Area Report for Board of Trustees

Student Services staff provide intentional, relevant, and practical wraparound services to support Highline College’s diverse student population.

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

•  Entry Advising & Workforce Education Services (WES) are hosting peer assistance meetings regarding tuition aid applications. These sessions are open to any student who might need help submitting the WES Fall 2023 Funding Application.
  • As of August 22, 2023, 142 returning students and 59 new students have submitted Funding Applications for Fall 2023.
• Financial Aid updated the department’s website to make navigation of the site easier for students, staff, faculty, and community. A link to the site it provide for below for review: https://financialaid.highline.edu/
• The Student Support Center is reviewing grant opportunities with King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA). The Center’s staff plan to submit an RFP by the end of Fall quarter.
• Counseling staff used the Get Started! Questionnaire, which is also employed by Entry Advising Department, to identify students who are interested in learning more about Counseling at Highline College. Students who indicated interest were emailed with information on the Counseling Center and invited to reach out for more information or a session with a counselor. Following up on students’ interest in this manner allows potential students to feel connected and supported in their academic journey.
• Entry Advising has been hard at work getting new students ready for fall quarter and hosting many well attended orientation sessions. Along with many other department staff supporting student enrollment, Entry Advising staff are typically busiest during quarter breaks
• The Running Start team continues to explore ways to reduce barriers to participation.  Recent changes to the course placement process have helped.  The team is currently exploring the structure of Highline’s fee waiver policies to align with new Legislatively expanded enrollment ability so students can get the most out of their time at Highline College. 
• Watermark Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Highline officially “graduated” from technical implementation of the new CRM. Staff are piloting the tool with specific departments, most notably Outreach & Recruitment. The implementation of the CRM tool has also provided some new functionality in its partner program, Aviso. The CRM and AVISO have provided new abilities to identify and communicate with students who have applied, but not yet enrolled.
• International Student Programs is excited to introduce a new $500 scholarship for incoming international students. To be eligible, new students are required to submit a concise one-page essay outlining their reasons for choosing Highline College. This initiative aims to recognize and support students’ decisions to join our institution. ISP will also provide a bi-weekly 2-hour table session to provide international students information about campus activities and scholarships. 
• The ISP Vietnam fall recruitment campaign is well underway. A comprehensive schedule has been submitted to the ISP director’s office, encompassing visits to three key cities in Vietnam. As ISP gears up for Spring 2024, the recruitment plans for China are entering the strategic planning phase. ISP staff are actively re-establishing connections with both domestic and international outlets of the US Commercial Service to lay the groundwork for a successful recruitment season. To bolster Highline College’s ISP presence in Kenya, Ethiopia, and India, focused efforts are in motion. Notably, our Kenyan students recently ranked third and Indian students ranked sixth in terms of campus population, underscoring the importance of expanding ISP’s outreach in these regions.
• In partnership with Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence (CCIE) and Campus View, the Center for Leadership and Service (CLS) trained 24 student leaders across nine teams: Associated Students of Highline College; Global Student Ambassadors; Community Resource Consultants; Clubs Consultants; Community Budget Coordinators; Marketing, Outreach, Design Team; Inter-Cultural Center Peer Facilitators; Service and Mentorship Engagement Consultants; and Resident Assistants

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

• The Completion and Retention Department hosted two workshops on time management that brought together over 61 students, including students who are on Academic Standards Policy. The strategic engagement efforts and intentional data-driven programming resulted in the largest rate of student participation regarding an Academic Standards Policy hosted event. 
• The Counseling Center received consultation and support from Eric Strom, legal mental health consultant and attorney, around the ethical concerns with diagnosing ADHD and the paperwork to support this diagnosis. Being able to support students with this diagnosis will assist staff and faculty to accommodate those students academically to strategize for success.
• Enrollment Services Leads and the Dean of Advising and Enrollment Services met with faculty to review the drop for non-payment process and related messaging sent to students to alert them to pay any outstanding tuition and/or fees.  The shared goal is to improve communication to students so they feel empowered and supported persist with studies. 
• In 2025, ISP staff plan to launch the International English as a Second Language (IESL) program. IESL will provide an additional educational support for students who may not meet the required English proficiency standards. It also provides a valuable opportunity for students seeking to refine their English language skills through immersive conversations. Target date for implementation is January 2025.

