Area Report for Board of Trustees

During the months of May and June, the division of student services was busy engaging in strengthening student access and success:  The report below is a glimpse of the many activities and initiatives of the division of student services.
Student Services operates on 3 Core Functions: Access, Supporting Student Success, and Engagement with a focus on equity.

The goals of student services for the 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:

• 2 Highline Students (both are TRiO students), Sreyrin Sam and Christopher Ponce were selected to receive the 2019 University of Washington Martin Achievement Scholarship totaling $41,000 each. TRiO students have earned over 70 reported college acceptances, scholarships and internships this academic year.
• Housing Project: United Way King County, Highline and King County Housing Authority are partnering together to launch a pilot for student housing. We are having our third meeting on 6/4/19 to identify Program Goals, eligibility and service flow for students.
• Amazon representatives and United Way King County president visited the Benefits Hub on May 28 to talk about the growth of UWKC Benefits Hub partnership with Highline from 2014 to present. Amazon was able to see the Highline Support Center staff serve students and were impressed with the work being done.
• Two Women’s Programs students were awarded $2,500.00 financial awards from local Soroptimists branches. One student was nominated and won the larger regional award of $10,000.00. Awards are given out based on student merit, scholastics, education persistence and need.
• 815 students have signed up for New Student Orientation for Summer/Fall. Highline advising staff hosted 11 new student orientation sessions from May 13 – June 4th. Sessions will continue to be offered throughout the Summer.
• Multicultural Affairs Department (MCA) was renamed to Center for Cultural And Inclusive Excellence. Director, Doris Martinez engaged her department and students in the conversations to come up with the new name.
• Center for Leadership and Service and Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence (formerly Multicultural Affairs) hired 23 student leaders for the 2019-2020 Core Services Student Leadership Team. This core group of student leaders facilitates general support and inclusion of meaningful and purposeful co-curricular and extra-curricular events and activities. Areas of focus are the clubs program, graphic design services for all S&A funded programs, student government, programming for international students and our global community, and peer-led programs in the Inter-Cultural Center.
• On May 22, Center for Leadership and Service hosted the Annual Legacy Awards, honoring a total of 75 students for the legacy and impact they have had at Highline College. Joining our campus community for this celebration were an additional 250 family members, community members, and Highline’s leadership.
• On June 5^th, Center for Leadership and Service and Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence recognized 35 students to receive our inaugural Leadership Passport Program Certificate of Completion. This event featured an exceptional student (Bernadette Sheran), staff (Eileen Jimenez) and faculty (Diego Luna) to share their inspirational stories of leadership.
• June brings the end of the sports seasons, and the annual athletics award banquet. Spring sports finished strong with Women’s Tennis being the top performer. The team finished second in the NWAC. Three of our young women finished as NWAC Individual Champions, Lexi Maison, Kaylin Phan, Mikyla Olsen. In addition, the NWAC annual Hall of Fame Banquet was held in Olympia Washington on May 30^th. At the event, Highline’s 1982 Women’s NWAC Champion Basketball team were inducted. Almost 30 guests attended from Highline to support the induction. With all of the seasons over, the department now turns its attention to our annual fundraiser at Twin Lakes C.C. on June 14.

Student Engagement and Events:

