| An online magazine dedicated to sharing best practices and providing in-depth coverage of issues and trends affecting the Washington State community and technical college system. |
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| July 2005 Edition 2 |
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| College News | ||
Main Story |
Governor Gregoire visits local campusesEdmonds Community College, the Community Colleges of Spokane, Peninsula College, Wenatchee Valley College, Walla Walla Community College, and Clark College have all played host to Governor Gregoire over the recent months. During her visit to Edmonds Community College, Gov. Gregoire stressed the importance of having a flexible and responsive educational system in order for Washington to be economically competitive. She said having a responsive educational system was the number one demand from potential international trade partners, and that their greatest need was for trained engineers for aerospace and biotechnology industries. She commended the community and technical college system for their responsiveness in meeting the needs of the business community. In addition, she stated that university center partnerships, like the one between Edmonds Community College and Central Washington University, are the trend of the future. Pierce College Puyallup library honored The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announced the Pierce College Library as one of the recipients of the 2005 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. Sponsored by ACRL and Blackwell's Book Services, the award recognizes the staff of a college, university and community college library for programs that deliver exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the institution. The Pierce College library, winner of the community college category, was recognized for being a national leader in outcomes assessment focused on student learning. "Pierce College librarians and staff work as a team with faculty in achieving the five core elements of a Pierce education, particularly information literacy, which enables students to achieve personal, academic and workplace goals," said Helen Spalding, chair of the 2005 Excellence in Academic Libraries Selection Committee. Pierce College Library is the only community college library in the nation to support an INTEL Computer Clubhouse, by leading an innovative collaboration with the local school district and city government to provide Computer Clubhouse members, age 10-18, with an opportunity to explore their creativity and learn how to learn. Each winning library receives $3,000 and a commemorative plaque, to be presented at an award ceremony held on each recipient's campus. The winners also received special recognition at the ACRL President's Program during the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference on June 27 in Chicago. Four Lake Washington Technical College students receive CSI chapter sponsorships Every year the Construction Specifications Institute’s (CSI) Academic Affairs committee from the Puget Sound chapter selects students from colleges in the Puget Sound region to receive chapter sponsorships. Sponsorship includes a one-year student membership in CSI, chapter dinners at no cost, certification class tuition, and mentoring by industry professionals. Nine architecture, engineering and construction students in the Puget Sound area have been awarded the 2005 sponsorships. Lake Washington Technical College is proud to announce that four LWTC students have been awarded these sponsorships. They are: Jim Vasil of Renton, Jennifer Abbarno of Everett, Nicholas Vann of Kirkland, and Lewis Beck of Monroe. All four students are enrolled in the Engineering Graphics Program at LWTC. Gene Fosheim, an instructor at Lake Washington Technical College, as well as a CSI Academic Affairs Committee member, recommended these four students based on their interest, GPA and participation in school and community activities. Lake Washington Technical College student Mary Silva of Anacortes was the recipient of the 2004 Memorial Foundation Scholarship. The Memorial Foundation Scholarship is awarded to one student each year and is based on dedication and involvement in the Puget Sound chapter of CSI. The CSI was founded in 1948 and is an individual membership technical society whose purpose is to improve the process of creating and sustaining the built environment for the benefit of the construction community by exchanging member knowledge. CSI members include architects, engineers, constructors, specifiers of construction products, suppliers of construction products, building owners and facilities managers.
