SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Editorial: State falls short in educating for high-tech jobs
The Washington Roundtable released a report last week showing the dimension of the problem. Its survey of business executives revealed 25,000 jobs statewide have gone unfilled for three months, about 20,000 of them in the computer science and health care fields. That number will swell to 50,000 unfilled STEM-related jobs in about four years. This is a complete mind-shift for the business community. The Roundtable report suggests we have jobs, we just don’t have the right people to fill them. More specifically, we have not shifted our education system to adapt to the new job environment in our state. Microsoft, Amazon and other high-tech and biomedical companies located here are battling Silicon Valley for technological supremacy.
The Olympian, April 5, 2013
http://www.theolympian.com/2013/04/05/2492192/state-falls-short-in-educating.html
Opinion: Bluffing on higher ed funding
At a poker table, the Washington Roundtable's latest education report would amount to a bold bluff. Our elected representatives in Olympia should call them on it. The leaders of Washington's biggest corporations say they want more graduates from the state's colleges and universities to employ -- but they're hoping no one notices the billions of dollars in tax breaks they get from the Legislature. … So policymakers are faced with a question: How do we enable more students to go to Everett Community College, Western Washington, and UW? … simple. While legislators protected tax loopholes and subsidies for corporations, they starved higher education. … Now these same corporations are waving the banner of education. They have identified a problem. It is up to our Legislature to put forward a solution which will allow these corporations to help solve a problem they helped create.
The Herald, April 10, 2012
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130410/OPINION04/704109944
Bellevue College video game tournament to benefit campus autism program
Bellevue College created the Autism Spectrum Navigators program in 2011 to help autistic students gain the skills necessary to complete college and lead a productive life. Students in the program have access to a network of support, including meetings each week with trained peer mentors and participation in group classes and discussions …
Bellevue Patch, April 10, 2013
Developer gives green light to new downtown apartments, restaurant
Local leaders are thrilled about the project, which they say will help Lower Columbia College recruit international students, spark downtown revitalization and perhaps even lead to overseas investment in the community. … LCC President Chris Bailey said the college has committed to lease 50 apartments for international students, which officials are recruiting to help stabilize enrollment and boost revenue (international students pay three times more for tuition than resident students).
The Daily News, April 10, 2013
Everett college opens new high-tech hall
Everett Community College moved into its newest building last week, a $37.5 million, three-story structure that houses the college’s nursing, medical assisting and phlebotomy programs. Liberty Hall also houses the health sciences training and criminal justice program. ... “We’ve moved from the most dilapidated building on campus to the most state-of-the-art,” said Elliot Stern, interim dean of health sciences and public safety. The building has 11 lecture halls equipped with cameras and video projectors. … For students going into nursing and medical careers, the medical assisting labs are outfitted like hospital rooms, with the same equipment. All the computers are touch-screen devices because that’s what’s used in hospitals and clinics. “There’s a big push in higher ed to create teaching environments that simulate the work environment,” Stern said.
The Seattle times, April 10, 2013
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/04/everett-college-opens-new-high-tech-hall/
Worldwide experiences shape SPSCC welding instructor Sarah Patterson
“I just need to get to Australia, Africa and Asia,” said Patterson, an instructor for the welding department at South Puget Sound Community College. “It’s just such a big world and life is so short.” … She became a certified welder under former SPSCC instructor (and mentor) Richard Geist, who now teaches at Renton Technical College. After graduating, Patterson began teaching evenings at SPSCC as a program assistant. This fall, she undertook a year-long contact from the school to become a full time instructor in the welding department. Along with starting the college’s community arts program following her graduation, Patterson also helped revamp and expand the community education class, one of the largest and most popular courses at SPSCC. Patterson is proud of this revitalization, especially because the course demographics are predominantly female.
