News Links | June 24, 2014

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

Students take pride in their heritage by showing #WhatLatinosLookLike Brianna Bridgewater, a freshman and secondary education major at Spokane Falls Community College, says the #WhatLatinosLookLike campaign aims to combat the notion that Latinos don’t take pride in who they are. USA Today College, June 23, 2014 WCC grad: Running Start a great start on higher education My experience with Whatcom Community College began long before I actually became a student. My brother Braden decided to enroll in the Running Start program during his junior year of high school. I remember watching his lifestyle shift from that of a high school student to the much busier life of a college student. He began to navigate the challenges of balancing both his high school life and his newfound college life. The Bellingham Herald, June 23, 2014 CPTC Peer Ambassador Program Gives Students Meaningful Experiences The Office of Student Programs at Clover Park Technical College launched the Peer Ambassador program last fall to decrease barriers and increase access to academic and support services for students. The Suburban Times, June 23, 2014 CPTC: Vision Loss Not a Barrier for Massage Studies Student But Lewis isn’t letting his disability keep him at home. After a 15-year career in customer service, Lewis decided to pursue a profession he’s always been interested in and enrolled in the Massage Studies program at Clover Park Technical College. The Suburban Times, June 23, 2014 Letter: Cost of colleges: Community and technical colleges are important bridges to universities I’d like to clarify that community and technical college classes are, indeed, rigorous. That’s why our transfer courses qualify for university credits and transfer students are accepted into competitive majors in sciences, math, engineering, computer science and business. Forty percent of bachelor’s degree graduates from Washington public universities start at a community or technical college. They also graduate with similar GPAs and credits earned. By Marty Brown, executive director, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The Seattle Times, June 22, 2014 Peninsula College joins up with Central Washington University for new path to bachelor's degree Starting this fall, a collaboration between Peninsula College, a community college, and Central Washington University of Ellensburg, a four-year institution, will offer North Olympic Peninsula residents another opportunity to complete a baccalaureate degree. Peninsula Daily News, June 22, 2014 Culinary arts student discovers family recipe for her career Ana Kasparova’s recent victory at a culinary arts competition confirmed what the 23-year-old discovered not too long ago. She was meant to cook. As the daughter of a chef and alumnus of Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT), Kirkland Reporter, June 20, 2014 A beautiful evening as LCC graduates 450 For the 450 students participating in Lower Columbia College’s 78th commencement ceremonies Friday evening, life couldn’t be better. The clear skies and warm temperatures that greeted the large crowd of students, family members and friends at Kelso High School’s Schroeder Field was just the icing on the cake. Longview Daily News, June 20, 2014 1,300 graduate from Columbia Basin College Dennise Lazaro never expected to go to college. But the daughter of two Pasco farmworkers was one of almost 1,300 who graduated during Columbia Basin College's 58th commencement Friday at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Tri-City Herald, June 20, 2014 SPSCC celebrates record number of graduates More than 2,000 degrees, certificates and diplomas were awarded Friday at South Puget Sound Community College’s commencement ceremony. The Bellingham Herald, June 20, 2014 LCC trustees approve budgets, faculty contract The Lower Columbia College Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved the 2014-2015 budgets and passed a new three-year faculty contract, and not much is changing. Longview Daily News, June 20, 2014 Pasco man to graduate with nursing degree, ability to walk after being shot in 2011 A Pasco man had only begun his education to become a nurse when his neighbor shot him, sending a bullet tearing through the nerves at the base of his spine. Doctors told Gregg Warehime he would never walk again. That he would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. Two and a half years later, the day he passed his last test, the 26-year-old Columbia Basin College student eagerly jumped up from a couch in his west Pasco home. The News Tribune, June 19, 2014   Aerospace industry searches for skilled workers As demand for aerospace products rises worldwide, the industry here and across the state is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers, and the gap could continue to widen, industry leaders here say. ... “Spokane Community College was a recipient (this year) and we hope to expand the reach on the east side of the mountains in the future,” Jordan says. “As the donor base expands, so will the community college choices.” ... Air Washington is another organization promoting aerospace education in Washington state. The program is a consortium of 11 community and technical colleges throughout the state, including SCC. Spokane Journal of Business, June 19, 2014 Energy and Best Practices Summit Comes to Centralia College More than 250 people attended the first day of the ninth annual Energy and Construction Best Practices Summit at Centralia College Wednesday. Centralia Chronicle, June 19, 2014 CPTC graduates more than 400 students More than 400 students received their degree, certificate or diploma for the 2013-2014 academic year at the 18th Annual Clover Park Technical College Commencement Ceremony at the Tacoma Dome June 18. The Suburban Times, June 19, 2014 Several Firsts at Centralia College Graduation Friday Another academic year at Centralia College closed Friday with a large graduation ceremony that offered a series of firsts in the 89 years of the college. Centralia Chronicle, June 13, 2014

