The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3:00pm on Memorial Day for one minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the United States. For the fallen and for the missing, we carry the torches of their memories.
It’s that time of year again—time to celebrate the outstanding faculty who make Shoreline Community College a great place to learn and grow. We’re excited to announce the call for nominations for the Exceptional Faculty Awards!
Since 1998, the Shoreline Community College Foundation, with support from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, has been honoring exceptional faculty members. This prestigious award recognizes dedication, expertise, and outstanding service in teaching, advising, counseling, and librarianship.
Who Can Nominate? Anyone! Whether you’re an administrator, alumni, classified employee, faculty member, Foundation Board member, student, or trustee, your voice matters. Faculty members can also nominate themselves.
Nomination Criteria*: Nominate an individual or a group of faculty members who have shown:
Exceptional dedication, knowledge, or achievement in their field
Outstanding teaching, advising, counseling, or librarianship skills
Superior service in their duties
*For more detailed information, please see the criteria listed below.
Eligibility:
Individual faculty members need at least 9 quarters of full- or part-time work.
Groups need a combined 18 quarters of full- or part-time work.
Previous individual winners are eligible again after 5 years, and group winners after 5 years as well.
Submit by end of business on Friday, June 14, 2024.
Let’s show our amazing faculty how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication. Get your nominations in and help us celebrate the exceptional educators who inspire us every day!
SHORELINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
EXCEPTIONAL FACULTY AWARD SELECTION CRITERIA
Exemplary Work Performance: Enriching the classroom, counseling/advising center or library with knowledge, experience, and vitality; demonstration to a superior degree the characteristics of good college teaching/advising; knowledge of subject, enthusiasm, clarity of presentation, ability to involve students, creativity, and student empathy. Achieve high ratings for teaching/counseling. Constantly strives to find effective ways to teach/counsel.
Other criteria that may be considered include the following:
Positive Impact on Students: Being a mentor to students and/or an exemplary advisor/ counselor. Providing service and special assistance to students. Direct impact upon and involvement with students. Specialized individual tutoring and instruction or promotion of methods that enhance a student’s understanding of and enthusiasm for the course material. Ability to accommodate varying learning rates or capabilities. Generates excitement for learning.
Professional Achievement: Unusual achievements of scholarly activities such as publishing efforts, presentations to scholarly organizations or community groups, research and consulting workshops, or continuing education courses. Evidence of excellence achieved in a faculty member’s area of responsibility. Possession of high scholarly standards for both the rigor and currency of course content. Service to professional organizations through holding office, committee work, etc. Recognition by peers in the profession.
Commitment to Diversity: Demonstrating a commitment and service to special student and community populations, either in a leadership role, contribution of time and energy, or promotion of diversity in the curriculum and classroom. A demonstrated commitment to student success strategies for minority, disabled and/or disadvantaged students.
Cooperative Spirit: That many of the activities of the faculty member are viewed by faculty and/or staff as having a positive impact on his/her professional capacity at the College; strong interpersonal skills. Maintaining a positive learning environment inside and outside the classroom. Makes positive contributions to the progress, well-being of his/her academic unit and of the College. Builds and maintains self-esteem of others.
Leadership: Innovative with curriculum or teaching methods. Unusual efforts devoted to ensuring the quality of the student’s educational experience at Shoreline Community College. Enthusiasm for teaching, for a subject area. Sought out by others for advice on general academic matters or governance issues or teaching methods, processes, or approaches.
Contributions to the College or Community: Participation in community organizations/College committees/campus activities. Evidence of exemplary service to the community. Extended learning and teaching beyond the classroom into community by involving students in special community activiti
Shoreline Community College is pleased to announce Brian Crisanto Ramos as the new Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. When asked about his new role, Brian said, “I am so thrilled and humbled to be joining the Shoreline community this summer! We have some exciting and challenging work ahead of us, but I truly couldn’t be more honored to be in community with each of you. As a graduate from our local community college system, I know firsthand the passion we bring and the impact we are going to make as we co-create a more equitable and inclusive campus for all staff, faculty, and students.” He will begin his new role on July 1, 2024.
Brian is a proud member of the Pipil, Lenca, and Mayan Nations of Manawara, often referred to as El Salvador and Costa Rica. As a son to Salvadoran refugees and a first-generation TRIO student, he is the byproduct of a resilient community dedicated to the uplifting of all people.
Ramos holds a master’s degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Washington, and also received a bachelor’s in political science from Seattle University, and an associate’s degree in political science from Edmonds College. For over ten years, Brian has served within the WA State Community College system. He began his career within student services at Everett Community College, working hands-on with students in Financial Aid and Workforce Funding. During this time, he worked to co-create and implement a new framework of equity, and thus transitioned to the Associate Director of Retention. Brian brought together various Tribal Nations and the campus community to create a space for Indigenous Students called huyadadaličəɬ, “The Place of Our Way,” where Native students were directly supported in an effort to increase Native student retention.
