News Links | January 22, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

WHS strives to provide widespread curriculum If Principal Stephanie Leitz is anyone to go by, administrators and staff are continually striving at Wahkiakum High School to provide students with a quality education and prepare them for what follows. ... The school is working alongside Lower Columbia College to implement a program called “College in the High School.” When students complete their english courses, they will be awarded college credit. Wahkiakum County Eagle, Jan. 22, 2015 Does Washington AG's plan to raise smoking age make sense? Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson wants to curb teen smoking with a new bill that would make Washington the first state to raise to 21 the legal age for purchasing and possessing tobacco and vapor products. ... At Lower Columbia College, students were slightly more optimistic. “It would certainly encourage younger adolescents not to smoke, because tobacco is targeting that younger age group,” said nonsmoker Madison Studer, 18. “To our generation, it’s pretty clear to us it’s a gross thing to do.” Longview Daily News, Jan. 22, 2015 Video: What free tuition could mean for local community colleges We sit down with Dr. Tonya Drake [special assistant to the president for equity and inclusion at Edmonds Community College] to discuss what free tuition could mean for local community colleges. KING 5, Jan. 21, 2015 Editorial: Long time coming Jefferson County is about to get a permanent, full-time college center. On Friday, Jan. 16 an agreement was signed by Luke Robins, president of Peninsula College, Port Townsend Mayor David King and the board of the Fort Worden Public Development Authority (FWPDA) that shifts this long-discussed, long-delayed project into high gear. You can see our college-center-to-be by driving into Fort Worden and parking in front of the second barracks building to the right of the four-way-stop intersection. Look for the sign that reads, “Future home of Peninsula College.” It brings us more than a building. It brings a fully wired college center housing existing and new college courses. It makes it more likely that Jefferson County residents can obtain a degree without leaving the county. Port Townsend Leader, Jan. 21, 2015 Free college: It’s already working for South Seattle grads Two weeks ago, President Obama outlined an ambitious proposal to make two years of community college free to students across the nation. And although the proposal may have little chance of success in a Republican-controlled Congress, the idea has taken on a life of its own since the president first outlined it — a fresh idea that higher-education experts and pundits alike have been debating, and that Obama talked up again during his State of the Union speech Tuesday. But it has some precedents, such as the year of free college at South Seattle College. Called the 13th Year Promise Scholarship, it is the only program of its kind in Washington and is privately funded by Seattle-area businesses that say it helps local kids get better jobs. It’s open to all students, regardless of grades or family income, who graduate from Sealth, Rainier Beach or Cleveland high schools. The Seattle Times, Jan. 20, 2015 CPTC: Congratulations to the President’s Unsung Hero for January Winter break is typically a time when things slow down on Clover Park Technical College’s campuses. That was far from the case for the college’s Information Technology and Facilities Departments last month. For their tireless work and effort to relocate Student Services in preparation for Building 17’s remodel, the two departments were selected as the President’s Unsung Hero for January. The Suburban Times, Jan. 20, 2015 Pierce College alum nominated Entrepreneur of the Year Growing up, Nikki Jackola learned the value of hard work from her parents, but the idea of going to college was never part of the conversation. ... She was forced to file for unemployment for the first time in her life, but soon learned about the PierceWorks career transition program. It wasn’t long after enrolling in the program that PierceWorks Program Manager Evelyn Brooks encouraged her to become a college student and complete her degree. Jackola pursued her associate degree after completing the PierceWorks program, and credits her experiences at Pierce College for the success she has enjoyed since achieving her degree. The Suburban Times, Jan. 20, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Facebook addiction and GPA Facebook is a tempting distraction. I have it open as a tab in my browser as I write this. And look, it’s showing that I have a new notification! I must see it, immediately. Facebook designed the site to make me feel that way. This doesn’t bode well for college students. If professionals, and even some professors,have a hard time resisting the lure of Facebook, then what chance do 18-year-olds have? New research suggests that the kids may be all right. A study of Facebook activity and grade-point averages suggests that students may learn to regulate their use of Facebook, both as a distraction from coursework and in their free time, as they move through college. