Letter+of+Interest

=Section A: Letter of Interest=

Directions for Submitting a Letter of Interest (Step 1)
 * 1) Review the full RFP (attached) to better understand the intent of the grant and what will be required of your campus if selected as a finalist.
 * 2) Join the informational conference call Monday, September 19, 2011 from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
 * 3) Write a Letter of Interest and include the information listed below.
 * 4) Complete the Supplementary Questions and include your responses (on separate pages) with your Letter of Interest.
 * 5) Submit the a) Title Page, b) Letter of Interest, c) Supplementary Questions, and d) Vitae of Program Director to Washington Campus Compact by __Friday, September 23, 2011__

A. Letter of Interest //Please include the following information in your Letter of Interest (do not exceed 2 pages total, 1.15-1.5 spacing, 12 point font):// TD: Shoreline Community College (SCC) is thankful for the opportunity to submit a letter of interest for the Connect2Complete grant opportunity with Washington Campus Compact. The following items address the requested items for your consideration. Please see Appendix A for program descriptions.

>> >> Programmatic examples of that commitment include: >> >> To inform students and the community of these and other opportunities, the College uses multiple communication strategies. This broad approach allows the College to reach multiple constituencies using the methods that best fit their lives. >> >> Shoreline may be the only college in state that publishes a comprehensive daily online newsletter, according to a recent informal poll of community college public information officers. Known as DAAG (Day at a Glance), the newsletter is available to the entire campus community and includes everything from new education and training opportunities to on-campus events. >> >> The Web is, of course, integral to all College communications. The College is currently transitioning the main Web site to a state-of-the-art content management system that will allow more timely updating and delivery of key information. The College is also implementing online tools for emergency communications and taking advantage of smart-phone technologies. The College also uses Facebook and Twitter to keep anyone in the world updated on opportunities. The College uses a spectrum of paid advertising channels to inform the community including regional and local community newspapers, news blogs, direct mail and Web with customized messages matched to reach different populations. Shoreline also publishes and mails its own quarterly Community Report in a cost-effective tabloid-size newspaper. >> >> Data to measure the impact of College efforts comes from a variety of external sources, but Shoreline also has an internal team, known as the Data Resource and Assessment Group (DRAG). Led by the institutional researcher position, DRAG includes budget director and business office director. These positions cross departmental lines to ensure that results are appropriately quantified. >> >> At Shoreline, partners include the YMCA, Hopelink, Center for Human Services, City of Shoreline, EarthCorps, Teen Hope, Shoreline-LFP Arts Council, Shoreline-LFP Senior Center, Four Freedoms House, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden and MsK Rare Plant Nursery, Wonderland Development Center, Briarcrest Elementary, Meridian Park School, Brookside Elementary and the Power of One Senior Volunteer Program. >> >> Shoreline President Lee Lambert is demonstrating his commitment to collaborative ideals of Campus Compact, well beyond serving as a Washington Campus Compact board member. >> >> For example, President Lambert is the pivotal player in an effort to find common ground for collaboration by Shoreline and four of its neighboring community colleges. Known as the Five-Star Consortium, the group is looking for better ways to serve students. Through a Memorandum of Understanding that took effect July 1, 2010, Shoreline and the consortium colleges are leading the state in finding service improvements and efficiencies that help all students. >> At SCC, partners include the YMCA, Hopelink, Center for Human Services, City of Shoreline, EarthCorps, Teen Hope, Shoreline-LFP Arts Council, Shoreline-LFP Senior Center, Four Freedoms House, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden and MsK Rare Plant Nursery, Wonderland Development Center, Briarcrest Elementary, Meridian Park School, Brookside Elementary, the Power of One Senior Volunteer Program, and over 30 non-profit organizations for service-learning. >> SCC President Lee Lambert is demonstrating his commitment to the collaborative ideals of Campus Compact, well beyond serving as a Washington Campus Compact board member. For example, President Lambert is the pivotal player in an effort to find common ground for collaboration by SCC and four of its neighboring community colleges. Known as the Five-Star Consortium, the group is looking for better ways to serve students. Through a Memorandum of Understanding that took effect July 1, 2010, SCC and the consortium colleges are leading the state in finding service improvements and efficiencies that help all students.
 * 1) What are the college’s mission/goals and current or past activities related to strengthening developmental education and/or college completion efforts?
 * 2) Norma: Dean and two faculty are leads in Transforming Pre-College Education initiative for WA State; report sent to WA Legislature. College’s Core Theme Educational Attainment/Student Success identifies 4 indicators for ABE and developmental education and Core Theme Program Excellence identifies 2. College is currently exploring a variety of methods/resources to support developmental education including career navigators, several IBEST programs which have received national attention, and using its Student Achievement funds for a GED Advisor. Last year SCC had the highest points statewide for basic skills student achievement of momentum points.
