SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Texan takes top job at Clover Park Technical College
A college administrator from Houston, Texas, has been selected as the new president of Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood. Clover Park's five-member Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday night to offer the position to Dr. Lonnie L. Howard.
The News Tribune, August 15, 2013
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/08/15/2732396/texan-takes-top-job-at-clover.html
In brief: Most of Washington's high school graduates who start college finish
Due to reporting and editing errors, a story published Aug. 11 (Most Washington students starting college don't finish) mischaracterized and thus understated the success of recent college-bound students.
The Spokesman Review, August 18, 2013
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/aug/18/in-brief-most-of-washingtons-high-school/
State restores some funding to EvCC, EdCC after cuts
This money is part of a $37 million increase for Washington's 34 community and technical colleges in the state budget. On Wednesday, the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges on Wednesday approved how those dollars will be distributed among the colleges. "It's really beneficial to everyone," said Marty Brown, executive director of the state board. The extra dollars make up roughly 1.3 percent of the operating budgets at the campuses in Edmonds and Everett. Everett Community College President David Beyer welcomed the increase after four years of cuts that totaled almost $9 million. "The Legislature's decision to restore some of those cuts is greatly appreciated by students, faculty and staff, as we prepare to welcome thousands of students who will take classes fall quarter," he said…. A top Edmonds Community College official said he was "very thankful" the state board agreed to allocate the money using the same formula used when they had to make cuts. It meant Edmonds received more because it had taken deeper cuts.
The Herald, August 19, 2013
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130819/NEWS01/708199942
Centralia College's Center of Excellence for Clean Energy Exceeds Hiring Goal
The Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy, a program hosted by Centralia College that trains and places students in energy industry jobs around the region, has exceeded its hiring goal set as part of a $5 million federal Department of Energy grant. The center placed 336 workers in various energy jobs throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah …. The grant grew to $12 million with matching funds from energy and manufacturing employers, organized labor and education partners within the five-state region.
The Centralia Chronicle, July 26, 2013
http://www.centralia.edu/news/chronicle/2013/Center_of_Excellence_Exceeds_Goals_07-26-13.pdf
Tuition Rocks Steady at WA Community, Technical Colleges
"No tuition hikes" isn't a phrase college students hear very often in Washington. After two years of double-digit increases, however, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has voted not to increase tuition for non-resident students. … The board decided that if Washington residents got a break, the rest should, too, according to its executive director, Marty Brown. "It's not a huge market for us. I think 94 percent of the students in the community college system are state residents," Brown said, "but at certain colleges, it's still a significant number of students. So, it's good news all around."
Public News Service, July 15, 2013
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33450-1
Gay or Lesbian? New questions for community college students this fall
Highline Community College's vice president of Student Affairs Toni Castro says students proposed the idea to gather the data. "They believe if we had a better tracking mechanism, we could respond to the needs of our students and track their success," said Castro.
KING 5 TV, July 11, 2013
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Don't Blame the Work Force
There is a durable belief that much of today's unemployment is rooted in a skills gap, in which good jobs go unfilled for lack of qualified applicants. This is mostly a corporate fiction, based in part on self-interest and a misreading of government data.
The New York Times, June 16, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/opinion/sunday/dont-blame-the-work-force.html
Why Poor Students' College Plans 'Melt' Over The Summer
A large number of poor high school students, who say they are continuing on to college, fail to show up in the fall. The reason is referred to as the "summer melt." Students face many hurdles over the summer including lack of resources and mentors.
… it's more likely among students who have weaker grades, low-income students, and students who are going to community colleges rather than to elite schools. In fact, for those kids, the rate of summer melt is even higher.
… For kids who are intending to enroll in community colleges, the rates of what we're calling summer melt are particularly high. So a few moments ago, I quoted a rate of about 20 percent overall. When we look specifically at kids who indicate intentions to enroll in a community college, the rate of summer melt is more like 40 percent.
… Page and Castleman think it's probably a variety of factors. … And there are a lot of things that students who are heading to college me to do over the summer - they need to finish paperwork, they need to handle financial aid, and students from low-income families seem to have a harder time navigating those challenges. … Page and Castleman are looking at this and the theory they're playing with is that in the summer after high school graduation that there's this giant gap. So high schools often don't see kids as being their responsibility and the colleges don't see these kids as being their responsibility as yet.
… Now in fairness, both these institutions are trying to bridge the gap, and at Fulton County, Georgia researchers actually ran an experiment one summer. … These [high] schools brought the counselors back over the summer to reach out to the students who are heading to college. And what they found was that the kids from low-income families took up his offer in droves and not only that, it drove down the rate of summer melt by 8 percentage points. So instead of a 40 percent summer melt rate, you might be talking about a close to 30 percent summer melt rate, and that's huge.
NPR, July 16, 2013
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/16/202566709/why-poor-students-college-plans-are-hijacked-over-the-summer
Compiled by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
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