February 27, 2026

Road Trips

As with every good road trip, there’s some pre-trip planning, some great vistas and, often, road bumps. I wish there were fewer bumps, but the college is well-equipped to respond to those.

Pre-trip Planning

May 14 is our last DIA. At the end of the day, we’ll have our All Employee Celebration. I am bringing back the idea of Blue Desserts. If you would like to bake a blue dessert for the celebration, please let me know. Don’t you need to have food on every good road trip? We will celebrate years of service, retirements, and the Foundation’s service awards at the celebration.

An update to last Friday’s letter: Gail Alexander, who formerly taught environmental science for Cascadia, was the one who coined the term “Cavoline.” Rumor has it that she is now teaching in her native Canada. (Thanks Sadie for the reminder.)

I was in Olympia on Tuesday morning and am there again right now. I have been working to map out plans for CC5. As well, I am getting intel on some other bumpy roads ahead.

Road Bumps

Inevitable difficulties are ahead on our trip. As I have messaged, we are facing a $1.7M deficit. Senior leadership, both in the staff and faculty domains, is scrutinizing in private meetings how we can overcome that hurdle. We will have more information next week about the impact of this. I know this causes some anxiety, but we hope to wrap up discussions, have a plan to get us through the canyons, and report out soon.

The legislature will cut funding for the total number of Running Start classes a student can take. I learned yesterday that they are not limiting the number of classes a student can take. That means a Running Start student can take a full load all the way through the Associate’s degree, but won’t be funded for the last 10 credits. I am thinking about different ways that perhaps we can find resources to help bridge the last mile.

The legislature has also decided not to fund COLAs at 100%. They will pay 79% while we will need to come up with the remaining 21% locally. This will hurt the college’s bottom line and was an unexpected twist on our journey.

And (leave it to the legislature again), the House has floated a proviso directing the SBCTC to study and recommend the closing of one community college and the consolidation of others. We assume that since this is in a budget bill, it is meant to reduce costs to the state. The SBCTC and Presidents are aware of this and are working to influence the course of this language or have it removed. (We will know for sure later today.) It is not a “done deal” yet and, even if it does come to pass, there will be much work ahead to think about how we sustain the community college system in Washington. Student tuition and the State’s allocation, when combined, are not able to meet any college’s escalating costs; there are definitely systemic problems causing every campus to suffer.

I am not worried for Cascadia. If anything, I hope our successes are the model for how other community colleges should be structured. The Executive Committee of our president’s group (on which I serve) has elected to form a task force to look at how our system can strive for sustainability.

Finally, and not necessarily a “road bump”, the senior staff will include Laura Hedal, Ifrah Mohamed, and Shawna Pitts until we determine an organization that works for the college. These managers will certainly minimize any future bumps we may find and will be helpful as we figure out ways to cut costs from our trip in the coming weeks. We’ll have further insights into the senior leadership design soon.

Great Vistas

Our Pay It Forward event on Wednesday was magical. Not only did we raise a generous amount of money (including $45,000 from Amazon), the student stories and community connections were inspiring. It’s always one of the top 5 stops for me on my Cascadia journey each year. We expect our total donations to rise over the next couple of weeks and will give a final count soon. Below is a photo of Founding Trustee Diane Campbell alongside Cascadia employee Jasmin Means at the event.

Our student Advocacy Board Chair, Muskaan Grewal, was honored by the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce this week as their Student of the Month. Thanks to Brittany Caldwell and Erin Blakeney for making that happen. In addition to her remarks, I was also able to connect with the packed room at Chateau Ste. Michelle.

And finally, our Board of Trustees assembled on February 18 to take a picture for long-time Friend of the College, donor, and former Trustee Bob Tjossem. It was a nice moment to continue recognizing Bob as he reaches 90 years old.

Buckle up!

Shoutouts

From the IN Box (speaking of Road Trips):

A big thank‑you to Erik Tingelstad for driving the Cascadia van to the Student math conference again this year. This is the third year in a row he’s supported our students in this way. His dedication, reliability, and commitment truly make a difference.

Shoutouts can be sent to FLShoutout@cascadia.edu.