SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Olympic College announces five-day campus closure
Olympic College’s Bremerton campus will be closed from Sept. 1 to 5 due to a planned power outage, according to a statement.
Bremerton Patriot, August 26, 2011
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/pat/news/128475318.html
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Intellectual Development vs. Jobs?
I can assume that at least half of my students are in college primarily to get a job. Do they actually worry about procuring a job (even in their freshman year) or is that just their parents speaking through them? Is their future a looming monster, an opportunity, or something foggier? Could the pressure they’re feeling be a result of the depressed economy, the general uncertainty this new generation faces, or some gloppy mix? Whatever reason, that pressure is real and feels heavier than when I was in school. According to the 2010 Survey of America’s College Students conducted by the Panetta Institute For Public Policy, “Fully 68 percent of college students worry very or fairly often about finding a good-paying quality job.” This is up from 60 percent from 2009.
… As my composition student posed her “Can I get a job with an English degree?” question, I imagined myself in a similar position nearly a dozen years before, wide-eyed, talking … similarly with the very understanding philosophy professor who taught my freshman seminar.
But there’s a fundamental difference between me and my students: I graduated college with zero debt in a much stronger economy. Being debt-free has significantly altered my post-college path. … Most of my students won’t be this lucky. According to the annual report from the Project on Student Debt, 2009 graduating seniors had an average student loan debt of $24,000, up from $22,750 in 2008. Unemployment for recent college graduates also increased from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009.
Inside Higher Ed, August 26, 2011
Assessment As An Act of Care
… Perhaps what’s getting in our way of creating a culture that values assessment is how we think about the work of assessment to begin with. We hear that we have to do it for accreditation and/or because our institution’s administration wants us to engage in evidence-based improvement processes blah blah blah blah blah. We hear that it can improve our teaching (it can!), help us design better courses and programs (it does!), and that it can help us identify the strengths of our educational offerings (surely!). We hear that it can create more collaboration among faculty (indeed!), and can further promote student learning (all true!).
But what if we thought about doing it because we care about our students and their learning? Because we care about our disciplines, and because we care that there will be a future generation to contribute to and create new knowledge within them? What if we engaged in assessment because we care about our society, our environment, and because we care about having a well-educated, responsible citizenry?
Inside Higher Ed, August 26, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university_of_venus/assessment_as_an_act_of_care
The Secondary Cost of Digital
Could the rise of e-textbooks mean the end of markets for less expensive rentals and used editions?
Inside Higher Ed, August 26, 2011
The Parents Union: A new force for education reform?
Former Microsoft exec Scott Oki is tackling education reform through a pioneering new concept — a union for parents.
CrossCut.com, August 25, 2011
http://crosscut.com/2011/08/25/education/21235/The-Parents-Union:-A-new-force-for-education-reform-/
FRIDAY LITE NEWS
Toledo Police Memorial bandit caught in the act
Squirrel blamed for flag thefts in Ohio
Hate Your Job? It May Run In the Family
Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2011
Bleh! Stinky Food In The Next Cubicle
“Some people think, ‘It’s food. I can do anything I want.’ But no, you can’t,” says Anna Post, an author and spokesperson with the Emily Post Institute, Burlington, Vt., a consulting and training company. “You can’t just bring in hot pastrami and rye and fish stew, and heat it up and eat it at your desk and think everybody has to deal.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2011/08/24/bleh-stinky-food-in-the-next-cubicle/?mod=WSJ_article_onespot
Not your father’s Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
· Hipsteripsum http://hipsteripsum.me/
· Greeking machine http://www.duckisland.com/GreekMachine.asp
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