Area Report for Board of Trustees

The division of Student Services operates on three core functions: access, supporting student success and engagement with a focus on equity.

The goals of Student Services for 2019-2021:
Goal 1: Increase Access and Enrollment (Getting students on a Path – Entry & Onboarding)
Goal 2: Increase progression and completion (Keeping Students on a Path – Retention & Completion)
Goal 3: Design and implement a holistic Advising Model that supports students from entry to completion (Pathways Advising)
Goal 4: Professional Development

Student Access, Retention and Success

Campus View

• Campus View is offering payment plan options for students who financially cannot pay for an entire quarter at once and exploring a direct payment option with Financial Aid and the Cashier’s office.
• Campus View continues to develop and explore a programming model.
• Center for Leadership and Service and Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence are modifying spring quarter signature programs to virtually celebrate student success and inspire continuous growth, including Student Legacy Awards and Unity through Diversity Week. Additionally, the Inter-Cultural Center, Clubs Program, and Leadership Programming Team will be hosting regular virtual student lounges to encourage community building opportunities that would have occurred in our physical spaces.
• In partnership with Benefits Hub, Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence hosted the Students for Students Winter Clothing Drive collecting new and gently used jackets, gloves, blankets, hats, and scarves. Items were distributed through two Pop-Up “Clothing Sale” events (Feb 25 & 26) at the Highline Pantry and the Inter-Cultural Center where students were able to select free winter items in a shopping style environment. Over 80 students participated and received items from the events.

Advising, Career and Student Development (CASE), High School Programs and Running Start

• The Advising Center, Career and Student Development Center and High School Programs Office/Running Start have implemented online advising sessions via Zoom. Students have options to schedule an appointment in advance online or drop-in to a Zoom virtual lobby for assistance on a first-come, first-served basis. The Transfer Center is in discussions with partner 4-year institutions to offer virtual transfer services, planning to pilot this capability as soon as April.
• The Running Start Office is in communication with high schools to help assist any current or future Running Start student who needs to coordinate with their high school to verify eligibility and enrollment, and have pushed back the deadline for submitting Running Start enrollment documents for Spring quarter. All Running Start students who are using the fee-waiver have been notified via email for options to request and use book assistance remotely to obtain their Spring textbooks from the Bookstore.

Student Support and Funding Services

• Student Support and Funding Services departments (Financial Aid, WES, TRiO, Women’s Programs/WorkFirst, Highline Support Center, Conduct & SAIT) have shifted their delivery model from an in-person based method to a distance-based service delivery model. Students will be able to contact and communicate with staff through phone, email, Zoom, live chat, and other remote tools.
• The Financial Aid office has received guidance from the US Department of Education and Washington Student Achievement Council to provide support and funding to work study students who have been impacted by COVID-19. Financial Aid has provided work study funding to work-study students who cannot work due to COVID-19.
• In an uncertain time, we are inspired to share the following uplifting news that the first two WISH (While in School Housing) voucher program students are currently finalizing their paperwork to enter their new home. We hope to share the progress of our other 38 WISH students as they begin this process. More information in the near future. Thank you to the WISH team led by Mariela Barriga and thank you to our partnership with King County Housing Authority.
• Highline Community Pantry is closed while campus is not open to the public. Mariela Barriga is developing a “Grab and Go” campaign in preparation of campus reopening to students with limited services.
• The Academic Standards policy will be waived for Winter 2020 grades. For students whose GPA is below 2.0, instead of being placed on Academic Probation or Suspension, students will be notified with recommendations to connect with an advisor and additional resources.

Enrollment and Registration

• Registration dates and deadlines have been updated for Spring quarter to reflect April 6th start of term in response to COVID-19 changes to instructional timelines. Currently, we plan to maintain the dates to begin registration for Summer and Fall in mid-May. Students can complete enrollment transactions online using Online Student Services. For any transaction that cannot be accommodated through Online Student Services utilities, an email from the student’s official Highline email account is accepted. Faculty can email registration to give permission to enroll in courses in place of a signature on the Add/Drop form.
• Enrollment Services has notified 291 students of class cancellations. Advisors are contacting students to assist with registering for alternate classes.

