Highline’s new budget director said its budget can help unite the college.

“My goal is to work with all the different departments and create a process that is consistent and works for every department,” said Marco Lopez-Torres, who was named the new budget director earlier this fall. He added that the budget should  “Create a culture of fiscal responsibility and bring all divisions together to achieve Highline’s goals.”

It’s also important that the budget helps the students, he said.

“Everything we do at Highline is for one purpose, which is taking care of our students and our community,” Lopez-Torres said.  “By ensuring our departments and programs are well funded, we can support our students better and provide what they need to achieve their academic goals.”

Lopez-Torres worked as Highline’s director for instructional planning & budget (Academic Affairs) for more than two years before being named to his new position.  Prior to that , earned a bachelor’s degree in international commercial relations from the University Latina de America in Morelia, Mexico.  Prior to joining Highline he worked for Bank of America for 15 years.

“One of the reasons I came to Highline is because I live in Des Moines and wanted to do something for our local community,” Lopez-Torres said.  “A few months ago, this position became available and I decided to apply because I feel that this new role will give me the opportunity to participate and work with all the different programs Highline has to offer.”

As budget director, Lopez-Torres said some of his team’s responsibilities include: tracking expenditures and making sure departments stay within their budget; managing and controlling state allocations; managing grants and contracts; supporting Student Government and the Service & Activities budget; and providing monthly and quarterly reports to the vice president  of Administrative Services.

Overall, that means managing a $75.7 million annual budget for the college, including $37 million in state funds and $10.8 million in tuition. More than $57 million of that goes to wages, salaries and benefits for the roughly 1,100 people employed at Highline. 

Lopez-Torres said he isn’t waiting to get started on improvements, 

“I have been in my new position for a week,” he said. “But we made some progress in Academic Affairs with the implementation of new processes that are documented and create consistency in the division.”