SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
College cash requests soar at EvCC
Requests for financial aid at Everett Community College have nearly doubled in the past four years, with 12,000 requests made so far this school year. That number could reach 14,000 by June, the end of the academic year, college officials say. Just four years ago, there were 6,300 requests for financial aid. It's no mystery why there's been such a steady increase. "So I would say, of course it's the economy," said Christine Kerlin, enrollment management coordinator for EvCC.
The Herald, March 5, 2012
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120305/NEWS01/703059921
Lake Washington Institute of Technology offers four-year degree
Puget Sound Business Journal, March 5, 2012
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2012/03/05/lake-washington-institute-of.html
Seattle Central film students running out of hope
Since last June, a time bomb has slowly been ticking away for the Seattle Central Community College Film and Video Communications program. On one end are the students, faculty, and the larger Seattle film community, looking for the right wire to cut to disable it. On the other end are the administration, who are facing an increasingly dramatic budget crunch and see no other option than to let long-planned explosion occur.
Crosscut, March 5, 2012
http://crosscut.com/2012/03/05/higher-ed/21999/Seattle-Central-film-students-running-out-of-hope/
Local college is bullish on veggies
Something is cooking at Skagit Valley College - and it's not meat. At least once a week, most meat is off the menu at the local Mount Vernon-based college. They call it "Meatless Monday."
KOMO TV, March 4, 2012
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Local-college-is-bullish-on-veggies-141376353.html
Support for community colleges benefits the whole community
Opinion by Vaughn Sherman, former Edmonds Community College trustee, foundation board member. … for all their current popularity, community college budgets in this state and others have been deeply slashed in the past few years, seriously affecting the ability of the institutions to deliver education that is badly needed not just for economic growth, but for the educational health of our nation. By a de facto lack of resources, our "open door" policy of providing access to higher education to anyone who can benefit is closing.
Seattle Times, March 3, 2012
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2017651244_guest03sherman.html
Peninsula College president hopefuls to visit
Peninsula Daily News, March 3, 2012
Students return to education, aim for GED, at Ellensburg's YVCC campus
Ellensburg’s Yakima Valley Community College Learning Center is quiet on a typical weekday. Nobody’s prepping for assemblies. No packs of teenagers roam the hallways. But for many of the 10 or so students huddled around tables and desks, the center provides something traditional high schools couldn’t. A degree. “I love the school,” James Biggs said of the center. Biggs, 42, left high school at the age of 16, received his general equivalency degree (GED) in February, after studying for about four months at the Ellensburg Learning Center [and] now plans to enroll in college classes at YVCC. He hopes to eventually become a chemical dependency counselor.
Ellensburg Daily Record, March 2, 2012
Preparing for an opening
Skagit Valley College faculty member Ellen Michael measures a photo from the late photographer and humanitarian Lee Mann on Wednesday prior to hanging it and other works in the Mount Vernon Campus Center Gallery.
Skagit Valley Herald, March 1, 2012
http://www.skagit.edu/files3.asp_Q_pagenumber_E_2960
Multiple Factors Fuel Growth in Transfers to 2-Year Colleges
More transfer students are landing at community colleges. Some come in search of specialized job training. Personal, economic, and academic factors also play a role. One in three students transfers at least once, a study reported this week, and half of those who leave four-year institutions end up at community colleges. … Garett S. Wolfe is one of those statistics. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the University of Montana on a rodeo scholarship in 2005. … With a clearer vision of his future, he transferred to Walla Walla Community College, in Washington State, in 2010. He began studying civil-engineering technology, knowing that graduates of that program could work as design technicians, inspectors, and project engineers.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 1, 2012
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Poetry flows from teens behind bars
Pongo Teen Writing Project reaches out to incarcerated, homeless and troubled young people. South Seattle Community College instructor Mike Hickey is one of the volunteers featured in this segment.
KING-TV, March 1, 2012
Skagit Valley College proposes policy to snuff out campus tobacco use
Skagit Valley College's outgoing President Gary Tollefson said the school gradually and purposefully has been moving toward a tobacco-free campus. An increasing number of colleges across the state, including South Puget Sound Community College, Lower Columbia College, Clark College, Seattle Pacific University, Walla Walla University and Northwest University, have adopted tobacco bans on their campuses, according to the American Smokers' Rights Foundation.
