SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
The Young and Insurance-less
Nicholas Newell is 22 years old. He's physically active. He eats a balanced diet. He's never had health insurance in his life. So why start now? Insurance is expensive. Newell is a self-supporting student at Spokane Falls Community College with bills to pay. When he's not in class, he runs a small detailing business — specializing in slick European sports cars and private planes — where his overhead is high.
The Inlander, March 13, 2014
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/the-young-and-insurance-less/Content?oid=2278593
Fate of Dodge Viper at SPSCC prompts national outcry
The destruction of a rare 1992 Dodge Viper SRT at South Puget Sound Community College has touched a nerve among car enthusiasts nationwide. …The news sparked a Twitter campaign called #SaveTheVipers where fans have expressed outrage or suggested alternatives to crushing the cars. SPSCC students launched the online petition "Operation Save the Vipers," which had gathered 8,428 signatures as of noon Tuesday. A few online commenters even advocated stealing and hiding the Viper, which is not street legal. Canadian race team Johnathan Schwemler Racecars announced it would ask Chrysler to donate the car toward the team's program for injured or ill soldiers and veterans.
The Olympian, March 12, 2014
http://www.theolympian.com/2014/03/12/3030308/fate-of-viper-at-spscc-prompts.html
Good Deeds: ATS donates 747 aft flap for EvCC
Everett Community College aviation maintenance students have received the donation of a 747 aft flap through Aviation Technical Services. Such donations help students get more hands-on experience. ATS previously assisted with the donation of 767 rudder and performed work on an EvCC helicopter and airplane. The aft flap was painted with EvCC's and ATS' logos, thanks to Associated Painters.
The Herald Business Journal, March 12, 2014
Local photographers on inspiration, support and doing a show in Seattle
Last summer, at the suggestion of a Spokane Falls Community College instructor, local photographer Clara Wilson applied to an event called Spectrum by RAW. The arts organization puts on one-night showcases that feature young artists in a variety of disciplines — film, fashion, dance, visual arts and more. At the time they were planning a show in the Spokane area that didn't pan out, but the director of the upcoming Seattle show decided to go through Spokane submissions. Wilson's photos caught her eye, and she got in touch. Wilson, who also recently won third place in an international competition hosted byPhotographers Forum Magazine, says she thinks it's of utmost importance that artists support each other. So when she saw the Seattle event putting out a call for additional submissions, she encouraged Heather Biggs, Tyler Bolen and Jessica Flatt — friends and collaborators at SFCC — to also apply.
The Inlander, March 12, 2014
Two CPTC Students Named to All-WA Academic Team
Two Clover Park Technical College students will be honored as members of the 2014 All-Washington Academic Team at noon on Thursday, March 27, at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia. The ceremony recognizes top scholars from the state's community and technical colleges and awards scholarships. We are pleased to introduce you to Martin Trinidad and Nicole Kaley, the two students representing Clover Park Technical College on the team.
The Suburban Times, March 12, 2014
http://thesubtimes.com/2014/03/12/two-cptc-students-named-to-all-wa-academic-team/
Guest: Applied bachelor's degrees help local employers fill skills gap
Employers seek graduates because they have technical expertise combined with communication, computation, critical thinking, and people-management skills. A report from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges found 82 percent of applied bachelor's graduates in 2010 and 2011 were employed seven quarters after graduating. Students' earnings increased by an average of 26 percent after graduation.
The Seattle Times, March 11, 2014
Lake Washington Culinary Students will Compete at the National Culinary Knowledge Bowl
A team of four Lake Washington Culinary Arts students won the American Culinary Federation (ACF) 2014 regional championship Culinary Knowledge Bowl in Oakland, CA last weekend, and will head to Kansas City, MO for the national championship later this year. This is the third consecutive year that students from Lake Washington brought home the regional championship. They won the National Culinary Knowledge Bowl Championship in 2012. The all-woman team beat five other teams in the Jeopardy-style game that features culinary knowledge in six areas – culinary, baking, nutrition, Escoffier, costing and food safety. The finals came down to three Washington State teams – Walla Walla, Bellingham and Lake Washington. The Lake Washington women will represent the Western Region at the national competition, July 25 – 29 in Kansas City, MO.
