Committees

Terms Defined:

Committee: NSC’s committees are typically made up of people representing different interests—faculty, student, staff, and/or administration. Committees serve long term with different members rotating in and out, and each committee defines its own leadership structure. Committees aid in the effective operation of North by studying various issues and recommending changes to, or institution of, policies and procedures. Committees most often confer for the academic year though ad hoc committees or task forces may be developed and appointed at any time by the President and can exist beyond the academic year and are comprised by members of North Seattle College and/or the Seattle Colleges at large.

Council: A council can be defined as a group of individuals who come together in order to make decisions, consult or to deliberate on a common objective. At NSC, a Council must be approved by the President’s cabinet and have a sponsor from the expanded cabinet. Councils can include members from outside of North Seattle College and the Seattle Colleges as a district.

Subcommittee: A number of people from a committee (ie, a small group of people who represent a larger committee—can sometimes include members from outside the sponsoring committee) tasked to study and report on a particular subject area.

Task Force: Task forces are created on an “as needed” basis. Generally, a task force is comprised of people selected for their individual skills as it relates to its objective. Task Forces generally tend to follow a given timeline.

NSC COMMITTEES, SUBCOMMITTEES, COUNCILS, & TASK FORCES                   
2023-2024

Committee, Subcommittee, Council, or Task Force Purpose Sponsoring Unit and/or Chair Membership & Meeting Schedule
AFT Faculty Senate

The AFT represents higher education faculty (including both full- and part-time), professional staff and graduate employees, in all sectors of higher education. The AFT Faculty Senate is North’s representing body.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  AFT Local 1789
  • NSC’s AFT Faculty Senate President: Lyle Crews (Real Estate/Workforce Instruction Faculty) 
  • Membership is by union administered election process. Officers and Senators in alternating two-year terms.
  • Members of NSC’s Faculty Senate include: Lyle Crews, Deepa Bhandaru, Cristobal Borges, Geoff Palmer, and Cat Cabral
  • AFT Faculty Senate meets the first Tuesday of the month from 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Art Council

The Art Council raises awareness of Art on campus and, in doing so, prioritizes activities that work toward sustaining a diverse and environmentally aware community.

  • Sponsoring Unit: The President’s office who awards $1000 annually for the purchase of student artwork
  • Co Chairs: Art Department faculty Kelda Martensen and Amanda Knowles
  • Members include faculty, staff, and student members.
  • Current members include:
    Amanda Knowles, Kelda Martensen, Wren Lane, Paula Rebsom, Cristobal Borges, Tania Hino, Zola Mumford, Alissa Agnello, Deepa Bhandaru, Laura McCracken, Jillian Fisher, Toni Stankovic, Rakhee Phelps, Rose Buchanan, Karen Stuhldreher, Clairesse Jauregui, and KC Potter de Haan
  • Meet the first Monday of each month with subcommittees meeting as needed.
Assessment Committee

The North Seattle Assessment Committee (NSAC) serves as a central reflective space where the instructional assessment committee members collect, synthesize, and disseminate information to the college and the VP of instruction for future actions regarding student learning and instructional assessment. In 2023-2024, NSAC will focus on developing a Data Justice approach to instructional assessment and the Teaching Improvement Practice collecting of data and report.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Instruction
  • Faculty Chair Alissa Agnello (Math Faculty)
  • Administrative Chair Jill Lane (Special Asst to the President)
  • A faculty chair, two representatives from each Instructional Division, a student representative, the Director of Assessment, and a representative from student services.
  • Current members include:
    Jill Lane, Alissa Agnello, Laura McCracken, Vinod Sastry, Sarka Faltinova, Joe Smith, Toni Anderson, Ana Villar, Trish Root, Christina Sheehan
  • Meet monthly on Fridays from 1:00-2:00 p.m. hybrid
Basic Needs Subcommittee

The purpose of this subcommittee is to connect the campus community to and educating on the use of basic needs resources (Pilot in Starfish, using current resources, serving as a connection point), Evaluate & sustain current resources and creating new basic needs resources for students, and develop Infrastructure and communication – especially self-referrals, working through our systems for assistance requests, and communicating available resources to students and staff.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Leads: Maura Nakamichi (Manager, Benefits Hub) and Jeanette Miller (Dean, Student Leadership)
  • Members include Guiding Team members and anyone from the community who is interested.
    Members: Nakamichi, Jeanette Miller, Megan Bloomingdale, Shan Lackey, Kathleen Cromp, Tomoko Okada, Jordan Veniegas, Laura Lubash, Lareina Redwoman, Shannon Thomas, Galila Getahun
  • Meets every other Thursday from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Coding Subcommittee

