SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
LCC graduates record number of students
Lower Columbia College President Jim McLaughlin opened his speech by mentioning President Barack Obama's challenge that the country produce more college graduates. "You are certainly doing your part to answer the president's challenge," McLaughlin told graduates, noting a 28 percent rise in degrees being handed out this year. … McLaughlin capped his address by thanking the students "for making me look good." "I leave knowing the efforts and work you have done ... will continue to benefit our community in the years to come," he said.
The Daily News, June 17, 2011
http://tdn.com/news/local/article_f13b6448-9978-11e0-8cb0-001cc4c03286.html
Ready, set, action: A window into the thoughts of today’s college students
Cascadia Community College recently graduated the largest number of students in its history. So, what’s on the minds of today’s college students? Corruption, traffic and zombies. Well, kind of. The end of spring quarter also marked the wrap up of a weeklong writing, acting and video production workshop in which students explored a range of surprisingly meaty topics.
Bothell Reporter, June 22, 2011
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/north_king/bkn/entertainment/124368549.html
Teacher, student go full circle /Pair have gone from teacher and student to colleagues
Brandenburg – who is known by his students as “Mr. B” – is a 2002 graduate of North Thurston High School. He attended South Puget Sound Community College and Eastern Washington University, and substituted for two years before getting hired into a full-time teaching position last August
The Olympian, June 21, 2011
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/06/21/1694160/teacher-student-go-full-circle.html
Megan's Mission
Highline Community College Running Start student Megan Johnson was selected for the national 2011 Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.
Evening Magazine, KING 5 TV, June 22, 2011 (college ID’d near end of video)
http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Megans-Mission-124387704.html
Proposed cuts would hurt Tacoma special ed programs
A few days before the school year ended, Tacoma school employee Albina Patterson received a surprise visit from a 19-year-old man who was in her class the first year she became a paraeducator. … So what about that young man who visited Albina the other day? She made a difference in his life, and he wanted her to know. Today he is attending Tacoma Community College and getting his associate degree in graphic design.
The News Tribune, June 23, 2011
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/06/23/1717218/proposed-cuts-would-hurt-tacoma.html
2-year college faculty resist layoff measure
Unions representing faculty members at the state’s two-year colleges pleaded with their system’s governing board Wednesday in Olympia not to adopt an emergency measure that would make it easier for colleges to lay off tenured faculty members in the midst of a budget crisis.
The News Tribune, June 23, 2011 (Bates TC, South Puget Sound CC)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/06/23/1717164/2-year-college-faculty-resist.html
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Gates Foundation Weighs In on Credit-Hour Rule
In a letter sent to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in April, the director of the foundation's postsecondary program wrote that the rule, which creates a federal definition of "credit hour," could discourage innovation among its grant recipients and make college more expensive.
Chronicle of Higher Education, June 16, 2011
http://chronicle.com/article/Gates-Foundation-Weighs-In-on/127933/
Colleges Warned Against 'Gold Rush' Pursuit of International Students
June 23, 2011
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Warned-Against-Gold/128003/
Funding scarce for training new hires / Skilled positions going unfilled for lack of qualified candidates
… Employers aren't stingy about adding and updating skills for existing workers. Carnevale estimates American companies spend some $130 billion on training costs. "But they don’t want to do qualifying training," he said. Darlene Miller, CEO of Permac Industries in South Burnsville, Minn., said the days are long gone when a new hire could learn how to operate machinery on the job. … "We just can't afford to take the time and the money to hire and someone to just shadow someone else and learn hands-on," she said. "The equipment is just too high-tech to do that." …
Miller says budget pressures at community and technical colleges also have restricted investment in the latest equipment and technology needed to teach students the latest skills. …"A lot of the schools do not have the equipment that we have — they can't afford to buy it," she said. "They have the drill presses, they have the engine lathes, they have archaic 1940s equipment. So the students have no clue what the real world is really doing out there." …
The nursing shortage is hitting Lifespan [Hospital]'s bottom line by more than doubling the salaries of those contract workers and adding to overtime. So the company has begun training from within, sending hundreds of its existing employees back to school and paying their tuition. The $350,000 cost of tuition reimbursements represents just a tiny fraction of the $850 million the company spends on labor costs. "We can either continue to fill that gap at double time or we can invest in our own employees," said Melton.
MSNBC, June 23, 2011
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43465034/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/
Murray rewrite of law aims to keep work program in sync with jobs
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Wednesday filed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the act, the first substantial update to the law since its passage in 1998. Among the key proposed changes is to beef up training for employed workers who want to upgrade their skills, to promote subsidies to encourage companies to hire and to better track what taxpayers are getting for their $3 billion-a-year investment. The goal: modernize job training that hasn't always succeeded in preparing Americans for a global economy. …
"We have businesses that want to hire, and we know we have workers who want to work, and this bill will help bridge the skills gap that separates them," Murray said in a statement. … A community college, for instance, may be eager to expand its program for registered nurses. But local hospitals may want more licensed practical nurses, Sessions said.
So over the past decade, federal efforts have shifted from focusing mainly on serving workers to serving employers as well. … Thanks to the recession, Axeon has a surplus of applications for any opening. The real difficulty, Williams said, isn't finding job seekers with the requisite technical know-how. Instead, it's the shortage of people who have the work ethic and sparkling people skills. "That's not something any legislation can fix," he said.
Seattle Times, June 23, 2011
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015398767_jobtraining23m.html
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
Dominoes Begin to Fall – Dammeier Running for Kastama’s Senate Seat
No Sense Waiting, Says Puyallup Republican, While Kastama Contemplates Bid for Secretary of State
Washington State Wire, June 22, 2011
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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