• TRiO hosted their annual Student Awards Reception on May 23rd with over 200 members of the TRiO community in attendance. TRiO recognized over 40 graduates, many who have been admitted to colleges throughout the country. TRiO presented their Partnership for Equity Award to the Math Department and AANAPISI for their support of and collaboration with TRiO.
• Women’s Programs Celebration and Women In Action award event was held in May. We had over 150 people in attendance and raised over $1,800 in raffle ticket sales. The funding goes to assist the department and students in need. The collaborative event brought together 55 vendors, staff and faculty who donated items to raise funds for the Celebration. We received over $6,000 worth of donated items.
• Highline College United Way Benefits Hub, WES and local partners held the Family Resource Exchange event at Highline. The event brought together 305+ households and 830+ people. Impact Made: 220 households received housing resources at the Family Resource Exchange; 130 homeless households had diversion conversations and/or accessed shelter resources;  30 community college students accessed housing resources through the United Way Benefits Hub; 2 families accessed homelessness prevention; 275 pairs of shoes distributed; 755 meals provided;  60 families connected with health resources;  100 families connected to public benefits, employment opportunities, and financial resources; hundreds of families received hygiene packets, diapers, food bags, and clothing
• Transfer Center hosted the Spring Transfer Fair with representatives from 4-year institutions on May 28th to engage students in transfer planning.
• Enrollment Services staff collaborated with the Bookstore to host the Grad Fair on May 21st. Students received guidance regarding their graduation and commencement questions. This is the second year offering a pre-check process to shorten wait times on Commencement Day. 50 students RSVP’d for Commencement at the Fair and 300 students completed their pre-check.
• Veterans Services hosted the Memorial Day ceremony on May 23rd. Alfie Alvarado, the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Director and national president of the state directors organization was our keynote speaker. The ceremony included a wreath laying at the flagpole on Veterans Memorial Plaza and a rendition of Taps by an AMVETS bugler.
• The Career and Student Employment Center concluded the year having provided four successful Job Fairs (Fall, Holiday Hiring, Spring and Summer) seeing approximately 672 students in attendance. Of those students who attended 106 interviews were scheduled. The Annual Student Employee of the Year Luncheon was help April 16th to recognize the contributions of student workers across campus.
• During the 2018-2019 year, a total of 55 student-led and student-initiated clubs were formed. Club Presidents and Vice-Presidents are voting members of the Associated Students of Highline College. The Clubs program develops leaders, builds community and create a sense of belonging within our student communities.
• This year, the clubs program has been able to fund a variety of student leadership conferences across the United States, including Orlando, San Francisco, and Indianapolis. Also, student leaders led a robust and inclusive range of student events this year. The most prominent and impactful events include:
• De-Stress with Therapy Dogs sponsored quarterly by Psychology Club
• Back to Your Roots event sponsored by the Pacific Islander Club
• Decarceration Day sponsored by Justice Scholars Society of Change
• The Inter-Cultural Center (ICC) hosted 24 formal programs this academic year and created space for many informal and responsive programming to current events. This engages the entire campus community. The center provides a space where people can share and celebrate their authentic selves through dialogue and activities, engage in social justice advocacy, build knowledge about global movements, and develop as change agents. Our staff is committed to working with the whole campus to promote campus diversity and multicultural understanding.

 Staff Professional Development:

• The National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) was held in Portland, Highline had 62 attendees.
• Mariela Barriga and Loyal Allen Jr. presented with Rashad Norris, Rickitia Reid and Tanisha Williams on creating space for youth of color on campus. The group showed attendees how Highline creates space with our Black and Brown Male Summit and Young Educated Ladies Leading (Y.E.L.L) Female Summit.
• Dean, Jennifer Scanlon, attended events for WELA: the ACT Spring meeting in Walla Walla, WSSSC Spring meeting. She also visited Skagit Valley College for her mentorship component and to observe an executive cabinet meeting.
• Academic advisors, Siew Lai Lilley and Karen Steinbach attended Bastyr University’s Advisor Day.
• The Veterans Services Office with three student veterans attended the regional Student Veterans Conference held in Moscow, Idaho. These students were engaged with a vast range of material covering subjects of ways to interpret military experience into skills on a resume to not only succeed in the college environment but flourish. One such session also included ways to share rich military culture with instructors and classmates.
• Counseling Faculty Nicole Hoyes Wilson attended NCORE and Mental Health First Aid Training on June, 5-7th. Counseling Faculty Gloria Rose Koepping attended WCTCCA in North Bend, WA for a two day conference on Organizational Trauma to Resilience.

Other relevant announcements:

• New Credentials Evaluator: Tara Woods was promoted from part-time program assistant to full time Credentials Evaluator 3 after three years of dependable service.
• Chase Magliocca will start as New Director of Running Start start on June 17.

Programs and Collaborations in Progress:

• Loyal Allen Jr., Associate Dean for Funding Services and Ay Saechao, Dean for Student Support and Funding Services, are currently working with Financial Aid to assess and develop a more student-centered approach for the Financial Aid Office. Phase 1 includes operational changes that will provide more confidential and responsive settings and processes for students. Phase 2 involves the creation of the one-stop Student Funding Center where WES will be co-located with Financial Aid to streamline services. Both administrators are researching these new structures and will be visiting other campuses with similar models such as Everett Community College and Renton Technical College in the near future to explore promising practices.
• The Advising Council convened for a day long retreat to begin establishing and defining working relationships and begin the process of strategic planning around implementation of a streamlined, holistic advising model.