News Links | June 18, 2020
System News | Opinion
Peninsula College names vice president for instruction
... Steven L. Thomas will begin work July 1. He is an educator with more than 25 years
experience in both K-12 and post-secondary education, Peninsula College announced, saying he has worked as a teacher, researcher, policy analyst, college
faculty member and higher education executive.
Peninsula Daily News, June 16, 2020
Tacoma Community College fall learning modalities
Tacoma Community College (TCC) will continue to hold most classes online Fall Quarter, with exceptions for approved
lab classes to be held on campus. ... “This decision allows us to start preparing
early,” said TCC President Ivan L. Harrell, II, Ph.D. “Contrary to winter and spring,
when we abruptly shifted to online learning, this early decision will help us better
prepare for what is historically the highly anticipated start of the academic year."
The Suburban Times, June 16, 2020
Clover Park Technical College to host drive-through celebration of 2020 graduates June 18
On June 18, Clover Park Technical College will celebrate the achievements of its Class of 2020 at the Celebration of Graduates.
In light of commencement ceremonies being canceled across the country due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the College sought a way to honor its students with a unique event while
adhering to social distancing guidelines.
The Suburban Times, June 16, 2020
37 SPSCC nursing students graduate during the COVID-19 health crisis
The 37 students graduating from the South Puget Sound Community College nursing program are a group of students who proved their flexibility and desire to
persevere, according to the college. Graduating during a pandemic is stressful for
all students, but for those enrolled in hands-on programs — such as nursing — restrictions
on public gatherings meant requirements for in-person learning had to be approached
in a new way.
Nisqually Valley News, June 16, 2020
Inaugural Craft Brewing and Distilling cohort part of SPSCC 2020 graduating class
South Puget Sound Community College last week announced that 19 students in its first craft brewing and distilling cohort
will graduate as part of the class of 2020 on June 20. The group, which includes three
women, have excelled in the science- and business-focused program, according to a
press release from the college.
Nisqually Valley News, June 16, 2020
Walla Walla Community College presents first four-year degrees to graduates
The first group of students of Walla Walla Community College’s bachelor of applied science in agricultural systems program has graduated. Six students
— Levi Allen, Chase Aeschliman, Bailey Bromiley, Paula Corona, Tate Gabriel and Sydney
Taylor — have all became the first to earn their four-year degrees at WWCC.
Union-Bulletin, June 16, 2020
A place to call home – and to study
... And when the cost of housing in Tacoma, Wash., shot up in 2014 due to the IT boom
in Seattle, Tacoma Community College created a partnership with the Tacoma Housing Authority to provide homeless or near-homeless
students with federal rental assistance vouchers.
Inside Higher Ed, June 15, 2020
Commentary: Peninsula College adapts to pandemic
Working from his home studio, Peninsula College Ceramics Instructor Steve Belz records ceramics demonstrations and raw materials
lab lectures for his nine students. It’s also where he meets with his students via
Zoom every week for four hours for critiques and general troubleshooting.
Peninsula Daily News, June 14, 2020
Pinning the tradition of care
A legacy more than a century old has been bestowed on the next generation.
Katie Keller, 25, is moving into her own nursing career while carrying forward her
family’s extensive history of working in medicine. Keller graduated from Walla Walla Community College’s nursing program and, under normal circumstances, would have participated Saturday
in a special tradition known as a pinning ceremony.
Union-Bulletin, June 14, 2020
Colleges are backing off SAT, ACT scores — but the exams will be hard to shake
... Community colleges have long been without these tests in the admissions process,
says Laurie Franklin, who oversees enrollment and student financial services at Everett Community College in Washington State. To schools that are announcing test-optional policies, she has
this message: “Welcome to the club.”
NPR, June 12, 2020
Samantha Moser reads "Spells to be said against hatred" by Jane Hirshfield
Samantha Moser is a student at Wenatchee Valley College who is interested in poetry and hopes to gain more experience to improve her writing
in the future
Spokane Public Radio, June 12, 2020
Awards announced in Peninsula College Student Art Exhibition
“Blind Happiness” by Catherine Janiszewski won Best of Show in the annual Peninsula College Student Art Exhibition. The 2020 Peninsula College Student Art Exhibition was presented
online this year due to COVID-19. It can be viewed on the PUB Gallery of Art Facebook
page.
