SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Temporary homes found for district’s science magnet school
The Vancouver school district, Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver have come together to bring Clark County one step closer to its long-planned STEM high school … The school will move to a permanent site eventually, said Bob Knight, president of Clark College. But in the meantime, having high school students mingle with college kids at WSUV is a win-win for everyone involved, Knight said. The younger students can get comfortable with a college atmosphere, he added.
The school district will pay rent, as yet undetermined, to Clark. And Clark College hopes the ambitious kids will sign up for its courses after they graduate, he said.
The STEM students also will be able to earn college credits while working toward their high school diplomas.
The Columbian, January 5, 2012
http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/jan/05/temporary-homes-found-for-districts-science-magnet/
Despite recent tragedy, students prepare to become park rangers
Nationwide, there are nine accredited academies for entry level law enforcement park rangers. Several students said they chose the course at Skagit Valley College because it has a reputation for being one of the best.
KOMO News, January 5, 2012
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/In-wake-of-recent-tragedy-students-prepare-to-become-Park-Rangers-136782803.html?tab=video&c=y
'The Pregnancy Project' due as book and TV movie
Gaby Rodriguez, then a 17-year-old high-school honor student in Toppenish, Wash., landed in the media spotlight when she announced that she had feigned a pregnancy as an experiment for her senior project. The widespread attention…led to a book contract with Simon & Schuster, as well as a TV movie deal with Lifetime. The author, who is now a freshman at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash…
Publishers Weekly, January 5, 2012
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/50051-the-pregnancy-project-due-as-book-and-tv-movie.html
E-Books To Cut College Costs
Rep. Reuven Carlyle's new legislation that builds on the Open Course Library.
KUOW NPR, The Conversation, January 6, 2012
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=25602 - Jump to the end of audio clip to 13:15
‘Having a lovely time at SPSCC’: Auction shows off community creativity
“Wish You Were Here,” an exhibit of postcard-inspired — and postcard-size — art, opens Wednesday at South Puget Sound Community College. The unjuried exhibit features more than 250 works by about 75 artists who range from the well-known — including Joe Batt, Marilyn Bedford and Steven Suski — to the novice — including 9-year-old Kianna Peebles.
The Olympian, January 6, 2012
http://www.theolympian.com/2012/01/06/1937736/pick-up-striking-souvenirs-from.html
Budget, future plans among topics at Clark College President Bob Knight's annual address
It's no secret that state support for public higher education has declined over the past years. Clark College, for instance has gone from a state-supported institution to a state-assisted one. … Funding for Clark College has dropped by more than $10 million since 2009. As a result, the burden to pay for education has shifted more heavily on students.
The Oregonian, January 5, 2012
http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/index.ssf/2012/01/post_18.htm
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee touts RTC's importance to economic recovery
Gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee visited Renton Technical College's campus on Friday afternoon and heard from students and instructors on the present state of education. Inslee, who represents the state's 1st District in Congress, got a quick tour of selected campus programs and then sat down for a roundtable discussion with students, RTC Board of Trustees member Susan Palmer and RTC President Steve Hanson. Inslee's opponent, Rob McKenna, visited the campus recently as well.
The Renton Reporter, January 6, 2012
http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/136855288.html
Governor appoints Auburn mayor to Green River Community College Board of Trustees
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office announced Tuesday the appointment of Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis to the Green River Community College Board of Trustees. The appointment fills a vacancy left after Trustee Larry Brown was appointed in November by Gregoire to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Auburn Reporter, January 6, 2012
http://www.auburn-reporter.com/news/136822023.html
Raising the barriers: restricting access to scientific literature will hurt STEM education
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (New York) and Congressman Darrell Issa (California) are co-sponsoring a bill to restore the limits on public access to NIH-funded research. I've written many times before about the challenges that community college faculty and students have in getting access to scientific papers. … Maloney and Issa might not be aware of this, but faculty and students at 1,167 community and technical colleges will be negatively impacted by this bill. Many community college faculty rely on open access materials. Not only are these publications important tools for keeping our understanding current, we rely on these publications to help educate our students. … At Shoreline Community College students in the Molecular Biology course give presentations on research papers. … What? Why didn't our students go to the library? Community colleges don't carry many journals since subscriptions are often too expensive. As a faculty member, we were told not to request journals since our library was prohibited from ordering them.
By Sandra Porter, formerly of Seattle Central CC
Science Blogs, January 6, 2012
http://scienceblogs.com/digitalbio/2012/01/raising_the_barriers_restricti.php
Boat fabricator carves himself a niche
Chad Crozier is a great example of a homegrown entrepreneur on the North Olympic Peninsula. … Chad owns Crozier Craft, which is one of the three aluminum boat fabricating companies on the North Olympic Peninsula … Chad spent his youth in Joyce and then headed east to attend Spokane Community College to take advantage of the welding and fabricating program. … Chad began Crozier Craft in the fall of 2008, and since then has built nine mono-hull boats ranging from 16 feet to 28 feet.
