Area Report for Board of Trustees

The division of 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:

• The TRIO team in collaboration with AANAPISI and Academic Affairs piloted the first ever Highline College Summer Bridge Program: Together We Lift the Sky. 18 students participated. The purpose of the program is to help students build critical academic, social and personal networks and skills lifelong success. The vision for the program is to establish as a pipeline for high school students to Highline as well as to create a transformational experience and a community of scholars and leaders for historically underserved populations, including low income and first generation college students. The TRIO Program has helped in the inception of the program, creating a direct educational pipeline for our local feeder high schools. We plan for the students to apply for TRIO program following the summer bridge program. Many thanks to Eileen Jimenez, Director of TRiO for her leadership in this promising endeavor.
• The Center for Leadership & Service (CLS) and Center for Cultural & Inclusive Excellence (CCIE) began our annual Fall Leadership Training for over 60 student leaders across campus. Facilitating workshops centered in community building, social justice, equity, and leadership development.
• The Leadership Programming Team comprised of leadership advisors from both CLS and CCIE facilitated a leadership workshop as a part of the Summer Bridge program this quarter to support first-generation, low-income and students of color to benefit their educational experience and access to Highline College.
• Kendall Evans, Veterans Coordinator attended the 3-day Veterans Economic Investment Initiative at South Puget Sound in Olympia August 6-8. This event was sponsored by the VA to support service members and their families in transitioning from the military to civilian life.
• The college switchboard moved from ITS to Student Services on August 15th in order to more seamlessly connect students and community members to the information they are seeking. The Switchboard is co-located with the Information/Admissions desk and will be an integral part of the new Thunderbird Welcome Center one-stop model once implemented. With the switchboard part of the Advising and Enrollment Services team under the leadership of Dean Jennifer Scanlon, staff will be cross-trained and well-connected to each other in order to be informed of operations, policies and procedures across multiple departments.

Student Engagement:

• Associated Students of Highline College (ASHC) and Community Leadership Consultants (Clubs) attended a statewide leadership conference hosted by the Council and Unions of Student Programs (CUSP) in Pasco, WA on Sept. 4-6.
• Student clubs have been active this summer building communities that will carry over to our new academic year. Meeting and events have been held, one example is our Permaculture club in partnership with Urban Ag/Sustainability and Bastyr University held a soap-making workshop on Aug. 28.
• United Way King County is finalizing their contract with Highline which will include emergency funds; funding to support Mariela Barriga, Student Success Manager and a program assistant position.

Staff Professional Development:

• Dean Saechao will be presenting at two upcoming conferences: NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Western Regional Conference in Portland, OR, and the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center Moving Mountains Summit in Sacramento, CA. Dean Saechao co-presents with Kao LeZheo, Dean of Student Success of Seattle Central College in a workshop titled “Integrate the Science of Learning into Your Learning Community”. The session explores the latest research on the science of learning and how programs, departments, and divisions can create structures and integrate strategies to promote student learning, student achievement and retention. For the other presentation, Dean Saechao co-presents with Tony Vo, Bellevue College Health Sciences and Wellness Program Manager, and Sam Le previous staff at the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA). Titled “Connecting SEAs [Southeast Asians]: An Inspiring Lesson from the Pacific Northwest” the session covers the creation of the SEAeD (Southeast Asian American Education) Coalition and how the organization inspired changed within the community while transforming policies and practices throughout Washington state institutions.
• Marta Reeves, CLS Program Manager provided professional development by facilitating 7 S&A Budget Manager Training sessions with 16 budget managers from across campus in attendance. The training provided skills, tools, and updates to S&A financial code, tips on budget management, and campus processes. This year CLS was able to implement two levels of training, one for new budget managers and another for returning budget managers. Training will be held through the fall quarter with the goal to have 100% participation by the end of the quarter.
• Thomas Bui, CLS Director attended LEAP Advance: Leadership Development Program for Higher Education is an intensive four-day experience that enhances the professional development of Asian and Pacific Islanders and prepares college/university administrators, faculty and staff, to move into positions of greater visibility and influence. The program is held in partnership with Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE).
• Doris Martinez, Director for Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence (CCIE) was accepted into the 2019-2020 cohort for the Social Justice Leadership Institute (SJLI). The year-long institute’s mission is to achieve full leadership participation, educational equity, and empowerment for members of historically disfranchised and underrepresented professionals through mentoring, and culturally responsive training. The Social Justice Leadership Institute (SJLI), is a partnership between Bellevue College and South Seattle College.
• Betty Vera, Program Assistant for CCIE and Marta Reeves, Program Manager for CLS received a certificate in Global Excellence Customer Service. Global Excellence is a 9-hour training that provides front-line customer service training. The workshop series communicates foundational concepts of customer service in two ways. First, an examination of best practices in customer service and second, the customer service training will take place. This includes foci such as empowerment, setting expectations, successes, globalization cross-cultural communication, and the increasing role of information technology. This training was provided by Continuing Education at Highline.
• Iesha Valencia, Associate Dean for Student Life began a distance learning Ph.D. program: Doctor of Philosophy in Education and Human Resource Studies with a higher education leadership specialization at Colorado State University.
• Loyal Allen Jr., Associate Dean for Student Funding Services participated in the Administrators of Color Leadership Program summer kick off this past week at Semiahmoo, Blaine.
• Siew Lai Lilley attended the Washington State Transfer Event for community and technical college advisors on Aug 21st at Green River’s Kent Campus. She will also attend the NW Step (Student Transfer Education Partnership) Summer Transfer Meeting at Embry Riddle Aeronautical in Renton on the 29th.
• Gum-Lai Ross and Wuhye Chun represented Enrollment Services at the WaCRAO Washington (Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) at Evergreen State in Olympia on July 31 – Aug 1. Ms. Chun served on the planning committee and Ms. Ross attended the pre-conference meeting for Residency officers.
• 6 Enrollment Services and Admissions staff (Marlenan Afereti, Mary Kando, Tia Blackman, Art Ross, Shalia Horne, Alyssa Thompson and Gum-Lai Ross) attended the Customer Service Training for Global Excellence provided through Continuing Education.
• 2 staff from International Student Programs (Ana Morales and Eva Engelhard) attended an international education leadership conference in Philadelphia from August 5th-7th. The conference focused on the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively manage within the international education field. The curriculum guided the assessment of participants’ existing management skills, areas for development, and allowed for application to individual situations.