Lake Washington Technical College is heading to Peru. President Mike Metke, along with staff, students and community members, will hike Peru’s Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The group will leave August 24 and return on September 6. The Secret Treasure: Machu Picchu Photo: Angus McIntyre (angus@aegypt.demon.co.uk) Last year, a group including President Mike Metke, fitness students Jessica Hintz, Rebecca Chapman, Ryoan Hoisington and Keven Watson, as well as attorney Derek Edwards, architect Stephen Starling, counselor Alicia Zweifach and accountant T.J. Hogan successfully climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Kilimanjaro, at 19,335 feet, is one of the world's seven summits and the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
Tacoma Community College Art Instructor Melinda Cox debuted her new temporary henna tattoo, designed by one of her students and put on her bald head, during TCC’s Third Annual Student Art Exhibition opening reception. Melinda Cox Cox, of Gig Harbor, was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2004, and began chemotherapy treatment in January 2005. Finished with chemotherapy but still bald, Cox assigned her art students to create tattoo designs on Styrofoam heads. The class then voted on the best design, and Cox agreed to have it tattooed on her head. The winning dragon design, created by student Mike Ellis, represents the soul, the human spirit and the fight for life. “Tattoos are, in the best examples, a form of contemporary design and art,” Cox said. “Henna body decorations are an ancient art form. I thought that it would be a good way in which to show off the student’s work, as well as provide something interesting to decorate my head. I also thought that the students might relate to a project that has a practical application rather than an assignment that is more conceptual and theory based.” Two CPTC social services students receive WAVE Awards Two students from the social services training program at Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) were among recipients of Washington Awards for Vocational Excellence (WAVE) who were honored at a recognition banquet at Mount Tahoma High School. It was the second year in a row that two CPTC students from the social services program have received WAVE awards. This year’s WAVE winners are Cheryl Wilson and Willam Saguil. They are among some 147 WAVE winners from around the state who will receive a grant authorized by the Washington state Legislature for tuition and fees for two years at any of the state’s community and technical colleges and universities, accredited independent colleges or private trade schools. Winners are chosen on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, character and leadership. BCC launches new program in business intelligence Bellevue Community College will launch a new degree and certificate program this fall in the field of Business Intelligence, a growing discipline within the realm of Information Technology. Business Intelligence (BI) focuses on identifying, acquiring and reporting the data needed to make informed business decisions. It has become a particularly essential function in large corporations because it provides the ability to manage growing volumes of complex data. Business Intelligence is reported to be one of the fastest growing areas in the field of Information Technology. Large businesses will need three times as many Business Intelligence personnel in 2008 as they did in 2004, according to projections released recently by research firm Gartner Inc. and reported by Business Intelligence Pipeline. The same study found that finance, marketing, forecasting and sales are the primary business functions using BI professionals currently across the nation, while financial and consumer services companies are the industries seeing the greatest expansion in Business Intelligence applications. BI students at BCC may choose from three program options leading to successively higher levels of competency: a BI Analyst certificate of accomplishment (six courses totaling 30 credit hours); a BI Developer certificate of achievement (nine courses totaling 45 credit hours); and a BI track within the college’s Associate of Arts Computer Programming degree program (additional technology core courses plus general education courses, totaling 90 credit hours). Nanotechnology: North Seattle Community College’s new big program is about small things When you use a sunscreen that contains zinc but does not turn your face white, you are experiencing nanotechnology. You can’t see the zinc, but the particles are in the sunscreen. Your new shirt or pants that shed stains are protected with a chemical dip that added “nano fibers” to coat threads. These products are not “miniaturized” versions of a substance, but newly manufactured products made possible through breaking down and rearranging molecules at the “nanometer” scale (one billionth of a meter). Nanotechnology will change products, materials, and services in healthcare, transportation, energy, and much of the economy and its future at North Seattle CC is imminent. Under the leadership of the Washington Technology Center, Washington has embarked on a nanotechnology initiative to increase the state’s share of a trillion dollar market for nano-based products in the next decade – and the jobs that come with it. As it produces both trained technicians and students who may also go on to the university, North will be the first community college in the state to respond to the Washington Nanotechnology Initiative’s goal of developing training programs “to assure our workforce has skills when needed.” It will also be among the first educational institutions to address filling a documented growing skills gap, particularly for technicians, as well as growing shortages of qualified technical personnel. Estimates vary widely, but the number of nanotechnology technicians needed in the United States over the next decade may be as great as 800,000. Student and staff work together to develop LifeSuit Monty Reed, a North Seattle CC student who will transfer to the UW as a bioengineering major, was the focus of major news media interest recently in connection with the robotic device that permits paralyzed people to walk. Reed and other members of the Robotics Club developed the device over the past several years. The LifeSuit is a wearable aluminum frame that enables a paralyzed person to use arms and legs through robotic movement. It was built by students in the North Seattle Community College Robotics Club lab over a period of two years and will soon undergo medical trials through the UW Medical Center.