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

• Kendall Evans, Veterans Services Specialist 3 is hosting the first ever Highline College Veterans Advisory Board meeting on Wednesday, September 13th, 2-3:30pm in Building 8, Room Mt. Skokomish. Members of the board include: Orting Mayor and former TRiO Veterans Program Manager Josh Penner, Highline College Alum and Transition Coordinator U.S. Army Recovery Care Program Josh Weldon, Program Associate for Veterans’ Education and Training for the Washington Student Achievement Council Derek Richert, Dean Saechao, Edwina Fui Director Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence, David Menke Director of Public Safety, Jordyn Ceplina Student Veteran and member of the Veteran of Foreign Affairs
• With Outreach & Recruitment now organized within Student Services, Dean Jesse Knappenberer has brought the Outreach and HighSchool Engagement teams together to coordinate around working with our local K12 school districts to better recruit high school students and form strong partnerships.
• Increased Agent Partner Commission: In a move to foster stronger collaboration, the VP of Administration has approved a commission increase for our ISP agent partners. Effective this fall quarter, this adjustment is expected to result in heightened engagement and more vigorous efforts from our agent partners, driven by improved financial incentives.
• The Programming and Marketing Leadership Advisor, Sara Thomas, has been planning the Fall Quarter ThunderWeek. The Core Leaders will be highly involved in the planning and execution as well. For ThunderWeek, CLS will be collaborating with CCIE, Athletic Department, and Campus View in hosting engaging events for students. There will be a welcome fair as well where campus partners (departments) will be invited to table.
• On September 6-8, the student Core Leaders will be attending a Student Leadership Conference at Green River College where they will have the opportunity to network with other student leaders from other institutions and learn about student life programming. This leadership conference provides students with resources to practice their skills that are not always accessible by all 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.

• Joshua Magallanes finished his Mental Health First Aid training and is certified to provide this training to students, faculty, staff, and those in the community. Counseling now has three certified trainers and completed a Summer training with six faculty members. This training supports employee growth and student success by allowing learners to identify mental health concerns and address them appropriately.
• After much development work over the spring and summer, the task force leaders recently presented to the Title III Steering Committee and Executive Cabinet a draft charter.  The leads will continue to incorporate feedback from these groups and at the same time are moving forward with solidifying membership of sub-committees focused on retention through Highline’s academic standards policy and a sub-committee focused on continued refinement and development of the four-phase advising model.  This work and structure will be incorporated into the existing Student Success Council. 
• In July, Dean Knappenberger organized a retreat for the leads of the areas he supports – Enrollment Services, Entry Advising, Pathway Advising, Running Start, Career & Transfer and Outreach & Recruitment.  At the retreat the team had the opportunity to reflect on last year, build stronger working relationships and plan for shared focuses around enrollment and retention goals. Enrollment Services also sent all classified staff to STTACC (Staff Training for Technical and Community College) conference at Green River College: Aug 9-10
• Six advisors representing Entry Advising, Pathway Advising & Running Start participated in the Appreciative Advising Institute (AAI) July 2023.  AAI is a nationally renowned approach to holistic advising, focusing on student strengths.  This PD opportunity helped to build strong advising techniques within each team, and the group has presented their learning to other departments at Highline.  Title III’s financial and administrative support was key in providing this opportunity.

Division Honors and Achievements

• Nitasha Lewis, the TRiO Talent Search Director, is proud to report they have met the 300 minimum students served. Throughout the year the team has been innovative to expand project services to four additional schools: Why Not You Academy, Highline College Youth Re-engagement, Showalter Middle School, and Foster High School.
• The Counseling Center has a new Director, Larisa Wendfeldt, and Program Coordinator, Alex Lawrence! 
• Kareen Maloney, former Entry Advising Program Manager and Interim Director of Entry Advising has formally been offered and accepted the permanent position.  
• The Fall Sports Season has begun! There are 110 full-time student athletes. Forty student athletes reside in Campus View.
• Fuifui Ah Kuoi is the new Mentorship Programs Leadership Advisor
• Currently, there are 12 registered clubs to start the academic year. The Clubs Program will host a Clubs Fair during ThunderWeek to increase student participation in clubs.
• Madeline Clark is the new Resident Director of Campus View Student Housing. Maddie comes to us from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville and is already making positive changes in Campus View to build community for our students.

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