News Links | September 16, 2014

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

CPTC: Introducing Veteran Navigator Shawn Durnen Shawn Durnen lives by the motto “be the difference.” The former soldier and student at Clover Park Technical College took over as the college’s Veteran Navigator earlier this month, and is already busy at work on his new mission to serve student veterans. The Suburban Times, September 15, 2014 School saves prized supercar from crusher...for now A funny thing happened on the way to the junkyard. Students in the automotive technology program at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) in Olympia, Wash., were seriously bummed in March when the school was contacted by Chrysler and ordered to crush the Dodge Viper supercar the company had loaned it in 2007. Fox News.com, September 11, 2014 Mike Blakely is a finalist for national college leadership award Big Bend Community College Trustee Mike Blakely is one of seven finalists for a national leadership award from the Association of Community College Trustees. Blakely, a retired Quincy agriculture and diversified occupations teacher, received the Washington Trustee Leadership award last year from the state Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges. This past weekend, Blakely was awarded the 2014 Pacific Region Trustree Leadership Award from the Association of Community College Trustees. This is the first time a Big Bend Community College trustee has earned a regional award from the group. As a recipient of the award, Blakely is a finalist for the national award, which will be announced during the Association of Community College Trustees convention in Chicago on Oct. 22. iFIBER ONE News, September 11, 2014 SPSCC Orchestra Program Grows, Adds For-Credit Class The South Puget Sound Community College Orchestra is now available to both students and community members. Previously offered solely through the Community Education program, the SPSCC Orchestra is a new a multi-generational orchestra made up of community musicians and credit-bearing students enrolled in the college. Thurston Talk, September 11, 2014 CPTC: Peer Ambassador Program recognized at conference Clover Park Technical College’s Office of Student Programs launched the Peer Ambassador program last year to decrease barriers and increase access to academic and support services for students. The pilot program was a success based on data collected and feedback. The program was recently recognized on a statewide level among community and technical colleges, earning the Excellence in Innovation Award at the LEAD 2014 Leadership and Activities Institute, sponsored by the Council of Unions and Student Programs. The award recognizes outstanding new contributions that have initiated positive organizational change on a local or state level. The Suburban Times, September 11, 2014 Ruth Ozeki to Lead Off 2014-15 SPSCC Artist and Lecture Series South Puget Sound Community College opens its 2014-15 Artist and Lecture Series with Japanese-Canadian novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki. Ozeki will speak from her latest book, “A Tale for the Time Being,” on Thursday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Main Stage. Thurston Talk, September 11, 2014

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

In Quest for Success, Colleges Ask: What’s Working? With the pressure on for higher graduation rates, better retention, and more-engaged students, colleges are deploying a variety of tactics in their pursuit of student success. But whether they’re offering a first-year experience or a flipped classroom, how do they know if the programs are working? For some colleges, the urgency to better understand how their programs affect students stems from state appropriations that are contingent on retention and completion rates. For others, tight budgets have prompted calls for evidence that programs are cost-effective and worthwhile. Still other colleges have campus leaders fond of data-driven development and analysis of campus programs. The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2014 Boost for Need-Based Aid States last year doled out roughly the same amount of student aid money in 2012-13 as they did the previous year, but they increased the share of money flowing to students based on financial need, according to a new survey published Monday. Inside Higher Ed, September 15, 2014 Brigham Young tops list of WA’s out-of-state college choices Recently, we wrote about the large number of Washington state students who go out of state for a college education. Of all the western states, Washington loses the most college-bound students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a federally-run data clearinghouse. Where do they all go? Believe it or not, the two most popular out-of-state schools for the 2012-13 school year were Brigham Young University-Idaho and Brigham Young University in Utah. Those two schools account for nearly 9 percent of the 7,409 Washington students who graduated in spring 2012 and went immediately to out-of-school colleges in the fall. The Seattle Times, September 12, 2014 A Simple Equation: More Education = More Income Imagine if the United States government taxed the nation’s one-percenters so that their post-tax share of the nation’s income remained at 10 percent, roughly where it was in 1979. If the excess money were distributed equally among the rest of the population, in 2012 every family below that very top tier would have gotten a $7,105 check. This is hardly trivial money. But it pales compared to the gap between the wages of a family of two college graduates and a family of high school graduates. Between 1979 and 2012, that gap grew by some $30,000, after inflation. The New York Times, September 10, 2014

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

4 Key Questions Experts Are Asking About Obama’s College-Ratings Plan President Obama’s proposed federal college-ratings system is set to be released in time for the 2015 academic year, but if the comments from administrators and researchers at a hearing on Friday are anything to go by, the plan appears to be far from complete. The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2014 Editorial: Court is holding state lawmakers accountable YAY: Contempt order Late last week, the Supreme Court of Washington held the Legislature in contempt for failing to provide a plan to fully fund basic education, as our state constitution requires. This isn’t surprising. In 2012, the Court directly ordered the Legislature to develop a plan to fully fund its own definition of basic education by 2018. They are not on track to meet that deadline. The Olympian, September 15, 2014 Editorial: Legislature correctly gets more time for school solution The Washington state Supreme Court has pulled the Legislature’s feet from the fire of the K-12 education funding cauldron. But things could get hot politically and fiscally if the court orders sanctions after the next legislative session, and they could get downright fiery if a constitutional separation-of-powers battle flares. Yakima Herald-Republic, September 14, 2014 Editorial: McCleary: Change starts now McCleary. The 2012 state Supreme Court ruling breathed life into Article IX of the state Constitution. By affirming a declaratory ruling of the King County Superior Court, the Supremes agreed that Washington was not meeting its “paramount duty...to make ample provision for the education of all the children residing within its borders.” But the devil is in the phase-in details and periodic benchmarks to reach the 2018 deadline for full funding, that the Legislature “demonstrate that its budget meets its plan.” Everett Herald, September 14, 2014 Attorney General Bob Ferguson talks McCleary, pot, public disclosure The state Supreme Court was wise to hold off immediately sanctioning the Legislature for not making viable progress in fully funding public education, the State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday. “I think it is wise they chose not to go that route,” Ferguson told the editorial board at The Daily World, just minutes after the court issued a unanimous order holding the Legislature in contempt for not offering a plan. He had not even seen the order yet, he said. The Attorney General’s office represents the Legislature. The Daily World, September 13, 2014 Editorial: State Supreme Court’s contempt ruling makes point on education, not obstacles The state Supreme Court found an elegant way out of the problem it created when it handed the Legislature a near-impossible order earlier this year. Thursday, the court found the state of Washington in contempt in a high-profile school-funding case — but before it metes out punishment, it will give lawmakers a chance to resolve the issue. The Seattle Times, September 11, 2014