Area Report for Board of Trustees

This time of the quarter is busy for faculty, staff and students!

Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members

The Accessibility Resources department is advancing an innovative campus initiative to establish a Disability Cultural Center, to be developed through collaborative partnerships with students with disabilities. This strategic project will be situated in Building 22, Room 204, and represents a significant step toward creating a more inclusive campus environment.

The mission of this space focuses on cultivating a supportive, low-sensory space that promotes disability identity, community engagement, and institutional understanding. Key strategic objectives include:

1. Fostering Student Belonging: Develop a dedicated environment that supports students’ sense of community and personal identity.
2. Cultural Awareness: Create opportunities for sharing disability culture and intersectional experiences across the campus community.
3. Educational Outreach: Enhance institutional knowledge by offering educational programming on disability history, justice, and activism.
4. Social Advocacy: Create opportunities for student-led advocacy and meaningful dialogue about disability justice and institutional change.
5. Disability Affirmation: Establish a space that fundamentally validates and normalizes disability experiences within our institutional context.

This initiative aligns with Highline College’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, representing a forward-thinking approach to supporting our student population.

On December 2, ELCAP opened a sign-up for our winter new student orientations. Due to capacity in classes, we limited the number of people attending our winter orientations to 120. At 6am on December 2, there were over 200 people lined up for the orientations. When we opened at 7am, we signed up the first 120 people for winter orientations and then collected contact information for future orientations from an additional 386 people. At that point we needed to turn people away and give them information about other ESOL programs in the area. We estimate that we turned away over 200 people. The staff and faculty were amazing. They managed to work through 500 people by 8:30am. They were welcoming, patient, and efficient.

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

• BAS enrollment is currently up 79% on day 22 of registration, from the same time last year. Last academic year, 3 of our BAS programs underwent Design a Curriculum (DACUMs) to connect with industry and learn what employers were looking for. We also changed our BAS in Youth Development to a broader BAS in Human Services degree. Enrollment has grown for the BAS in Business Management program, which also included a name change from Applied Management. Also, we believe students are connecting to advisors through the use of our Watermark software and easily accessible program maps.
• A cross-divisional team met on 12/2/24 to review existing data on winter enrollment. Thanks to good work on the part of ITS and IR, initiated by acting VPSS Ay Saechao, Division Chairs got access to some tools that can help inform adjustments to winter quarter schedules to accommodate the increase in enrollment. The group will meet again in January to continue to develop better tools that can guide enrollment planning in a timely manner.

Core Theme 3: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: Create a more inclusive working environment and a more valued, visible relationship with communities we serve

• Since The Hub: Federal Way Higher Education Center opened its doors for students Winter quarter 2022 it has seen substantial growth. Enrollment has increased from 25 students in Winter quarter 2022 to 448 students Fall quarter 2024.  The first year (W22-SP22) 89 student seats were filled; the second year 583 student seats were filled; the third year 895 student seats were filled; and this year we’re on track to have more than 1000 student seats filled.  Winter quarter 2022 two classes were offered; this quarter, we are offering 21 classes, thirteen different courses, across three divisions, College 101, ESOL Levels 1-3, as well as a Para-Educator cohort, in partnership with Continuing Education.  In addition to offering classes, The Hub staff provide entry advising and placement and testing services for prospective and current students.  The increase in the class schedule has expanded the building’s hours of operation.  Classes are now offered from 9am-8:30pm, Monday -Thursday, with additional student service hours that extend into the evening. This includes evening placement and testing appointments available for students.

Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY: Promote a campus culture which fosters equity and inclusivity supporting employee growth and development, and institutional capacity for transformation

• Over the summer the workforce office redesigned the Vocational Certification process for our Professional Technical faculty.  Recognizing the workload pressures of our Prof Tech faculty, the goal was to make it more meaningful, and to align the outcomes with those of Tenure, Post Tenure, and Column Advancement, as well as the work faculty do every day.  For instance, one outcome is modifying curriculum and/or pedagogy based on industry feedback from DACUM’s, Advisory Committee feedback, or assessment activities through the Assessment Committee.  This outcome aligns with Tenure criteria (Faculty Excellence- F) and Column Advancement: Teaching & Professional Excellence.   We are on track to have 100% of our Professional Technical faculty certified by the end of December.  In addition, the Workforce Office is working with the LTC to create a process that provides information on Professional Development opportunities that align with the skill standards in the Professional Development plans.
• We have hired a new Workforce Entry Navigator, Maria Reyes (she/hers) who will start working in Academic Affairs starting on December 16th! In her new role, she will support workforce students from time of application through enrollment in their first quarter. This position helps students, once they have applied and identified their interest in pursuing an AAS degree, to navigate the entry process; from identifying funding options, to making connections to Highline’s academic and community support resources, to providing support with educational planning and registration. The navigator will engage students in an educational and participatory assessment process and use a strengths-based approach to validate students’ ability to succeed in a college setting.

Division Honors and Awards

• The Business Department and Business Club participated in the UW Seattle Russell Investment Competition on November 16th. Although we did not win, the students and the faculty have learned much from the competition and they are ready preparing for next year’s competition.
• The Legal department led by Bruce Lamb with the assistance of Sherri Chun were able to receive a $64,000 Grant from SBCTC titling the Expansion of Legal Studies Program to Support Underserved Communities. The Grand is to help Enhance relationships with Law Offices, Increase the number of Law Offices providing on the job training, and expanding the student recruitment and retention efforts.

Report submitted by Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Emily Lardner