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Dec. 12, 2019: Academic Affairs

Home/Area Reports, Division: Academic Affairs, Meeting 12-12-19/Dec. 12, 2019: Academic Affairs
2021-12-06T16:12:48+00:00 Print Page

Dec. 12, 2019: Academic Affairs

Area Report for Board of Trustees

Enrollment

At this time last year, enrollment for winter quarter was 2962 state funded FTES. In comparison, at this time, enrollment for winter quarter is 2924 state funded FTES. Faculty coordinators and division chairs are working diligently to manage enrollments and course offerings, and the deans in Academic Affairs and Student Services have been working together to strategize about how to maintain and increase enrollments.

Core Theme 1

Students engage with their curriculum, campus, and community for a meaningful educational experience.

Last month, you met Marco Lopez-Torres, the new Director for Instructional Budget & Planning. Marco joined us on 11/18/19. In addition to Marco, three additional staff have joined Academic Affairs, increasing our capacity to support student engagement in the curriculum, campus, and community:

  • Tamara Hague, Program Manager for the Hub Federal Way Center. Tammy worked for 10 years at Green River College including as Program Manager for their Intensive English Program. Her experience includes student services, faculty support, and orientation planning. Tammy earned her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from University of Washington, Seattle.
  • Jeff Hsiao, Program Manager for Access and Accommodation, worked as an Instructional Assistant in ESL at Highline from 2008-2009. At the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) in Seattle where he has been since 2011, Jeff has worked with immigrants and refugees, many of whom are elderly and/or have disabilities. Jeff speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, and has a Master of Education in TESOL from Seattle University and Ed.D in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Washington.
  • Krystal Welch, Program Manager for the Cohort Learning Communities, has worked in admissions, advising, multicultural affairs, and student programs at Tacoma Community College and Green River College. She has a BS in Psychology and a BS in Kinesiology from WSU, and a Master in Higher Education Administration from WSU. As head cheer coach at Lincoln High School, Krystal led her team to a state championship the first year they competed. She is a member of a historically African American sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.

Academic Affairs honorees and initiatives

Five writing center tutors were accepted for and presented at the International Writing Centers Association conference in Columbus, Ohio. Our trip was generously supported by S&A. Their panel was called, “The Art of Adaptation in Tutoring within Diversity.” Directors from a number of other writing centers were extremely impressed by our use of multilingualism in tutoring, as well as our highly participatory decision-making structure.

  • Monica Twork and Karen Fernandez, Reference Librarians, are coordinating 2020 NEA Big Read: King County series of events at Highline during winter quarter. Highline is a partner on a $15,000 NEA grant with Seattle Pacific University (lead institution) and King County Library System to bring Julie Otsuka, author of When the Emperor was Divine (Big Read book), to Highline and SPU on March 9, 2020. In addition, there will be a panel discussion about the mass incarceration of Japanese American during WWII and a discussion of the novel.
  • MESA teamed up with Green River College MESA sending students to The Pacific Northwest National Laboratories STEM Showcase event for underrepresented students on Nov 20th. We also joined Edmonds CC MESA and Everett CC MESA sending students on a tour of Boeing to see the engineering process and talk to STEM Advisors on 18 Nov.
  • Shon Meckfessel, English, published “When ‘Nonviolent Direct Action’ Is No Longer Nonviolent” in the book Violence/Nonviolence: Complexities, Resistance, and Change, edited by Michael Minch and Laura Finley. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019. And “How Assad Played Matchmaker for the US Far Right.” with Leila al-Shami, in Shane Burley (ed) No Pasaran: Readings on Fascism and Resistance. AK Press, 2019.
  • Greg November, English adjunct, has the lead short story in the current (Fall 2019) issue of Boulevard Magazine.
  • Jayendrina Singha Ray, English adjunct, won the second prize for the Macmillan Achieve More contest through Macmillan Learning.
  • Susan Rich, English, had five poems published in the last month in Image Journal, Phi Betta Kappa Forum & the Congregation of Conservative Rabbis Review.
  • Justin Taillon, HOST, received the “President’s Award” for his dedication to hospitality finance during his career at Hospitality Finance & Technology Professional’s Annual Conference.
  • Lisa Voso, Communication Studies, was awarded a $1250 mini-grant from Northwest International Education Association to internationalize the curriculum in our nonverbal communication class.

Report submitted Dec. 05, 2019, by Interim Vice President Emily Lardner, Ph.D.