Highline Community College

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATELY

DATE: November 15, 2007

CONTACT: Lisa Skari, (206) 878-3710, ext. 3705; lskari@highline.edu

Highline Community College Trustee Elected to National Board

Dedicated community leader will represent Pacific Region

DES MOINES, Wash. — Current Trustee and past chair of the Highline Community College board, Dr. Elizabeth Chen of Federal Way, Washington, has been elected to serve as the Pacific region director on the board of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) for a two-year term.

ACCT is a not-for-profit membership association composed of more than 6,500 publicly elected and appointed trustees serving on the 600 governing boards of community, junior and technical colleges in the United States, Canada and England.  The mission of ACCT is to promote effective board governance through advocacy and education.

As an advocate for higher education, Chen has served ACCT as past president of the Asian Caucus and former chair of the Diversity Committee. In May 2006, she was named “Trustee of the Year” by Washington’s Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges (TACTC), recognizing her more than ten years of dedicated service to Highline and the state’s higher education system.

Dr. Chen has been an outstanding member of the Highline Community College Board,” says Dr. Jack Bermingham, interim Highline president. “Her energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the mission of community colleges will serve her well in this new position at ACCT.”

Her contributions extend beyond Highline’s campus. She has presented and facilitated sessions at national conferences. She has served as TACTC’s treasurer (2003–05) and has chaired Highline’s Board of Trustees three times (2006-07, 2001–02 and 1997–98).

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Outside of her duties as a trustee, she is an adviser to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.

With degrees in Statistics [M.S. and Ph.D., University of Wyoming], she is also an expert in Chinese language and culture. She served as a translator and the college’s representative on visits to China and Taiwan. Dr. Chen has provided significant guidance for the College’s partnerships in China as well as the broader “internationalization” of the institution. She consistently supports Highline’s commitment to pursuing strategies that successfully serve its diverse and multifaceted community and has been directly involved in assessing the college’s progress on serving students of color. She has also advocated for increasing the number of faculty and staff of color, believing that faculty diversity will improve the recruitment and retention of students of color. Her quiet, yet powerful leadership style gives her great credibility with Highline students, faculty, staff, fellow trustees, legislators and community members.

“Our community and state are indeed privileged to have an individual like Elizabeth Chen quietly devote such an admirable effort to community betterment,” says Karen Vander Ark, Chair of the Highline Community College Board of Trustees.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 9,500 students and 350,000 alumni, it is one of the state’s largest institutions of higher education. The college offers a wide range of academic transfer and professional-technical education programs, with day, evening and weekend classes. Highline takes a multi-cultural approach to education for the success of all its students and the prosperity of its surrounding communities. At the core of Highline’s mission and vision are the principles of

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stewardship for all students, regardless of their backgrounds. Highline does this by participating in and leading innovative local, state, national and international initiatives. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida and noted author Ann Rule.

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