Area Report for Board of Trustees

Student Services staff have been leaning in to support students during the transition from Winter to Spring Quarter.

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

• During March, the TRiO SSS division completed their Annual Performance Review for the 2021-2022 year (Sept. 1, 2021-August 31, 2022). Among other deliverables, the TRiO SSS’ had a 88% persistence rate, almost 50% more than the mandatory grant deliverable.
• Financial Aid is working with Campus Works on student facing documents as part of our consulting hours. Students are actively using the “Check My Status” and referring to their results when they email the office.
• WES has filled the Opportunity Grant point of contact Advisor position and is looking to offer the Early Achievers Grant point of contact position to a final candidate.
• The Student Success Center will be applying for the Money Smart Financial Coaching Program Grant (FY23-24). If awarded, the grant will fund up to $138,000 to selected colleges and is open to institutions that have experience offering financial wellness programming and who will commit to continuing the program after the end of the grant.
• The CARE Team conducted a GPA and Retention Review of all students referred to the CARE team thus far in the 2022-2023 school year. We have seen a 74.1% increase in referrals this academic year, with 25% of the students referred having a GPA under 2.0. About 70% of students referred persist to the next quarter. We are continuing to disaggregate this data, more closely track interventions, and continue to ease navigation of the institution.
• Entry Services began offering a Spanish language version of New Student Orientatio
• Highline’s Admissions webpage has been updated as part of a larger effort to ensure compliance with accessibility standards and “plain language” state requirements.
• On March 15th, Veterans Services at Highline partnered with local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) to help Veterans understand and sign up for disability benefits.
• CLS hosted the Spring Clubs Fair on April 5^th from 2pm-4pm. Students had the opportunity to learn about extracurricular and co-curricular activities available to them through joining or starting a club, improving student success.

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

• On March 14, 2023, the Student Integrity Ambassadors put on an event from their peers called Set your SMART goals. This event taught students how to set realistic goals for their educational, career, and personal success. This event took a preventative approach based on the root causes of why students violate the student conduct code based on the Post-Conduct Process Assessment given to students who engage with the conduct process. The preventative intervention works to reduce the reports to conduct and equip students with tools to be successful.
• Retention & Completion Services led the campaign to target students enrolled in Winter 2023 but not Spring 2023. Since Week 8, calls/texts/emails have been sent from various departments to offer support to students with enrolling in Spring Quarter. So far, 54% (1,104/2,053) of these students have reenrolled.
• Retention & Completion Services supported students who withdrew from classes during the middle of Winter Quarter. Withdrawing is an indicator that a student may need additional support. Through targeted outreach and support, the goal of this initiative was to retain students in their remaining classes and/or help them resolve challenges to reenroll the following quarter.
• ISP held a successful New Student Orientation: There were a total of 35 new international students. There are currently 232 students enrolled for spring quarter 2023 (27 more students than spring quarter 2022).

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

• On March 15, the TRiO SSS hosted a University of Washington Seattle Martin Scholarship workshop for 20 Highline College students. A current UW Martin Scholarship winner hosted the workshop, and was able to give tangible tips for all attendees.
• Members of The Undocumented Task Force (from the Transition Success Center, TRiO, and Retention & Completion Services) held a campus-wide training in collaboration with UW’s Leadership Without Borders to train the campus community on how to better support undocumented students and their unique challenges. This promotes a more inclusive working (and learning) environment as students, Student Services, and Academic Affairs were in attendance.
• ISP is currently working to host several events geared towards fostering relationships with existing and potential students, including game nights, movie nights, and a trip to the University of Washington.

Division Honors and Achievements

• Entry Advising began offering a Spanish-version of the New Student Orientation, improving access for students whose first language is Spanish. They understand that their classes will not be offered in Spanish, but the hope is that the initial questions and concerns are better answered and understood when spoken in Spanish.
• Pathway Advising has recently re-hired for two advising positions and has found success developing a new on-demand drop-in advising model, expanding advising capacity and better meeting student needs.
• Tennis is in Full Swing and look to repeat as NWAC Champions
• Geomarc Panelo has accepted the director position for the Center of Leadership and Service.

Report submitted by Interim Vice President of Student Services, Dr. Jamilyn Penn