Area Report for Board of Trustees
As the summer ends, the college community is busy preparing for fall quarter. Opening week will be filled with several activities and I encourage our Trustees to participate in these events. Two events specially to attend:
- Tuesday, September 20th – Convocation (8:30-10am)
- Wednesday, September 21st – All Campus Kickoff (8:30-11am)
Tuesday’s events will be focused on community as we reconnect in-person after two year’s of a fully virtual Opening Week. I look forward to seeing our faculty and staff, many of whom I have only ever had the opportunity to connect with online. Wednesday we will transition into planning for student success with the business portion of our week. We will start with a greeting by Trustee Bowman and then I will discuss the upcoming year, vision, goals and celebrating our successes. Opening week will also consist of numerous workshops and activities. I look forward to seeing you there.
In mid-August, Congressman Adam Smith visited Highline and met with me to discuss the state of the college and legislative needs/requests for this upcoming year. I always enjoy meeting with Congressman Smith – he’s extremely passionate about higher education and Highline College in general. I spoke with him about enrollment, budgetary needs and increased salaries for our staff, in particular our Classified Professionals.
In our upcoming Board Meeting, you will be voting on the HCEA contract for 2022-20225. This work represents a substantial number of hours from the various bargaining (faculty and admin) groups from late spring throughout most of the summer. I’m proud of the contract and want to recognize the effort and dedication from those individuals involved. This work will greatly benefit our faculty and ultimately our students for years to come. Again, many thanks.
Lastly, I will be attending the White Center Community Development Association (CDA) Gala on Saturday, September 10 along with cabinet members Dr. Emily Lardner and Danielle Slota. This is the 20th Anniversary of the CDA honoring the collective work and partnerships with the White Center Community. Our own Trustee Sili Savusa, Executive Director of CDA will be in attendance. The theme is “Truth in Community” and there is much to celebrate in our White Center community. More information about the gala can be found here: Gala | wccda.
Have a good beginning of the month and welcome to fall!
Human Resources
The number of open recruitments at Highline is consistent with the number reported last month. Recruitments are taking longer because of staffing shortfalls in Human Resources, as well as fewer applicants for most positions. We have noticed a decline in the number of resignations each month.
This summer, our office created an exit survey to collect quantitative data from separating employees. We have been collecting responses for about a month and are beginning to assemble enough data for analysis.
The college has begun collective bargaining with the WPEA. An attorney from Summit Law Group is representing the college as the lead negotiator. The college and the WPEA have presented all proposals and will provide counter proposals at subsequent sessions. Our goal is to have a tentative agreement by early to mid September in order to allow enough time for the Board and WPEA members to approve the new contract.
Information Technology Services
IT Services is devastated to report the loss of Mark Wynne, who passed away suddenly in August. Mark, manager of the IT Infrastructure Services team, was a Highline alum and 19-year employee. His loss is felt both personally and professionally by the entire department as well as many others at the college. Mark will be remembered at the ITS-hosted campus community potluck on September 15th.
This summer, ITS staff have continued participating in planning and implementation work for Strategic Enrollment Management, the new ctcLink College Collaboration Group, the King County Promise grant, and other initiatives. ITS is also supporting multiple new software implementations, most notably the Watermark/Aviso student support system which will fully launch in the fall, but also Vita Navis for career assessments, eTutoring Consortium support, and others. IT Customer Services staff are finalizing system and equipment maintenance and upgrades for fall quarter.
Mission Statement: As a public institution of higher education serving a diverse community in a multicultural world and global economy, Highline College promotes student engagement, learning, and achievement, integrates diversity and globalism throughout the college, sustains relationships within its communities, and practices sustainability in human resources, operations, and teaching and learning.