Area Report for Board of Trustees

I’ve decided to forgo my usual board report and spend time talking about Bob Roegner, who passed earlier this week.  Bob was a trustee for 10 years at Highline College and I had the privilege and honor of working with him first when he was chair.

He was an amazing mentor to me and introduced me to so many people in the community.  He knew everyone, and everyone knew Bob!  He gave me grace to do my job and was always there when I had a question or concern.  That first year I had to make some very challenging and some unpopular decisions, but he was right there with me every step of the way.

Bob was also funny. He liked to crack jokes and didn’t take himself too seriously. That was one of the things I appreciated most about him.  And he had so much energy.  He did everything –  wrote for the newspaper, was a trustee, and did a tremendous amount of volunteer work.  He was Mr. Federal Way.

Rest well, Bob, and thank you.

John R. Mosby, Ph.D (he/him)
President, Highline College

Human Resources

Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY, Create capacity for meaningful strategic planning and institutional transformation through intentional development of employees, facilities, and systems that support student success and close equity gaps

The Human Resources team has been heavily focusing on employee/labor relations and recruitment over the past month. I am excited to report that we have successfully ratified our contract with WPEA and are now focused on negotiations with HCEA.

Division Honors and Achievements

Leslea Berg, who has been operating as a team of one while another employee is out on maternity leave, has successfully filled 8 classified, 12 exempt, 5 lecturers, and 5 tenure track positions for a total of 30 fills in just 4 months! These numbers do not include the many part time faculty and hourly roles that have also been filled.

We hired Mary Nganga as our new HR Business Partner. This role will serve as a strategic business partner to Highline – supporting training, employee relations, performance management, accommodations, and leaves of absence. Equally as important is Mary’s ability to improve current processes and procedures. We are so excited to have her!

Highline now has its first VP of Human Resources! Congratulations to Melanie Lawson on being hired full time in this role and earning the new title of Vice President. This change will improve HR’s ability to shape and improve the employee experience, advance organizational effectiveness, and reinforce institutional values.

Information Technology Services

Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY, Create capacity for meaningful strategic planning and institutional transformation through intentional development of employees, facilities, and systems that support student success and close equity gaps

• The college-wide AI Workgroup, now co-led by CIO Tim Wrye and Liz Word, Dean for Academic Pathways and Student Learning Resources, kicked off with it’s first meeting at the end of winter quarter, and will be meeting several more times during spring quarter to help move our policy, procedures, and guidance around institutional use of GenAI forward. Several members of the workgroup attended a state-wide AI in Guided Pathways summit sponsored by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges at Clover Park Technical College on April 17, where we had the opportunity to hear from experts and work through a mini “design sprint” where we discussed possibilities for utilizing AI in student success work.  We intend to have a draft college AI policy ready by the end of spring quarter, as well as early process guidance and a plan for sub-groups to carry various lines of AI support work forward.  In the meantime, the college community is encouraged to utilize the existing approved and licensed AI tools, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini.
• Highline will be launching the new Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA) in ctcLink in conjunction with the beginning of summer and fall enrollment next month. This financial agreement was built by the SBCTC in ctcLink in order to conform to legislative mandates. Staff from ITS, Student Financials, and other college areas have been involved in the testing and have been developing communications and documentation to support students in completing this process. Testing wraps up this week and the process will launch in early May.  
• Pat Daniels, Deputy CIO and head of the ITS Business and Data Analysis department, joined colleagues from across the college as an ITS representative at the Association of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE) best practices conference in March. As Highline continues in our journey to becoming an HSI, ITS is working to better understand how we can help support that work from a systems and process standpoint. On a similar vein, Pat has also recently joined the Deans Council in order to more directly connect with that cross-divisional body whose work often involves process updates and systems issues impacting student success.

Title III

We are pleased to share highlights from the Title III Annual Performance Report for Year 3 (2023-24), evaluator recommendations, and current status. The overall goal of the grant continues to be to improve Highline College’s capacity to serve low-income and minority students through Title III Strengthening Institutions Program grant collaborations.

Important Program Update: Title III ends September 30, 2026. Each Vice President has received budgets for Years 4 and 5 to prepare for potential cancellation and for post-Title III sustainability.

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

• Significant faculty engagement in Communities of Practice
• Established Restorative Healing Circles
• Retention: students report mental health and time management as key factors for not passing classes
• Retention: Partnership between Institutional Research and Title III to research faculty perspectives on reasons for students not passing courses (pilot spring quarter, expansion fall quarter)

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

•  Implemented comprehensive professional development initiatives focused on culturally responsive, accessible, high-impact pedagogy and assessment
• Expanded course-specific support (e-tutoring, embedded tutoring, supplemental instruction/AEWs through MESA)
• Positive student feedback on all tutoring services
• Course Pass Rate Target of 80% (matching MFR goal) remains a challenge

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

• Title III Funds 90% of Latinx Student Success Program Manager (Year 4)
• Title III Funds 10% Associate Dean of Innovation, Transformation and Student Success to lead MTS and HSI initiatives (Year 4)
• Funding 2 quarters of Faculty Lead for Black Student Success, spurring creation of Black Student Advocacy Team

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

• Enhance campus data capacity through improved dashboards, data literacy training, and program assessment integration
• Continue to refi ne the redesigned onboarding process, including improvements to Entry Advising and College 101
• Title III funds 50% of one Entry Advisor position (Year 4)
• High satisfaction rates with New Student Orientation and Entry Advising Advanced
• Institutionalization of a multi-tier advising system
• Advising center satisfaction near 90%
• Revised Academic Standards policy with broad community input

External Evaluator Recommendations

Title III External Evaluator recommendations for Highline College:

1. Integrate Guided Pathways with advising
2. Prioritize Title III resources for key courses (CHEM 121, MATH 111, HOST 100, HSER 101, ENGL 101)
3. Institutionalize Communities of Practice within the Learning and Teaching Center
4. Consider dual-role Peer Navigator/Peer Tutor positions
5. Maintain paraprofessional, peer, and e-tutoring services
6. Review Complete College America’s Purpose First, guidance for connecting student interests with career paths, helping to integrate the fourth tier of the advising model (Career and Transfer)

Title III Outlook

• Title III’s term is scheduled to end September 30, 2026
• Due to the Department of Education changes, there is a possibility of early discontinuation
• Positive indicators include the Federal Program Officer’s continued role and Title III’s inclusion in the Higher Education Act
• No communication from the White House or DOE has mentioned Title III funding changes
• For Year 4, we may need to adjust our language while maintaining core goals

A note from the Director: Title III efforts are integrated throughout the college, supporting mission fulfi llment and innovation. Submitting the Annual Performance Report is a collaborative effort that requires commitment from the Title III Team (Kelsey Anderson, Data Analyst; Juli Hammond, Specialist 2; Sangeeta Sangha, Faculty Equity Lead; Jennifer Johnston, Director; and all partner areas). Team dedication continues to drive our success. Questions? Contact Jennifer Johnston, Title III Director at jjohnston@highline.edu

Resources

• Complete text of Year 3 Annual Performance Report
• Projected Budgets by Division
• External Evaluation Report
• Title III Tableau Dashboards

Report submitted by President John R. Mosby, Ph.D.