Peninsula Daily News, June 12, 2020
Centralia College Foundation names 2020 Exceptional Faculty Award winners
The Centralia College Foundation announced this week that it has selected Georganne Copeland and Emmy Kreilkamp
as 2020 Exceptional Faculty Award winners. “They were chosen for their commitment
to and excellence in their subject areas, and participation in campus activities,”
according to a news release from the foundation.
The Daily Chronicle, June 12, 2020
CBC grads get caps and gowns
Students work for years to get their degrees and due to the pandemic a lot of them
aren't able to have the traditional graduation ceremony. Columbia Basin College is making sure students still feel special by passing out their cap and gowns along
with CBC themed masks through a drive-thru style.
KEPR, June 12, 2020
New sculptures added to Webster's Woods
... Designed to weather and collect moss over time, McClellan sees this piece as a
solemn and contemplative addition to the park’s collection: a space that invites viewers
to, in the artist’s words, “recognize the earnestness of life in comparison to the
gravity of death.” The piece will be constructed in McClellan’s studio at nearby Peninsula College, where he is a Ceramic Artist in Residence, and later transported to Webster’s Woods.
Peninsula Daily News, June 12, 2020
Spokane community colleges to resume in-person classes
Spokane Falls and Spokane Community College plan to resume normal operations by this fall and to largely rely on online classes
this summer. Spokane Falls Community College has largely offered online summer classes
and will continue to do so this year, according to a news release.
The Spokesman-Review, June 11, 2020
Bates Technical College celebrates 2020 graduates in virtual ceremony
As Bates Technical College celebrates its 80th anniversary, the college will hold the most unique commencement
ceremony in its history. The virtual ceremony will premiere on Friday, June 12 at
6 p.m. at BatesTech.edu/Congrats or at Bates-Tech.stageclip.com.
The Suburban Times, June 11, 2020
LCC arts faculty gets creative despite COVID
Lower Columbia College students and faculty have gotten creative while the COVID-19 pandemic has affected
the school’s performing and visual arts classes. As a result of the temporary closure
of the Forsberg Art Gallery, art and design faculty member Jennie Myhhier, and gallery
director Jennie Castle teamed up and are offering a virtual presentation of the school’s
annual Student Art show.
The Daily News, June 11, 2020
Skagit Valley College braces for budget cuts
An expected shortfall in state revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing
Skagit Valley College to prepare to make millions of dollars in cuts from its budget plans for next year.
At a Skagit Valley College Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, President Tom Keegan
said the college, which has campuses in Skagit, Island and San Juan counties, may
face “significant” budget issues and that the college is looking for ways to trim
about $4.8 million from its budget.
Skagit Valley Herald, June 11, 2020
Everett Community College cuts 85 part-time positions
About 85 part-time hourly positions have been eliminated at Everett Community College because of campus closures and potential cuts to state funding amid the coronavirus
pandemic. The job reductions are expected to save the school about $500,000 in the
2020-21 fiscal year. Workers who lost their jobs include office and fitness center
assistants. Full-time employees are still available to staff those departments.
Everett Valley Herald, June 11, 2020
Everett Community College names Chris H. Bennett and Sonya Kraski as 2020 Distinguished Alumni
Everett Community College (EvCC) has selected publisher Chris H. Bennett and Snohomish County Courtroom Operations
Manager Sonya Kraski as the college’s 2020 Distinguished Alumni. ... “If it weren’t
for my class at EvCC, I would have never gone to the Clerk’s office,” Kraski said.
“Without having to leave the community that I was comfortable with, the college expanded
my horizons in ways that I never could have imagined.”
Seattle Medium, June 10, 2020
‘Curious Incident’ breaks theatrical ground on Peninsula
In “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” the mystery play Peninsula College will present this weekend, Emily Loucks has found inspiration, connection — and —
props around her house. As Siobhan, the schoolteacher who befriends the teenager at
the center of the story, she and her fellow actors are stepping into a new frontier:
live-streamed theater on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Peninsula Daily News, June 11, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
College programs in prisons go remote
The benefits of college programs in prisons are well documented. Research shows that
postsecondary programs can reduce recidivism while improving morale and safety in
facilities and increasing post-incarceration job prospects. Support for prison education
has grown in recent years, as has support for allowing inmates to access federal financial
aid, which was banned in 1994.
