Highline’s new head of Student Services said she intends to put students first.
Dr. Jamilyn Penn was named interim vice president of Student Services earlier this fall. She previously served as director of transfer education in the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
Student Services oversees a number of functions at the college, including Advising, Admissions, Running Start, Women’s Programs, Funding Services, TRiO, International Student Programs, Athletics, the Center for Cultural and Inclusive Excellence and the Center for Leadership and Service.
“My focus will be students first,” Dr. Penn said recently. “That’s the message I shared with my division on Friday of last week when we had our professional development day.
“The focus is to provide the tools and resources that my staff need to positively impact the educational achievements of our students, to promote academic success and achievements for the students,” she said.
“We’re on the Student Services side of the so we need to partner strongly with the other major pillar on campus, which is academics. So my goal will be to work with my staff to really make sure that we have the tools and resources that can really help to connect the students to the instructional pathways they need, ” Dr. Penn said.
Dr. Penn has served in many roles in the state system. She began her career in the classroom serving as a special education teacher in Texas. She also worked as program supervisor of Title I and learning assistance programs for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Dr. Penn monitored 295 public school districts across the state, in areas of budgeting and compliance.
Dr. Penn earned a doctorate in education from Northeastern University in Boston.
“My study was focused on higher education leadership, and my dissertation topic was focused on academic deans at community colleges. And my dissertation topic was how do academic deans at community colleges use their resources to positively impact the educational experiences of Black and Latino students,” she said.
Dr. Penn said she always hopes to make a difference for others.
“What people should know about me as a person is that I have big dreams and aspirations, I never just settle,” she said. “I’m always looking for ways to positively impact the lives of others.”.
She said being in education allows her the opportunity to do that.
“What I find is that education is powerful, it is a really powerful tool that can really change the paradigm of people’s lives,” Dr. Penn said. “It can take someone that has had generational poverty and change that paradigm so they become the first individuals in their families to really make livable wages that provide for themselves and their loved ones.
“It’s a powerful tool in the sense that it changes the way that we see the world and that is really important today,” she said. “When we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, education can take someone who has a deficient mindset, … it can really shift the way they think. So that is not a deficient model but rather a proactive model to affect change that can make lived experiences of themselves and others positive.”
Dr. Penn said she started out as an English major with no intention of getting into education.
“I never wanted to go into education cause I have family members that work in education and I would say ‘I don’t want to do what you do,’” she said. “ But as time went on I really discovered that I have a natural inclination for gathering knowledge and then sharing what I know with other people.”
A teaching fellowship in graduate school helped set her course, Dr. Penn said.
“I thought I was making an impact,” working with college students, she said. “Sso my education, my experiences in that regard helped move me forward and I just kept moving in that direction with other opportunities in higher education in particular.”