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

108 questions — or just 2? Maybe a shorter FAFSA could do the job Like a research paper on the DNA sequence of fruit flies, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — commonly known as the FAFSA — is daunting enough that the name alone inspires dread. The Seattle Times, June 24, 2014 Corinthian's Phasing-Out Corinthian Colleges announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education that is designed to keep the for-profit chain afloat long enough to sell off and shutter its campuses in an orderly fashion. Inside Higher Ed, June 24, 2014 Frank Blethen: When we fail to educate our children we are destined for failure One hundred years ago, a high school education was our country’s primary path to a better life. Fifty years ago, that path began to also require post-secondary education or technical training. Today, a baccalaureate degree and life-long learning are essential. In the future, two-thirds of new jobs will require a college degree. How ironic that our state’s shameful disinvestment in higher education has resulted in 20,000 well-paid, high-skilled jobs going unfilled at this very moment, while our state’s wealth and opportunity gaps grow. The Seattle Times, June 23, 2014 A liberal education involves inventing ourselves More than 1,000 students graduated from Evergreen – the quintessential public, alternative liberal arts college—last week, and many are the first in their families to earn a college degree. In spite of the economy, or perhaps because of it, I think earning a degree in the liberal arts and sciences still makes sense. The Olympian, June 23, 2014 Debate ‘Running Start’ decision Recently we had our last graduation party for our youngest of four kids. Although we sent our kids to Lynden Christian, if there was a debate I could argue vigorously for all the options: public, private or homeschooling. I've seen all three used properly and not too properly. But this is about that question all high school students and their parents face: “Do we do Running Start?” Everett Herald, June 21, 2014 Undocumented students seek state college aid To date, more than 1,600 undocumented college students have filled out a new state financial-aid form that is the first step in qualifying for the State Need Grant, Washington’s grant money to help pay for college, for the 2014-15 academic year. The Seattle Times, June 20, 2014 Editorial: Magna cum latte grads, courtesy of Starbucks College degrees often have fancy names, take a long time to get and cost more than they should. In other words, they’re already a lot like Starbucks coffee. So maybe it’s not surprising that the Seattle-based coffee chain says it plans to start helping employees pay for college. It’s a welcome development, from both an educational and employment standpoint, even if Starbucks claims are slightly exaggerated. The Olympian, June 20, 2014 Corinthian's Cloudy Future There is no precedent for the shuttering of a for-profit chain that enrolls 72,000 students across 107 campuses. But it is possible -- or maybe even likely -- that Corinthian Colleges will go bankrupt in coming weeks. Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2014 Starbucks degree program not as simple at it seems The scholarship portion of a new education program Starbucks is offering to help workers pay for an online degree consists of a discount from Arizona State University, not money from the chain. The Seattle Times, June 19, 2014 New push to get girls into computer sciences Less than one percent of high school girls think of computer science as part of their future, even though it's one of the fastest-growing fields in the U.S. today with a projected 4.2 million jobs by 2020, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Seattle Times, June 19, 2014 60 days and counting: New college grads get extra time to sign up for health exchange Many new college graduates learn quickly that their student health plans will expire soon after commencement. But officials at the Washington state Health Benefit Exchange are trying to let those young adults know they don’t have to go uninsured. And, if it manages to convince them to join the Exchange, it's better for everyone. Puget Sound Business Journal, June 19, 2014 Free College For All: Dream, Promise or Fantasy? "Free" is a word with a powerful appeal. And right now it's being tossed around a lot, followed by another word: "college." A new nonprofit, Redeeming America's Promise, announced this week that it will seek federal support to make public colleges tuition-free. That effort is inspired by "Hope" and "Promise" programs like the one in Kalamazoo, Mich., which pays up to 100 percent of college tuition at state colleges and universities for graduates of the city's public high schools. NPR, June 19, 2014

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

In Our View: School Ball in Court's Court Questions about the court’s constitutional role should, indeed, be asked. But the Legislature’s failure to live up to its duty has been clear, and some form of enforcement is necessary. Taking sides? The smart money is on the Supreme Court. The Columbian, June 22, 2014 State's class sizes center of ballot initiative Since April, advocates have collected tens of thousands of signatures for a ballot initiative that could dramatically shrink classes at Washington schools, but the initiative doesn’t provide space some local districts — the Longview School District among them — need to make the reductions. The Longview Daily News, June 21, 2014 Senate Bill Would Ease Students’ Path to Associate Degrees A bill introduced on Thursday in the U.S. Senate would let students who don’t finish four-year degrees use their course credits to claim associate degrees, reports The Charlotte Observer. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, and Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, is designed to help community-college students who transfer to four-year programs but don’t end up graduating from either institution. The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 2014 Fixing the Fafsa, a Popular Idea, Makes Its Way to Congress A two-question application for federal student aid—that’s the premise behind proposed legislation from two U.S. senators who hope a streamlined form will encourage more students, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, to apply for student aid. The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 2014 Senators Start In on HEA After months of hearings, the two key lawmakers charged with overseeing the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in the U.S. Senate are beginning to stake out firmer positions on what they want to include in the massive law that governs colleges and universities. Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2014 Changes to Campus Safety Rules In a continuing effort to curb campus sexual assaults, the Department of Education officially proposed a new rule Thursday that requires colleges and universities to compile statistics for incidents of dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2014