 * 3) TD: SCC is dedicated to serving the educational, workforce, and cultural needs of our diverse community. (Mission) The college has five college-wide core themes 1) educational attainment/student success, 2) program excellence, 3) community engagement, 4) access and diversity, and 5) college stewardship. Each core theme has meaningful and measurable objectives and indicators with six specific indicators for ABE and developmental education. The college has successful experience in strengthening developmental education and college completion efforts including curricular research on developmental education, career navigators, several I-BEST programs, Career Education Options (CEO), Learning Center North (LCN), and using its Student Achievement funds for a GED Advisor. The college has also provided leadership for the Transforming Pre-College Education initiative. Last year, SCC had the highest points statewide for basic skills student achievement of momentum points.
 * 4) What experience does the college have with creating student opportunities for peer-mentoring, peer-advocacy, orientation, leadership, community engagement, and student voice?
 * 5) Norma: Last year the College began its peer mentoring…..program… Aura….
 * 6) Micaela: There are several opportunities on campus for students to engage in peer-mentoring and advocacy, leadership, community engagement, and student voice. The International Programs office has a very successful peer mentoring program that has been running since 2002. Each year they hire four peer mentors to help with international student orientations, work with students, and plan very well-attended quarterly events that are both educational and fun for students. Through this program they have successfully built a strong community of international students on campus. In addition, the Student Leadership Center and Center for Equity, Engagement, and Service, coordinate several annual opportunities for students. Each year, student government sends groups of students to Legislative Academy and Voice Academy, statewide conferences that teach students how to become engaged in the legislative process and voice their concerns about important issues. Last year they also started sending students to student rallies in Olympia and hosted an official "Civics Week" on campus, which featured a workshop about student leadership (taught by student leaders) and a speech from the Secretary of State, Sam Reed. The Center for Equity, Engagement, and Service hosts "Multicultural Week," which is an opportunity for students to attend or even plan workshops, events, and activities that are focused on multicultural understanding. They also send a group of students to the annual Students of Color Conference every year, where students learn about multiculturalism and gain leadership skills. Last year two of the students who attended the eventplanned and presented a workshop about leadership, after staff encouraged them to apply as presenters. yltp: In conjuction with faculty, Student Leadership also hosts SPLASH, a spring event that allows students to showcase their learning (poster sessions, artwork, music, panel presentations, etc.)
 * 7) Micaela (continued): Last year, two new programs were piloted on campus to increase retention and student engagement. The Transitional Programs department brought an AmeriCorps Retention Project member to campus to start a peer-mentoring program for ESL, GED, and ABE students. This year another AmeriCorps member has been brought to campus to build off of that foundation and grow the program, using workshops and group activities to build communities for our ESL, GED, and ABE students. **Aura can say more about this, I just didn't want to leave it out.** In addition, the Career Education Options (CEO) program, which serves students between the ages of 16 and 21 who dropped out of high school, started programming focused on retention. They put together a "CEO Advisory Group" of current successful students in the program, which meets weekly. The group gives suggestions about ways to improve the experience of students in the program, manages study groups that they started last year, and hosts at least one event per quarter for CEO students to get together. In addition, the CEO program has a mandatory study skills class (CEO 101) for all students, and each quarter brings a panel of past students into the class to discuss their experiences and give advice to new students.
 * 8) AMBER: Our Center for Service-Learning, coordinated by the Washington Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA, works with our faculty, staff, students and community members to create civic engagment opportunities for our campus. In addition to on-campus programming such as social justice guest speakers and awareness raising activities, the CSL coordinates several service events including the MLK Day of Service Food Drive, End Summertime Hunger Food Drive, School Supply Drive, AIDS Walk Team, and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Team. Our 2010 MLK Day of Service alone garnered 190 volunteers and provided over 11,800 meals to local food bank clients. In addition, the CSL works directly with faculty, administration and community partners to implement our Service-Learning Program. Each quarter designated courses engage our students in social advocacy with a 15-hour assignment to serve in a local non-profit. From Fall '10 to Summer '11 our Service-Learning Program placed over 400 students //(*may include duplicates)// at 50 non-profit partner agencies, which contributed roughly 1,500 service hours to our community.
 * 9) TD: SCC has a demonstrated history in creating student opportunities for peer-mentoring, peer-advocacy, orientation, leadership, community engagement, and student voice. Examples of student opportunities include the International Peer Mentors program, Legislative Academy, Voice Academy, sending students to rallies in Olympia, hosting "Civics Week" on campus, Multicultural Week on campus, and sending students to the annual state-wide Students of Color Conference. The Transitional Programs department developed a peer-mentoring program for ESL, GED, and ABE students through the assistance of AmeriCorps Retention Project members. In addition, the Career Education Options (CEO) program developed a "CEO Advisory Group" of current successful students in the program to build support for new and continuing students. Our Center for Service-Learning, coordinated by the Washington Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA, works with our faculty, staff, students and community members to create civic engagement opportunities for our campus. In addition to on-campus programming such as social justice guest speakers and awareness raising activities, the CSL coordinates several service events including the MLK Day of Service Food Drive, End Summertime Hunger Food Drive, School Supply Drive, AIDS Walk Team, and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Team. Each quarter designated courses engage our students in social advocacy with a 15-hour assignment to serve in a local non-profit.
 * 10) Describe the college’s leadership and collaboration efforts between different departments.
