SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Wi-Fi scam could steal personal information from college students
College students may be targeted by a scam called "sniffing". Many schools like CBC [Columbia Basin College] and WSU Tri-Cities offer wireless Internet to their students. Security experts say scammers can set up fake "hot spots" on campus where students think they're logging onto the school's connection.
KNDU/KNDO, August 31, 2011
http://www.kndu.com/story/15369299/wi-fi-scam-could-steal-personal-information-from-college-students?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6210227
A Labor Day without enough labor to go around
… In this state, one strange statistic points to another remedy. While legions of Washingtonians are out of work, 60,000 jobs are going begging for lack of qualified applicants – an increase of 28,000 over the last two years.
The missing link in this disconnect is often education. A jobless construction worker or waiter may be hungry for work but lacking the qualifications needed to move into aerospace, nursing, software or other expanding fields. The answer is retraining, the specialty of community and technical colleges. .. Since mid-2009, state funding for Washington’s 34 two-year schools has fallen from $750 million to $592 million a year. The colleges nevertheless took on an additional 14,000 students – but more budget cuts would inevitably squeeze off access to critical job-training programs.
The News Tribune, September 5, 2011
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/05/1810199/a-labor-day-without-enough-labor.html
College holds grand opening for new campus
The new Bellevue College Continuing Education North Campus is a state-of-the-art facility designed to meet the growing needs of students and the Eastside community. BC invites the public to attend the grand opening celebration of its new campus on Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
KOMO News Bellevue blog, September 6, 2011
http://bellevue.komonews.com/news/events/664211-college-holds-grand-opening-new-campus
SVC awards McIntyre Scholarship
Skagit Valley College student Fabrianne Walker of Mount Vernon is the recipient of the SVC Foundation’s largest scholarship, the Sydney S. McIntyre Jr. Skagit Valley College Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is named for the late Sydney S. McIntyre Jr., who was a mechanical engineer, vice president of the Skagit Corporation in Sedro-Woolley for 20 years, and an active community member. The award provides full tuition, books, room and board for two years at any Washington state public college or university for students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in math, science, or engineering. Fabrianne Walker attended SVC as a Running Start student from Mount Vernon High School. She graduated in June from SVC with three associate in science degrees — in geology, in physics and engineering, and in computer science.
Skagit Valley Herald, September 4, 2011
http://www.skagit.edu/files3.asp_Q_pagenumber_E_2960
A farmer education — WSU, SVC to offer farming certificate program this fall
Beginning farmers will now have the opportunity to earn a “micro-certificate” in sustainable agriculture from Skagit Valley College through a new partnership with Washington State University...A two-part series of courses currently offered at WSU’s Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center — followed by a farm internship — will feed students into a third class at Skagit Valley College to earn the certificate...
Skagit Valley Herald, September 6, 2011
http://www.skagit.edu/files3.asp_Q_agenumber_E_2960
Study shows state's middle-class jobs not expected to grow
In Washington, the fastest-growing jobs will be those requiring a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor's degree, according to The Times analysis. Jobs requiring moderate- or long-term on-the-job training — most of which are middle-income — are projected to lag overall jobs growth. … Kimberly Wolfe, of Tukwila, 47, has alternated between temporary and permanent office-administrative jobs during her working life Employers, she said, expect more skills — and more specific ones — from their workers coming in, and aren't as willing to give people a chance to learn on the job. Wolfe studied project management at Bellevue College and geographic-information systems at Green River Community College, but didn't finish either program. Now, she acknowledges that she requires more formal training. "I need to go back to Bellevue and get the project-management certificate, and then maybe the AA in business management, but I need the money to do it," she said.
Seattle Times, September 4, 2011
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2016104361_jobs04.html
Chart: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2016104759.html
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Community colleges step in to fill 'skills gap'
CNN Money, August 1, 2011
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/01/news/economy/community_colleges/index.htm
An 'Instructor Like Me'
Minority students at community colleges are more likely to succeed when they have minority instructors, study finds. For white students, performance drops.
Inside Higher Ed, September 6, 2011
Gates's Own Brain Drain
Foundation loses several key members of its higher education team, prompting speculation -- unwarranted, its officials say -- about a shift in focus.
Hilary Pennington, director of education, postsecondary success, and special initiatives, told grantees in an e-mail last month that she would leave her position by spring 2012 … And now Pennington's deputy since early 2010, Mark David Milliron, is planning to leave Gates, as well.
Inside Higher Ed, September 7, 2011
Why They Chose STEM
Most college students studying for degrees in science, technology, engineering or math make the decision to do so in high school or before -- but only 20 percent say they feel that their education before college prepared them “extremely well” for those fields, according to a survey released today by Microsoft and polling company Harris Interactive. … Despite the emphasis in recent years on the nation’s need for more STEM graduates, only 25 percent of students said that was a reason they’re pursuing the field. Far more mentioned high salaries (68 percent, with this motivation particularly significant for pre-med and male students), the intellectual stimulation (68 percent, including many engineering, science and female students) and the potential for future jobs.
Inside Higher Ed, September 7, 2011
Student Affairs and Technology: Are We Ready To Support Online Learners?
Student affairs practitioners have often used the perceived diminishment of face-to-face contact as a rationale against implementing certain forms of technology. Communications tools, like the various forms of social media, are seen as being valuable avenues for connection-making, but face-to-face is still widely held as the favored method of providing support to our students. However, what happens when all of our students are experiencing higher education via the web. Online learning is the sole form of collegiate access for an increasing number of students.
Inside Higher Ed, September 7, 2011
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
Opinion: Help those hit hardest
That "American Dream" has been rapidly unraveling during the current "Great Recession" and is under full-scale attack by a corporate America that won't invest, banks that won't lend, and politicians who would rather fight over fake political crises, like the debt ceiling, than create jobs. … As austerity budgets are imposed across our country under the mantra of shared sacrifice, the great irony is that workers, the elderly, students, immigrants, the poor and the vulnerable -- the ones who suffer most under these budget cuts -- are being blamed for deficits they did not create. Never have we seen such an attack on the middle class in our lifetimes. … But the truth is we need a fair tax system and we need more revenue to create and maintain healthy communities. … However, the biggest impediment to creating a fair tax system in our state is the two-thirds requirement in the Legislature to raise revenue or remove tax exemptions.
~by Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
The Herald, September 3, 2011
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110903/OPINION03/709049982/-1/OPINION
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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