News Links | February 26, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

Editorial: Thankful for programs that improve people’s lives Columbia Basin College had been waiting to secure accreditation for a new online business administration degree, and officials recently learned it came through. They have been prepared for a while, so classes are scheduled to start at the beginning of March. This is a great new program that gives people more flexibility than the traditional classroom setting. This is a welcome addition to the programs already offered at CBC. Community colleges traditionally seek ways of making education possible for those who would otherwise not be able to pursue a college degree. This new program fits right in with that mission. Tri-City Herald, Feb. 26, 2015 Skagit Valley College participates in national competition Students of the Skagit Valley College campus in Clinton are taking part in a national competition to support a greener future, according to a recent press release. Skagit Valley College is one of 392 schools, including 4.5 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff members, participating throughout the United States and Canada. Schools face off to determine which produce the least amount of waste, recycle the largest percentage of their overall waste, or recycle the most per capita. South Whidbey Record, Feb. 25, 2015 Highline College eliminates application fee for general admission Most students enrolling in classes at Highline College will no longer be charged a $17 admissions application fee. First-time students enrolling in general admission classes for spring quarter 2015 will be the initial beneficiaries of the change. Federal Way Mirror, Feb. 25, 2015 Moses Lake aviator receives Congressional Gold Medal Col. Gordon Ebbert had many loves; motorcycles, ice cream, women, but flying always came first. Ebbert, a Moses Lake resident who died last October, posthumously received a Congressional Gold Medal on Tuesday during a ceremony in the Washington State Senate Chamber for his service in the Civil Air Patrol. ... "I wish he could be here to receive it," said Doug Sly, the director of public information at Big Bend Community College where Ebbert helped start the flight program. Columbia Basin Herald, Feb. 25, 2015 Port of Port Angeles gives green light to contract of up to $190,000 for design of composites building interior Port of Port Angeles commissioners have approved a contract for a maximum of $190,000 to design the interior of a composites technology recycling center. Commissioners Jim Hallett, Jim Calhoun and Colleen McAleer gave a unanimous thumbs-up Tuesday to a professional services agreement with Mount Vernon-based Carletti Architects. ... The building also would house Peninsula College classrooms where students would be taught composites technology. Peninsula Daily News, Feb. 25, 2015 Opinion: Close loophole and college can be affordable State Sens. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, have an idea. They introduced a bill to cut tuition at our four-year colleges. Now, their bill has loopholes for mandatory fees like “student activity fees.” But it goes in the right direction! They propose tying tuition to a percentage of the state's average wage. ... Braun and Bailey's bill could do better for students at Everett Community College and all the other community colleges in our state. They propose reducing current tuition and fees of $4,000 by just $59. These community college students make up about four-fifths of the students in our public higher education system. They are typically lower income part-time workers trying to go to college, earn a living, and keep their family together. They deserve a break, too. Everett Herald, Feb. 25, 2015 CPTC: Histology students volunteer at Madigan When the Department of Pathology at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord had a need for histology technicians, students from Clover Park Technical College stepped up to help. Madigan is a summer internship site for CPTC’s Medical Histology Technician Program. With a current need for techs in the pathology lab, Dr. Zachary Hoffer, director of autopsy services at Madigan, contacted CPTC. The program was unable to provide the clinic with student interns without disrupting their studies, so instructor Bekki Haggerty asked her second-quarter class for volunteers. The Suburban Times, Feb. 25, 2015 Human rights in North Korea? There are none, says speaker at Pierce College Nineteen years ago, when she first spoke with North Korean refugees — and helped them find a voice in the United States — Suzanne Scholte recognized the size of the challenge. “I felt like those who tried to get out word of the Holocaust after World War II,” Scholte said. “People simply couldn’t believe it.” Scholte will visit Pierce College’s Puyallup campus Wednesday (Feb. 25) to talk about human rights abuses that remain routine under the regime of dictator Kim Jong Un. The News Tribune, Feb. 25, 2015 KBTC, KCTS leaders earn national advocacy awards The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) today presented the 2015 National Advocacy Award to Rob Dunlop, President & CEO, KCTS 9, and Ed Ulman, Executive Director & General Manager, KBTC, for their exceptional efforts in furthering public