Starting this summer, students at Shoreline Community College will have a new, more convenient way of accessing their financial aid.

“We are very pleased to offer our students a better, more convenient way to interact with their funds,” said Stuart Trippel, Director of Financial Services at Shoreline.

Beginning July 3, 2012, students receiving financial aid will be able to receive refunds, also known as disbursements, on their My Shoreline Card.  The card is just the most visible part of a new partnership between Shoreline and Higher One, a financial services company focused on higher education.

When financial aid is awarded to a student, much of the money goes directly to the college for tuition and other costs. Oftentimes, however, the total amount of financial aid is above those costs and the remaining amount goes to the student.

“In the past, we’ve had to write checks and put them in the mail,” Trippel said. “Through the services provided by Higher One, students will now have the option of immediately receiving those refunds, or disbursements.”

Trippel said students due a financial aid refund will have three general options, including:

• Open a no-fee account through Higher One and have the money go directly to the account.
• Have the money deposited directly into another account of the student’s choice.
• Have a check mailed.

The quickest access to funds will be through the Higher One account represented by the My Shoreline Card, a Debit MasterCard attached to a no-fee, checking account at Higher One.

“The first day of summer quarter is June 25, and summer quarter refunds will be available at the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 2,” Trippel said. “Students who have received both their financial aid award notification letter and their My Shoreline Card option will have access to their money on July 2, if they choose to have the funds deposited to the Higher One account.” While the card can be used at any automated teller machine (ATM), Higher One has installed a no-fee ATM in the school’s library for ease of access to account information and funds.

Students are beginning to receive their My Shoreline Cards in the mail now. Some students who still have refunds due to them from spring quarter aid may start to experience the Higher One system even before summer quarter, if they already have a My Shoreline Card.

The basic Higher One account includes features such as online bill paying, no minimum balance required, check writing, electronic statements, the MasterCard Zero Liability Policy coverage for credit transactions and no-fee incoming wire transfer from domestic and international sources.

In addition, Higher One makes it easy for parents, family and friends to transfer money from their bank accounts to the student’s account.

While the Higher One account is intended to be free to the student, some services may incur fees. However, Higher One makes available online a clear presentation of potential fees and how they can be avoided by following good personal money management practices. Higher One also offers the “Money 101 - Financial Toolkit” to help educate and build those practices.

Besides making it easier for the student, the new service will streamline processes for the college. The contract with Higher One was negotiated at the state level by staff at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Each of the 34 community and technical colleges in the state can choose to participate. Shoreline is among the first group of colleges to offer the service. 

Have additional questions?

Visit myshorelinecard.higheroneaccount.com/ or www.higherone.com  to learn more about the program.

Beginning June 1, 2012, the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) for parking, citations, and the appeal process at Shoreline Community College will be enforced without exception. 

The appeal process is not meant for repeated mistakes or excuses for violations. Parking without a permit, parking in life safety or signed areas, visitor lot parking or providing false information or testimony will stand as a violation.

Prior appeals for the same/similar violation are considered and per the WAC, the supervisor is authorized to let stand, suspend or impose a lessor fine.  Unpaid citations are sent to an outside collections agency.

The appeal process

1. File an appeal within five (5) business days. Be concise; brief, but descriptive. Appeals must include a copy of the ticket and a copy of personal identification (driver's license, student ID).
2. Check on the results. Allow five (5) working days after submitting the appeal to check on the results. The Director Safety and Security has the final authority in fines of $50 or less. It is the appellant's responsibility to contact the Security Office in the 5000 building, Room 5102 (206-546-4633) for the results of the appeal. We do not contact you.
3. If you disagree with the results of an appeal, request an appointment with the Security Sergeant.
4. If you wish to further contest the decision, request an appointment with the Security Director.
5. For contested fines greater than $50, the appellant may appeal the Director of Security’s decision to the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs within ten (10) working days of the citation date. The appellant must make an appointment to see the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs by calling 206-546-4651. The decision of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs in any appeal is final.

The Citation Appeal Form is available at the links below or at the Safety & Security Office (5000 building; room 5102).

