Area Report for Board of Trustees
Thematic in Student Services this month is community and sense of belonging. Now more than many years, our students are wanting to see and connect with each other, our staff, and our campus community. Our student government reported increased of student clubs and organizations created that are approaching pre-2020 levels. Enrollment this quarter is approximately 9% higher than fall quarter 2023, and current trends indicate an enrollment increase of 11% for winter quarter 2025 in comparison to the year prior. This uptrend is promising and there are cross-divisional efforts to develop new tools and tracking systems to ensure our faculty division chairs have the data and information they need to respond with course offerings appropriately.
However, our students are not just statistics and enrollment figures. In Student Services, staff are receiving training to better serve and connect with students, including the division-wide adoption of Watermark, the Student Success software that will enhance staff capacity to monitor and provide responsive services. The Financial Aid staff attended the annual Financial Aid conference hosted by the Department of Education to receive training and guidance regarding the newly revised FAFSA application. ISP and other departments are conducting their quarterly retreat to reflect, to learn and continually improve departmental operations, policies and procedures.
Programs such as Women’s Programs, TRiO, Counseling Services, Center for Leadership and Service are engaging in community building and identity affirming spaces to enable courageous and healing conversations, to which they are reporting increased levels of student participation. Workshops that previously had on average 5-10 in attendance have doubled or tripled to thirty-plus.
Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members
The TRiO department is proud to report the program exceeded grant benchmarks in their recent Annual Performance Report submission to the US Department of Education. By achieving grant objectives, TRiO greatly positions itself for continued funding in the 2025-2030 grant cycle.
Core Theme 3: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: Create a more inclusive working environment and a more valued, visible relationship with communities we serve
The Women’s Program is hosting their annual “Giving Tree” event where our staff and faculty sponsor our students and their families, donating holiday gifts and presents. We thank the Women’s Program department, our staff and faculty, and of course our students and families for brightening the Holidays. On average, over 20 student parents and 50 children are served by the Giving Tree program.
Student Life
With the support of Executive Cabinet, and leadership of our Commencement Committee, the 2025 Commencement will be located in Emerald Downs. In addition to the location being within our community service area, we are proud to support and build further connections to Native owned businesses. Emerald Downs is owned by the Muckleshoot Tribe.
The Center for Leadership and Service, in collaboration with Counseling Services hosted post-election community spaces in November. Over 85 students were in attendance, building community and participating in guided thinking, guided conversation, and meditation.
The Center for Leadership and Service is proud to report that nearly 30 student clubs have been recognized thus far this academic year, which is around pre-2020 levels.
The Associated Students of Highline College hosted their annual Legislative Breakfast on Wednesday, December 4th, at 8am in the Highline College Student Union Building to a full room in Mt. Constance. Our students spoke to the importance of college affordability and basic need services, including the need to expand funding for our international students and community.
Outreach and Recruitment
The Outreach and Recruitment team hosted and were involved in over 25 outreach and recruitment events to connect with our surrounding community and enhance the educational pipeline for our prospective students to Highline College. These include but are not limited to:
- Highline College Family Information Sessions
- Thunderlab Admissions for high school students
- Chill & Chat with a Highline College representative and student ambassadors from UMOJA, Juntos conduct focused meet and greets sessions at our local high schools
- Highline College Expo
- Black & Brown Male Summit
- College Con
- High School Outreach presentations/workshops/info sessions
International Student Programs
ISP in collaboration with Campus View hosted “Meet & Greet” sessions to build connection between international and domestic students residing in Campus view. In addition, ISP is conducting recruitment presentations at Seattle Kaplan, as that branch is closing down.
Report submitted by Acting Vice President of Student Services, Ay Saechao