Area Report for Board of Trustees

Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members;  Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve & Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

• Global Programs team hosted our Global Initiative Leadership Committee meeting on Oct 16^th. Among the agenda items, International Education Week (Nov 18^th-21^st) was a focus for the Committee to plan and develop workshops and other programming activities.  The Global Initiative Leadership Committee is a cross-departmental committee, consisting of over 25 faculty and staff, working on a common goal of promoting global education initiatives on campus.
• Experiential Learning to Vietnam 2025 program received a total of 36 applications. Unfortunately, due to budget limitations, we could only select and invite 16 applicants (11 faculty and 5 staff members) for the trip. The program has long been a collaboration between Global Programs and the Vice President for Academic Affairs (with the support of Instruction Cabinet through faculty professional development funds).  For the 2025 program, however, with the support of Executive Cabinet, we are able to invite some staff members to participate as well.
• Global Programs, in conjunction with the Center of Excellence for Supply Chain Management and six (6) other community colleges, has begun recruiting students for the Study Abroad to Vietnam 2025 program. We are expecting to recruit up to 24 students to participate in next year’s program.  The program will include pre-trip workshops and in-person visits to Brooks Sports (Fremont), CMI Orchards (Wenatchee), and the Port of Tacoma, to conclude with an eight-day trip to Vietnam in September 2025.  Due to continuing generous support from our sponsors, including the college foundations, students only need to pay $600 per person to participate.
• David & Francesca attended the ESOL/ELCAP faculty staff meeting on October 31^st to collaborate on increasing student awareness on the services provided by the Public Safety Department. Public Safety is planning to visit 10% of ESOL classrooms to ensure students are familiar with the Public Safety department, crime prevention, reporting process and to distribute steering wheel locks.
• Highline College participated in the Great Washington Shake-out on October 17^th. The drill encourages students and employees to practice earthquake response by drop, cover and holding until the shaking stops. During the drill, Public Safety was able to utilize the Regroup Emergency Communications system to send out alerts via text, email, desktop alerts, loudspeakers and scala boards.

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

David Menke attended the Des Moines Police Department Advisory Board meeting on October 22nd to represent the interests of Highline College. The board discussed new initiatives and current hiring practices. Chief Ted Boe attended the Highline Thunderbirds Soar 2024 event at a Des Moines Police Department/Public Safety sponsored table.

Core Theme 4: CULTURE & CAPACITY: Promote a campus culture which fosters equity and inclusivity supporting employee growth and development, and institutional capacity for transformation

• The new Campus Safety Committee held its first meeting on October 21^st for the 2024-25 term. To ensure compliance with state law, the Campus Safety Committee has been “recomposed” to include more employee-selected members than employer-designated members.  Accordingly, the new Campus Safety Committee is comprised of nine (9) employee-selected members, including two from the faculty senate, and three (3) employer-designated (administration).  The Campus Safety Committee is responsible for evaluating and communicating health and safety issues on campus.
• As part of our continuing efforts to improve infrastructure planning, Facility Project team is bringing together faculty and staff representatives on the three project planning committees (Welcome Center, Student Activity Center, and Infrastructure Planning) in preparation for the upcoming biennial capital projects.
• Facility team has successfully received a winning bid to repair and upgrade the campus storm and sewer infrastructure. The project is estimated to cost $1.5M.
• Public Safety has successfully distributed over 3,000 parking permits to eligible students during the first couple weeks of Fall Quarter 2024, as part of the newly implemented Safety Management Fee program.
• Six staff from Finance and Budget Services attended the state Budget, Accounting, and Report (BAR) Council quarterly meeting at Centralia College, between October 22^nd and 24^th. This Council meeting brought together finance and budget staff from all 34 community colleges in our system, providing an opportunity for the staff to learn from each other.
• We have successfully completed the FY23 financial statement audit. The exit conference was held on October 21^st with Trustee Exstrom in attendance.  While noting a couple minor exit items for the college to improve next year, the State Auditors gave our Finance team overall high remarks.
• The First Quarter Financial Report is being submitted to the Board for review in the November meeting. We ended the first quarter with net positive revenue balance, as enrollment continues to trend higher.

Report submitted by Vice President of Administrative Services, Dr. Michael Pham