Press Release- Education Within Reach: Shoreline Community College Launches Innovative Pilot Program to Help Homeless Students 

September 25, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Shoreline Community Residence Hall exterior shot in the fall

Shoreline Community College (Shoreline) is tackling the challenge of students experiencing homelessness head-on with the launch of a groundbreaking pilot program. Partnering with King County Housing programs and Best Starts for Kids, the initiative provides students experiencing homelessness who are enrolled in the Center for Education and Career Opportunities (CECO) program with stable on-campus housing, integrated directly with academic and employment support services. 

Breaking Down Barriers to Success 

Many students struggle to juggle educational pursuits with the instability of experiencing homelessness. The constant stress of finding shelter makes it difficult to focus on studies and maintain enrollment. Recognizing this critical barrier, CECO designed this pilot program to empower students experiencing homelessness to achieve their academic and career goals. 

What is CECO? 

CECO serves youth aged 16-21 who have dropped out of high school, assisting them in obtaining their secondary credentials and supporting them through their post-secondary education (gaining their certification, associate’s degree, career) tuition free. Despite the program’s success, certain student groups, particularly those facing severe mental health challenges or experiencing homelessness, have historically struggled to persist. This new partnership is designed to address these barriers directly. 

“We have discovered a significant number of students facing housing instability,” Guru Dorje, Director of CECO at Shoreline explained. “Our goal is to ensure these students not only achieve their educational credentials but as one of the benefits of this they are able to secure permanent housing, breaking the cycle of homelessness.” 

Addressing Critical Needs Through Housing and Support 

This new initiative was originally slated to start in Summer Quarter 2024 but began ahead of schedule due to urgent student needs. The program aims to house students on campus for eight quarters, integrating housing with comprehensive educational and employment support. Currently, four students are benefiting from this program, with plans to expand to twelve students by Spring 2025. 

The program is rooted in the belief that “stable housing, coupled with a dedicated case manager who supports both educational and employment goals, is crucial for student success,” said Dorje. “Other programs typically separate housing and educational support, but our approach integrates them, providing a holistic support system.” 

The program’s early results are promising. All three students currently enrolled in the pilot are on track to earn their high school equivalency diplomas and seamlessly transition to post-secondary education. 

“Our ultimate aim is to see these students complete their education, transfer if appropriate, secure stable employment, and maintain permanent housing, said Dr. Jack Kahn, President of Shoreline Community College. “Our hope is to see positive outcomes with our initial students and expand this program and work with others to do the same” 

Looking Ahead 

Partnering with King County Housing programs and the Shoreline Community College Foundation the initiative provides students experiencing homelessness who are enrolled in the CECO program with stable on-campus housing, integrated directly with academic and employment support services. Initial 2-year grant funding for the program is being provided by King County and generous donors who give through the Shoreline Community College Foundation. Long-term funding to ensure the program’s continued success and expansion is needed. Donors and funders interested in learning more can reach out to the Shoreline Community College Foundation (sccfoundation@shoreline.edu).

This initiative is the first of its kind, combining housing with educational and employment support to a single point of contact in a community college setting. The insights gained from this pilot will inform future strategies to address homelessness among students, with the hope of expanding similar programs across other community and technical colleges. 

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Happy Latinx/e Heritage Month!

September 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Yuk tunal, nukunawan! 

Thank you all for a wonderful start to the Fall!  

Today I want to take a moment to celebrate Latinx/Latine History month! During this time of the month, we celebrate the rich diversity, heritage, culture, and history of the Latinx/e Community. This time of year, Sept 15th to Oct 15th, also coincides with the Independence days of several countries in Latino America also known to my people as Manawara.

In honor of Latinx/e History Month you will find an attached list of books that we welcome you to explore. Each of these books were selected with assistance from Arantxa Gallegos from South Seattle College and have a wide range of authors & interests. 

The Office of DEIA in collaboration with our Theater Department, The Foundation, and The Seattle Latino Film Festival will be hosting Films for viewing here at Shoreline! These films were reviewed by the Office of DEIA and will be a part of the Seattle Latino Film Festival line up this year. A special shout out to Tony Doupe & Jorge Enrique Gonzales for their amazing partnership! Please consider attending, bringing family, and/or sending your classes to view this amazing opportunity. More details on films is located here.  

The Office of DEIA will also be hosting a special session on Latinx Identity through a new community gathering series in October. An official announcement with the official name and Fall quarter schedule will be shared later this week!  

During this time, you will find several identity terms floating around from Afro- Latino & Indigenous Latino all the way to Tejano. All of these identities tackle the question of who we are and what best can be used to describe us. Regardless, folks are free to use whatever term best describes themselves and be free to evolve as they change & grow. The links above provide some videos that will help you explore a variety of identity terms so please feel free to check them out!  

In El Salvador we often remind our children that as a country & region, we may be small like the ants that walk beneath our feet, individually tiny, but together there is nothing we cannot overcome.  

Happy Latinx/e Heritage Month!  

Brian Crisanto Ramos M.A. (He/Him)

Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility 

Pipil, Lenca, & Mayan Nations

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Join Us for a talk on the “First Steps to Becoming Cyber Secure” 9/26/24

September 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Come hear from a panel of experts on how to secure your small business venture. Bring your laptop for hands on technical assistance.

