April 24, 2026

Spinning Plates

Do you ever have those moments when all of your concentration goes towards keeping the spinning plates afloat?

That’s been my week.

Student Celebrations

First, let’s lead with student celebrations. Two of our students were honored this week as a part of the Washington All-Academic Team, Xujia Yang and Yumika Murakami. We sat together for lunch in Olympia yesterday and heard from a keynote speaker that helped articulate how successful community college students become in their careers.

Xujia Yang is a pre-nursing student who also works as a children’s language teacher at a language academy. She leads weekly teaching, motivates students, checks homework, communicates with parents, and helps with cultural events. Xujia also volunteers at her daughter’s elementary school and dancing club. After Cascadia, Xujia plans to transfer to an accelerated nursing program in Washington State and work in healthcare to support her community.

Yumika Murakami is a Business student at Cascadia College, currently pursuing a general business track while exploring interests in finance and business analytics. She serves as the Seattle Team Leader for the LinkedIn Student Club Japan and works as a Campus Content Creator. Through her leadership, she has organized cross-border events supporting over 100 students. After Cascadia, she plans to transfer to a four-year university and pursue a career in finance or consulting.

Congratulations to Xujia and Yumika.

Outfits

Next, outfits. Yes, for every event where Cascadia is on display, I think about what to wear. There are two coming up that you are invited to…the Foundation’s Annual Rose Revival wine event on May 29, and the Northshore Rotary’s Bingo Bonanza on June 1. (Please see below.) Both of these events raise money for student scholarships. We are thankful for our Rotary partners as they work towards increasing the number of full ride scholarships available to our students. For the Rose Revival, the theme is pink. I secured my pink outfit this week. For the Rotary event, the theme is Western Wear. My cowboy hat is ready.

Budget

Next, budget. We have calculated our 10^th day spring numbers. This allows us to determine where we landed for Fiscal Year 25-26 and how to proceed with 26-27. We started 25-26 with a $200,000 deficit last May, but by January that had grown to $1.7M. That’s a huge increase due to a number of factors: the state’s economy, lower international student enrollment than expected, higher benefits usage, and a lack of vacancy savings. Due to good stewardship of spending, we were able to knock that deficit back down to $500,000. This money will come from the Reserves.

We are still working to dial in the 26-27 budget. Please note, it will be an austere year. Our Goods & Services category is having to take the brunt of our forthcoming deficit so do not plan on a lot of discretionary spending next year. More on that in a few weeks.

Accessibility

Next, accessibility. This week, the federal government finalized a rule that extended the deadline for Title II (ADA & Accessibility) compliance from April 26 of this year to April 26 of 2027. Cascadia’s Technology Accessibility Committee has stewarded and directed this work over the last few years and we have made great strides in making digital materials accessible. The new compliance date from the government does not change our continued efforts to make our materials and platforms more accessible for the community.

Please continue to work on your department’s individual goals.

Still to come in the weeks ahead: Cascadia’s 2026-27 Strategic Initiatives and the Foundation’s 2026-27 Funding Priorities. Keep watching the plates!

Shoutouts

Shoutouts can be sent to FLShoutout@cascadia.edu.