Edmonds Community College materials science technology students teamed up with engineering students from Everett Community College to design, build and race a human-powered submarine in Maryland. Photo: The Baltimore Sun For the first time, the colleges participated in the International Submarine Races, June 27-July 1, where awards were on the line for overall performance, innovation, speed and best use of composite materials. Competitors included universities such as the University of Washington, University of Maryland and Texas A&M as well as government agencies, corporations, research labs and individuals. The competition aims to inspire students to advance underwater technologies such as sub sea vehicle hydrodynamics, propulsion and life support systems. It also gives students a chance to put what they’ve learned into practice. They must build a wet submarine capable of submerging and carrying two of their friends (equipped with scuba gear) — one to drive, the other to provide the power. Using materials donated by The Boeing Company, Jeremy Bruce, Edward LaRocque, Jason Verges and Demetrio Urtula of Edmonds Community College, were responsible for designing the hull as well as researching, manufacturing and testing their team’s entry. They built a 13-foot self-stabilizing, hydrodynamic submarine using composite and traditional materials. The sub has a strong, but light, fiberglass hull bound with waterproof epoxy resin and a polycarbonate nose for clarity and high-impact strength. Each of the students graduated with a Materials Science Technology degree. Edmonds Community College added the program in fall 2003 after receiving federal funding to create the curriculum and build a lab. The skills are in demand by local manufacturers who need technicians with materials science knowledge to create reliable, high-quality and low-cost products. Not the least of these is The Boeing Company’s new 787 jet. The two-year degree in materials science technology prepares students for entry-level work and serves as the first two-years of a four-year degree in engineering. After graduating, LaRocque and Verges plan to transfer to Western Washington University’s plastics engineering program while Urtula will seek work in the composites industry. Bruce is also earning his Chemistry Laboratory Technician and Associate of Science degrees. He plans to pursue a career in analytical chemistry when he graduates from Edmonds Community College next year. Everett Community College’s engineering students are created the propulsion system and the helm control design for the submarine. It’s not the first time the two college’s engineering departments have collaborated on projects. Instructors Jill and Eric Davishahl met in engineering school, married and then each began teaching at a community college: Jill at Edmonds, Eric at Everett. The school’s engineers try to out design each other at the annual Rubberchicken Egg Drop Competition. BCC ‘ Mathletes’ place 2nd in nation, 1st in region A team of Bellevue Community College math students – dubbed the “ Mathletes” – has placed second in the nation and first in the Northwest in the 2005 American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges Student Math League competition. It was the second year in a row that BCC students placed second in the nation and the sixth in a row that they placed first in the region – which includes Washington, Idaho and Oregon. In individual results, George Lin placed first in the region and 10th in the nation, Sang- Hoon Chong placed seventh in the region and 44th in the nation, and Steven Kreiger placed eighth in the region and 46th in the nation. All three are from Bellevue. Krieger and Lin are high school students – from Sammamish and Newport High Schools, respectively – earning college credit by taking BCC College in the High School classes. More than 150 colleges nationwide take part annually in the competition, which involves two rounds of tests. More than 350 BCC students competed, with the top five scores forming the school’s ‘team.’ Pre-Nursing DTA Major Ready Pathway (MRP) approved at the Instruction Commission meeting on May 19, being signed off by seven bachelor’s institutions The Community and Technical College Instruction Commission has approved the Pre-Nursing Direct Transfer Agreement/Major Ready Pathway. The agreement is the result of the excellent work done by the joint two-year and four-year pre-nursing workgroup, under the guidance of the Joint Access Oversight Group, to develop a pathway for students who are preparing for an upper division Bachelor of Science - Nursing (BSN) degree by completing a broad selection of academic courses at a two-year college. The agreement will help students by better preparing them for their specific major and reduce the likelihood that they will take credits that do not count towards their degree. The co-chairs of the pre-Nursing Workgroup were Mary Baroni from UW-Bothell, and Stu Barger from Everett Community College. The seven bachelor’s institutions signatory to the agreement are UW-Seattle, WSU-Intercollegiate College of Nursing, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, Pacific Lutheran University, Northwest University (formerly Northwest College), and Walla Walla College. BCC launches nation’s first degree program for developmentally disabled students Bellevue Community College (BCC) has launched the nation’s first higher education degree program for developmentally disabled students. With an expanded curriculum of 52 separate courses, the college’s Venture program now offers a 90-credit Associate in Essential Studies degree through which high-functioning individuals with learning, cognitive and intellectual disabilities can demonstrate mastery of an established body of knowledge and gain the skills for lifetime success. The Venture degree program is designed to offer higher-learning opportunities for the developmentally disabled population, providing academics combined with social and life skills development and workforce preparation, with the ultimate goal of career placement and life success. Academic topics in the program include mathematics, reading, writing, science, art, media communications and history. Courses in social and life skills include learning strategies, conversation strategies, relationships, self advocacy, disability awareness, nutrition, human sexuality, brain