Skagit Valley Herald via Seattle Times, February 25, 2012
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017606450_smoke27m.html
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Experts warn: New jobs arising not nearly as good as old jobs
David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has found a sharp polarization of the labor market over the past two decades. There have been “expanding job opportunities in both high-skill, high-wage occupations and low-skill, low-wage occupations, coupled with contracting opportunities in middle-wage, middle-skill white-collar and blue-collar jobs,” according to his research. … Education plays an important role in job quality. Real median usual weekly earnings rose 9 percent to $782 in 2010 from $720 in 1980 for full-time wage and salary workers at least 25 years old, according to government data. But college graduates saw a gain of 21 percent to $1,144. Meanwhile, there was a decline of 7 percent to $626 for high-school graduates, while those without a high-school diploma saw a loss of 21 percent to $444.
The Olympian, March 5, 2012
http://www.theolympian.com/2012/03/05/2016475/experts-warn-new-jobs-arising.html
Where the Jobs Are, the Training May Not Be
State colleges are cutting financing for technical, engineering and health care programs as the need for training in those fields grows. … In cutting educational subsidies, states may be penny-wise and pound-foolish … Economists have found that higher education benefits communities even more than it benefits the individual receiving the degree. Studies show that an educated populace leads to faster economic growth and a more stable democracy, and benefits the poorest workers the most. The post-World War II economic boom, for example, has been attributed to increased college enrollment thanks to the G.I. Bill. … If they are not eliminating job-friendly technical programs outright, many colleges are simply not expanding them to meet demand. Students then have to stay in college longer to squeeze in required classes, increasing both their debt and the chance that they will drop out.
New York Times, March 2, 2012
Standardized Tests That Fail
Large numbers of community college students are being placed into remedial courses they don’t need, according to new studies that questions the value of the two primary standardized tests two-year colleges use to place students: the COMPASS and the ACCUPLACER.
Inside Higher Ed, February 29, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/29/too-many-community-college-students-are-placing-remedial-classes-studies-find
Fountain of Youth
More upper-middle-class students are choosing community college right out of high school, and they expect a full undergrad experience.
Inside Higher Ed, February 27, 2012
U.S. manufacturing sees shortage of skilled factory workers
Washington Post, February 19, 2012
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
State Senator Derek Kilmer Announces Campaign For Congress
Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, March 5, 2012
http://kpbj.com/breaking_news/2012-03-05/state_senator_derek_kilmer_announce_campaign_for_congress
GOP coup moves budget ahead in Senate as three Democrats defect
The Olympian, March 2, 2012
http://www.theolympian.com/2012/03/02/2013927/gop-coup-moves-budget-ahead-in.html
Rest in peace, good little bills
Among the causalities on the Senate’s floor calendar -- HB 2503: This measure would have given veterans and members of the National Guard priority registration when they sign up for college classes. HB 2717: Legislation to encourage colleges and universities to report efficiency measures they’ve taken.
HDC Advance, March 3, 2012
http://hdcadvance.blogspot.com/2012/03/rest-in-peace-good-little-bills.html
State Reps. Dickerson, Gutiérrez Kenney won't run for re-election
Seattle Times, March 2, 2012
Representative Norm Dicks announces his retirement
The Olympian, March 2, 2012
http://www.theolympian.com/2012/03/02/2012948/representative-norm-dicks-announces.html
Op-ed: Legislature needs to put “public” back into public hearings
Guest Opinion by Jason Mercier, Washington Policy Center
Aberdeen Daily World, March 1, 2012
Santorum’s ‘snob’ gaffe offers a sliver of truth about college
People who will never get a four-year degree, but who need extra training beyond high school, will form the skilled working class of the future. They’ll be filling jobs around the Beltway in up-and-coming industries such as cybersecurity, biotechnology and health information systems. Unfortunately, they receive short shrift because school systems, politicians and parents are so focused on preparing children for four-year colleges. In the United States, historically, there’s much less emphasis on vocational and technical education.
Washington Post, March 3, 2012
COLUMN: Opposite of snobbery: Challenging Santorum on funding college
Seattle Times, March 2, 2012
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2017651246_sirota03.html
Is it fair to expect all Americans to attend college? [Santorum comment]
In Washington, 31 percent of people older than 25 have a college degree, according to the U.S. Census. That number drops to 15 percent in Yakima County, according to the U.S. Census. Despite the rising cost of tuition, most Americans still want their children to get a college degree, according to several polls.
Yakima Herald-Republic, February 29, 2012
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/02/29/is-it-fair-to-expect-all-americans-to-attend-college
CHOOSE YOUR ILLUSION
Daydream Believer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaODCg
Zilch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJYtIRNiZio
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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