• Citation Appeal Form (.doc)
• Citation Appeal Form (.pdf)

Budgets and the implications of them were front and center for the Shoreline Community College Board of Trustees at their meeting May 23, 2012.

The board voted unanimously to redirect a portion its own reserve account that has been paying the salary of Jane McNabb, Chief Advancement Officer and Executive Director of the Shoreline Community College Foundation. Starting July 1, the $90,000 allotment will be aimed at a new position that will focus on external government relations.

President Lee Lambert said that with increased uncertainty around funding and policy at the state and federal levels, the college needs to have a more consistent presence with those lawmakers. Trustee Shoubee Liaw, who worked in Olympia this past session, noted that while President Lambert and other college staff make frequent trips to the Legislature and have ongoing contact, a deeper presence is needed. Lambert said the new position would also handle his social media communications duties.

The resolution approved by the trustees also included a suggestion that the general college budget include half-time funding for the Advancement/Foundation position held by McNabb. Lambert told the board that McNabb had suggested the change.

Lambert also announced that the college is adding a grant writer, duties that have been parceled out to a variety of deans and directors in recent years. That position has been filled and Brandon Rogers, who held a similar job at Clover Park Technical College, is scheduled to start Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Lambert said the position is needed as the college pursues a variety of federal and private grant opportunities and dedicated state funding for higher education continues to decline.

That decline was made clear by Vice President for Administrative Services Daryl Campbell in a budget presentation during the board’s study session.

Campbell pointed out that the college now receives less than half of its total budget from the State of Washington. The shift in funding from a direct state allocation to state-mandated increases in tuition paid by students is the cause, Campbell said. He also pointed out that despite the headlines of a no-cuts state budget for higher education, the college will actually see about $1.25 million less from state for the coming fiscal year.

Campbell noted the current draft budget for the college anticipates increased spending for the International Education and Virtual College strategic initiatives. He also pointed out that the suggested operating budget spending level includes about a 2 percent deficit. Campbell told the board he is comfortable with covering that gap from anticipated surpluses from the current year budget.

This was a first-look at proposed spending for the coming fiscal year that starts July 1. The board is scheduled to adopt the 2012-13 budget in June.

Other money-related agenda items were centered on various student fees. In the study-session, student government presented a revenue-neutral fee shifting proposal. The regular-session included updates by Technical Support Services Director Gary Kalbfleisch on the first-year experience with a consolidated college technology fee and by Financial Services Director Stuart Trippel on state tuition increases as well as college-requested fee adjustments.

The students propose to reduce the student technology fee and increase the student services and activities (SS&A) fee by the same amount. They would also make a one-time transfer of funds from the student technology fee budget to SS&A. The shifts would increase the total budget, but not actually add any cost to students.

Why the moves? The goal, student leaders said, is to fund a pilot project referred to as Echo. Echo is software that can track students’ involvement in extra-curricular activities such student clubs and service-learning opportunities. Echo can then produce a verifiable, college-endorsed transcript of those activities that students can take with them, along with their official academic transcript, when applying to universities or for jobs. Echo is Shoreline’s implementation of the CollegiateLink product from Campus Labs, Inc.

Student leaders outlined two proposals, one at $1.18 million and the preferred alternative at $1.3 million. The student budget supports a long list of key activities and services at the college, including the athletics, art gallery, concert band and other musical groups, the student newspaper, discounts at the Parent Child Center and student government itself. President Lambert said the college supported the preferred alternative.

Kalbfleisch spoke to effectiveness and uses of the consolidated college technology fee that the trustees approved a year ago and was implemented for the current fiscal year.

The consolidated fee took the place of a variety of individual course technology fees and other assessments. The goals were to provide a stable funding source for computer and other technology replacement and establish a technology initiative fund for new projects. The TSS director said those goals are being met.

The fee has generated about $1.1 million so far this year and has funded a long list of technology upgrades across campus. Kalbfleisch also outlined projects that will be funded for the coming year by the initiative fund, many tied to the Virtual College strategic initiative.

Trippel took on the difficult chore of explaining how a seemingly simple pronouncement from legislators for a 12 percent tuition increase can turn into almost nothing that actually increases by that amount.

