WACTC-PIC Meeting Minutes
Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 2014
Bellevue College, Bellevue, Wash.
Sept. 30
10 a.m. Check in/Introductions
Kellie Braseth, South Puget Sound Community College , called the meeting to order. Attendees shared one area going well at their college and one area of concern.
10:45 a.m.
Practice time: news conferences with Jamie Holter, Lake
Washington Institute of Technology
Jamie shared best practices for news conferences:

Be simple, clear and declarative

Pick only two or three points that you want the reporter to remember

Practice: what do you want them to ask, what are you afraid of them asking?

Confront the issue head on and up front
Attendees broke in to three groups and practiced sample scenarios. Each group identified a spokesperson who gave a “press conference” with the remainder of attendees asking questions.
12:30 p.m. Working Lunch
Amy Goings, WACTC-PIC Liaison, Lake Washington Institute of Technology , shared an overview of
WACTC and offered to serve as a resource. She gave a brief update on the most recent WACTC meeting which included conversation regarding the upcoming legislative session.
12:30 p.m. ctcLink update and how it’s going on campus
Janelle Runyon, ctcLink , Shawn Jennison, Tacoma Community College and Carolyn Casey, Spokane
Community Colleges , shared information about the ctcLink project. The expected go-live date for TCC and Spokane is Nov. 17.
Janelle gave an overview of ctcLink. The new software and business processes affects 400,000 students and 20,000 employees in our system.
TCC is taking the approach to keep their existing portal in place while transitioning to the ctcLink portal.
Shawn also shared communications strategies for the upcoming change such as signage, stanchions for expected long lines, social media. Both TCC and Spokane changed their winter registration date to an earlier time to allow students to register under the existing platform.
Carolyn recommends that colleges audit their websites to identify which links and sites will need to be updated (registration links, etc.). Have those changes in place and ready for implementation.
2:45 p.m.
Enrollments – What’s an FTE and why should we be concerned about them
Nick Lutes, Operating Budget Director at SBCTC , defined headcount, FTE and gave an overview of how colleges are funded. Headcount is the number of students who come to a campus and FTE is full-time equivalent. On average, it takes two headcounts to equal one FTE. Nick answered questions from the group.

4 p.m. Competency Based Education
Connie Broughton, SBCTC (Secretary absent)
4:30 p.m. Advertising campaign: Pierce College’s take
Brian Benedetti, Pierce College (Secretary Absent)
Meeting Adjourned for the day
Wed. Oct. 1
8:30 a.m. Hot topics
Kellie started the meeting with a roundtable for hot topics. Topics included project management, name badges for faculty/staff, and emergency communications systems.
9:15 a.m. Small group sessions
Attendees broke into three small groups to discuss: anniversary planning, external newsletters and purchasing a CRM.
10:45 a.m. State Board Update
Laura McDowell, communications director, SBCTC gave update on editorial board meetings across the state.
SBCTC is working on their new website. They’ve hired a user group and are currently testing design.
They are also creating a student recruitment video.
SBCTC staff approached DES about advertising procurement which resulted in a draft memo which would give colleges an exemption on the formal bidding process. Laura will confirm when this is in effect.
SBCTC is looking for great photos for the new website and is looking to hire a photographer and also welcome college photos.
Allison Grazini, Legislative Director, SBCTC, shared information about the legislative session, which starts Jan. 12. She warned not to get too caught up in the McCleary Decision. Focus on our issues and our constituents. She gave an overview of each of the ‘asks’ for the year.
12 p.m. Website navigation: what LWIT learned
Jamie Holter, Lake Washington Institute of Technology , offered best practices and top tips to approaching a new web design. LWIT plans to go-live with their new site in Dec. 2014.
12:30 p.m. Meeting adjourned
NEXT MEETING
Jan. 29, 2015, South Puget Sound Community College
Respectfully submitted by Kym Pleger, secretary, WACTC-PIC