Tuesday, September 15, 2015

News Links | September 15, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

Colleges work together to add parking space at EvCC
Crews are putting the final touches on new and expanded parking lots for Everett Community College students. And when the work is done, there will be a few more spaces for students to choose from when they begin classes next week.
Everett Herald, Sept. 15, 2015

Colleges 're-thinking' how to teach math
Math comes easily to some students. For others, it's a real challenge. Many students drop out of school altogether because they can't pass their math requirements. So Washington's community and technical colleges are "re-thinking" math in an effort to change that. Seattle Central College is one of a growing number of schools that are approaching math education in a new way. Because too many incoming freshmen test below the college level, Seattle Central has a new approach to complete pre-college math.
KING 5, Sept. 14, 2015

Federal grant will boost Washington apprenticeship programs
Apprenticeships — adult training programs that are frequently offered through community colleges and supported by federal training dollars — got a boost in Seattle this week when South Seattle College snared a $4.8 million grant to train people in the advanced manufacturing and maritime sectors.
The Seattle Times, Sept. 14, 2015

College costs vs. earnings: New federal scorecard rates the schools
The federal Department of Education released a trove of data over the weekend aimed at helping students choose where to go to college — and whether some colleges are worth the cost and time. The College Scorecard is not the rating system the Obama administration once promised, but it does provide some interesting details about Washington state’s public and private colleges. ... Five community colleges netted their graduates salaries of $35,000 a year or more 10 years after graduation: Bellevue, Shoreline, Highline and Everett community colleges, and the Lake Washington Institute of TechnologyBellingham Technical College had an unusually high graduation rate among the state’s two-year colleges (55 percent) and a notably low average annual cost for financial aid recipients ($4,491).
The Seattle Times, Sept. 14, 2015

Older students return to school to exercise minds, shape new careers
You’re never too old for back-to-school, at least that’s the mantra of Hayden’s Brona Trutton, 74, who puts her oxygen in her backpack with her books and takes the elevator to her math class at North Idaho College. ... Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood received a grant along with 138 community colleges across the nation. ... Tim Orton, 59, will defend his Gonzaga University doctorate thesis Oct. 6 after a 10-year journey of higher education focusing on leadership. Orton works for Spokane Community College as a manager of student programs.
Spokesman-Review, Sept. 14, 2015

From addict to advocate
During the many years he was a heroin user, Jeffrey Paczkowski said he had a tendency to close into himself, often cutting ties with friends and most of the outside world for months at a time. But today, the 41-year-old recovering addict has become a vocal and active proponent of a movement to change public perception and press for more education and better laws for other addicts who choose to use prescription medication to help them in their paths to recovery. ... Paczkowski will attend Skagit Valley College this fall, with hopes of eventually becoming a recovery counselor. He said he would like to further his education and some day open an outpatient treatment center.
Skagit Valley Herald, Sept. 13, 2015

SPSCC’s Lacey campus ready to open
With all the furniture in place, office supplies unpacked and landscaping touched up, South Puget Sound Community College’s new Lacey campus officially opens Monday.
The Olympian, Sept. 12, 2015

Whatcom Community College gets federal grant to stop hackers
A state college has received $6.4 million in federal grants to expand cybersecurity education, but it’s not the school you might expect. Whatcom Community College in Bellingham was awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation to lead computer security education efforts across the West Coast and the nation.
The Seattle Times, Sept. 11, 2015

Funding available for 1000 new apprenticeships statewide
A new $5 million federal grant awarded to Washington today will expand technology job opportunities for women, minorities, veterans and others in the state. ... Along with the technology program, the grant provides apprenticeship funding for community colleges on both sides of the state. Bates Technical College in Tacoma and Spokane Community College, working with the Spokane Area Workforce Development Council, will receive funding for traditional building trades and apprenticeship preparation programs. ... The federal Department of Labor also announced $4.8 million in grant funding to South Seattle College for advanced manufacturing and marine engineering apprenticeships. ... “Apprenticeships provide a perfect blend of hands-on training and classroom learning,” said State Board for Community and Technical Colleges Executive Director Marty Brown. “They translate into great jobs and upward mobility for the people of Washington.”
KXRO, Sept. 10, 2015