Most recently, he has served within the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Lake Washington Institute of Technology. In this role, he focused his work on reviewing and redesigning institutional systems through an equity lens, creating avenues to learn and grow as a campus community, providing guidance to departments, staff, and faculty on co-creating equitable changes. Brian brings a passion for relationship building and has created and fostered relationships at both Everett Community College & Lake Washington Tech with Tribal Nations, bringing Land Acknowledgements to life through accountability & actions.
Through his Indigenous roots, Brian has learned to challenge systems designed by, and for the dominant culture while maintaining himself rooted in the voices of his ever-resilient communities. Along with this, Brian is supported by an amazing fluffy white Dog named Appa, his service dog & best friend! Every week he recharges by playing board games, Magic the Gathering, and exploring new places while playing Pokémon GO.
Shoreline Community College & Bloodworks Northwest are hosting a campus blood drive on Wednesday, May 8 from 11:00am-5:00pm in the PUB Quiet Dining Room (9208). SCC students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to make an appointment to donate by going to https://bit.ly/SCCgiveblood24 but walk-ins are welcome (space permitting).
ESPN journalist Brady Henderson is scheduled to talk to The Ebbtide staff at 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 6, Room 9101 in the PUB. Henderson is planning to speak about his career and how he got into sports journalism, how he built a social media following and some of the stories that he’s covered reporting on the Seattle Seahawks. All are welcome to attend. Please email Ebbtide faculty adviser Jim Davis at jimdavis@shoreline.edu if you’re planning to attend.
Throughout May, the WAVES Program coordinated a series of events and activities to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, and we extend a warm invitation to all students, staff, and faculty of the Shoreline Community College family to join in. These events are not only opportunities for us to learn more about AAPI cultures but also to foster greater understanding, unity, and inclusivity within our workplace.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store:
Cultural Workshops
Guest Speaker Series
Film Screening
Celebratory Events
There are many more events happening on campus in May, so please look at the AAPI Heritage Month Calendar and save these dates!
We encourage all to partake in these events and celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with us. Let’s embrace
Please join us for an evening with acclaimed documentarian, National Geographic Explorer, and NY Times best selling author, Matika Wilbur as she shares her presentation “Changing The Way We See
Please join us for an evening with acclaimed documentarian, National Geographic Explorer, and NY Times best selling author, Matika Wilbur as she shares her presentation “Changing The Way We See Native America: Dismantling Native American Stereotypes.
Light refreshments will be served from 5:30-6PM with the presentation immediately to follow.
Shoreline Community College (Shoreline) welcomes Dr. Ryan Aiello as the new Vice President of Student Services. With an extensive background in higher education and a steadfast commitment to equity and inclusion, Aiello brings invaluable expertise and dedication to his new leadership role. “I am honored and grateful to be joining Dr. Kahn and the Shoreline team in its strategic efforts to change the dominant narrative to a culture that builds paths and bridges for all students, faculty, and staff,” said Aiello about his new role. Dr. Aiello will start with Shoreline on June 1, 2024.
Originally from Southern California, Ryan has spent the past three years in Phoenix, Arizona, and now brings his wealth of experience to Shoreline. As a first-generation, low-income college student, Aiello earned his undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Washington State University (Pullman). He furthered his education by completing his Master’s graduate work in Counseling Psychology and earning his Doctor of Philosophy in Education & Leadership (Ph.D.) at Pacific University, with a focus on the experiences of faculty and staff of color in recruitment, retention, and campus climate at community colleges in the Pacific Northwest. “I see Shoreline as an institution with leadership that deeply wants to serve the surrounding community and shape education towards closing equity gaps that have hindered people who have been historically oppressed and discriminated against.”
With over twenty-four years of experience in higher education, Aiello has served in Student Affairs roles at five distinct institutions, including Gateway Community College, Portland Community College, Pacific University, Eastern Washington University, and Washington State University. For the past two and a half years he has served as Dean of Student Engagement and Retention at Gateway Community College where he launched and moved Guided Pathways forward with curriculum redesign throughout the district, training around holistic approaches for Faculty and Academic Advisors, while implementing software platforms that supported multiple stakeholders.
Prior to his work at Gateway Community College, Aiello was also the Dean of Student Development at Portland Community College where he was the lead administrator and directly involved with Oregon’s first DREAMer’s Resource Center for the undocumented and DACAmented students. He was responsible for continued development after its first grant of $50,000 and was able to establish permanent general funding for operations and a full-time, exempt position within two years, even amongst declining enrollment and a challenging political environment for the undocumented community.
Outside of his work in education, Ryan treasures time spent with his wife, four boys, and four dogs. He can often be found attending extracurricular events for his children, exploring the outdoors, discovering a new favorite beer or coffee brew, hitting the nearest metro sporting or concert event, or spending time in his studio or onstage with his band ILL LUCID ONSET.
