Area Report for Board of Trustees

Happy December! I hope all of you had a restful holiday break as we near the end of the quarter and calendar year. I want to welcome our newest Trustee, Travis Exstrom to Highline College. As you might have read in our campus announcement, Trustee Exstrom comes to us with a vast experience of serving on boards and deeply committed community involvement. Our Executive Cabinet looks forward to your presence and collaboration as we continue to lead the college, especially in these challenging times.
I have already informed you via email, but I hope you were able to participate in our Equity First Strategic Planning Town Hall this past December 6. As the institution embarks on developing a new strategic plan that updates the mission and values of our institution, there are several engagement opportunities to hear from students, staff, and faculty. I hope you can participate in these opportunities during the new year.

Right before Thanksgiving, executive cabinet hosted our quarterly employee group staff meetings for our classified professionals and exempt staff. This time was spent discussing budget, enrollment updates and public health updates. We also shared the official announcement that in accordance with public health guidelines, Highline College will be increasing our on-campus presence winter quarter to include increased in-person on-campus service hours, and increased staffing on campus. The meetings were well attended and we look forward to hosting our winter quarter update early next year. Our faculty update was provided at the faculty meeting in the earlier part of fall quarter. The same information is presented to all groups to provide transparency and consistency in information sharing. This is especially important as we continue to navigate through a hybrid operations model of both on-campus and telework.

After our board meeting, we look forward to seeing you at our in-person reception in Mt. Olympus/Mt. Constance – a casual time to chat with staff and faculty with light refreshments being served. We want to recognize the hard work of our staff and faculty and hope this time before our virtual holiday event will be enjoyed by all who attend. Thank you, Trustees, for supporting our entire college and representing Highline in the community.

Lastly, I was able to attend with a few staff and faculty the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce Gala, where I serve as a board member on November 20. Highline College is a former recipient of the Regional Impact Award recognizing our institutional commitment to enhancing the economic prosperity of the region. It was a great evening and Highline College continues to be well represented in the community.

Have a great and safe week as we transition out of 2021 and look forward to 2022!

Report submitted December 1, 2021, by President John R. Mosby, Ph.D.