses ranged from none to low (“I can figure it out myself”) to medium (“need to be paired with buddy/ID specialist”) to high (“please reach out to me ASAP”). Faculty response rates were very strong, and this information was shared with the Instructional Design team.

Supporting ABE/ESL faculty:

The shift to remote teaching is having a significant impact on ABE and ESL courses—students and instructors. Anticipating the challenges inherent in making the shift, College and Career Readiness Dean Justin Dampeer collaborated with faculty member Maurea Brown to offer a 3-day workshop on using Canvas specifically designed for ABE/ESL faculty over spring break. Nearly 50 faculty participated, many of them adjunct faculty. All faculty received a stipend for participating. Maurea opened the workshop up to faculty who indicated they needed a lot of support on the survey mentioned above. Maurea was assisted in the workshop by ABE/ESL faculty member Laura Stusser-McNeill.

Supporting faculty technology needs:

The Highline College Education Association (HCEA) leadership proposed that we re-allocate unspent professional development funds as provided for by the current collective bargaining agreement to go towards addressing faculty needs for technology. Approximately $100,000 was made available to ITS to purchase laptops for faculty use. Additional funds are being used to provide webcams, headsets, and other equipment necessary for faculty to be able to teach from home.

Supporting student learning:

Gabrielle Bachmeier, Dean for organizational development and continuing education, stepped up to lead the cross-divisional team focused on providing support for students to learn remotely. One effort focused on providing a free course for students to take to help them learn about learning online. Faculty member Sam Alkhalili revised an existing course into the equivalent of a one-credit course for students. Offered through Continuing Education, this course can be taken for one pre-college credit, or it can be taken at no cost. The course is being offered in English, Spanish, and Arabic. At the time of this writing, Highline is offering six sections of the course in English, one in Spanish, and one in Arabic. A dozen faculty volunteered to teach sections of the course, and we will continue to offer it as long as students want to take it. This quick response to students was possible because of these powerful collaborations among faculty and staff, all of whom are working hard to provide support for students.