Campus Updates 8/3/23

Good afternoon folks, I hope all is well.  Once again, it was a very busy week for Shoreline Community College, but I had two great community connections.  One was with Washington State University, Everett.  They are hoping to create a BSN program in the area, and to help create a regional consortium of sorts with community colleges to help prep RNs should they choose to go that route. I had the pleasure of working with Mary Burroughs, and three of our great nursing faculty to brainstorm some ideas for some funding that could help us should this project go forward.  They are submitting a proposal to the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) to receive funding for this program.  If they receive approval, we will be working with our great Workforce Development program (and Nursing of course) to move forward! 

In addition, I attended a lunch/planning meeting at Everest Kitchen in Lake Forest Park with owners Mohan and Honi Gurung, as well as SCC colleagues including Vice President Samira Pardanani, and faculty colleagues Mayumi Steinmetz and Nicole Buyagawan to discuss partnership opportunities to support the Nepalese community in North Seattle.  They have been utilizing some of our classrooms for language and culture instruction and we had the first (of many I hope) conversation to see where we might see some synergy in our world language program and growing ethnic studies program. 

Locally we had a Community Check-in last week where we reviewed the budget close forecast as well as other questions around the campus.  As you know, while we have had two quarters of increased enrollment (yes!), our overall revenue picture was less optimistic than what we had hoped for, and expenditures were also higher.  The Budget Office is going through all of the requirements to close out the 22/23 year, and it does look like we will close with a deficit.  We will have updates at the next Board meeting and will of course keep you informed every month on our overall budget forecast.  As we enter the fall quarter, we will be utilizing some of the draft suggestions in the developing strategic plan to address work that is being around our budget process as we go forward. We have a lot of room for improvement but are also building a plan and pursuing options that will help us continue to move in the right direction. A big thank you to everyone who attended. 

A major highlight this week was the impromptu ice cream social event put on by our Classified Staff to celebrate our Classified Staff.  Norah, Kat, and the team did a tremendous job in creating a fun space for folks to come and hang out after work, and get to know each other. We are planning to do more of this kind of thing this year, and I want to thank the Classified Staff for their leadership on these initiatives. Thank you also to the Foundation for financial support and of course to Lori who does just about everything. 

Two staff members laughing in the courtyard
Four staff members smiling in the courtyard.

Finally, we had two candidate forums this week for the VP of BAS position.  I hope you were able to view them and/or view the recording and share feedback.  I am very excited about this as well.   

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver with my wife and dog Agnes. I hadn’t been there for a long time, and it was great to be back in the city. We had a lot of fun and ate some great food. Agnes also made several friends at the dog park near our hotel- some notables were Ivy, Serena, Bagels (yes, plural), and Loki. She also met a dog whose name is “Expensive.” I kid you not! 

Enjoy your week!  

Best,

Jack 

Summer Quarter Updates 

Accreditation 

  • Area Reviews inform how the College will allocate resources for the 2023-24 fiscal year.  
  • The next step in the process is for Executive Team members to prioritize budget requests, as articulated in the Area Reviews, for their areas taking into account the priorities articulated by the prior-level budget manager.    
  • Our next accreditation site visit is April 18-19, 2024. We will be reporting on our progress in addressing these accreditation recommendations

Human Resources 

Do you know someone who wants to join our team? Visit: Job Opportunities at Shoreline Community College.  

Foundation and Advancement 

Need help helping students? Here are two resources available through the Foundation:  

1) Emergency Fund – Financial assistance is available to Shoreline Community College students who are dealing with financial hardship resulting from an emergency, accident, or other unexpected critical incident that has a direct impact on their academic success at Shoreline. https://shorelineemergency.awardspring.com/  

2) Scholarships – The Foundation has awarded thousands of academic and workforce scholarships to Shoreline students. In addition to federal and state financial aid, scholarships are a great way to offset all or part of the cost of an education. https://www.shoreline.edu/foundation/scholarships.aspx  

Want to help students in other ways? Consider making a gift to the Foundation. As an employee, you can make a gift through payroll deduction, or through the website: https://www.shoreline.edu/foundation/giving.aspx.   

Have questions or need more information? Contact Wendy or Josh 

Events and Updates 

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Shoreline Community College MISSION – Our Purpose 

We serve the educational, workforce, and cultural needs of our diverse students and communities. 

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