President Cheryl Roberts at the Jan. 23, 2015 Campus Community Update meeting. Photo gallery

More than 100 staff and faculty members gathered at the Shoreline Community College PUB with another 50 watching on live streaming video to see and hear President Cheryl Roberts speak to series of college projects and issues.

“Place matters,” Roberts said, adding that place includes physical and cultural attributes. “I’m often asked about what my vision is for Shoreline. It isn’t about vision, it’s about our vision.”

Among the items touched on by Roberts were:

• Four areas of focus as endorsed by the Board of Trustees, including: Increase enrollment, retention and completion; leverage community engagement; develop human resources and physical and technical infrastructure; strategic planning;
• Creating welcoming spaces that help students be successful;
• Creating a welcoming culture that makes all persons on campus feel safe and included;
• Developing the human resources of the college, with Roberts mentioning bring Seattle University’s Bob Hughes on campus to help in the work;
• Student success and establishing a Student Success Coordinating Committee as well as contracting with an outside firm to review current efforts and advise on possible actions;
• Community engagement, with Roberts introducing Laura Rehrmann as Special Assistant to the President for Community Engagement. Rehrmann also spoke about the goal of increasing college resources by establishing relationships and partnership in the community;
• Strategic planning, a process that will culminate in December, 2015, with approval by the Board of Trustees of a five-year plan. Roberts introduced Tom Mesaros, who spoke about how the process would unfold over the coming months;
• Challenges facing the Legislature related to the state budget and how that may impact the college;
• The college’s current solid financial footing due to the efforts of many college employees since the 2008 economic downturn.

During the question and answer period, Roberts was asked about her most memorable moments since assuming the presidency in August, 2014.

“I just feel so welcome here, some much a part of the college,” Roberts said. “It just feels so good to be here.”

In honor of Black History Month and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the Student Leadership Center has put together a fantastic exhibit in the PUB (9000 building) room 9203. Come check it out! This is part of a series of events organized as part of Shoreline’s annual Dr. MLK Jr. Celebration events.