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 & Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

• As submitted last month, Highline College is requesting Board’s approval for the two new Nursing Materials fees and the International Student University Partner waiver fee.
• Global Programs, in collaboration with other faculty and staff, hosted the International Education Week, between November 17^th and November 21, 2025. Sessions offered during the week included Student Stories from Afar, The World Cup’s Global Impact, SEA International Airport Cargo Operations, Understanding Globalization, and Introduction to Japanese Culture, among several others.
• Global Programs is launching our very first Faculty Experiential Learning Program to Japan program. Jesse Aspree, Director of International Student Programs and Reiko Foster, Japanese faculty, will be co-leading the trip. Seven (7) faculty participants were selected for the program out of 32 applied.  The trip to Japan is scheduled for March 20^th through March 28, 2026.  This program is funded by faculty professional development funds.
• The Hospitality Study Abroad to Indonesia is also getting ready for our second program. Eight (8) students have been selected to participate.  With various financial sponsorships, each student will only need to pay $999 for their participation, inclusive of airfare, eight-night hotel accommodations, selected meals, and local transportation in Indonesia.  We are also offering a Faculty Experiential Learning Program to Indonesia as part of this Study Abroad program.  Six (6) faculty have been selected.  The trip to Indonesia will take place between May 26^th and June 7, 2026.  Justin Tailon and Dr. Ahmed Fahad will be co-leading the program.
• Public Safety collaborated with Global Student Ambassadors on their letter writing campaign to voice concerns for immigrant and international students. As part of the collaboration, Public Safety hosted a Q&A session for students to answer questions regarding potential immigration responses to federal law enforcement activities on campus.
• Public Safety in collaboration with COCM also hosted a “chicken wings and pizza” night to provide safety education for Campus View student residents.

Core Theme 3: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: Create a more inclusive working environment and a more valued, visible relationship with communities we serve; Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY: Promote a campus culture which fosters equity and inclusivity supporting employee growth and development, and institutional capacity for transformation

• In an effort to learn from best practices from our peers, Finance staff spent a day (November 18^th) at Green River College meeting with our finance counterparts. Both finance teams reported the day to be extremely productive and successful.  We plan to reach out to Tacoma Community College Finance team for a similar visit in Winter Quarter.
• Public Safety will be launching a new transit incentive program for credited students beginning in Winter Quarter 2026 – to coincide with the opening of the new Highline College (Kent-Des Moines) Light Rail station. The program incentivizes students to use alternative transportation (other than driving) by offering a pre-loaded $50 ORCA card.
• Facilities team has begun the exterior lighting replacement project. Due to the age of some the light poles and fixtures, some parts are still on back order.
• We are continuing to struggle with infrastructure maintenance of some of our older buildings. Building 18, for example, has been experiencing numerous HVAC issues. The building has essentially reached the end of its useful life and will be demolished as part of the future Welcome Center project.
• State Board conducted an accessibility review of Highline College on November 3^rd. As a recipient of federal financial assistance, Highline is required to comply with federal laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.  Once the report is issued, we will work with State Board to correct any accessibility deficiencies as appropriate.
• Purchasing team provided a P-card training session on November 19^th to ensure compliance by all authorized users. Approximately 40 employees attended the session.
• Policy Development Council (PDC) held a meeting on November 25^th to discuss the recent proposal (to the Board) for the delegation of policy development authority to the college president or designee. PDC members plan to continue the discussion in Winter Quarter to draft a more detailed proposal for the Board to review.

FISCAL & BUDGET

• As required by the recent financial statement finding, Highline College has submitted a corrective action plan to OFM (see attached). Per OFM, this corrective action plan will be included in the 2025 Audit Resolution Report and will be published later in December.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• It is with great pleasure to announce the appointment of Autumn Tomlinson as Administrative Assistant 3 for Facilities Department. Autumn will serve as front desk personnel and will be responsible for managing the department’s work requests.
• It is also my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Kimloan Tran as Accounts Receivables / Fiscal Analyst 2.  Kimloan replaces David Severe, who retired after more than 20 years of working for Highline College.

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