By Colin Hartke

When Lisa Skari started teaching part time at Highline Community College 18 years ago, she intended to keep her day job in a management position with a retail and manufacturing company.

But the work environment and the caliber of her coworkers at Highline convinced her to leave that job behind and pursue fulltime work at the school, according to Skari, who is now Highline's vice president in charge of external affairs.

Skari is not alone in her opinion that Highline is a top employer. A recent survey names Highline as among "Great Colleges to Work For."

Highline is one of 97 colleges and universities across the country that made the list compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education, one of the top publications in the education field. Highline is the only school in Washington on the list and one of 39 institutions featured on the list's "Honor Roll."

"It's an exciting honor," said Jack Bermingham, Highline's president. "It reinforces the success we've had and our commitment to our purpose."

The list is based on the results of a random survey of employees and an assessment of school policies and demographic information.

This is the first year that Highline has participated in the voluntary survey. The school has around 300 fulltime faculty and staff members.

The state has slashed the budgets at Highline and other public colleges in recent years. At the same time, droves of new students have signed up for classes at two-year colleges, according to data from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical College.

"We have more students with less support," Bermingham said.

Highline cut programs and laid off staff to plug the gap in state funding.

Bermingham credited upfront communication and close collaboration with employees as the keys to the school's ability to maintain a positive work environment as Highline faced the funding shortfalls.

"The budget crunch was a disaster at some schools," said Josh Baker, who manages Highline's program for personal fitness trainers. "It wasn't that way here because we felt like we were involved in the decisions."

The survey highlights several aspects of Highline's workplace culture, including opportunities for professional development, job support and a focus on the teaching environment.

For Baker, the opportunities for professional development have played out in his ability to attend a doctoral program in community college leadership while still working full time.

His manager has allowed him the flexibility in his schedule to attend classes, and funding for professional development has helped defray the cost of tuition, Baker said.

Highline's support for employees does not end with formal education programs, said Amelia Phillips, a member of the school's faculty.

"Highline helps us follow our interests, whether that means looking for grants to bring in new technology or starting a new course," said Phillips, who teaches classes focused on computer forensics and data recovery.

This year, Phillips' interests led her to ask Highline's administration to host a college cyber defense competition. The administration gave her a green light. Industry professionals participated in the event, and eight college teams competed in challenges designed to give them the skills needed to defend business networks against the world's best hackers.

"I'm really proud that our teaching environment is recognized," said college president Bermingham. "This goes right to the heart of student success."