College’s new, spacious Trades complex set to open for fall quarter
When classes begin Sept. 21, students enrolled in four programs at Green River College will use the new Trades Technologies building. The 55,000-square-foot, $34.6-million project is on budget and schedule, said Sam Ball, Green River’s capital projects director. ... The school shelved the project indefinitely during the economic collapse that began in 2008. In June 2012, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, which provided $28.6 million for the project, informed the college that funding would be reinstated.
Kent Reporter, Sept. 10, 2015

CPTC official joins governor on trade mission to Asia
Mabel Edmonds, special assistant to the president and to the vice president for student learning at Clover Park Technical College, was one of more than 60 delegates who last week joined a trade mission to Japan and Korea with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Edmonds represented the state’s two-year college system on the mission because the trip emphasized ways to strengthen the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industry on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
The Suburban Times, Sept. 10, 2015

Edmonds CC hires new director of development for foundation
Edmonds Community College has hired Andrea Potter as the new Director of Development for the Edmonds CC Foundation.
My Edmonds News, Sept. 10, 2015

SVC administrator honored; donations go to schools
Mary Alice Grobins, Skagit Valley College vice president of administrative services, was presented the 2015 Award of Excellence in Leadership from the Association of Community and Technical Colleges during the group’s summer conference in Blaine. The award recognizes a Washington community and technical college administrator who has made significant contributions to education and the community.
Skagit Valley Herald, Sept. 9, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Training that delivers
For more than 20 years, the ATE program has been a source for developing new technologies and training future technicians in science, manufacturing, technology and engineering fields at community colleges across the country. ... The program provides grants to improve programs at two-year colleges that train technicians, as well as provide professional development for the faculty members who teach them. It also focuses on funding innovative programs that better connect academic institutions with various industries.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 15, 2015

Pointing a finger at for-profits
The spike in student loan defaults over the last decade has been fueled by students attending for-profit colleges and, to a lesser degree, community colleges, according to a new analysis of millions of federal student loan records. The paper, released Thursday as part of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, argues that the student loan crisis, to the extent there is one, is concentrated only among these “nontraditional” borrowers at for-profit and community colleges.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 11, 2015

All eyes on China
Will a slowing Chinese economy lead to a decline in the number of international students in the U.S.? U.S. universities have grown increasingly reliant on rapid, double-percentage-point-per-annum growth in the number of students from China, who now account for 31 percent of international students in American higher education. Many experts expect this growth will continue in the short to medium term, albeit at a more moderated rate, but others suggest that a slowdown in the Chinese economy could, combined with other factors, expedite a flattening in enrollments, or even herald declines.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 11, 2015

A market enabled
The online program management space is booming. Eduventures, a Boston-based higher education research firm, estimates the market is worth $1.1 billion. The firm this spring surveyed academic leaders at more than 175 colleges and universities to form a picture of the companies known as online program management (OPM) providers, or enablers. These companies help institutions bring their programs online, taking a share of tuition revenue in return.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 11, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL


Next steps on FAFSA
Plenty of questions remain unanswered after the White House announced Sunday a rejiggering of when and how students apply for federal financial aid. Starting in 2016 for the 2017-18 academic year, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be available earlier, in October rather than January, and applicants will be able to use income information from two-year-old completed tax returns rather than sometimes incomplete information from the previous year.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 15, 2015

The new college scorecard
The Obama administration over the weekend unveiled the revamped college information website it created instead of its original plan to rate colleges, releasing a trove of new federal data about the nation’s colleges and universities. These new data show publicly, for the first time, the share of a college’s former students who make some progress in paying down their federal loans within the first three years after leaving college. And they provide the first comprehensive look at how much students who receive federal loans and Pell Grants end up earning after they leave a specific college, both in the short term and long term.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 14, 2015

Inslee: Saving charter schools is not a priority; focus will be on public schools
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday announced he will not call a special session to address the state Supreme Court’s finding on charter schools.
Puget Sound Business Journal, Sept. 11, 2015

Families flood GET office with tuition refund questions
Calls have doubled and emails have quadrupled to the people who run GET: the name for the state's pre-paid college savings plan. That's because last week the plan announced that families can pull their money out without a paying a penalty. Now the question is how many families will actually take their money and leave.
KUOW, Sept. 8, 2015