Kirkland Views, March 11, 2014
Beresford Booth Partner Named Professional of the Year
Beresford Booth PLLC is pleased to announce that Senior Partner, Richard Beresford has received the Edmonds Daybreakers Rotary Professional of the Year award. Mr. Beresford was chosen as the recipient of the award for his 41 years of service as a member of the Washington State Bar Association and numerous community service organizations including Co-Founder of the Edmonds Youth Club and President of the Edmonds Community College Foundation.
Digital Journal, March 11, 2014
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1785182
RTC student named New Century Scholar
Nicklaus Madison, a student at Renton Technical College, has been named the 2014 New Century Scholar for Washington State. Only 51 community college students from the United States, Canada and American Samoa have received this honor. Madison and the other award recipients will split a total of $102,000 in scholarship money. New Century Scholars are the highest scoring students in each state. Madison was selected to receive this scholarship based on the score that he earned in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition, for which more than 1,700 applications were received. His nomination was evaluated on his academic achievement, leadership and service.
Renton Reporter, March 7, 2014
http://www.rentonreporter.com/community/249065451.html
Honors program coming to Pierce College in the fall
A community college honors program that aims to make the two-year degree a more reliable springboard to a selective university will be offered at a Western Washington college starting this fall. Pierce College, one of the 34 public community and technical colleges in the state, will debut the American Honors Transfer Network this fall, becoming the fifth community college in the country to offer the program. It is also offered at Community Colleges of Spokane, which was one of the first schools to pilot the program.
The Seattle Times, February 20, 2014
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Why We Need College Ratings
The more expensive a purchase, the more important it is to be a smart consumer. Many Americans value labeling and rankings from food (nutrition labels) to appliances (energy ratings) to vehicles (gas mileage and crash safety) to health plans (Obamacare's bronze, silver, gold, and platinum). Yet for one of the most expensive purchases a person will ever make – a college education – there is a dearth of reliable and meaningful comparable information. In August, President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Education to develop a federal college ratings system with two goals: (1) to serve as a college search tool for students and (2) to function as an accountability measure for institutions of higher education.
Inside Higher Ed, March 13, 2014
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/03/13/students-need-right-kind-college-ratings-system-essay
Another Push for Debit Card Rules
The Department of Education's Office of Inspector General on Tuesday became the latest federal investigator calling for stricter rules on the debit cards offered to college students to gain access to financial aid funds. In a report, the inspector general's office said the department should enact new rules on colleges entering into agreements with financial institutions or other companies to provide debit cards on campus. The report comes as the department is considering new debit card rules as part of a wide-ranging rule making session on federal student aid.
Inside Higher Ed, March 12, 2014
American Indians Lag Other Graduates in College Readiness, ACT Says
More than half of the American Indian high school graduates in 2013 who took the ACT college-entrance exam did not meet any of four benchmarks that the test-makers say signal likely success in credit-bearing first-year college courses. That compares to 31 percent of all high school graduates who took the test and met none of the performance benchmarks, according to a new analysis from ACT. Of all the student groups, American Indian graduates who took the exam completed ACT's recommended core curriculum at the lowest rate—at 62 percent. On average, 74 percent of all students tested last year completed the core curriculum, which ACT defines as four years of English and three years each of math, social studies, and science.
Education Week, March 12, 2014
Program finds success sending low-income kids to college, report finds
Low-income kids who participate in Washington's College Bound scholarship program are going to college at nearly the same rate as their richer classmates and well ahead of other poor children who did not sign up, according to a new report released Monday. The scholarship program seems to encourage higher than expected college enrollment and continued college attendance, according to a report by The BERC Group, which was hired by College Spark Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to assess the effectiveness of the program. The program only requires low-income students to sign a pledge to stay in school, keep their high school grade point average at 2.0 or above, and stay out of trouble. Students get the scholarship if they meet those requirements and the low-income threshold when they graduate.