Veteran Services

• Students using VA funding can submit their Enrollment Certification forms online, and receive assistance remotely from the Veterans Services Office via Zoom.
• New legislation was recently signed to allow students using VA-funding to maintain full housing allowance benefits when completing classes online during the COVID-19 transition to online/remote learning.

International Student Programs

• ISP is temporarily modifying its payment plan, ISTEP, to include flexible options for international students. Some international students’ families finances have been affected by the COVID19 in their home country.
• ISP is working with students who have gone back to their home countries due to the COVID19. These students are allowed to also take all online classes to retain their visa status in the U.S. This has been a change of policy by the Student Exchange Visitors Program (SEVP) from requiring international students to attend at least 7 credits of in-person classes. This will help with international student enrollment as it gives students flexibility to continue their studies.

Student Engagement

• The College Transfer Fair was held on March 17th in Building 8 with 25 college/universities present; approximately 250 students attended; follow-up survey feedback was positive.
• The Running Start team held an information session for prospective students and parents on Saturday, February 22nd in the Student Union. It was a full house with approximately 170 in attendance. The planned sessions for the remainder of the year have been canceled; however, staff are creating a recorded video to be available soon.
• The Center for Leadership and Service and Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence hosted 63 students for the annual Winter Leadership Retreat at IslandWood Retreat Center in late February. The theme was Pause and over the course of a day and a half, the retreat facilitators invited students to explore wellness, self-care, and community care. Students built deep meaningful connections with each as they experienced reflective activities, a leadership and identity exploration workshop, the arts, guided nature experiences, and affirmation exercises.
• On March 3, The Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence Peer-Mentorship Program launched a monthly service project series volunteering at Des Moines Food Bank. The purpose of this series is to expose students to volunteering opportunities in the community. In total, 8 Highline students contributed 24 volunteer hours to our local community food bank.

Staff Professional Development

• Center for Leadership and Service, Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence and Campus View Student Housing has been engaging with statewide networks, participating in numerous webinars, and conference calls related to COVID-19. Our goal is to prioritize the health of our community while providing equitable access and participation with high-quality virtual student engagement, leadership development, and live-in residential experiences for Spring Quarter.
• Kendall Evans, Veterans Specialist, traveled to visit Army installation, Fort Huachuca, in Arizona March 3 – 6. This opportunity was provided by the Army Recruiting Command for the region of Washington, northeast Oregon, and the Idaho panhandle.
• In collaboration with campus partners including our newest partnership with Central Washington University- Des Moines, The Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence led a successful Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Week. The theme was “Radical Vision 20/20: Reclaiming Our Past, Rewriting Our Present, Reimagining Our Future.” The recorded presentations are viewable at Center for Cultural & Inclusive Excellence Youtube Playlist at https://www.youtube.com/user/HighlineCC/playlists.

Staffing Updates

• Chantal Carrancho applied and has been appointed to the position of Director of Advising, transitioning from her previous role as Interim Director. Richard Durden and Marlena Afereti (Highline alumna) have been hired as new Academic Pathway Advisors. Renata Cummings, coming from the UW, started her position as Associate Director of Advising and Transfer Planning. Daniela Esan (Highline alumna) has been hired as the Program Specialist for Career and Student Employment.
• Kimberly Bui (Highline alumna) has been hired to begin as the new Customer Service Specialist 3 in Admissions.

Other Announcements

• The first round of data validation for ctcLink has been completed. Staff from Enrollment Services and Advising were assisted by ITS in their first exposure to navigating in the new ctcLink environment.
• The Services & Activities (S&A) Fee committee has been meeting weekly since the start of Winter Quarter. S&A is a sub-committee of the student government and the student chair, Grayce Ross, was appointed by ASHC and approved by the ASHC Council. S&A allocated 2.9+ million last year to over 64 program lines to support student co/extra-curricular engagement. Large allocations go to support student leadership wages, travel, and campus-wide programming. S&A fees are comprised of the student fee assessed by the college and include an equivalency contribution from the college for international students and running start students who don’t directly contribute to the S&A fees. Unique to Highline’s S&A structure is that our institution is on a forward funding model, using revenue collected from two fiscal years prior to support approved program allocations, with any unused allocations transferred annually into the S&A fund balance.