Inside Higher Ed, June 18, 2020
Much ado about class size
... “In terms of student race and gender, the findings for underrepresented groups
contrast with previous research, which has found that smaller class sizes correlate
with improved academic outcomes,” states the new study, published in Educational Researcher.
That's probably because “the effect of class size is far more nuanced than historically
discussed.”
Inside Higher Ed, June 18, 2020
Higher education and work amid crisis
Even before the pandemic, higher education faced growing scrutiny about its role in
contributing to severe societal equity gaps that afflict black and Latino Americans,
as well as Native Americans and other historically underserved groups. But that pressure
is certain to increase amid what Richard V. Reeves, a writer and senior fellow at
the Brookings Institution, calls an extraordinary “collision of crises” that has further
exposed multiple inequities and inequalities.
Inside Higher Ed, June 17, 2020
Can bachelor's degree programs at community colleges increase access? A new report says yes
Higher education is constantly wringing its hands over how to make college more affordable.
A new brief by the think tank New America proposes a tool the authors say more states
could be using: four-year degree programs at community colleges. Today, 23 states
authorize community college baccalaureate degrees, starting with Florida in 2001,
according to the report.
Diverse Education, June 16, 2020
CARES Act formula hurt Hispanic-serving colleges
... The focus on Pell Grant recipients in the formula hurt some students as well,
Excelencia found. Those who worked full-time while enrolled to cover costs, enrolled
part-time to save costs or started at a two-year college might not apply for Pell
Grants. This disqualifies them from the CARES Act count, even though they might have
economic hardships.
Inside Higher Ed, June 16, 2020
Interest rate on federal college loans is about to hit a record low
The coronavirus may be upending the way colleges operate, but at least students and
their families will get a break if they borrow money from the government for an education.
The interest rate on new federal student loans for undergraduates will fall to a record
low this summer.
The Seattle Times, June 13, 2020
Apple to discontinue iTunes U app
The iTunes U app will be shut down at the end of 2021, Apple announced this week.
The app, founded in 2007, is credited with playing a central role in opening up higher
education to the public. ... In recent years, however, the app was not regularly updated
by Apple, leading some users to theorize that it would soon be shut down. This week
that theory was confirmed. Access to the app and all its content will continue until
the end of 2021.
Inside Higher Ed, June 12, 2020
Politics | Local, State, National
Washington DACA recipients celebrate Supreme Court ruling
Alejandra Pérez was so sure the Supreme Court was going to allow the Trump administration
to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that she and a group of
friends planned a “wellness check-in” for the evening so they could process their
feelings and heal. Instead, the Kent DACA recipient was stunned to find herself overjoyed
by the Thursday morning decision, which held, 5-4, that President Donald Trump did
not provide a reasoned explanation when he announced an end to the program three years
ago.
The Seattle Times, June 18, 2020
Washington watch: DACA stays
In a huge and unanticipated win for Dreamers, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled
in a 5-4 decision that the Trump administration failed to comply with administrative
legal requirements when it rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program. The Court vacated the DACA rescission, essentially reinstating DACA, at least
temporarily.
Community College Daily, June 18, 2020
Setback for DeVos in emergency aid suit
For the second time in a week, a federal judge has blocked the U.S. Department of
Education from enforcing its interpretation that limits student eligibility for emergency
aid grants under CARES Act for some colleges. But the department in a statement said
it will appeal both a ruling Wednesday by a judge in Northern California and one on
Friday in Washington State that found that U.S. Secretary Betsy DeVos’s take on the
coronavirus relief package runs counter to what Congress intended.
Inside Higher Ed, June 18, 2020
Washington watch: Yet more new ED guidance on CARES Act funding
The U.S. Education Department (ED) has issued yet further guidance addressing the
formula grants under the CARES Act. However, this guidance is mostly good news for
community colleges, particularly in how they may spend funds designated for institutional
expenses created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Community College Daily, June 18, 2020
'Far-reaching consequences'
... “The answer is clear,” the court’s opinion, written by Associate Justice Neil
Gorsuch, said. “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender
fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of
a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly
what Title VII forbids.”
Inside Higher Ed, June 16, 2020
Emergency grant limit blocked in Washington state
A mixed ruling by a federal judge in Washington State dealt a limited blow to U.S.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s contention that only those college students eligible
for regular student aid are able to get emergency grants Congress created in the CARES
Act.
Inside Higher Ed, June 15, 2020