The disconnect, Trippel and others told the board, is that while lawmakers authorize the increase, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges decides how it is implemented. This year, for example, the state board chose to apply one rate of increase to the first 10 credits a student takes and a different rate to credits above that threshold. So, any particular student might see tuition increases that don’t add up to 12 percent.

And, when adding various fees based on student choice to that picture, it becomes almost impossible to see where a legislatively mandated 12 percent tuition increase shows up on a student’s bill.

Trippel went over the fee hikes proposed for next year, including increases for non-students at the Parent Child Center, materials fees for the CNC Machining program and others.

Jim Hills/SCC

Shoreline Community College Trustee Roger Olstad listens during the May 11, 2012 all-campus meeting. More photos

Shoreline Community College will receive less money from the state in the coming fiscal year, is moving ahead with a key strategic effort to better serve students and preparing for an accreditation visit in October.

Accreditation

First up was Norma Goldstein, Humanities Dean and leader of the accreditation preparation effort.

“We will have a mock visit on June 6 in preparation for the real thing in October,” Goldstein said. She is preparing informational meetings between mock-visit reviewers and college employees to help get ready for October. “The mock visit is one day. In October, they’ll be here for two-and-a-half days.”

Accreditation is an intensive process of institutional self-study and peer evaluation. Following this institutional review, a committee of peers selected by the commission conducts a comprehensive onsite evaluation.

Since its founding in 1964, Shoreline has been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The commission is instituting a new process for accreditation with the intent of better measuring any particular college’s performance against its stated goals. While not the first, Shoreline will be one of the early adopters of the new process.

Goldstein outlined some of the five chapters or standards in the accreditation process, which include:

1. Chapter 1/Standard One: Mission
2. Chapter 2/Standard Two: Resources
3. Chapter/Standard Three: Planning
4. Chapter 4/Standard Four: Assessment
5. Chapter 5/Standard Five: Mission Fulfillment

Each chapter or standard is applied against Shoreline’s efforts in those areas. For example, the commission doesn’t say what a college mission must be, but rather measures how the college is meeting the mission it sets for itself. Each chapter or standard is completed sequentially, then compiled and reviewed as a whole.

Campus internationalization

Social Sciences Dean Bob Francis and Larry Fuell, Director of Global Affairs, presented an update on the work of the Campus Internationalization Leadership Team (CILT).

Francis spoke of creating a roadmap for the effort. “This is not a top-down directive, this is a shared vision,” he said. “This is an acknowledgment of what we already do.”

Francis said the effort rests on four pillars, including:

• Internationalizing the curriculum
• Deepening student interaction
• Enhancing employee competence
• Building community relations

“We’re doing all these things now,” Francis said. “The goal is to be more intentional about what we are doing.”

Based on a report delivered in April to the college Senior Executive Team, CILT will now put in place an implementation group. The group’s general charge will be to suggest ways to move ahead on the four pillars.

Budget

Yes, the headlines say the Legislature didn’t cut higher education. No, that’s not the case, according to information presented by Daryl Campbell, Vice President for Administrative Services.

The true bottom line, Campbell said, is that the college will receive about $1.25 million less from the state in 2012-13 than in the current fiscal year which ends June 30. And, while it is also true that the Legislature and State Board of Community and technical Colleges have approved a 12 percent tuition increase, not all of that money comes to Shoreline.

“The Legislature says that is an offset,” Campbell said. 

However, statewide data shows a drop in overall college enrollments, attributed to the slowly improving job market and the fact that slashed budgets have left colleges with fewer class offerings. In addition, the State Board is skimming 2 percent of the tuition increase to pay for a new computer system called ctcLink.

The state gives money to Shoreline based on a static number of full-time equivalent students (FTEs), not tied to actual headcount. Campbell said that under the anticipated allocation, Shoreline would get about $3,500 a year from the state for each FTE. With the most recent increase, a full-time student will pay about $4,000 a year in tuition. “We are seeing a significant shift to the backs of students,” he said.

“The truth is, we are getting 4 percent less in discretionary funds and 27 percent less in non-discretionary funds,” Campbell said. “For the coming year, Shoreline will not take general budget cuts. There may be less in some areas, but those decisions haven’t been made yet.”

SCC/Jim Hills