The Guiding Teams’ Coding Subcommittee is intended to ensure subplans are deployed successfully and any improvements to the coding process are made. The coding subcommittee of Guiding Team is charged with: (1) Ensuring the new coding process is working for all departments involved. (2) Making incremental improvements to coding. (3) Tracking subplans

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Leads: Larry Speer (Asst Registrar) and Aimee Brown (Director of Title III)
  • Members include Guiding Team Members and anyone from the community who is interested.
    Members include: 
    Larry Speer, Aimee Brown, Kathy Rhodes, Brittany Harper, Kara Schwartz, Sarah Weiss, Jeanette Miller 
  • Meet monthly but not on a set day
College Council

The role of the College Council is to ensure that all members of the campus community are given a voice in the decision-making processes of the college through representation. College Council gives the college community the opportunity to participate in the development of policies and procedures and provide feedback in order to foster trust and collaboration with the administration.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  President’s Office
  • Chair: Jill Lane (Special Asst. to the President)
  • Members of the Council include 2-3 of each of the following groups:  students, classified staff, pro-staff, faculty, and administrators/management professionals and the Director of Institutional Effectiveness.
  • Current members include:
    Jill Lane, Myele Johnson, Zola Mumford, Emily Rodrigez, Tom Severtsen, Casey Chow, Ariel Zastrow, Cooper Sealy, Noris Daniel, Meseret Tesfaye, Julie Lyderson-Jackson, Katy Golshan, Jackie Le
  • College Council meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 3:00-4:30 p.m. in the President’s Boardroom and on Zoom
Curriculum and Academic Standards Committee (CAS)

CAS serves as the college governance committee responsible for curriculum and academic standards. Yes, this means that if you, as a faculty member, want to add or modify a course or degree or certificate, this is the committee whose approval you need. CAS meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, as needed to carry out its duties.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Instruction
    Chair Melissa Grinley (Psychology Faculty)
  • Chair rotates every 2 years.
  • CAS includes a secretary and one representative each from:  Advising, Credentials, Financial Aid, and Instructional Programs, 1 student representative, 3 faculty representatives from each of the following divisions: AHSS (including 1 from English), MS (including 1 from Math), Workforce (including one from BAS), 1 faculty representative from each of the following: Library, Counseling, Basic and Transitional Studies, and one at-large.  Also serving ex-officio are VPI and Dean of Workforce.
  • Current members include: Melissa Grinley, Mel Corning, Molly Brown, Sarah Weiss, Brittany Harper, Deepa Bhandaru, Scott Rausch, Kennan Knudson, Sara Stapleton, Melissa Allen, Shireen Deboo, Sam Wilson, Suzanne Schlador, Elizabeth Goulet, Heidi Iverson, Dave McConnon, Ninder Gill, Nausica Zorzi, Melana Yanos, Farideh Faraz, Peter Lortz
  • CAS meets mthly 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 2:30-4:00 p.m. (Boardroom,Zoom)
Development Day Program Planning Process Task Force

The Development Day Program Planning Process Task Force, a working group under the rubric of the Teaching and Learning Center and chaired by the TLC unit administrator, holds the frame for the process by which programming is planned and scheduled for the quarterly development day.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  TLC
  • Chair, Dean Dan Tarker (Library, TLC)
  • Members include, the Seattle Colleges Faculty Development Coordinator, the NSC Faculty Development Coordinator, Dean of Information Services,
  • Current members: Dan Tarker, Brian Palmer, Roberta Lord
    Meet as needed
First Year Experience Subcommittee

This subcommittee of Guiding Teams seeks to support and create recommendations for a comprehensive first year experience that is based in research, data, and student voice. This year, seeks to provide feedback on training materials for FYE class; create student surveys/focus groups for students participating in FYE class; create plan for FYE beyond FYE course.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Teams
  • Subcommittee leads: Cooper Sealy (Iterim Director, EDIC) and FYE Assst. Director (vacant)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus
  • Members: 
    Jenny Mao, Jessica Albavera, Jillian Fisher, Shireen Deboo, Julius Rodriguez, Pete Lortz, Josh Holloway, Alissa Agnello, Jeanette Miller, Jillian Fisher, Mari Acob-Nash 
  • Meets TBD
Global Studies Subcommittee

The Global Studies subcommittee is a subcommittee of the CAS charged with providing guidance and support to faculty who wish to apply for GS-designation for a course or who wish to incorporate GS outcomes into their instruction.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  CAS
  • Chair, Diana Ma (English Faculty)
  • This subcommittee is comprised of faculty who teach classes with the Global Studies designation or who want to earn the designation.
  • Meeting times TBD
Guiding Team

The group serves two purposes: being the oversight committee for the Title III grant and providing leadership and direction for Seattle Guided Pathways work.