Everett Herald, March 10, 2014
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Longshots
In grad school, I had a beater of a car that I didn't drive much. I would routinely go several days without driving it, since I could walk to most of the places I needed to go. A roommate's girlfriend once asked me why I bothered keeping it at all. I told her that just knowing it was there kept me from feeling trapped. I didn't have to drive it every day, but I knew that I could. Sometimes, that was enough. I thought again of that conversation in reading this exchange about targeting financial aid. Should financial aid be directed only at the students most likely to succeed? The idea makes sense if your priority is "efficiency." Taken in the aggregate, some students are likelier to graduate smoothly than others. If the goal is to get the cost-per-degree as low as possible, then directing financial aid only to the students with the fewest strikes against them makes sense. But that's the wrong goal. And that's why I get twitchy when discussions of higher education reduce it to an assembly line for stamping hands.
Confessions of a Community College Dean, February 12, 2014
http://suburbdad.blogspot.com/2014/02/longshots.html
Going To College May Cost You, But So Will Skipping It
In America, total student loan debt tops $1 trillion and a four-year college degree can cost as much as a house — leaving many families wondering if college is really worth the cost. Yes, a new study of young people finds. The study, released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, looks at income and unemployment among young adults. Paul Taylor, executive vice president of special projects at Pew, says it's pretty much case closed when it comes to the benefits of going to college.
NPR, February 11, 2014
http://www.wbur.org/npr/275297408/going-to-college-may-cost-you-but-so-will-skipping-it
POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL
We simply need to lower tuition
There is a new study out that shows that low income students who get free tuition are more likely to go to college. That piece of common sense stood up to the investigation of six academic researchers. They could have just asked their neighbors. The program these researchers were looking at is called College Bound. It is a good program. Here is how it works: when you are in 7th or 8th grade, and if your family income is below $42,000 (for a family of four), you can sign up for College Bound. If you make it through high school with at least a 2.0 GPA, don't get in trouble with the law, apply to a public community college or four-year college, and your family income upon graduation from high school is still below $53,000, then you can get free tuition plus $500 a year for books and incidental expenses. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the benefits of this program. Enrollment in college right after high school almost doubled for College Bound participants, compared to that of other low-income kids who were not on the College Bound track, and even exceeded the enrollment of other kids not considered low-income.
Everett Herald, March 12, 2014
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140312/OPINION04/140319785/We-simply-need-to-lower-tuition-
Revenue collections up $13.9 million since February forecast
Budget writers got one small bit of good financial information Tuesday, but it won't be enough to alter the trajectory of ongoing budget talks at the Legislature. The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reported that revenue collections over the past month were up $13.9 million above levels predicted by the council's February forecast.
The gains were in what the council calls non-Revenue Act receipts – most of which resulted from "higher-than-expected transfers of unclaimed property" into the general fund. There also was $2 million more real-estate excise tax collected than the forecast indicated for the Feb. 11 to March 10 period.
The News Tribune, March 11, 2014
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/11/3091102/revenue-collections-up-13-million.html
Senate turns back effort on vets tuition, homeless housing
Senate Democrats failed in a parliamentary maneuver to force votes on granting in-state tuition for military veterans and funding for homeless projects. Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, tried to force those two bills — which have strong support from both parties but are stuck in committees — onto the Senate floor with a motion to go the "Ninth Order" essentially a point at which anything can be put to a vote. Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, argued against the move, saying leaders of all four caucuses have agreed those two issues will be part of budget negotiations, which are continuing. The motion failed 23-26, with all members of the minority Democrats voting yes and all members of the coalition caucus voting no.
The Spokesman-Review, March 11, 2014
Legislature passes student success measure
On Friday, just a few minutes before the 5 o'clock cutoff deadline, the Washington State Senate gave its overwhelming approval to a measure aimed at boosting student success across the state. House Bill 2739, which passed the Senate on a 45-4 vote, requires a geographic analysis to identify communities where the effects of employment, health, safety and stability correlate with academic and behavioral indicators of student success.
Mukilteo Beacon, March 10, 2014
http://mukilteobeacon.villagesoup.com/p/legislature-passes-student-success-measure/1139254
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