The Peninsula Daily News, January 7, 2012
INHS to offer paramedic course
Inland Northwest Health Services will begin offering a paramedic training program in March, filling a gap left after Spokane Community College stopped offering those courses for budgetary reasons. Since SCC dropped its paramedic program in the fall, the closest place that training has been available is the Tri-Cities, school officials said. The classes here were often filled with firefighters from Eastern Washington and North Idaho, as well as employees of American Medical Response, which provides ambulance service locally.
Spokesman Review, January 7, 2012
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/jan/07/inhs-to-offer-paramedic-course/
Class lets EdCC environmental anthropology students dig dirt
Environmental anthropology students plant trees for salmon
The Herald, January 9, 2012
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120109/NEWS01/701099968
‘Leadership Vacuum’ Undermines Higher Education in Washington State, Study Finds
The State of Washington has developed a reputation as a well-educated place, teeming with high-tech wizards who work in the computer industry. But that image masks policy problems that threaten the state’s economic future, according to a report from the Institute for Higher Education Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 9, 2012
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Opposing view: Three-year degree is not a solution
The three-year bachelor's degree has been hailed by some as the solution to cutting college costs, allowing students to graduate and enter the job market sooner. It has one fundamental flaw, however, in that it benefits only those students who have the highest academic aptitude and the financial means to attend college full-time, year-around, for three years. … Critical to this nation's economic competitiveness is a focus on the success of all students. This focus must include those who come from low-income households, minorities, first-generation college-goers, and older adults who completed some college but fell short of having earned a degree. All told, it's a wide swath of the population, consisting of individuals who likely need some remedial education, who need to work while attending college, and for whom the three-year degree has no utility whatsoever.
USA Today, December 14, 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2011-12-14/three-year-bachelors-degree/51932594/1
Cash-strapped universities look at cutting remedial classes
McClatchy News, December 28, 2011
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/28/v-print/134299/cash-strapped-universities-look.html
Minimal changes to Pell Grant are met with relief
Congress avoided an overall reduction by making a few changes expected to affect a smaller number of students — though some of them severely. Among the changes that start in July:
• Pell Grant eligibility was reduced from 18 semesters to 12 semesters, meaning that once students use a Pell Grant for six years, they are cut off from additional funding. The measure is expected to affect 100,000 students nationally.
• There's a change in how aid is calculated for some low-income families. …
• Only those students with a high school diploma or GED certificate will be eligible for Pell Grants. [i.e. Ability to Benefit no longer a criterion]
STL Today (St. Louis), January 3, 2012
Two-year colleges in California move toward rationing student access
Inside Higher Ed, January 5, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/05/two-year-colleges-california-move-toward-rationing-student-access#.TwXY5-KKFv8.email
Axing Access for Community College Students
New America Media, January 8, 2012
http://newamericamedia.org/2012/01/axing-access-for-community-college-students.php
Shifting gears: Lansing CC's West Campus enrollment drops 23% as curriculum changes
The classrooms at Lansing Community College were emptier this fall than they were the year before. … it was enough to signal that the enrollment boom of the last few years, driven by a sour economy and an outpouring of federal retraining money, had begun to taper off. … And it was not solely driven by a slowly improving economy or dwindling federal support for retraining, but also by a reassessment of which technical programs were worth keeping in a dramatically changed economy. Michigan has shed hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs over the past decade, and, as it has done so, community colleges gradually have shifted their energies away from technical and industrial education.
Lansing State Journal, January 8, 2012
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
State Sen. Prentice won't seek re-election
State Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, said she plans to retire from the Legislature after this year's session, which starts Monday.
Seattle Times, January 5, 2012
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017171238_prentice06m.html
26th District legislators discuss state's budget challenges
Seaquist, D-Tacoma, Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, and Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, spoke at a reception Thursday evening hosted by the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce. … [Kilmer] added that it's impossible to have "a 21st-century economic development strategy with a 1980s level of higher education funding." … One problem Seaquist cited is a shortage of workers in the state who have the skills required for thousands of available jobs that pay well. He supports expanding community college programs such as those offered at Olympic College in Bremerton.
Port Orchard Independent, January 8, 2012
http://www.portorchardindependent.com/news/136795128.html
Gregoire prepares for her final year as governor
The Herald, January 8, 2012
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120108/NEWS01/701089936
BLOG: Lawmakers Back Today to Write the Worst Budget They Dare
Washington State Wire, January 9, 2012
Despite bad budget, lawmakers want to talk policy
Kitsap Sun, January 9, 2012
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/jan/08/despite-bad-budget-lawmakers-want-to-talk-policy/
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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Sherry Nelson | communications and outreach associate
Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
1300 Quince St SE · PO Box 42495 · Olympia WA 98504-2495
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