Area Report for Board of Trustees
Accreditation update: Highline hosted a successfully and widely attended seven-year visit by a team from NWCCU. The college received three commendations and three recommendations. In addition, Dr. Jeff Fox, the chair of the visiting team, assured us that “it was a pleasure to ‘visit’ your campus. The team felt welcomed, and faculty, staff, and students were engaged, informative, and justifiably proud of their institution.” Special thanks to the hard work of the Accreditation Steering Committee, including the fabulous campus-preparation work they led in the run-up to the visit. And, biggest thanks of all to Lisa Bernhagen, English faculty, who served as the Accreditation Steering Committee chair for the duration of this cycle.
Guided Pathways updates: We continue to work towards implementing guided pathways as a transformational student success strategy designed to close equity gaps. May Lukens began serving as the project manager for the campus-wide work on October 1. We currently have twelve teams, organized into four priority areas, in the process of developing work plans for this year and related budget requests. Of particular note, as they are not prescribed by the State Board, are the teams focused on students as stakeholders in learning and the research team. The purpose of the former is to make certain that we center student voices and students’ experiences in our guided pathways initiatives. The purpose of the latter is to help illuminate the causes of the persistent equity gaps documented in our Mission Fulfillment Report, including through the use of qualitative research methods.
HIGHLINE COLLEGE PRIORITY AREA 1: All programs (degrees and certificates) prepare students for better jobs, further education, and increased opportunities.
- Program mapping
- Exploratory sequence in each pathway
- Math Attainment Committee
HIGHLINE PRIORITY AREA 2: All students have the support they need to explore career options, become part of a community, and complete programs efficiently.
- Advising
- Intake
- Scheduling
HIGHLINE PRIORITY AREA 3: Highline faculty and staff have the competencies, skills and experience to support student success in and out of the classroom in an equitable manner.
- Ensuring learning–program learning outcomes
- Ensuring learning–inclusive pedagogy
HIGHLINE PRIORITY AREA 4: Highline College continually builds institutional capacity to implement guided pathways as a strategy for increasing student completions and closing equity gaps.
- Communications & Faculty and Staff engagement
- Students as stakeholders in learning/student voice
- Research
- Technology
ELCAP Resource Giveaway: This past Saturday on October 31st, in partnership with The Highline College Foundation, The Highline College Food Pantry, The Des Moines Food Bank, and BECU, Highline College was able to serve over 350 ELCAP (English Language Career and Academic Prep) families with gift cards, toiletries, dry foods, and produce during our first ever resource giveaway targeted specifically for those students enrolled in pre-college programs. Through a grant received from the Healthier Here, a COVID-19 relief organization focusing on reducing health disparities in King County, we used over $15,000.00 to purchase individual 50.00 Visa gift cards, diapers, and baby wipes for students currently enrolled in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), GED, and high school completion programs. This event was able to serve both drive thru and walk up visitors.
Originally scheduled from 12:00PM – 4:00 PM, the event ended at 2:00 PM due to an overwhelming response and subsequently depletion of all resources before the ending time. Volunteers from Institutional Advancement, Academic Affairs, and Student Services were represented and we could not have been successful without their donated time and effort both during and before the giveaway. Administrative services was essential as well–without the help of public safety, managing people and traffic would have been impossible!
Marketing involved the coordination of ELCAP faculty and the use of Signal Vine, a new texting application being piloted in various areas of the school. This collaboration was hopefully the first of many to come to serve students in the Highline community that typically aren’t eligible for other types of emergency relief.
Report submitted Nov. 02, 2020 by Vice President Emily Lardner, Ph.D.