Governance
Seattle Pathways is led by a districtwide Guiding Team and charter. The Guiding Team provides strategic guidance and oversight of the Seattle Pathways-related district and college initiatives, prioritizes funding and resource allocations, and provides high-level recommendations to the Chancellor’s Cabinet on decisions with significant budget, timeline, and operational impact. It also forms and directs implementation teams and subcommittees. All recommendations will go to the chancellor and college presidents for approval.
In addition to the Guiding Team, Seattle Colleges has established a Lead Team, which is composed of the leads from each of the three colleges and the co-chairs of Seattle Pathways. The Lead Team meets more regularly than the Guiding Team and will be integral to the communication of Seattle Pathways’ efforts across Seattle Colleges. The Lead Team will set the agendas and general direction of the Guiding Team’s efforts.
The same organizational structure is found at the college level.
Guiding Team Leaders
- Kurt Buttleman – vice chancellor, Academic and Student Success
- Earnest Phillips – associate vice chancellor, Communications and Strategic Initiatives
Guiding Team Charge
The Seattle Pathways Guiding Team will meet quarterly and will be co-chaired by the vice chancellor for Academic & Student Success and the associate vice chancellor for Communications and Strategic Initiatives.
The Guiding Team meeting will focus on:
- Review of quarterly updates from initiative leaders
- Creation and monitoring of a multiyear implementation plan for Seattle Pathways
- Sharing and review of related college-based initiatives
- Approval of new districtwide initiatives and subcommittees as appropriate
- Discussion of best practices and student success research
- Providing guidance and/or input to the Seattle Pathways Lead Team as requested
- Annual approval of the allocation of Seattle Colleges’ resources allotted to the Seattle Pathways Guiding Team
Faculty and staff will be encouraged to submit proposals to the Seattle Pathways Guiding Team, which recommends new projects and initiatives to the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet.
Guiding Team Membership
District Office
- Malcolm Grothe – associate vice chancellor, Workforce and Economic Development
- Melody McMillan – director, Seattle Promise
- Yilin Sun – district faculty development coordinator
- Daniel Cordas – Seattle Colleges project director
- Barbara Childs – director of communications and recruitment, Communications and Strategic Initiatives
South Seattle College
- Joe Barrientos – vice president, Student Services
- Sayumi Irey – vice president, Instruction
- Greg Dempsey – executive director, Strategic Initiatives and Institutional Research
- Jesse Knappenberger – dean, Student Success, and college co-chair
- Erin Barzen – Title III grant director
- Tish Lopez – English faculty and college co-chair
Seattle Central College
- Bradley Lane – vice president, Instruction
- Yoshiko Harden – vice president, Student Services
- Kao Lezheo – dean, Student Resources, and college co-chair
- Kate Krieg – associate dean, Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and college co-chair
- Sharon Spence-Wilcox – Library faculty
- Marian Lyles – Speech faculty
North Seattle College
- Peter Lortz – vice president, Instruction
- Toni Castro – interim vice president, Student Services
- D’Andre Fisher – associate vice president, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and college co-chair
- Aimee Brown – Title III grant director and college co-chair
- Caroline Pew – Chemistry faculty
- Alexandra Abeyta – Adult Basic Education faculty
Student reps (as appointed by each college)