News Links | January 30, 2020
System News | Opinion
Legislators consider expanding access to higher education in Washington correctional facilities
Incarcerated individuals may soon have more opportunities to complete college degrees
while in correctional facilities. Among other things, House Bill 2299 would permit
the Washington State Department of Corrections to implement post-secondary certificate
and degree programs at state correctional institutions. ... The agency contracts with
the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges to offer Adult Basic Education (pdf), workforce pre-apprenticeships and certificates,
and associate technical degrees at each of the 12 correctional facilities.
Monroe Monitor, Jan. 30, 2020
NIC, SCC among 15 schools receiving $100K grants in second year of Metallica Scholars Initiative
Two area community colleges will once again receive grants from Metallica's Foundation
and its partners in the second year of its scholar program. [Spokane Community College] and North Idaho College were both among the 10 schools in the original program and
will be included in this year's as well, along with five schools added for a total
of 15. According to a release from the All Within My Hands Foundation, the Metallica
Scholars Initiative saw job placement rates exceed 90 percent in the inaugural year.
KHQ, Jan. 29, 2020
Edmonds CC Build It NOW program aims to help inventors get from idea to prototype in six weeks
Edmonds Community College, in collaboration with the NW Innovation Resource Center’s (NWIRC), is offering the
Build it NOW program, which helps inventors and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into
ready-for-market prototypes. The program will run 9 a.m.-noon on Saturdays from Feb.
22 through March 28. The subject of each session corresponds with a different product
development stage: research, prototyping, marketing, testing, and launching the product
to market.
My Edmonds News, Jan. 29, 2020
'Fun Home': Centralia College musical tackles hard subjects with beautiful music
“Fun Home” is the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist. It’s also a story
about growing up: And a story about families; and a story about fathers and daughters;
and a story about trying to figure out just who you are in this world. Beyond the
sexuality of the main character, it is a story that almost everyone can relate to. “Fun
Home” will open Friday and play through Feb. 9 in the Wickstrom Studio Theatre on
the Centralia College Campus.
The Daily Chronicle, Jan. 29, 2020
CBC students shine the light on human trafficking
CBC student Raman Nijjar and 77 others formed a human chain for Tuesday’s “Shine the
Light on Human Trafficking” event on the Pasco campus of Columbia Basin College. The Human Trafficking Awareness Month event was organized by the Phi Theta Kappa
National Honor Society in partnership with the Support, Advocacy & Resource Center
(SARC). The 77 people stretched across the campus represented the reported victims
in the region, said PTK club advisor Terry Marie Fleischman.
Tri-City Herald, Jan. 28, 2020
State House passes bill to give relief to students with unpaid fines
Students with unpaid fines and fees to school districts may soon be getting some relief
from the state Legislature. The House voted 64-30 on Monday in Olympia to pass House
Bill 1715, sponsored by Rep. Debra Entenman, D-Kent, according to a Washington House
Democrats news release. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges requested the measure. Entenman has served on the Renton Technical College Board of Trustees since 2015.
Kent Reporter, Jan. 28, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
International students benefit community colleges
Community colleges are not only attractive options for international students, they
also bring many benefits to the colleges, states a new report. The American Council
on Education brief offers recommendations to college leaders on how best to internationalize
their campuses and explains why that is important.
Community College Daily, Jan. 29, 2020
More trustees fear for the future
Trustees have grown significantly more concerned about the future of higher education
in the last year, according to new polling released today that points to financial
sustainability and the prices students pay as top sources of anxiety. And trustees
aren’t just worried about the sector as a whole. A majority are also concerned about
the future financial sustainability of their own institutions or systems. The data
also seem to indicate college and university trustees will need to raise their level
of performance, according to experts at the membership organization that released
the survey, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 29, 2020
Coronavirus hits China exchange programs
American universities and colleges have announced new restrictions on travel to China
in response to upgraded travel advisories from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the U.S. Department of State related to the continued spread of coronavirus.
... The CDC expanded its travel advisory for China on Monday to recommend against
nonessential travel to the entire country (previously the warning applied only to
Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located).
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 29, 2020
More states address apprenticeship policies
State lawmakers are turning more toward apprenticeships as a strategy to tackle the
skills gap, according to an annual report on states’ career and technical education
policies. In 2019, at least 35 policies related to apprenticeships were enacted across
22 states, says the report by CTE Advance, the Association for Career and Technical
Education, and the Education Commission of the States. Many of the policies aim to
expand access to apprenticeships and make more learners aware of such programs.
Community College Daily, Jan. 29, 2020
China cancels standardized tests due to coronavirus
China has canceled standardized test dates for common English language proficiency
and graduate entry tests due to concerns about containing the spread of the novel
coronavirus, potentially disrupting the plans of students who planned to use scores
from the tests to apply for colleges overseas, Bloomberg reported. China's National
Education Examinations Authority said all test dates for the Graduate Record Examination
(GRE), the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the International English Language
Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scheduled
for February have been canceled.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 28, 2020
Report affirms value of associate degrees, certificates
Media and policymakers still often think “college” equals a four-year degree, but
the actual number of students earning college credentials tells a different story.
The combined number of certificates and associate degrees awarded by colleges is similar
to the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded — around 2 million per year — with certificates
and associate degrees each accounting for about 1 million, according to a new report
by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). The report
finds that students with associate degrees and credentials in a specialized field
often attain better-paying jobs and careers than students earning bachelor’s degrees.
Community College Daily, Jan. 28, 2020
New fellowships for journalists covering CTE
... The new program aims to increase the number of journalists who have the tools
and networks to provide more comprehensive coverage of postsecondary education, according
to the foundation. ... CTE, especially at the postsecondary level, has started to
make more headlines as business and industry clamor for more skilled workers. That,
in turn, has prompted more local, state and national lawmakers to call for more CTE
at colleges, particularly community colleges.
Community College Daily, Jan. 28, 2020
Politics | Local, State, National
Senators seek information about online program managers
Two Democrats in the U.S. Senate have asked five companies that help colleges and
universities manage their online academic programs for information about their contracts
and relationships with the institutions. The letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren
of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio seeks either copies of contracts with the
institutions or, "alternatively," information about the nature and term of all of
their institutional contracts. The letter also requests data on how much revenue they
receive and how much they spend on services such as marketing, recruiting, instruction
and student support for each institutional client. The senators also seek information
about how the companies comply with federal rules prohibiting payments to recruiters
on a per-student basis.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 30, 2020