basics, physical education and personal finance. Workforce-skills course topics include information technology literacy; problem solving in the workplace; job research; preparation of applications, resumes and portfolios; conversations in the workplace; self advocacy; and internships. All content also emphasizes problem solving, critical thinking, communication and team building. A major goal of the Venture program is for students to gain challenging employment. A workforce development specialist provides social and vocational coaching and develops a support network to infuse appropriate vocational training into the curriculum. Job internships, job placement and job coaching all provide the opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience, increase self-esteem and enrich personal knowledge and skills. Students have new options at UW Bothell and Shoreline, Cascadia Community Colleges Starting this fall, students will be able to enroll at the University of Washington, Bothell while still completing an associate degree at Cascadia and Shoreline Community Colleges. Because of legislative support and additional state funding, the University of Washington, Bothell has just added more admission space for fall 2005. This expansion allows UW Bothell to launch a new Dual-Enrollment program for students seeking appropriate placement in college this fall. LWTC Awarded TRIO Grant Lake Washington Technical College received a grant from the United States Department of Education TRIO program. The DOE has granted the college $1.1 million over five years. The purpose of the grant is to create a support services program to meet the needs of students with disabilities. “Lake Washington Technical College was one of only 40 institutions across the country and the only one in Washington state that is receiving TRIO funding to serve this specific population,” according to Dennis Long, vice president of student services, who led the team of staff that wrote the application. The Federal TRIO Programs were named so because there were only three programs when they were initiated in the 1960s. They are educational opportunity outreach programs designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The goal of LWTC’s TRIO grant is to increase retention, graduation, and transfer to four-year colleges for the participants. TRIO includes six outreach and support programs targeted to serve and assist low-income, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities. The intent is to support students’ progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs. National Science Foundation grants fund unique study opportunities for a Washington state community college Peninsula College and Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment have each received $500,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation, which will allow the two colleges and other members of the Elwha Research Consortium to conduct unprecedented scientific studies of the ecological effects on the Olympic Peninsula's Elwha River both before and after the removal of two major dams. Other consortium members include the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Olympic Park Institute, Olympic National Park and the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Fisheries Research Center. As a direct result of the two grants, Peninsula College students and students enrolled in upper division Huxley classes on the Peninsula College campus will develop their own research projects under the guidance of consortium mentors and will also work with scientists from the various agencies in their research. The grants will sponsor 16 undergraduate students each year, including four tribal students. The grants will also allow the two colleges to continue to further expand their own higher educational partnership, which currently provides an opportunity for Peninsula College graduates to earn their baccalaureate degrees at Peninsula College. The two degree offerings include a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Environmental Policy. The Elwha is also important because it is the largest watershed in Olympic National Park (ONP), a park that has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. ONP is one of only a handful of sites to receive this double recognition. River Restoration directed by U.S. Congress The Elwha River is now the focus of the National Park Service's second largest ecosystem restoration effort. The tribe has had river restoration crews working on Olympia Peninsula streams and the Elwha, in particular, since 1992 when the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act was passed. It was then that Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to fully restore the Elwha River ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries (fish that migrate up rivers from the sea to breed in fresh water). Extensive environmental analysis and public comment led to the finding that dam removal is the only way to restore the river and its ecosystem. Removal of the two dams - the 108-foot-tall Elwha and 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon - is scheduled to begin in 2008. SVC TRIO Program Receives Donation from Fidalgo Networking The Skagit Valley College Student Support Services TRIO program received a donation of one year of Internet service from Fidalgo Networking and David S. Fisher, Chief Executive Administrator. The gift is valued at over $3,100 and is being used to enhance 25 laptop computers that were donated to the TRIO program earlier this year by the Boeing Company. “TRIO provides the doors of opportunity for students who may be the first in their family to pursue higher education,” said Kim Requa, Director of SVC’s TRIO program. “Many of our students lack access to computers and the internet outside of the college environment. By providing this critical access, their opportunities for success are greatly enhanced.” The TRIO Student Support Services Program at SVC is a federal program that provides comprehensive academic and counseling support to first generation and low-income students and students with disabilities to help them excel in college, graduate, and transfer to a four-year university. Do you have an item for the next "All in the Family?" Email the Creating Opportunities staff at: ezine@sbctc.ctc.edu
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