Other relevant announcements:

• ThunderWeek will be occurring the first week of Fall quarter, Sept. 23-27 and has many new revamped programs including Pop-up with the President on 9/23 and Start Here, Lead Here on 9/25.
• The fall quarter new international student orientation will take place from September 16 – 20th. New students will participate in various workshops, advising/registration, and social events designed to help them transition to the American education system and life in the U.S.
• Fall Quarter International Student Enrollment report- Received around 133 applications for fall. Applications include those from prospective students, transfer students, and KAPLAN students. The top 5 countries we’ve received applications from are Kenya (30), Vietnam (22), China (11), South Korea (9), and Japan (9). International student enrollment for summer 2019 was 221 students.

Athletics:

• Athletics has started their fall season. Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer, Volleyball, and Women’s Golf. Approximately 70 athletes preparing for the upcoming season. Of note, the women’s volleyball team has departed to Brazil for their pre-season training. They actually get to train in the Brazilian National Volleyball Training center. Soccer men and women competed in last week’s NWAC Friendlies held at Starfire Sports. Once again both teams look very good. Golf begins in early September and the rest of the student-athletes will be on campus opening week.

Programs and Collaborations in Progress:

• CLS and CCIE leadership advisors have spent the last year re-evaluating how leadership opportunities are provided to student communities. This year CLS & CCIE will launch the Connect program, a collaboration across campus that will provide students a range of opportunities to engage in leadership while working toward a leadership certificate awarded at the end of the year.
• The Center for Cultural & Inclusive Excellence (CCIE) developed a Peer Mentorship Program to be launched during fall 2019. The CCIE Peer Mentorship Program will connect students who are seeking guidance and support from other students’ experiences. Student mentors are leaders who have participated in various student leadership training. The goal of this program is to provide Highline College students with peer-to-peer mentorship to support academic, social, and college resources services to increase student retention.

Staffing updates:

• Thomas Bui, formerly our Clubs Program Leadership Advisor, started as the new Director for Center for Leadership & Service on August 1.
• Doris Martinez‘s position description has changed to align with the new name of the department, Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence (formerly Multicultural Affairs).
• Eileen Jimenez, formerly TRiO Program Manager and Interim Director, started as the new Director for TRiO Student Support & Retention Services on August 1.
• Sean Kerr, formerly Financial Aid Program Specialist 2, and Lauren Wearsch, former AmeriCorps VISTA with United Way Benefits Hub started as the Student Funding Services Advisor in August.
• Interviews for Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) Navigator are scheduled for September 3rd; position to be housed in WES.
• The position for International Student Recruitment program manager has been posted. Closing date for applications is September 16th.
• After four years of service as an Academic Advisor, Patrick Fernandez has been appointed the Interim Program Manager for Career Services. He will be leading efforts to integrate career development into the student life cycle and expand career services to support a broader spectrum of students.
• Feney Perez has accepted the position of Associate Director of Registration and Records. She begins September 3rd. Ms. Perez has broad experience in various functions of registration, coming from Cornish College. She earned a Masters in Student Development Administration from Seattle University and a Bachelors from the University of Washington.
• Lilly Oh has accepted the position of Program Manager for Student Welcome and Admissions. Lilly is currently the Testing Center Manager at Clover Park Technical College. She has earned a Bachelors from the University of Puget Sound. Ms.Oh will help establish a new Welcome Center intake model.

Report submitted by Interim Vice President Sy Ear, Ed.D. on Aug. 28, 2019