Athletics

• Women’s and Men’s Basketball both qualified for the NWAC Sweet 16. Both teams passed the first round. Due to COVID19 the remainder of the season was cancelled.
• The wrestlers were recently in Council Bluff, Iowa, competing in the NJCAA National Championships- where the T-Birds qualified 5 of its wrestlers.
• Spring sports- Women’s Tennis competed in five matches, all of which were against 4 year schools. Of interest, several of the schools, after playing our women, have offered all of our Sophomores scholarships for next year. Great job ladies and Coach Rosa.
• Women’s golf and Softball has been cancelled due to COVID19.

Counseling Center

The COVID-19 crisis is having a negative impact on mental health worldwide, and will continue to impact our students for the near future. South King County community mental health agencies have been under-resourced and overburdened prior to this crisis. As an open access institution and free resource to our students, we anticipate a growing need and utilization for our Counseling Center services. We are eager to adapt our services remotely on-line next quarter to meet the needs of our students.

We will continue all of our regular counseling services remotely including: 

• Providing individual personal, academic, and career counseling appointments
• Providing staff/faculty consultation
• Providing drop-in hours Monday – Thursday
• Responding to urgent student mental health crisis and SAIT reports

Early response to campus:

• The Counseling Center drafted a message to campus addressing the stress and uncertainty of the COVID-19. The message included 10 tips and mental health resources for managing these trying times and was emailed to students/staff/faculty listservs on 3/12/2020, and was added to our Counseling Center website. Dr. Mosby also linked the message to the HC COVID-19 main webpage.
• We addressed the growing anxiety for our students in our individual counseling sessions.
• Outside of regularly scheduled appointments, each Counselor reached out to their regular clients for a brief check-in and to share local crisis resources and phone numbers.
• We began researching teletherapy training, modalities, ethical concerns, licensure requirements, etc.

Preparation for moving our services online:

• All of our staff/faculty have received ZOOM training and will continue to train during the first week of the quarter.
• Each of our Counselors and Vince Sanchez have received/are in the process of completing 17 hours of on-line Telemental Health training and certification that is in-line with our WA DOH guidelines and individual licensure requirements.
• We are in the process of updating our Disclosure Forms and Counseling Intake Forms (adding language about Telemental health)
• Vince has updated our website to include COVID-19 response, tips for managing stress during COVID-19, telemental health information, and how to make on-line appointments.
• Vince acquired access to a SOFTPHONE which allows him to receive calls as if he were at the office in person at 206-592-3353 (our regular counseling center phone number).

New online process for student counseling appointments:

• Student options for making appointments:
  • Fill out the Counseling Center Appointment Request Form, which has been updated with Zoom instructions.
  • Call us directly to make a regular or drop-in appointment at 206-592-3353.
• Scheduling the appointment:
  • Students are contacted by Vince Sanchez (Program Coordinator) or Aisha Davis (Program Assistant) within the same day to schedule an appointment.
  • This contact to students by Vince/Aisha prior to making an appointment is essential for triage. For example, if emergent – student appointments can be expedited, and counselors consulted if needed.
• Once the appointment is scheduled:
  • Vince/Aisha creates the appointment in the individual Counselor’s outlook calendar.
  • Vince/Aisha notifies the Counselor via email that the appointment was made.
  • The Counselor then creates a Zoom meeting invite and emails it to the student.
  • Vince/Aisha sends two emails to the student prior to appointment (for first time counseling appointments only).
• Counseling Disclosure Form (unique to each Counselor and updated with Zoom info). This form, sent electronically, will be signed by both the counselor and student using e-signatures.
• Counseling Intake Form to be completed prior to the session by the student.