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 22, 2015 In an evolving career landscape, how should colleges prepare students? By all accounts, the career paths of today’s students will hardly resemble those of their parents. So what are colleges doing to help them prepare? On Wednesday the Kettering Foundation, the National Issues Forums Institute, and Augsburg College gathered a group of leaders from higher education, business, government, and other fields here to begin what the organizations hope will be a national conversation on the question of how colleges should adapt to a working world changed by technology, globalization, and the aftermath of the recession. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 22, 2015 Flexibility and graduation Attending college full time isn’t always the best way to get to graduation, at least for adult community college students who have previously pursued a degree and dropped out. That’s the central finding of a new study from a coalition of five higher education groups. The data are based on 12 million student records from the National Student Clearinghouse. Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 21, 2015 'Patriotism abroad' A core assumption of international education is that more conversations between domestic and foreign students will result in mutual understanding and more positive, friendly feelings. But what if those conversations, when they happen, result instead in retrenchment? What if they leave a bitter taste behind? Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 21, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

Obama calls on firms to expand apprenticeships and workers’ tuition benefits Speaking at Boise State University on Wednesday, a day after his State of the Union address, President Obama repeated his call for employers to expand registered apprenticeships and tuition-benefit programs for workers. Following the speech, the White House released a list of 30 companies that have committed to expanding on-the-job training, including CVS and UPS, and said that it would make more than $50-billion a year in existing federal funds available to help more employers start and sustain apprenticeship programs. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 22, 2015 A call for restoring year-round pell The 2011 decision to end a short-lived program that let students earn two Pell Grants in a single academic year was blamed on a range of factors, including that the program's costs raged out of control and that it failed to encourage students to finish their degrees more quickly. Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 22, 2015 Opinion: From cradle to ivory tower, education is a continuous investment Leaving aside all of the other good arguments both for and against it, I have one big problem with the proposal for free community college that President Obama recently outlined and described anew in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. It’s awfully late in the game. I don’t mean that he should have moved on it earlier in his presidency. I mean that our focus on getting kids to and through higher education cannot be separated from, or supplant, our focus on making sure that they’re prepared for it. And we have a painfully long way to go in that regard. The Seattle Times, Jan. 21, 2015 Obama vs. his predecessors in State of the Union’s focus on colleges: an interactive tool President Obama said the words “college” or “colleges” 12 times in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, which seems like a relatively high figure for a speech—and a nation—full of issues. How does Mr. Obama’s focus on higher education in the address compare to that of other presidents? The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 21, 2015 Obama presses for free community college and tax reform Community colleges were back in the spotlight on Tuesday night, as President Obama plugged his plan to make the institutions free for millions of students. Speaking to Congress and the nation, Mr. Obama urged legislators to follow Tennessee’s lead and make two years of college "as free and universal in America as high school is today." The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 21, 2015 Middle-class economics for tuition Addressing the nation on Tuesday evening, President Obama highlighted what he called his “bold” plan to make community college free for some students. He also called for an overhaul of the tax code that redirects benefits away from wealthy Americans in order to extend tax credits for college. As has been the case with other key speeches throughout his presidency, Obama’s latest State of the Union address framed higher education in economic terms, casting it as vital to national competitiveness. Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 21, 2015 Obama's final two years The White House has highlighted a range of higher education policy ideas in the days and weeks leading up to President Obama’s penultimate State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. Some of the proposals — like the free community college plan — are brand-new. But others are not. The White House, for instance, previously has asked Congress to exempt from taxation the student loan balances that the federal government forgives under its income-based repayment programs. And still other higher education proposals, such as the college ratings system, went unmentioned in Tuesday’s speech. But they nonetheless remain a priority for the administration. Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 21, 2015