Highline College

Explore Highline College

Connect with Highline College

Toggle Sliding Bar Area

Winter quarter starts January 6. View the class schedule and enroll today for the best selection of classes.

Highline College Logo
Apply Now

June 11, 2020: Academic Affairs

Home/Area Reports, Meeting 06-11-20/June 11, 2020: Academic Affairs
2020-06-04T18:56:58+00:00 Print Page

June 11, 2020: Academic Affairs

Academic Affairs Division Goals: (Core themes 1, 2 & 3)

  • Increase enrollments
  • Increase student success and student completions; close equity gaps
  • Implement guided pathways as a strategy to increase student success
  • Increase transparency and communication within Academic Affairs

Peer to Peer Reflections on Remote Teaching

Nearly 60 faculty are participated in the collaboratively designed peer-to-peer reflections on remote teaching project, which is modeled after the Teaching Squares project, but adapted for use in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially for faculty new to remote learning, translating an interactive and engaging pedagogical style can be exhausting. At the same time, evidence from studies of online courses indicates that faculty engagement with students and a “sense of caring” encourages students to persist. The studies show that this “caring” is manifested when the instructor posts frequently, invites student questions, responds to students quickly, and solicits and incorporates student feedback. Participating instructors “visit” each other’s courses and provide feedback from the perspective of a learner in that course using the Reflecting with Peers Project Checklist, based on selected portions of Instructional Design’s PLAID rubric. Instructors are encouraged to get anonymous feedback from students. To receive a stipend, faculty summarize what they learned by observing a peer’s course, from their peer’s observation of their course, and what they would do differently in their next course. Those responses will help inform ongoing professional development opportunities for faculty.

Arts & Humanities Division

  • Portfolio Show – June 11th (https://artanddesign.highline.edu/portfolio-show/)
  • Arcturus 2020 – June 4th (https://highline.zoom.us/j/91975713444)
  • Jayendrina Singh (adjunct in English) had an article intrinsic to her experience published in the FW Mirror called “The Search for Selfhood” on page 5. I am attaching a link to a downloadable online copy here.

Health, PE & Education Division: Back to lab has been successful for Medical Assisting, Nursing Assistant Certified and Respiratory Care. Students, staff and faculty are following strict requirements and feedback has been positive. Students are grateful for modified competencies (PPE and 6′ social distancing at all time) that allow them to complete their degrees!

Social Science Division

  • Jennifer Jones delivered a presentation on Middle East 101 via Zoom to 20 senior residents of Wesley Homes on Monday 4/20. The residents learned to use Zoom from devices in their rooms in order to access the presentation. The participants were highly enthusiastic about this activity. The presentation was especially well-received since the residents have been confined to the premises for the past month and are not allowed to have outside visitors due to the Covid-19 crisis.
  • Jennifer Jones was also able to complete the course planning for the South Asia grant that she received from UW. She is currently teaching the class as a remote hybrid course.
  • Christie Knighton completed her doctorate in Adult and Higher Education at Oregon State in April. Her dissertation was a case study exploring how institutional systems support or hinder basic skills students transitioning to Postsecondary courses.
  • Bob Baugher’s self-published book: “Coping with Grief: A Guide for the Bereaved Survivor” is scheduled to be released in Spanish this summer.
  • Our Study Abroad Program to Vietnam was featured in the U.S. Department of Education’s Newsletter for April.
  • Also, Highline Model UN student Ryan Shroyer won an award for his position paper as a representative of Sweden (this one is from last quarter, and may have already been recognized).
  • Tim McMannon just finished his 4 year term on the Committee on Community Colleges for the Organization of American Historians, the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. Tim served as co-chair during the 2019-2020 academic year.

AANAPISI
OCA- Asian Pacific American Advocates, a non-profit in Washington DC, donated 10 laptops to our Asian American and Pacific Islander students to support their academic success because of COVID. The laptops went directly to our students. https://www.ocanational.org/

Placement & Testing Center
A coalition of organizations in the Road Map region, including Highline College, developed Placement Recommendations for Community and Technical Colleges in Response to Covid-19. The recommendations give guidance to CTC’s in creating placement policies which can help mitigate the impacts of the health crisis and school closures. These were sent around the state and amplified by the SBCTC.

Dean of College & Career Readiness
In Spring of 2020, Faculty and Staff in the Adult Basic Education convened to discuss a both a department and program name change to the area to better represent our student demographic and program offerings. These name changes we feel are more aligned with an asset-based approach to learners and more accurately describes their experiences and goals moving forward.

We are changing our department name from Adult Basic Education (ABE) to English Language Career and Academic Prep (ELCAP) and changing our English as a Second Language (ESL) program to English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).”

Instructional Design
Sue Frantz was featured in the American Psychological Association’s COVID-19 Special Report for online learning. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/06/covid-online-learning