News Links | September 3, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

Samaritan, Big Bend partner for workforce training grant Samaritan Healthcare and Big Bend Community College recently formed a partnership that resulted in the hospital being awarded a $140,500 grant from the state of Washington for workforce training. Columbia Basin Herald, Sept. 2, 2015 P.C. online earns top-10 state ranking The results are in for bestschools.com’s “Top Ten Online Colleges in Washington State” and Peninsula College is ranked at No. 7. According to the website, “Best School methodology” was used to evaluate the performance of 14 state schools by examining numbers and statistics. Sequim Gazette, Sept. 2, 2015 CPTC: Daughters follow mother’s footsteps into nursing Kristina and Celeste Lott were exposed to the field of nursing at a young age. Their mother, Kristi Lott, received her practical nursing certificate from Clover Park Technical College in 1999. The daughters both eventually became Certified Nursing Assistants. When the Lott sisters enrolled in CPTC’s LPN program, Kristi also returned to CPTC to earn her Registered Nurse Option Degree. The Suburban Times, Sept. 2, 2015 LCC approves $22.2 million budget Despite a cut in tuition and projected drop in enrollment, Lower Columbia College’s budget is on the rise. The LCC Board of Trustees on Thursday approved the college’s $22.2 million budget, a 5 percent increase from last year. Because the state cut community college tuition by 5 percent this fall, LCC will receive $286,000 from the State Board for Community & Technical Colleges to backfill the loss. Longview Daily News, Sept. 1, 2015 Teacher Feature: Bobbi Chapman Bobbi Chapman, Centralia College preschool teacher, named Favorite Teacher by Southwest Washington Family Magazine. "I have so many interests but very little time as I also work at Centralia College doing a couple of jobs." Southwest Washington Family Magazine, September 2015 As Dreamer program ends, others look to help local teens Since 1995, the local I Have a Dream program has teamed children from low-income neighborhoods with sponsors, mentors and staff members who could help those students succeed. As Southwest Washington’s I Have a Dream nears the end of its run, other initiatives have stepped up to help local teens complete high school and then continue their educations. And a couple of them have some Dreamer DNA. The Penguin Promise is a partnership among the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington, Clark College, the Clark College Foundation and community donors. The Columbian, Aug. 31, 2015 Philanthropist, fruit industry leader Marvin Sundquist dies at 89 Marvin Sundquist, a titan of the state’s fruit industry and a well-known Yakima Valley philanthropist, died Saturday afternoon at Cottage in the Meadow. He was 89. ... His fingerprints are everywhere. He served on the board of directors for dozens of groups, including the Washington Horticultural Association, Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, the Yakima Valley Museum and the Yakima Valley Salvation Army. A building bears his name at Yakima Valley Community College. Yakima Herald, Aug. 31, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Video: 'Ask me': what LGBTQ students want their professors to know The federal law known as Title IX is meant to protect students from discrimination based on their gender identity. But many gay, lesbian, and transgender students say they face an array of challenges and safety issues on their campuses. The Chronicle interviewed more than a dozen of them to hear more about what keeps them from thriving in college. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 3, 2015 Survey examines cooperation between faculty, librarians Faculty members and librarians disagree on the importance of working together, according to a survey conducted byLibrary Journal and Gale, the library arm of Cengage Learning. Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 2, 2015 How one university uses a ‘mental health kiosk’ to reach students Drexel University has become the first U.S. college to deploy a “mental health kiosk” on campus. The sleek iPad-like device is stationed in the heavily trafficked student Recreation Center and is just one of several Drexel programs designed to support students' mental health. The hope is that omnipresent touch-screen technology might make that first call for help less intimidating. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 1, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

Looming battle over Perkins Loans Colleges and universities are ramping up their efforts to preserve a federal student loan program that some congressional Republicans are eyeing for elimination in the next several weeks. The Federal Perkins Loan Program, which allows colleges to make loans of typically several thousand dollars to certain students, will expire on Sept. 30 unless Congress acts to reauthorize it. Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 3, 2015 Shift in focus Seven months ago free community college was the higher ed policy idea with the most buzz, with everyone from President Obama to families with no college experience talking about the appeal of eliminating the cost of tuition. Yet movement on two years of free tuition has only happened at the state and institutional level. The national conversation — particularly in the Democratic presidential race — has shifted instead to the debt-free movement as concerns over the student loan crisis at four-year public institutions has grown. The bulk of this conversation has shifted from getting more people into higher education, like through community colleges, to the best way to help those coming out of college with as little debt as possible. But the shift doesn't seem to bother advocates of two-year free community college initiatives, who don't see either idea as divorced from the other. Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 2, 2015 Families can cash out of GET, state’s prepaid college-tuition plan Investors who bought Washington prepaid college-tuition units can pull their money out without incurring state penalties, a board that oversees the program has decided. The decision gives account holders in the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) plan until December 2016 to decide whether they want to cash out. The Seattle Times, Sept. 1, 2015