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October 10, 2024: Administrative Services

Home/Area Reports, Division: Administrative Services, Meeting 10-10-24/October 10, 2024: Administrative Services
2024-10-04T18:16:12+00:00 Print Page

October 10, 2024: Administrative Services

Area Report for Board of Trustees

Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members;  Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

  • Global Programs team led another successful study abroad program to Vietnam in September. Our students had the opportunity to visit the Brooks shoe factory and the SSIT seaport in southern Vietnam. Both Brooks and SSIT are based out of Seattle.  In addition, our students also made many good friends with the students at Saigon International University during our exchange visit.  Several of the students commented on how the trip has totally enhanced and changed their intercultural understanding and competency.
  • Global Programs has begun recruitment for the Experiential Learning to Vietnam 2025 program. The overall theme for the program will focus on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and its 50 years aftermath. In addition to accepting applications from faculty, we are exploring professional development opportunities to include some staff in the program as well.

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

  • Public Safety organized a campus cleanup on September 20th, during opening week, to help with beautifying the campus but also to promote crime prevention awareness. About a dozen faculty and staff volunteered their time to help with the cleanup efforts.
  • Public Safety hosted “Coffee with a Cop” event on October 2nd to provide students and employees with a chance to sit, mingle, and talk with local law enforcement about a variety of community safety issues. The Des Moines Police Department also handed out over fifty (50) steering wheel locks to help with securing vehicles.
  • The College Way main entrance to Highline College is finally complete and open to traffic, after the Ribbon Cutting ceremony held on September 18th. This was our most complex collaborative joint-effort projects with the City of Des Moines and Sound Transit.

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

  • Fireside Bistro sales are up 22% compared to last year’s first week of the quarter.
  • Bookstore similarly seeing significantly increases in foot traffic during the first weeks of fall quarter 2024.
  • A new food service vendor has been selected for the cafeteria. After almost five (5) years of hiatus, we look forward to having another food service option on campus for students and staff. It is currently planned for the vendor to move in around mid-November to prepare for full opening in winter quarter.
  • The FY23 financial statement audit has been completed as of the end of September. We are in the process of arranging for an exit conference with the SAO.
  • Public Safety prepared and published the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Report in compliance with Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act. This report contains crime statistics for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 calendar years, gathered from Public Safety incident reports, the Student Conduct Office, the Des Moines Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. The College saw an increase of motor vehicle thefts to ten (10) reported incidents in 2023, compared to seven (7) from last year. Unfortunately, such an increase coincided with the rise in the thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles nationwide.
  • Marco Lopez, Director of Budget, Grant, & Procurement Services, attended the Community College Business Officers annual conference in Savannah, Georgia in late September. He was nominated to join the Board of Directors beginning with the 2025-26 term.
  • Maintenance team took on the parking lot re-striping project in September. Their work saved the college at least $50,000 from hiring an outside contractor.
  • As required by the new state law HB-1390 District Energy Systems, Facilities provided a “hybrid” proposal to monitor energy usage to Department of Commerce. If approved, the proposal could potentially save the college an estimated $250,000 in outside contracting costs.

Report submitted by Vice President of Administrative Services, Dr. Michael Pham