SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Entrepreneur thinks outside the box with Mobile Denture Lab
Abdul Shabazz is the owner of Mobile Denture Lab, a business that comes to people to repair dentures. … He learned that his talent [with dice] had an added perk -- he had the dexterity to work with teeth and dentures. With this knowledge, he went to Seattle Central Community College and earned an associate degree of applied science in dental technician. In 2003, when he moved to Las Vegas, he decided to open his own lab repairing dentures. … Shabazz said the traditional model of a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday business doesn't work as much as it used to. Not to mention, people don't want to wait a day, or even a couple of weeks, to try to get an appointment. "The 40-hour work week doesn't work for businesses anymore," Shabazz said.
Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 30, 2011
Committing to Complete
Many community college officials have pledged to increase completion rates. Now, they're asking students to do the same. … Collectively, the Phi Theta Kappa chapters' initiative is known as the Community College Commitment Corps. About 65 colleges [including Clark College and Spokane Falls Community College] have hosted pledge-signing events so far (alternatively, people can commit virtually via Facebook).
Inside Higher Ed, August 30, 2011
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Education Department Chases 'Pell Runners' Who Threaten Aid Program / Community colleges are often the target of spurious students who take their Pell Grant money and run.
When a prospective student called her office 15 times in one day to ask when his federal aid would be disbursed, Laurie A. Wolf, executive dean of student services at Des Moines Area Community College, became suspicious. … The student, she believes, was a "Pell runner," a scam artist who bounces from college to college, staying just long enough to receive a Pell Grant refund. Runners represent a small fraction of the 9.5 million students who received Pell Grants last year, but their numbers appear to be growing, particularly at community colleges, say financial-aid administrators and Educational Department officials. Their fraud costs taxpayers untold thousands and drives up colleges' default rates when the students take out loans as well.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2011
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Online as Last Resort
It’s looking like the online classes consist of two relatively distinct groups of students. The first groups actively seeks out online classes, whether for pedagogical preference or for work-life scheduling reasons. The second group is late-registering students who discover that all the most popular timeslots have filled by August, so they take online as a last resort. … Nationally, students who register last are far less likely to succeed than those who register months in advance.
Inside Higher Ed, August 31, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions_of_a_community_college_dean/online_as_last_resort
A Year After High School, Most Say College Is Worth It
One year removed from high school, 86 percent of new graduates believe that college is "worth the time and money," according to a new survey by the College Board. … Of those in college, 54 percent reported that their courses were more difficult than they expected, and many students said that they wished that they had taken more rigorous courses in high school.
Inside Higher Ed, August 31, 2011
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/31/qt#269269
Dalhousie [University] prof quits over parking
Dan Middlemiss and hundreds of other Dalhousie staff and students lined up Monday to buy the first available parking passes. After waiting for more than an hour, he decided instead to leave his profession of 31 years. … "I went straight upstairs, I said, 'I'm not kidding this time, I don't have to put up with this. I'm resigning,'" he told CBC News. Dalhousie, in south-end Halifax, has 2,000 parking spaces for 17,000 students and 3,000 employees.
CBC News, August 30, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/08/30/ns-dalhousie-parking-prof-quits.html
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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