News Links | August 6, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

National group names YVCC’s Kaminski top CEO Yakima Valley Community College President Linda Kaminski has been named CEO of the Year by a national community college group. The Association of Community College Trustees will recognize Kaminski as its CEO of the Year when the organization meets in San Diego in October. Yakima Herald, August 6, 2015 Report: Mid-Columbia job market should continue to grow through 2023 Mid-Columbia business leaders and state officials have a lot to be happy about with the latest data on the future of the region’s job market. ... “You have to have some training, you have to have some marketable skill,” said Dean Schau, associate professor of economics at Columbia Basin College. Tri-City Herald, August 5, 2015 BBCC welcomes new Vice President of Finance and Administration Big Bend Community College (BBCC) has announced the hiring of Linda Schoonmaker as Vice President for Finance and Administration. Prior to accepting this position at Big Bend, Schoonmaker was Vice President for Finance and Administration at Clover Park Technical College near Tacoma. She also has served as Director of Accounting Services for the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges in Olympia. KXLY, August 5, 2015 Former LCC leader Stephen Kridelbaugh was loved and admired by many When Stephen Kridelbaugh, a dean at Lower Columbia College, told instructor Alan Howard that he wanted LCC to apply for a $1.4 million federal grant to boost technology programs, Howard thought he was crazy. Longview Daily News, August 4, 2015 Could paying for prisoners to go to college behind bars save society money? Last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited a prison in Maryland to make a controversial announcement: inmates at the facility will soon have the opportunity to earn college degrees on the government's dime. The Department of Education pilot program — which will make prisoners eligible to receive federal Pell grants — is classified as a research experiment. ... To educate that same individual for a year while they are incarcerated costs an additional $2,000 to $3,000, says Carol Fitzgerald, who administers an innovative program at the Washington State Penitentiary where offenders can earn an Associates degree from Walla Walla Community College. Inlander, August 4, 2015 Centralia man chosen by archbishop for five years of studies in Rome Tyler Johnson, a Centralia High School graduate, received the rare opportunity to spend five years in Italy, helping him complete his goal of becoming an ordained priest. ... Born in Seoul, South Korea, Johnson was adopted and brought to the United States at the age of 3. As a Centralia local, the 29-year-old graduated from Centralia College in 2006 and later attended Central Washington University to receive his bachelor’s degree in fine arts, specializing in graphic design. Centralia Chronicle, August 3, 2015 Opinion: American dream alive and well at Centralia College By Joanne Schwartz, chairwoman, Centralia College Board of Trustees, Robert Frost, president, Centralia College, and Marty Brown, executive director, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. These days, people need to work hard, play by the rules, and pursue a lifelong education. Centralia College and Washington’s community and technical colleges offer the high quality to make it all possible. Each year, nearly 400,000 community and technical college students train for well-paying careers, start work on a four-year degree, or update their skills and knowledge. This week, Centralia College was rated among the very best colleges in the high percentage of students who successfully transfer to universities. Centralia Chronicle, July 31, 2015 Centralia College receives $1.6 million federal grant to extend TRiO student support services The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it has awarded Centralia College $1.6 million to support TRiO Student Support Services. Centralia Chronicle, July 28, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

The language of learning analytics “Analytics” is one of the hottest buzzwords in education. For ed-tech companies, it is also a selling point. By using vendors’ suites and solutions, colleges will gain access to data about why some students succeed and where and when others stumble — or so the pitch goes. But there’s a catch, said Linda Feng, senior product manager for analytics and SIS integration at Instructure. “The whole premise is that all that data has to be in their world,” she said. Inside Higher Ed, August 6, 2015 A college system measures how low-paying degrees serve the public good Everyone, it seems, is trying to measure the value of a college degree. For many elected officials in the states, that amount boils down to a fairly simple number: The earnings of the person who received that credential. But while higher-education officials often tout the salary bonus conferred by a bachelor’s degree, for instance, many of those same officials worry about overrelying on wages as the only way to demonstrate the value of a college education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 5, 2015 State sets new minimum scores for high-school graduation After a long and sometimes contentious debate, the state Board of Education set new minimum scores Wednesday that high-school students must reach on standardized English and math tests in order to graduate. The Seattle Times, August 5, 2015 Engineering deans pledge to promote diversity At Tuesday's "Demo Day," a White House event to promote entrepreneurship, more than 100 engineering deans issued a pledge to promote diversity efforts. Inside Higher Ed, August 5, 2015 Ending all-male panels "There aren't enough women." "A quota system would be needed." "Change will take a generation." Those are some of the answers that have been given by organizers of scholarly meetings for having relatively few women on panels at annual meetings, and for having plenty of panels with no women at all. Many women have been rejecting such answers — and some have even talked about staying away from sessions with only male speakers. That may not be necessary at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Inside Higher Ed, August 5, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

Coalition calls for federal open educational resources policy Dozens of education, interest, library and technology groups on Tuesday called for the Obama administration to make federally funded instructional and training materials available as open educational resources. Inside Higher Ed, August 5, 2015 Democrats urge inquiry into Education Dept. loan servicer review Three Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the U.S. Department of Education’s review of its loan servicing contractors that largely cleared the companies of allegations they overcharged military service members. Inside Higher Ed, August 5, 2015 In our view: Higher ed's cost curbed Legislature's tuition cut a measured step, but Congress must address student loans. The Columbian, August 4, 2015