The Highline College Board of Trustees (BOT) held their first meeting of 2026 last week, navigating new demands for transparency and campus engagement. The meeting was recorded and uploaded to the Highline College YouTube channel, as a direct result from the feedback during last month’s Executive Cabinet listening sessions.
This was the first BOT meeting since Dr. Jamilyn Penn was appointed Interim President – and her first report to the BOT in this role.
With the proximity to MLK Jr. Day, Dr. Penn highlighted his sentiment on the purpose of education, “Dr. King emphasized that true education combines intellectual growth with moral development. By fostering both independent thinking and strong character, education becomes a powerful tool for building a just and ethical society.”
The Student Services Division, headed by Interim Vice President Tony Garcia, reported a litany of progress at the initial meeting, including a massive reduction in wait times for students seeking financial aid. They also highlighted an expansion of TRIO support and the MLK series events taking place on campus.
The report stated, “During the first week of Winter Quarter, the average waiting time for students who visited the financial aid office was 8 – 45 minutes compared to the start of the first week of Fall Quarter where the average wait time was 3 – 4 hours. In addition, the Financial Aid Office shared the following report with students, staff and faculty regarding the progress of the Financial Aid improvement plan. We would like to thank the Financial Aid staff and managers for their steadfast intentional work, and recognize the collective support from the campus community (ie. Financial Aid Advisory Committee and FA Support Group).”
Not reflected in the reports is the beginning efforts of hiring a permanent VPAA, currently occupied by Dr. Rolita Ezoenu. Over the past few weeks, divisions across campus have been nominating their faculty for the upcoming search committee for a permanent VPAA. Dr. Ezeonu currently serves as Interim VPAA, and she is a favorite among faculty members for both permanent VPAA, or even President of Highline College.
Faculty are concerned over the timing of the search, given the timing and circumstances surrounding the position. While the original goal to have the VPAA position permanently filled was December 2025, there’s worry that a new President coming in after the VPAA position has been filled will cause a misalignment of vision when a permanent president is found.
The fear lies in the timing of that decision. Once a new president is appointed, it is at their discretion to change leadership and ‘bypass’ the nominations of a search committee. If any interim or acting VP or dean positions are filled before the president’s position, then the new leadership could conflict with the newly filled positions and the people in those positions.
The Director of Budgets, Grants, and Procurement presented the FY26-27 student fees schedule, increasing the First Aid certificate fee in response to a Red Cross price increase, and also adding additional fees to certain courses. Two of these new fees apply to nursing and journalism courses
Student fees for journalism courses will double, from $15 to $30. On average, 8-15 students take various journalism courses each quarter, but over the past year, that number has only grown. All journalism students at Highline, alongside interns and paid student employees, work together to publish weekly editions. Increasing fees paired with increasing enrollment works to generate more money for the Communication Studies department.
The ThunderWord operating budget, however, comes from Student S&A (Services and Activities) fees, which are separate from the Communication Studies department’s budget.
At the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year, the ThunderWord budget was reduced by 8%, and while that limited the amount of paid positions they were able to offer, performance and prestige only increased. Increasing the ThunderWord budget would require different channels.
The fee increase was campaigned for by department coordinator Lisa Voso in order to generate more money for the Communication Studies department, and goes into a specific ‘journalism bucket’ that pays for other expenses, like technology or hardware support. Voso said the increase was a “part of my sustainability plan for the journalism department. It had not been [increased] in years.”
The ThunderWord has been working on accessing space and equipment for their podcast and this fee increase is supposed to do just that.
The BOT meetings are an opportunity to hear reports from different departments of campus, such as Student Services or Human Resources. There’s also an opportunity for public comment, in which members of the Highline college community are able to sign up to present to the BOT.
**Mavrie has been serving as editor for the ThunderWord since 2024. She is also the founding president of Highline’s Non-fiction Writers Circle.**