Advising Council

Highline’s Advising Council is a cross-divisional body charged with overseeing and implementing an equity-focused intake and advising/educational planning process for all new credential seeking students in alignment with the Guided Pathways framework provided by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The work of the Advising Council is informed by the previous work of the Advising Task Force and the Advising Council, which created Highline’s four phase advising model.

Since the creation of the four-phase model, the WA State Legislature, through the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, has invested millions of dollars in Highline and other colleges to implement an evidence-based framework for improving student success and closing equity gaps known as “Guided Pathways.” With the investment in funds from the WA State Legislature come concrete deliverables and a timeline. For 2021-2022, SBCTC has provided additional assessment questions which Highline is expected to address.

Within the Guided Pathways framework, the specific strands of work called “Intake” and “Equity Competent Educational Planning” are brought together under the auspices of the Advising Council, in addition to representative leads for COLL 101 and program maps. Each team, Intake and Equity-Competent Educational Planning, will have its own work plan and team members, and both teams will be coordinated with other teams working on key elements within the wider Guided Pathways framework. The Intake and Equity-Competent Educational Planning teams are expected to meet the expectations outlined by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (see language below), and prepare to report out on this work by end of Spring 2022.

The specific charge to the Advising Council for 2021-2022 is as follows:

• Establish goals for the Advising Council that are informed by the larger campus structure for supporting and coordinating college-wide guided pathways work, and the specific focus of this council on improving advising for students.

• Develop a set of communication and accountability norms and ground rules to ensure effective collaboration among members of this cross-division body.

• Develop a set of clear meetings structures and norms to ensure productive meetings, including defining the goals of meetings clearly in advance so attendees know whether the purpose is to report, make decisions, and/or work on projects collaboratively.

• Convene members of the Intake and Equity-Competent Educational Planning Teams DP teams, as well are the DP leads for COLL 101 and program mapping, at regular intervals (twice per quarter?) so that team members are apprised of and can contribute to the development of the other teams’ plans, given that the work of these groups overlaps and connects. Strive to ensure that these Advising Council meetings do not duplicate meetings convened by or work organized by Highline’s Degree Pathways Core Team.

• Discuss the results of the NACADA assessment from Spring 2021, including clarifying Highline’s working definition of advising, and wherever possible, integrate recommendations and necessary actions into the work described in #4.

• Review and revise, as necessary, Highline’s four-phase model of advising to align with SBCTC expectations and timeline and the NACADA recommendations.

• Generate regular communication with and seek feedback from campus stakeholders,, including students, about the development of these plans.

• Develop an assessment plan for advising at Highline College, aligned with SBCTC’s expected outcomes, informed by the NACADA review, and grounded in Highline College’s commitment to close equity gaps and improve student success.