 * 11) Norma: All major academic departments work collaboratively through Dean Team, joint departmental meetings, and campus governance committees……
 * 12) AMBER: Starting this fall SCC is undertaking a new year-long, campus-wide theme of "food" under the direction of IDS/Service-Learning Faculty Liaison Neal Vasishth. Faculty across divisions and departments will provide common class assignments while staff will create programming and event activities all related to the food theme.
 * 13) AMBER: Also, if we haven't mentioned it I think the existence of Neal's IDS/Service-Learning position is also proof of collaboration across departments. With IDS Neal works to create connections and form partnerships between faculty in different departments to create enhanced learning communities. On the Service-Learning side Neal serves as the liaison between the Center for Service-Learning and faculty while also providing leadership to faculty already in the program.
 * 14) = NORMA =
 * 15) What unique characteristics, programs, resources, or activities of your college make it particularly well suited to implement this program (social media/technology, curricula, data collection, etc.)?
 * 16) Micaela: We are able to use any equipment that belongs to the Student Leadership Center and can also pursue funding for additional equipment,so if anyone can think of specifics of what we could use for the program (eg. cameras, graphic artists for publicizing, etc) we can add that.
 * 17) Jim: The College has a broad, multi-faceted approach built upon the foundational commitment to serve all students in our community. In these stressful economic times, the College leadership has reaffirmed that commitment, even while other schools cut resources for marginalized populations.
 * Service learning – Starting from the seed of a Washington Campus Compact/AmeriCorps VISTA grant, Shoreline is growing a campus-wide awareness and enthusiasm for service learning. Based on the models enabled by the grant funding, more faculty members are adding service-learning components to their classes. Many of those class-based projects provide very real support for disadvantaged populations. Those experiences come back to the class, faculty and campus, helping to shape future efforts.
 * Career navigator – With a special grant from King County Workforce Development Council and the Aspen Institute, the career-navigator position works with students in the Automotive General Service Technician program, which provides automotive maintenance and repair training. The navigator works with students who face barriers such as a criminal history, TANF status, household income, education level, ESL, ABE, etc. The model has demonstrable success and the College is looking to expand the service to other programs.
 * I-BEST – Recognized by President Obama as an example of putting people back to work, the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program (I-BEST) targets students with deficits in English language, basic reading, math skills and life skills. At its core, the I-BEST idea puts two instructors in the same classroom. One presents the curriculum while the other helps students get over their particular barriers. Currently, the College offers the I-BEST model in four programs, including Automotive General Service Technician, Manufacturing/CNC Machinist, Technology for Professional Careers and Nursing Assistant Certified. Shoreline’s I-BEST program is the largest in the state.
 * ABE/GED/ESL - Adult Basic Education students review and improve basic skills in reading, writing and math to advance in a job, to pass college entrance exams or to meet personal goals. Our GED students review skills and learn test-taking strategies to pass the GED examination and receive a high school equivalency certificate. The ESL program provides classes in reading, writing, speaking, listening and technology to help non-native speakers improve their English for life skills, academic purposes and the workplace.
 * International peer mentors – A program in the International Education program, the IPMs provide critical support to international students with both on- and off-campus challenges.
 * 1) TD: The college has a broad, multi-faceted approach built upon the foundational commitment to serve all students in our community. In these stressful economic times, the college leadership has reaffirmed that commitment to student populations such as ESL, ABE, GED, and developmental education, even while other schools cut resources for marginalized populations. To inform students and the community of these and other opportunities, the College uses multiple communication strategies. This broad approach allows the College to reach multiple constituencies using the methods that best fit their lives including the web, smart phone applications, emails, text messaging, Blackboard, Blackboard Connect, Facebook, Twitter, co-curricular transcript software, and in-person contacts from faculty, staff and students.
 * 2) Describe your overall support to collaborate with other colleges and Washington Campus Compact to develop, implement and sustain a successful peer advocacy program.
 * 3) Norma: Shoreline is part of a Five Star Consortium of 5 colleges, sharing resources and processes to streamline student access into our programs. We meet quarterly and often times more often as collaborative projects develop. Basic Skills faculty and deans collaborate on Literacy Week, …..
 * 4) Micaela: Since Shoreline is participating in the Retention Project, our AmeriCorps member stays in contact with other Retention Project sites to share ideas for peer-mentoring programs. This year's member has visited four other schools (with a total of 8 Retention Project members and programs) to discuss best practices, hear about successes and challenges of different programs, and share ideas for improvement. They also stay in-touch with other RP sites through biweekly conference calls and online discussions on a program called Base Camp.
 * 5) Jim: The College joined Washington Campus Compact in 2007 and began building the partnerships necessary for success. Faculty and administrators continue to work with local schools, community service programs, government agencies and non-profit organizations to fulfill the Campus Compact vision as “… vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy, committed to educating students for responsible citizenship in ways that both deepen their education and improve the quality of community life.”
 * 1) TD: The College joined Washington Campus Compact in 2007 and began building the partnerships necessary for success. Faculty and administrators continue to work with local schools, community service programs, government agencies and non-profit organizations to fulfill the Campus Compact vision as “… vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy, committed to educating students for responsible citizenship in ways that both deepen their education and improve the quality of community life.”