SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Pasco, Washington, Gets FIRST Facelift
Pasco, Washington’s downtown business district is undergoing a transformation. Once a thriving shopping core, the downtown area experienced a decline in business flow due to high increases in commercial and residential growth. Columbia Basin College (CBC) is using its 2009 Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement the Façade Improvement, Revitalization, and Support Training (FIRST) program to address the city’s urgent need for downtown economic revitalization and continuing business education for small business owners.
Diversity Works, June 3, 2011
http://www.oup.org/files/pubs/newsletter/Diversity6-3.pdf
Vancouver grad in limbo after $11,400 scholarship evaporates
This year, in the scramble to cut spending and bridge a $5 billion budget deficit, lawmakers suspended the Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE) scholarship for at least the next two years. The cut will save the state $6 million over the next three academic years. … With tuition, fees, books, and room and board, her costs at EWU are likely to exceed $21,000 a year. If she’s not approved for the loans, Lackaff said, she’ll likely attend Clark College.
The Columbian, June 17, 2011
http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jun/17/bloodied-by-the-budget-ax-scholarship-evaporates-i/
SPSCC grads set to begin anew
The Olympian, June 18, 2011
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/06/18/1691237/spscc-grads-set-to-begin-anew.html
Sons make a man out of dad
Clark College graduate Shaynne Goodwin
The Columbian, June 19, 2011
http://www.clark.edu/news_center/articles/documents/SonsMakeADadColumbian06-19-11.pdf
Ocean program for high school students gets a waterfront home
A marine research academy for high school students is moving where it's always wanted to be -- on the waterfront. Everett Community College's Ocean Research College Academy has agreed to lease 5,723 square feet at the Port of Everett's new Waterfront Center … The two-year program, which uses the Running Start model, has about 40 new students each year who work to finish high school and earn a college associate degree simultaneously. The students study together and take classes that build and focus on the local marine environment as a unifying theme.
The Herald, June 20, 2011
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110620/BIZ/706209981/1005/biz
99ers help enumerate how far Pierce County economy has fallen
Our forecast right now is it’s winter in America. It’s winter in Pierce County, and there is no help coming,” Bates Technical College President Lyle Quasim told about 200 people at The Evergreen State College’s Tacoma campus Tuesday. … The numbers back him up. Just ask the 99ers. Those are the people who lost their jobs and are fast running out of the unemployment benefits on which they’ve survived for 99 weeks. About 6,500 people in Pierce County are in that spot.
The News Tribune, June 22, 2011
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/06/22/1715633/99ers-help-enumerate-how-far-pierce.html
Seen in Puget Sound: Tropical dolphin, algae bloom -- oh my!
“This is a kind of plankton called noctiluca. Noctiluca grows in the sunshine, just like your grass grows in the sun," said Rus Higley, a professor of marine sciences at Highline Community College. Right now, it's growing and growing and growing. Higley used the powerful microscopes at Highline Community College's Marine and Science Technology Center to get a close-up view of the carnivorous plankton.
KOMO News, June 21, 2011
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/124325034.html
Deaf TCC Student's Aerospace Engineering Career Blasting Off With Microgravity Experiment At NASA
Eric Shear didn’t let his physical disability limit his dreams. Now, the student at Tacoma Community College outside of University Place is doing something few of us would even fathom, let alone accomplish, all at the world’s space headquarters. He is leading a team of engineers on a microgravity experiment at NASA – yes, NASA – at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
University Place Patch, June 21, 2011
Looking for a fresh start / More adults head back to school when job plans are derailed by the economy
Edmonds Community College has seen steady increases in enrollment since the start of the recession, said Marty Cavalluzzi, EdCC's vice president for instruction. … A full 14 percent of newly admitted students already hold a bachelor's degree or higher. … One of those returning students is Marti Smithsund, of Seattle, who recently graduated from EdCC with a certificate in program management. … With a degree in zoology from the University of California and a certificate in training from the University of Washington, she worked as a corporate trainer for more than 15 years. As the economy soured, projects declined.
The Herald, June 22, 2011
http://heraldnet.com/article/20110622/TWH01/706229905/-1/News
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
The Complexity of Counseling Transfer Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 1, 2011
Thttp://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/the-complexity-of-counseling-transfer-students/28376
The Challenge for Community Colleges
The first analysis, published by The Chronicle, found that state legislators—who provide the bulk of funding to community colleges—appear to have little personal experience with attending two-year institutions … Exposure doesn’t guarantee sympathy, but when it comes time to divvy up money, the fact that so few legislators appear to have gone to community college may reduce the sector’s political capital. At two-year colleges, public spending averages $9,184 per student, compared with $13,819 per student at public research universities.
A second analysis published this week, this one by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, found that community colleges and for-profit institutions are increasingly the schools of choice for low-income students. … Of course, at one level, the strong presence of low-income students is the pride and glory of the community-college sector. But the concentration of poverty in community colleges also brings vulnerabilities that hurt the chances of students graduating, such as inadequate resources and lower levels of expectations. … If community colleges wish to provide a better learning environment for all students, including low-income students, they would do well to take creative steps to draw more affluent students alongside low-income and working-class pupils.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 15, 2011
Editorial: Washington's higher ed caught in financial vice [sic]
Tri-City Herald, June 20, 2011
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/06/20/1536463/washingtons-higher-ed-caught-in.html
Saying More With Less
To focus institutions, some administrators have taken the unconventional step of creating exceptionally short mission statements, and placing them front and center. more
Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/06/20/colleges_pare_down_mission_statements_to_stand_out
Reports Launch Effort on Education of Minority Males
The College Board is today launching a new campaign to promote educational attainment and economic success of young minority males.
Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/06/20/qt#262890
Objecting to More Lawyers
Three law schools announced that they will shrink the size of their incoming class in the face of poor job prospects and other pressures.
Inside Higher Ed, June 21, 2011
Online Universities Offer Lower Tuition In A Period Of Spiking College Costs
WGU Washington was created this year by the Legislature in partnership with WGU Washington's national parent organization. The school's first chancellor is Jean Floten and she recently left Bellevue College after being president there for the past 23 years. Floten says online schooling is more tailored to an individual's needs.
KUOW FM, June 21, 2011
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=23747
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
Opinion: Lip-service investments in higher ed
The Herald, June 22, 2011
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110622/OPINION04/706229991/-1/OPINION
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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