television’s legislative goals and marshalling grassroots support for public broadcasting. ... Mr. Dunlop is the former Chair of the Washington Athletic Club; a director and vice chairman of the Better Business Bureau for Alaska, Washington and Oregon; and director and vice chairman of the North Seattle College Education Fund. ... In addition to his public television responsibilities, Mr. Ulman serves as Dean of Instruction for the broadcast, audio, video production, and digital media programs. KBTC provides broadcast educational opportunities to students enrolled in these programs, while being a community service of Bates Technical College. The Suburban Times, Feb. 24, 2015 Pierce College accepting nominations for 2015 honorary degree The Pierce College Board of Trustees is now accepting nominations for its first-ever Honorary Associate of Arts degree, which will be awarded to a worthy recipient during the 2015 commencement ceremony. Nominations for degree recipients will be accepted from any member of the college community, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, board members and friends of the college. The Honorary Associate of Arts will be the highest form of recognition offered by Pierce College to a person of exceptional distinction. The degree program seeks to honor meritorious and outstanding service to either Pierce College or the greater community. It will also recognize people whose lives serve as examples of the college’s aspirations for its students. The Suburban Times, Feb. 20, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Program's extra support for community-college students is paying off A program at City University of New York that surrounds full-time students with intensive financial, academic, and career support has nearly doubled the three-year graduation rate for community-college students who start out in remedial classes, according to a study released on Wednesday. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 26, 2015 Family influence on education Spending your teenage years in a single-parent family puts you at a larger educational disadvantage today than it did 40 years ago, claims a new study. In 2009, young adults who spent time living in single-parent families had completed 1.32 fewer years of schooling than their peers from two-parent families, according to a paper published last week in the academic journal Education Next. The college completion rate also was 26 percentage points lower for 24-year-olds who lived in single-parent homes as teens. Both gaps have more than doubled since 1978, when there was a 0.63-year difference in schooling completed and a 12 percentage point difference in college completion rates. Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 25, 2015 Editorial: Use Washington State Opportunity Scholarship as a pathway to STEM and health care Washington state employers have plenty of jobs in the high-paying science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and health-care fields. The problem is finding qualified candidates locally to fill thousands of positions in a competitive market. Only 9 of 100 students born in the state will work in these STEM and health-care fields, according to a 2013 joint report by the Boston Consulting Group and the Washington Roundtable. More Washington natives can become programmers at Microsoft or engineers at Boeing. But too many students, especially those from poor families, are not sure how to pursue an education for these high-demand fields. The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship can help. The Seattle Times, Feb. 24, 2015 Opinion: Student loan delinquencies rise For all the talk of deleveraging, American consumer debt remains extremely high by historical standards. Some say it’s because we lack self-control. It’s undeniable that as wages have stagnated, households have been forced deeper in debt to maintain their important role as “consumers” in a consumption-driven economy. At the end of the fourth quarter, consumer debt totaled $11.8 trillion, up $117 billion. One area getting particularly worse is student loans. According to a report today from the New York Fed, student loan delinquencies are the one form of consumer debt that hasn’t shown at least some improvement since the Great Recession. The Seattle Times, Feb. 17, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

U.S. House expands 529 account benefits The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation to expand the tax benefits of 529 college-savings accounts, less than a month after the Obama administration's failed bid to raise taxes on such accounts. Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 26, 2015 With deregulatory slant, a Higher Ed Act push Senator Lamar Alexander on Tuesday committed to finishing a rewrite of the Higher Education Act by the end of this year as he backed a plan written by colleges and universities to roll back federal requirements on higher education. “We’ll get it done this year,” Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate education committee, told reporters. He said he planned to hold a round of hearings in April, draft a version of the bill by summer, and then have a vote on the Senate floor after the August recess. Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 25, 2015