Area Report for the Board of Trustees

Back in August, I reported that “faculty and staff in Academic Affairs continue to respond to the challenges we face in resourceful, resilient, creative and caring ways.”  That’s still true. It’s also true that even as people settle into remote routines, there’s a yearning to be back on campus. 

The Academic Affairs Division is big, and in this month’s area report, we are highlighting two areas, as well as providing an update on several key projects. 

Academic Success Center Fall 2020 Student Overview

In fall quarter 2020, the Academic Success Center provided academic support to 355 students through a total of 1484 online tutoring appointments via the Zoom Video Conferencing Service. 193 students were in Associate of Arts programs, 72 students were in Associate of Applied Science programs, 43 students were in Associate of Science programs, 40 students were in Bachelor of Applied Science program, and 7 students were in Professional Technical Certificate programs. Additionally, 89 students were in Running Start, 27 in Worker Retraining, 11 in TRiO, and 10 in Veterans programs. Students who utilized the Academic Success Center had an average grade 3.33 in the class they received tutoring support and 84% (297) of students passed with 2.0 or above in the class they received tutoring support.

Upcoming Events and Programs at the Marine Science & Technology Center (MaST)

SeaDoc Society Collaboration–March

SeaDoc Society is an organization that conducts and sponsors marine science research in the Salish Sea. They work to translate science into action and have formed another group called Junior SeaDocs where they have created marine science curriculum for teachers and educators. The MaST Center will be combining forces with SeaDoc Society to provide some virtual education programs for 5th grade students. We will be recording footage with the Trident ROV to teach students about how ocean technology can help scientists perform scientific monitoring and data collection. 

Underwater Cleanup Event April 24, 8am-3pm at the Des Moines Marina

This event will be recruiting two types of volunteers: certified divers and trash sorters. Diver volunteers will be assigned a specific time to dive under the Des Moines Marina to pick up any trash they see. Once they surface and bring back trash they find, volunteers on land will sort through the trash to submit their findings (i.e. weight and different types of items found in the trash) to an international database via Ocean Conservancy

Monthly Trivia Event Virtual (Zoom)

While the MaST Center facility has been closed, volunteers have not been able to come in to engage with staff and other regular programs and events. Trivia nights have been a regular occurrence to keep volunteers engaged with each other as well as the mission of the MaST Center and Highline College. These events are based off of REEF Fishinar lectures that are typically 30-60 minute videos meant to help divers learn how to identify animals and help REEF monitor populations. They have been helpful in maintain the knowledge of our volunteers who regularly need to identify species in our aquarium for visitors during Discovery Day and other events. MaST staff member Joanne Park is  working closely with one of our high school volunteers who is earning community service hours for school to develop and host trivia games. These events are open and advertised to all Highline faculty and staff. 

Academic Affairs common read update

In January 2021, Academic Affairs launched its first ever common read for staff. The fabulous organizing team (Shannon Waits, Jennifer Johnston, Laura Yanez, Tanya Powers, and Gerie Ventura) created protocols for reading groups, and 20 staff stepped up to facilitate the small groups that will be meeting monthly to discuss Overcoming Educational Racism in the Community College, which profiles five community colleges—models of best practice–that have closed equity gaps for African American/Black students, Hispanic/Latino students, Native American/American Indian students, Asian American/Pacific Islander students, and Caucasian students in poverty. Thanks to Gabrielle Bachmeier, Emily Coates, Raegan Copeland, Justin Dampeer, Linda Faaren, Jennifer Johnston, Jennifer Joseph-Charles, Crystal Kitterman, Timur Kuzu, Marc Lentini, Paulette Lopez, Marco Lopez-Torres, May Lukens, Julie Pollard, Tanya Powers, Jenni Sandler, Steve Washburn, Gerie Ventura, Shannon Waits, and Laura Yanez for facilitating groups. 

Academic Integrity Task Force (AIT)

Chaired by Ay Saechao (Student Support & Funding) and Shannon Waits (First Year Success), the Academic Integrity Task Force delivered a comprehensive set of recommendations to leadership groups on campus last month for discussion. Once the recommendations are finalized, a second group will be charged with implementation. Their work is expected to begin later this month. Many thanks to the AIT members who worked diligently to complete this important work quickly: Hara Brook (Library), Prairie Brown (English), Rus Higley (LOGS), Rhiannon Hillman (English), Faye Malingson (Nursing), Cory Martin (RC), Terry Meerdink (Math), Shelly Page (Accounting/Faculty Senate), Lyall Rudenskjold (Academic Support Center), Jenni Sandler (Accessibility Resources), Matt Schwisow (English), Kate Skelton (Math/Faculty Senate), Sarah Trimm (Advising/Student Success), and Lauren Wugalter (Chemistry).

Tenure Review Committee (TRC)

Tenure Review Committee members Tracy Brigham (Health, PE, & Education), Razmehr Fardad (Pure and Applied Sciences), Sue Frantz (Social Sciences), Jessica Neilson (Business), Tarisa Matsumoto-Maxfield (Arts and Humanities, and TRC Chair), Hector Pina (Vice President, Associated Students of Highline College) and Emily Lardner (Vice President, Academic Affairs) met with 25 Highline College faculty going through the tenure process and their Tenure Working Committee chairs last month.

Report submitted Feb. 02, 2021, by Vice President Emily Lardner, Ph.D.