  • Sponsoring Units: Instruction, Student Services, and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Community
  • Lead Team—Peter Lortz (Vice President of Instruction), Alice Melling (Executive Dean of Student Success), Aimee Brown (Title III Director), and Coooper Healy (Interim Director, EDIC)
  • Guiding Team is a group of people from across campus that includes members of the executive team, instructional deans, nine faculty members, leadership staff from student services, and others from all over campus. Faculty are voted on by their division and approved by their Dean.
  • Current members include:
    Rachel Solemsaas, Peter Lortz, Alice Melling, Cooper Sealy, Mike Sprouse, Tonie Stankovic, Jeanette Miller, Molly Brown, Brittany Harper, Kara Schwartz, Christina Sheehan, Jenny Mao, Neal Quinton, Curtis Bonney, Vashti Bryant, Melana Yanos, Dan Tarker, William White, Kathy Rhodes, Scott Ku, Caroline Pew, April Materowski, Cristobal Borges, Justina Rompogren, Noris Daniel, Lyle Crews, Elinor Appel, Caroline Conley, Tina Akinyi, Aimee Brown, Annie Garrett, Maura Nakamichci, Jessica Albavera, Chayton Remle, Jackie Le, Sabrina Springer. Michael Gianetto
  • Meets once or twice per quarter. 
Health & Safety Committee

North Seattle College has a safety committee that meets monthly to identify safety issues, develop solutions, review incident reports, maintain a safety bulletin board, and evaluate the effectiveness of the safety program.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  Campus Security
  • Chair, Arnuflo “Oso” Ramirez (Interim Director of Safety)
  • Required members: Arnulfo (Oso) Ramirez, Michelle Valint, Wesley Wofford, Kristen Burton
  • Additional Members:
    Dale Nelson, Myra Kaha, Greg Tessensohn, Laura McCracken, Willa Sweeney, Michael Saunders
  • Meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 1:00 p.m.
Human Subjects Review Committee

Human Subjects Review Committee

The Human Subjects Review Committee is dedicated to the ethical treatment of participants in research at North Seattle College. The HSRC reviews any research working with human participants at the college to determine whether that research meets ethical guidelines in protection of those participants.

The primary responsibilities of the Human Subjects Review Committee include:

Instructional Council Advisory Committee

Provides leadership to the college on all instructional areas including transfer, professional technical and basic skills programs.  In addition to the academic deans, other members of the Council represent expertise in technology, e-learning, student services, and several relevant units outside instruction. The focus is instruction more broadly and includes continuing education.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  Instruction
  • Chair, Vice President of Instruction Peter Lortz
  • Comprises VPI and representatives from several relevant units outside of instruction.
  • Current members include:
    Peter Lortz, Brian Paler, Melana Yanos, Vashti Bryant, Dan Tarker, Curtis Bonney, William White, Aimee Brown, Myra Kaha, Kathy Rhodes, Mel Corning, Rebecca Brown (represenating e-Learning), Melody McCMillan, Alice Melling, Jeanette Miller, Molly Brown, and Cooper Seally.
  • Meets 2nd Wednesdays each month.
  • **IC and SSC meet the 4th Wednesday of each month.
Instructional Support Program Review Committee

This Committee consists of faculty leaders of CAS, NSAC, and PR to share faculty views on policies and procedures with the Vice President of Instruction.

  • Sponsoring Unit:  Instruction
  • Chair, Vice President of Instruction Peter Lortz
  • Members include the Vice President of Instruction, the Faculty Chairs for CAS, NSAC, and Program Review
  • Members include Melissa Grinley, Kelda Martensen, Alissa Agnello, Peter Lortz
  • Meets quarterly though may meet more often if needed
Intake and Onboarding Subcommittee

Subcommittee of Guiding Team that supports the Launch Pad by 1. Identify and resolve barriers to the student entry and funding process. 2. Use student voice and data for continuous improvement. 

  • Sponsoring unit: Guiding Team
  • Leads: Leadership Position of the Launch Pad (Vacant)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus
  • Members now include:
    Kathy Rhodes, Jillian Fisher, Susan Shanahan, Jeanette Miller, Sarka Faltinova, Alice Melling, Christina Sheehan, Shan Lackey, Francisco Ramos, Cate O’Dahl, Lareina Redwoman, Ariel Li
  • Meeting times TBD
Integrated Studies Committee

The IS Committee, a subcommittee of CAS, oversees North’s Integrated Studies Program; this includes approving new programs, promoting interdisciplinary teaching and learning, mentoring interested faculty, and creating the yearly schedule of program offerings.

