Area Report for Board of Trustees

Enrollment

As of November 1, Fall Quarter State funded enrollments are 4859 FTEs.

Core Theme 1

Promote student engagement, learning, and achievement

As part of a community-partner panel during Highline’s Opening Week kick-off, Federal Way Public Schools Supt. Tammy Campbell stressed the need for greater K12-to-college partnerships in helping students prepare for the world of work. Dr. Campbell is not alone in highlighting that opportunity. The 2017 Legislature’s House Bill 1600 specifically calls upon our systems to “promote work-integrated learning experiences for students by providing career-technical pathways for youth.” Gov. Inslee’s Career Connect Washington initiative, a focal point of April’s WACTC meeting, seeks to operationalize that mandate.

Highline College is well positioned to address that opportunity. Executive Dean Alice Madsen was recently selected to represent the community and technical college system on the statewide Advisory Committee for Work-Integrated Learning, convened under HB 1600’s authority. Meantime, over the past seven years, Highline has continued to expand and refine its Career Start program under the direction of Program Manager Tammi Hilton. Career Start allows students to pursue career-technical credentials through the Running Start funding mechanism. To date, Career Start options are available in over two-dozen Highline programs, with over 22 students earning Associate of Applied Science degrees alongside their diplomas so far. In addition to opening up access to professional-technical degree pathways, Career Start provides wrap-around advising and supports to help ensure student success. It is a successful, ready-to-replicate model for advancing the career-readiness mandate that the legislature, governor, and Dr. Campbell have articulated.

Faculty and Staff Honorees

• James Peyton (economics) has been invited to serve a three-year term on the Committee on Economic Education as a representative of community colleges nationwide.
• English instructor Joshua Gidding’s essay “The Light of Homer” was published in the AGNI blog.
• Sue Frantz (psychology) gave the Division of Psychological Research, Education and Training keynote address as well as a half-day workshop on technology and teaching at the 2018 Australian Psychological Society Congress in Sydney in September.
• In July, Janene Nelson (music) received a fellowship from the International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany, where she spent three weeks teaching, singing, and directing opera.
• Tim Wrye, executive director of Information Technology Services, collaborated with SBCTC staff on an EDUCAUSE Review blog article about accessibility challenges in ctcLink.
• Highline was one of four colleges ― and the only community college ― in Washington funded by the National Science Foundation to expand and diversify the STEM pipeline. Highline’s proposal focused on recruiting and supporting developmental and non-traditional STEM students into a defined STEM pathway. The $50,000, three-year grant was secured primarily through the work of Helen Burn (math) with support from division chair Dusty Wilson and the Math Department’s STEM committee.

Report submitted Nov. 4, 2018, by Vice President Jeff Wagnitz, Ed.D.