ThurstonTalk.com, April 9, 2013
CBC searching for artist to build monument for veterans
Columbia Basin College is accepting proposals for a monument to be built on campus honoring veterans. Veterans Committee Chairman Jason Schlegel says CBC is looking for a creation that is timeless, gender neutral, and captures the spirit of service of veterans. "We really want the piece to speak to all generations of veterans that are still alive to include Vietnam-era veterans, any remaining World War Two veterans, Korean War veterans and possibly future veterans." Schlegel says the 400 veterans currently enrolled at CBC will vote on the finalists. The committee will then pick the winner in June.
KNDO/KNDU TV, April 10, 2013
http://www.kndo.com/story/21933624/cbc-searching-for-artist-to-erect-monument-for-veterans
Bellingham's Bornstein Seafoods donates $100,000 to BTC fishery program
Seafood processor Bornstein Seafoods has donated $100,000 to the Bellingham Technical College fisheries program building campaign.
As an acknowledgment of the donation, BTC will name the hatchery portion of the new Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences building The Bornstein Hatchery, dedicated to Myer J. (Jay) Bornstein. "Naming the hatchery of this building for Bornstein Seafoods honors the Bornstein family and specifically Jay's significant contributions to Bellingham's waterfront and fishing industry, and to the national seafood business," BTC President Patricia McKeown said …
The Bellingham Herald, April 10, 2013
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/04/10/2959960/bellinghams-bornstein-seafoods.html
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Math a problem for job-seekers
The National Math and Science Initiative, a group working to improve student performance in science, technology, engineering and math, known as the STEM subjects, noted, as well, that 54 percent of high school graduates aren’t ready to go on in math. The figure is based on students who took ACT’s “college and career readiness” exam in 2012. As the economy begins to perk up and businesses start to hire, a lack of basic knowledge about mathematics could present a problem to people looking for work. “Manufacturers are willing to train people about the specifics of their machines and technology,” said Linda Nguyen, CEO of Work Force Central, a partnership of government, business, education and community organizations that trains workers in Tacoma and surrounding Pierce County. “But they can’t afford to hire someone who needs to relearn basic math.”
The Olympian, April 7, 2013
http://www.theolympian.com/2013/04/03/2489676/math-problems-are-a-problem-for.html
State’s new math test may keep many seniors from graduating
With graduation approaching, many high-school students have fewer and fewer chances to meet the state’s new graduation requirement in math. This is the first year that seniors must pass a state math exam, or one of a few alternatives, to earn a diploma.
The Seattle Times, April 9, 2013
http://seattletimes.com/html/education/2020738031_mathtestgraduationxml.html
Enrollment management must build for the future, experts say
It’s not enough for the field to be strategic, according to a new essay. It must also be sustainable
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 9, 2013
Colleges must prepare for a buyer's market
Students should be savvy consumers of higher education before they get to the classroom.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2013
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Must-Prepare-for-a/138383/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Report examines levels of debt for college dropouts across sectors
Federal student-loan debt as a percentage of annual income varied by the type of institution students first attended, the Education Department report shows.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2013
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Employers want broadly educated new hires, survey finds
College presidents and corporate executives have signed a compact emphasizing the importance to a successful career of a broad, liberal-arts education.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2013
http://chronicle.com/article/Employers-Want-Broadly/138453
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
Editorial: State college opportunity remains in Great Recession
Some lawmakers have big plans for helping students get college and technical degrees. Unfortunately, they don’t have big plans for paying for it. The Legislature’s record of funding college opportunity is abysmal, even factoring in the economic whirlwinds of the Great Recession. It typically uses the higher education system – universities, community and technical colleges – as a fiscal piggy bank. It’s the easiest thing to break when money runs short. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently released a report on what’s happened to public colleges since the recession hit. On average, it said, states have cut spending on students by an average of 28 percent over the last five years. But Washington occupies a special place. Along with Florida, Idaho and South Carolina, it has slashed its system by roughly 40 percent.
The News Tribune, April 7, 2013
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/04/07/2546757/state-college-opportunity-remains.html
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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