News Links | February 6, 2020
System News | Opinion
Green River College president selected for Aspen Institute’s New Presidents Fellowship for Community College Excellence
Green River College President Suzanne M. Johnson has been selected to join the inaugural class of the
Aspen New Presidents Fellowship, a new initiative designed to support community college
presidents in the early years of their tenure to accelerate transformational change
on behalf of students. President Johnson is one of 25 Aspen Fellows selected from
more than 100 applicants for this opportunity, which is fully funded by JPMorgan Chase
& Co. and run by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.
Auburn Examiner, Feb. 5, 2020
A tasty Lunar New Year
Renton Technical College got a tasty start to the new year with the 2020 Celebrity Chef event, that featured
a Lunar New Year performance of the Lion Dance from The International Lion Dance and
Martial Arts Team, Jan. 28. Guests also had appetizers made by RTC students and a
multicourse meal from Chef Angie Mar with the help of students. Advanced Sommelier
Christopher Chan was the emcee and helped pair the courses with different wines.
Renton Reporter, Feb. 5, 2020
Community, technical college board to hear applied bachelor’s degree proposals, hold study session on employee diversity
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will meet for its regular business meeting Thursday, Feb. 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Board members will hear six applied bachelor’s degree proposals from five colleges
and hold a study session on community and technical college employee diversity. The
applied bachelor’s degree proposals are: Health Physics at Columbia Basin College (Pasco), Cyber Security at Clover Park Technical College (Lakewood), Mechatronics at Clover Park Technical College, Advanced Manufacturing
at Edmonds Community College, Management-Entrepreneurship at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (Kirkland) and Accounting with International Accounting at North Seattle College.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 5, 2020
Edmonds CC collects 22,500 food donations to help feed hungry students
Edmonds Community College said it collected a record-breaking 22,512 food items through its third annual food
drive. Donations were divided equally between the college’s food pantry and the Foundation
for Edmonds School District’s Nourishing Network, which provides meals for hungry
and homeless students in the school district. Dr. Terry Cox, Edmonds CC’s vice president
for workforce development and training, started the food drive to address the gap
in donations between the end of summer and the holiday season.
My Edmonds News, Feb. 4, 2020
KEDA breakfast forecasts local economic development
... Olympic College’s president Marty Cavalluzzi did not make it through Kilmer’s time on the stage without
receiving some attention for what the congressman called “extraordinary leadership.”
“OC has become ground zero for building that productive workforce that will power
our economic growth.” he continued. “They have A+ partnerships with schools like WSU
and [Western Washington University],” Kilmer said before noting his appreciation for
WWU President Sabah Randhawa’s presence at the breakfast. “We’re working on legislation
right now to expand financial aid so more students can get open to that door of economic
opportunity.”
Kitsap Daily News, Feb. 4, 2020
GHC management degree program looking for applicants
One of Grays Harbor College’s four-year degree programs — Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Management
— is now accepting applications. The program is designed for working adults, with
classes in a four-hour block Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 5 p.m. The
schedule allows for students to commit to employment and other obligations while working
toward their bachelor degree, said Lewis Rucks, Dean of Workforce Education at the
college.
The Daily World, Feb. 4, 2020
Commentary: We need to, but how do we talk about race?
... And at Bellevue College (BC), the school held a number events on the topic of race in January — the week leading
up to and after Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in honor of the holiday’s namesake.
Events on campus included presentations and screenings of the film “Selma,” which
chronicles King’s life and others during part of the Civil Rights Movement. Erin Jones,
a teacher who has taught throughout Washington and has been recognized nationally
as a “Champion of Change,” was a keynote speaker at BC on Jan. 23.
Seattle Weekly, Feb. 4, 2020
Tacoma Community College plunged into darkness as mystery electrical problem hits campus
Tacoma Community College has been in the dark since Sunday, and the college isn’t entirely sure when the problem
will be fixed. Classes have been canceled through Thursday. The problem began around
3:30 p.m. Sunday when four buildings on the campus at South 19th and South Mildred
Streets in Tacoma lost electricity, said college spokeswoman Tamyra Howser. Because
one of those buildings houses the school’s information technology (IT) department,
the loss took out the school’s computer servers, phones, internet and other crucial
systems. Both the Tacoma and Gig Harbor campuses would open late on Monday, it was
announced.
The News Tribune, Feb. 4, 2020
Highline College unveils $30.3M renovation of Health and Life Sciences building
Five Highline College students quickly take turns performing chest compressions on a patient on the second
floor of Building 26. Their attentiveness is unfazed by the chaotic buzz of the beeping
medical machines tracking the patient’s vital signs and the directions being commanded
by another student — or the tour group watching the scene unfold. These students are
in a Highline College medical program and working to stabilize a simulation mannequin
patient in the recently renovated Health and Life Sciences Building.
Federal Way Mirror, Feb. 4, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
Giving growth slows
... Research and doctoral institutions saw the largest increase in gifts of all major
categories the survey tracked, with a 10-percentage-point increase from last year.
Baccalaureate institutions saw a decrease in giving. But public baccalaureate institutions
saw a 29.5-percentage-point increase, meaning private baccalaureate institutions --
which receive the majority of the donations in this category -- experienced a 5.4
percent decrease. Specialized, master's and associate institutions also saw decreases.
Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 6, 2020
Long-term successes, short-term declines
The Advanced Placement program continues to attract public high school students, whose
participation and performance nationally in the college-level curriculum and exams
increased again last year, according to an assessment of the 2019 graduating class
by the College Board. When broken down by race, however, the College Board data show
a decline in the number of exams taken by white, black, Native American and Pacific
Islander students compared to last year’s cohort.
Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 6, 2020
Universities cancel study-abroad programs amid virus fears
... China sends far more students to the United States than any other country — more
than 369,000 in the last academic year, according to the Institute of International
Education. The U.S. typically sends more than 11,000 students to China annually. Lately,
the relationship has been strained by visa difficulties, trade conflicts and U.S.
concerns about security risks posed by visiting Chinese students.
PBS News Hour, Feb. 6, 2020
Report: Lenders use educational data to discriminate
Financial companies often use data on borrowers' higher education to determine access
to credit and the price of consumer financial products. And those education data can
lead to redlining, a form of discrimination against borrowers who attended community
colleges, historically black colleges and universities, or Hispanic-serving institutions.
That was the key finding of a new report from the Student Borrower Protection Center,
a nonprofit group led by Seth Frotman, the former student loan ombudsman for the federal
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 6, 2020
Commentary: The industry connecting students with real-world challenges is growing
... It’s not about pandering to the fad of relevancy. It’s a recognition of reality
— a reality that involves not just students’ needs but also a growing movement of
alternative credentials coming from outside the academy that have their own currency
in the market. ... The Grow With Google program, for example, has already trained
more than 100,000 people for its IT Professional Support Certificate in just two years.
The certificate has been evaluated to count for up to four college credits. Yet it
doesn’t seem to be necessarily feeding many students into colleges — perhaps because
more than 50 major national employers have agreed to hire people with this certificate,
no college credential required.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 5, 2020
Politics | Local, State, National
Governor Jay Inslee visits Pierce College Puyallup
Pierce College students, faculty and staff from across the district had the unique opportunity to
sit down with Gov. Jay Inslee during a special visit to Pierce College Puyallup on
Monday, Feb. 3. After touring the campus with Chancellor Michele Johnson, Gov. Inslee
and Washington’s First Lady Trudi Inslee, participated in a roundtable discussion
about the work the college is doing to help students be successful inside the classroom
and beyond.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 4, 2020