  • Date: Thursday 9/26/24
  • Time: 1:00-4:00pm
  • Location: The PUB Quiet Dining Room (#9208)
This is an image with more information about the cybersecurity event.
  • Tonya Zimmerer from Banner Bank discussing online banking security
  • Anton Nikitin of Menavita, a technology services company working with small businesses, discussing using the cloud and safe storage of sensitive data
  • Kayla Miller from Washington SBDC introducing the cyber security maturity model
  • Rob Ruder from IDIC Designs and Gonzaga adjunct professor discussing Policies, Procedures, and Evidence
  • Kayla will lead a policy writing activity with support from Anton
  • Celeste Race from Work Force Snohomish discussing Snohomish County small business cyber internships
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OFM Correction to Funds Issued Memo #2

September 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Dear Colleagues, 

As shared with campus last week, Shoreline was recently informed that the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) made a $47M error in the amount of funding provided to the community and technical college (CTC) system for the 2023-25 biennium ($19M was overallocated for 23-24 and $28M for 24-25). Unfortunately, individual colleges had no way of catching the error because colleges are not privy to the specific formulas used by OFM to determine annual allocation amounts.   

While the amounts of overfunding to each college varied across the system, for Shoreline it meant a portion of the 2024-25 budget totaling approximately $1M (one million) dollars will likely need to be returned to the State. At this time, the OFM has not yet said anything about the $19M over-allocated in 2023-24.  

Local Response

In looking for a solution to this challenge, our top priority was to ensure all currently filled permanent positions remained untouched.  Instead, we looked at vacant positions to identify those that could be put on hold to generate the funds needed for a potential return to the State. An additional consideration was whether the positions were new (rather than replacing a prior person), whether the unit had begun the recruitment process, and the overall impact to the college. 

Last week I met with the Executive Team, the Classified and Faculty Union leadership, and the Faculty Senate to discuss potential holds on recruitment to ensure the College does not spend funding that we likely will need to return. As a result of these discussions, the following positions have been put on hold for recruitment at this time:  

AreaTitleType
TSS Assoc Director – TSS Admin 
C&M  Comm Consult 3 Classified  
Facilities Coordinator – Sustainability Admin 
HR EA – HR Admin 
Student Services EA – Student Services Admin 
Facilities Grounds & Nursery 2 Classified 
Facilities Grounds & Nursery 4 Classified 
Facilities Maintenance Mech 2 Classified 
Facilities Maintenance Spec 5 Classified 
Business Program Spec 3 Classified  
Advising  Specialist – Post Bac Admin 

Looking Forward 

While the positions listed above are on hold for now, it is possible that new funding could be identified to bring them back into active recruitment status this year. The Executive Team will work with me to establish a prioritization list to help make those decisions based on further discussions within the impacted units and our representative leadership groups.   

At a state-wide level, CTC presidents will continue to work with the State Board, OFM, legislators, and other stakeholders on long-term solutions. Meetings with budget leaders and legislators are already scheduled, and we are pursuing options for the next legislative session in January.  I should have an update on state-level solutions in the next couple of weeks and will put all updates in my weekly email to campus as new information is available, should you wish to track that progress.  

I know this is not the way that we had hoped to begin our 2024-25 academic year, but I do want to take this opportunity to thank the union leadership and Executive Team members for their thoughtful feedback and engagement during this difficult process.  As stated, I am dedicated to preserving our workforce and finding collaborative solutions. I appreciate your patience and commitment as we work through these challenges together, and I will continue to share updates as they become available. 

Best, 

Jack 

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College Update – OFM Correction to Funds Issued 

September 13, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Dear Colleagues, 

I hope this message finds you well and that you are looking forward to welcoming our students back for the Fall Quarter in a couple of weeks. My apologies for sending this on a Friday afternoon, but I received some unexpected news regarding our funding from the Office of Fiscal Management that I wanted you to hear from me first.   

The State Board has informed the Community & Technical College (CTC) presidents that the Office of Fiscal Management (OFM) made an error in our system-wide budget allocations for the current biennium (2023-25). Specifically, OFM over-allocated $47M (broken out as $19M for 2023-24 and $28M for 2024-25) to the CTC system. 

As a result, the state is asking the CTC system to return the $28 million that was over-allocated for the current year. They have not yet said anything about the $19M over-allocated in 2023-24. 

While amounts of overfunding to each college vary across the system, for Shoreline that means a portion of the 2024-25 budget totaling approximately $1M (one million) dollars will likely need to be returned to the State. This will obviously have an impact on our overall 2024-25 budget. I am hopeful that through increasing enrollment and keeping an eye on our expenses, we will be able to return the over-allocated funds without sacrificing any services to our students. I also want to assure you that I do not plan to make any reductions to our current workforce. 

I’ve already met with the Executive Team and our Union leadership about this issue.  I will be working with them over the coming days, and plan to share more information as it becomes available. 

The CTC presidents have our work cut out for us going into a legislative session where we will be advocating for the next biennium, and our goal will be to preserve as much of our funding as possible. So, for now, let’s keep our focus on serving students well, and increasing enrollment and retention. We have dealt with much bigger budget challenges in the past, and I’m confident we will get through this as well.   

I look forward to seeing you all next week.  

Best, 

Jack  

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