News Links | April 7, 2020
System News | Opinion
Campus zero
... Morrison, president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology, a local community college, was horrified. The coronavirus had gained a foothold
in the United States, and her community was the first hot spot, ground zero for the
much-feared “community spread” that public-health experts warned could devastate the
country. ... few miles north, in Bothell, Eric W. Murray, president of Cascadia College, was paying close attention. Cascadia recruits students from abroad, particularly
in Asia, so coronavirus had been on Murray’s mind. But now the crisis was getting
closer.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7, 2020
Edmonds CC extends remote operations through May 10, all spring classes online
In accordance with Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision to extend his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy”
order through May 4, Edmonds Community College will extend its remote operations and will serve students and the community remotely
through May 10. College offices will reopen to the public on Monday, May 11 (pending
further notice). All spring quarter classes will be held 100% online for the entire
quarter — April 13 through June 19. Exceptions will be made for some classes with
a hands-on component.
MLT News, April 6, 2020
Peninsula College goes online for 2020 spring quarter
The academic year at Peninsula College is moving forward a week later than planned, and instruction will be online for the
entire spring quarter. College officials announced the shift to online classes on
Thursday. The quarter will start April 13 and end as planned on June 13. Commencement
is tentatively planned for June 20, with a decision about commencement details to
be made closer to that date, college representatives said.
Peninsula Daily News, April 6, 2020
Washington state students working their way through college are hard-hit by coronavirus
Washington colleges say they are scrambling to come up with emergency funds to help
students pay tuition bills, make up for lost paychecks and get the tech they need
for online classes. Community and technical colleges are purchasing laptops, making
Wi-Fi hotspots available or extending coverage to the parking lot, and providing drive-through
access to campus food pantries. Some colleges have offered mini-grants through foundations
or student government, usually for groceries. ... The Seattle Colleges Foundation,
a private nonprofit that supports the three Seattle community colleges, has raised
more than $100,000. ... Leslie, the Seattle Central College student, holds a 17-hour job as an administrative assistant at the college,
and receives another seven hours a week of work-study funds. She’s been told those
seven hours may be cut.
The Seattle Times, April 4, 2020
Wenatchee Valley College extending closure of campuses to May 4th
Following the governor’s extension of the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) has extended the closure of both campuses to students and the public until Monday,
May 4. Community Relations Executive Director Libby Siebens said instruction for spring
quarter will still begin April 13th, but will entirely move online. Students are encouraged
to reach out to their instructors beginning Monday, April 6th.
560 KPQ, April 3, 2020
EvCC Student Senate purchases $175,000 in Chromebooks for students without computers
Everett Community College students who need a computer for spring quarter classes will now be able to rent
a Chromebook for free. EvCC’s Student Senate approved spending $175,000 from the student
eTech fund to purchase about 700 Chromebooks. The college is also funding the purchase
of an additional 400 Chromebooks. The first 380 Chromebooks will be available for
pickup April 6-10. The second group of Chromebooks are scheduled to arrive at the
end of this month.
North County Outlook, April 3, 2020
Aviation tech alumnus soaring to master's degree
With two programs under his belt at Clover Park Technical College, alumnus Josh Myron is blazing forward with continued higher education and career
advancement. Myron began in the Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) program at CPTC.
Gaining the education from AMT and looking toward the future, Myron saw a clear path
to advance into the Bachelor of Applied Science in Operations Management program (BAS-OPM).
The Suburban Times, April 2, 2020
Arts during COVID-19: Rhymes with a reason
Tia Hudson's spring break from her duties at Olympic College will last a week longer than she expected. ... Hudson, who lives in Bremerton and
teaches creative writing and English Composition at OC, won a competition last spring
and was named by Mayor Greg Wheeler as the city's first Poet Laureate. Her work has
been published in several regional publications, including Poets on the Coast Anthology
and Ars Poetica.
Kitsap Sun, April 2, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
Disabled students already faced learning barriers. Then coronavirus forced an abrupt shift to online classes.
... Students with disabilities face significant challenges under the best of circumstances.
Now that the coronavirus pandemic has forced a mass, abrupt shift to online learning,
disabled students and their advocates are finding they must sometimes fight to ensure
access needs aren’t overlooked by faculty who are struggling to adapt to a whole new
arena of teaching.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7, 2020
Promoting equity in CTE
Community college career and technical education (CTE) programs are increasingly committed
to achieving equity goals and are finding creative ways to do so, according to a new
MDRC report. ... Other findings in the report: Colleges may be able to promote equitable
and diverse enrollment in CTE programs by adjusting their outreach and by finding
creative recruitment strategies, including the use of peer recruiters and community
partners; Targeted and individually tailored coaching, support networks and nontuition
financial support may help students stay in and complete programs, reducing inequitable
disparities in outcomes.
Community College Daily, April 7, 2020
Politics | Local, State, National
Anxious wait for stimulus money
When Congress set aside about $14 billion specifically for higher education in the
stimulus bill it passed two weeks ago, lawmakers had the well-intentioned goal of
most of the money going to colleges and universities that serve larger shares of lower-income
students. But lawmakers also didn’t want to penalize large institutions that don't
enroll as many lower-income students. The way Congress decided to deal with the issue,
however, has complicated how billions of dollars of aid will get to colleges, lobbyists
representing colleges and universities worry, and it could delay the money as campus
leaders are anxiously dealing with a financial hit from the coronavirus epidemic.
Inside Higher Ed, April 7, 2020
How do Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders compare on the student debt crisis
Since the beginning of election season, higher education has been at the forefront
of the national conversation with candidates putting forth plans of varying ambition
to address skyrocketing student loan debt, high tuitions and stubborn equity gaps.
Coming to the end of a long, winnowing process, only two Democratic presidential candidates
remain, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Diverse Education, April 5, 2020
Pandemic's new victim? Free college
Though they don't necessarily doom the plans, the financial struggles of states amid
the coronavirus pandemic have become a major obstacle to free college proposals from
presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. So much so that at least one
proponent of free college, Morley Winograd, president of the Campaign for Free College
Tuition, acknowledged that the proposals from Sanders and Biden on how to pay for
eliminating tuition now are unlikely to happen.
Inside Higher Ed, April 3, 2020
As coronavirus freezes the economy, Gov. Inslee slashes hundreds of millions of dollars from Washington state budget
With the coronavirus effectively shuttering Washington’s economy and crushing state
tax collections, Gov. Jay Inslee used his veto pen Friday to slash $445 million in
spending from the state operating budget. In a perhaps unprecedented move, Inslee
made line-item vetoes to 147 programs as he signed the state supplemental operating
budget, which tweaked Washington’s two-year spending blueprint.
The Seattle Times, April 3, 2020