  • Sponsoring Unit: CAS
  • Chair, Terri Chung (English Faculty)
  • Members include faculty interested in teaching IS classes and a Dean for support and oversight.
  • Current membership includes:  Cristóbal Borges, Cathryn Cabral, Terri Chung, Jillian Fisher, Melissa Grinley, Zola Mumford, Caroline Pew, and AHSS Dean Brian Palmer
  • Meet monthly, usually the third Thursday of the month from 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Leadership Team

NSC’s Division heads, Directors, Deans, and other campus leaders join the cabinet regularly for agenda topics such as professional development, reports and updates, major campus activities and events, actions and decisions impacting the entire campus, communications, and other business.

  • Sponsoring Unit: President
  • Chair, Interim President Rachel Solemsaas
  • NSC’s Division heads, Directors, Deans, and other campus leaders
  • Current Members include:
    Rachel Solemsaas, Jill Lane, Peter Lortz, Alice Melling, JD Burchfield, Andy Dole, Kristen Burton, Toni Stankovic, Cooper Sealy, Oso        , Lyle Crews, Melana Yanos, Brian Palmer, Curtis Bonney, Vashti Bryant, Dan Tarker, Brittany Harper, Jeanette Miller, Larry Spears, Thuy Nguyen, Kathy Rhodes, William White
  • Meets quarterly on a Tuesday TBD from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Major Events Committee

North’s Major Events Committee coordinates the room reservations and set-up, IT/Media, communications, parking and security needs of high-volume events for both internal and external constituents to support successful community events, revenue generation, and cross-department collaboration. This is the team that coordinates with district for districtwide events held at North.

  • Sponsoring Unit: President’s Office
  • Chair: Toni Stankovic, Executive Assistant to the President
  • Members include representatives from Events/Rentals, IT Services, Transportation, Security, Facilities, Communications, Campus Operations and President’s Office. We are joined as needed by representatives of Wellness Center, and other groups within Student Services and Instruction. 
  • Current members: Toni Stankovic, Gana Ganbold, Pablo Basilio, Kevin Mooney, Casey Chow, Arnulfo “Oso” Ramirez, Michael Sprouse, Kristen Burton, Megan Valerio, Ariel Zastrow, Michael Saunders
  • Meets monthly.
     
Math DSP Subcommittee

The goal of this Guided Pathways Subcommittee is to make continuous improvements and review data for math DSP. Goals for 2023-2024 are to help with math placement dashboard as needed by IR/IE; ensure math placement coding is up-to-date; conduct surveys/review student data for continued improvement; work across district; communicate and gather feedback on how the math DSP affects different programs on campus

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Chair: Edgar Jasso (Math faculty)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus.
  • Current members: 
    Edgar Jasso, Sam Wilson
  • Meetings coordinated between two members
Placement Subcommittee

The purpose of the subcommittee is to ensure a smooth placement process for students and use data and student feedback to revise any placement process.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Teams
  • Subcommittee Lead: Justina Rompogren (English Faculty)
  • Members include Guiding Team Members and anyone from the community who is interested.
  • Active Members:  Justina Rompogren, Jessica Albavera, Cathryn Cabral, Jillian Fisher, Edgar Jasso, Tam Nguyen, Brian Palmer, Christina Sheehan, Larry Speer, Sara Stapleton, Kathy Rhodes  
  • Passive Members: Curtis Bonney, Shunsuke Kanazawa, Kathy Kwilinski
President’s Cabinet

NSC’s senior leadership team that meets weekly with the president. The president, senior leadership team, the president’s assistant and, on some occasions, guests reporting on major projects and initiatives attend cabinet meetings. In this realm, the senior administrators concentrate on the best interests of the entire institution and the people it serves.

  • Sponsoring Unit: President
  • Chair, Interim President Rachel Solemsaas
  • Members of senior leadership and the President’s executive assistant
  • Current members are:
    Rachel Solemsaas, Jill Lane, Peter Lortz, Alice Melling, JD Burchfield, Andy Dole, Kristen Burton, Toni Stankovic, Cooper Sealy
  • Meets each Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. in the President’s Boardroom and via Zoom
Program Mapping Subcommittee

The program mapping subcommittee of Guiding Teams is responsible for making sure all pathways have a dynamic web based map on the website and a robust review process. These maps should have both student and employee feedback. In addition, these maps should feed into an exploratory experiences website that help students narrow down their focus on what they want to study.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Leads: Kara Schwartz (Asst. Director, Advising and Student Success) and Aimee Brown (Director, Title III)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus
  • Members: Kara Schwartz, Aimee Brown, Brian Palmer, April Materowski, Cristobal Borges, Caroline Pew, Scott Ku, Jenny Mao 
  • Meetings TBD
Program Review Committee

The Program Review Committee provides oversight and peer review of the instructional program review process.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Instruction
  • Chair: Kelda Martensen (Art Faculty)
  • Membership includes faculty members from each Division and the Vice President of Instruction.
  • Current members include:
    Kelda Martensen, Pete Lortz, Caroline Conley, Erik Jaccard, Honorio Todino, Jim Eaton
  • Meets 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month from 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Research and Data Subcommittee

The purpose of the research and data subcommittee is to provide the campus community with additional data and ways to access data to lead to data informed decision making at all levels. The charge for 2023-2024 is to:

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Lead: Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research (vacant)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus
    Members: Michael Giannetto, Hugo Alamillo, Vashti Bryant, Noris Daniel, Dan Tarker, Caroline Conley  
  • Meets TBD
     
STARS Committee

STARS is an authorized, representative committee of Classified Staff which acts as a liaison between Classified staff and the college President, and as a conduit between Classified Staff and representatives to college shared governance committees and other college committees. 

  • Sponsoring Unit: Classified staff
  • Chair, all members
  • STARS Committee is comprised of classified staff.
  • Currently, this includes Emily Rodriguez, 
    Casey Chow, Sybrina Woodson, and Mel Corning
  • Meets as needed
Strategic Enrollment Management Council (SEM)

The purpose of this subcommittee is to create a plan and actionable steps for interventions in Strategic Courses; then identify a way to assess the intervention process, implement assessment, and begin to assess the effectiveness of the interventions.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Guiding Team
  • Lead: Curtis Bonney (Dean BTS)
  • Members from Guiding Team and interested parties for the general campus
  • Members include: 
    Curtis Bonney, April Materowski, Ben Roberts, Noris Daniel, Jenny Mao, Toni Anderson, Bill Barry, Sarka Faltinova, Dani Blackman, Dan Tarker
  • Once a month on Fridays for 1.5 hours—further details under consideration
Student Services Council (SSC)

Student Services Council is the administrative leadership team responsible for designing programs and delivering high quality and equitable accessible services that support North Seattle College’s mission of advancing student success, excelling in teaching and learning, and building a sustainable community.

  • Sponsoring Unit: Student Services
  • Lead: Alice Melling (Executive Dean, Student Success)
  • Leadership in Student Services
  • Current members include: 
    Alice Melling, Molly Brown, Rose Buchanan, Que Neal, Jenny Mao, Susan Shanahan, Valerie Hamilton, Brittany Harper, Megan Valerio, Christina Sheehan, Z Olvera, Grace Sakuma, Jeanette Miller
  • Meet 1st and 3rd Wednesdays from 10:00-11:30 a.m.
  • **IC and SSC meet the 4th Wednesday of each month.
TLC TAC

The Teaching and Learning Center technical advisory committee (TLC TAC) serves as a conduit between faculty and staff development needs and the TLC by providing feedback to the TLC staff and administrator on the TLC mission and projects, offering input on staff and faculty needs, and advice on best practices towards meeting those needs.

Sponsoring Unit: TLC

  • Current members:
    Sybrina Woodson, Nausica Zorzi, Chun Wing Tse, Karlee Ikebara, Robert Atkins, Thuy Nguyen, Dan Tarker, Danielle Blackman
  • Meet once a quarter
U.S. Cultures Committee

US Cultures Subcommittee is a subcommittee of CAS charged with providing support and guidance in meeting US Cultures designation outcomes, evaluate whether courses completed by students at other institutions meet US Cultures outcomes, evaluate new course applications to receive the US Cultures designation, and provide guidance on US Cultures outcomes and how they are meeting the needs of our programs and students.

  • Sponsoring Unit: CAS
  • Chair, Open
  • Faculty serving on the U.S. Cultures committee are faculty who teach U.S. Cultures designated courses and have an interest and cultural competence that relates to the intention of the U.S. Cultures requirement.
  • Current members include: 
    Cristobal Borges, Terri Chung, Geoff Palmer, and Diana Ma.
  • Meets as needed or at least once per quarter
Unit Administrators Committee

UA Group focuses on instruction issues with a specific focus on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This group is essentially for the credit side of the house.

Sponsoring Unit: Instruction

  • The Deans. Associate Deans, and VPI.
  • Current members include: William White, Melana Yanos, Brian Palmer, Curtis Bonney, Vashti Bryant, Dan Tarker, Peter Lortz, Mel Corning
  • Meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month from 9:00-11:00 a.m.