News Links | May 14, 2020
System News | Opinion
Northwest Passages: Chancellor and presidents of the Community Colleges of Spokane
Chancellor Christine Johnson, [Spokane Community College] President Kevin Brockbank and [Spokane Falls Community College] President Kimberlee Messina are the leadership team at the Community Colleges of Spokane and they sit down with Spokesman-Review Editor Rob Curley on the Northwest Passages
live-stream Wednesday, May 13, 2020 for a wide-ranging discussion. [Video]
The Spokesman-Review, May 13, 2020
WVC students claim all $1.2 million in COVID-19 relief in two weeks
The $1.2 million that Wenatchee Valley College received in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding for distribution
directly to students is spent — or will be once all 930 applications have been processed.
Students were invited to apply for funding starting April 24. In the first three days,
more than 400 applications were submitted. As of Monday, two weeks later, WVC had
processed 480 of the 930 applications received. Each student, on average, received
$1,387, according to a press release issued Wednesday.
Wenatchee World, May 13, 2020
Big Bend Community College receives over 20 phony unemployment claims during pandemic
Officials at Big Bend Community College are asking staff to be vigilant in safeguarding their personal information after
receiving a litany of phony unemployment claims. Kim Garza, Vice President of Human
Resources at BBCC, stated in an email that imposters posing as school employees are
sending in the claims. Garza says the college received six false unemployment claims
last week, dealt with nine fraudulent claims that came in on Monday, and got another
seven on Tuesday of this week.
iFiber One, May 13, 2020
Pandemic aid money available to Olympic College students
Olympic College has received $3.12 million in aid the federal government is dispersing to colleges
to help offset impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly half of the aid the college
got from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act, $1.56
million, will go directly to OC students for food, housing, course materials, technology,
health care, childcare and other expenses. The college will use the rest to offset
new expenses and lost revenue it's incurred because of the novel coronavirus, including
added custodial expenses and costs related to moving classes online.
Kitsap Sun, May 13, 2020
Cal State system says it will keep fall courses online, while Spokane-area schools aim to reopen campuses
... Lorraine Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Community Colleges of Spokane, said the situation is still evolving but administrators plan to reopen in the fall
while following COVID-19 restrictions handed down by state officials. CCS is the district
that includes Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College. Some courses can only be taught in person, including some trade and apprenticeship
programs and health care fields like physical and occupational therapy, Nelson said.
The Spokesman-Review, May 12, 2020
Asian American Pacific Islander organization donates laptops to Bates Technical College AAPI students in need
The quick move from traditional in-classroom learning to remote learning for the start
of Spring Quarter meant that many Bates Technical College students wouldn’t have the financial resources to access their courses and succeed.
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates recently awarded free laptops to more than
30 low-income Asian American and Pacific Islander students, providing an important
tool to help them earn their degree.
The Suburban Times, May 11, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
Survey: Colleges project international enrollment declines
Eighty-eight percent of colleges expect declines in international student enrollments
this fall, according to new survey results from the Institute of International Education,
a nonprofit organization that collects data on international enrollments and study
abroad participation. Seventy percent of responding college officials anticipate that
some international students will not be able to come to their campuses for in-person
classes this fall due to COVID-19 travel restrictions or visa delays.
Inside Higher Ed, May 14, 2020
A playbook for a second-choice fall
Most college and university administrators and faculty members are desperate for their
campuses to be open in the fall, believing that the in-person experience is essential
to what they do. But the reality is that campuses may well remain closed to students
in the fall, and colleges and universities should focus their attention on making
a fully virtual experience the best it can possibly be.
Inside Higher Ed, May 14, 2020
Commentary: Changes to the Federal Work-Study Program to help students now and post COVID-19
... There are many issues with the current FWS system. Perhaps the most problematic
is that its purchasing power has decreased substantially since its inception. In the
2016-17 academic school year, the average FWS award was $1,639. While this amount
may have been sufficient to accomplish the original goal of FWS decades ago, it isn’t
now. The cost of college is at an all time high, and a work study award does little
to completely offset this cost.
New America, May 14, 2020
How neurodivergent students are getting through the pandemic
Students with anxiety disorders, autism and other disabilities are struggling with
the disruption of their normal routines after the move to remote education. ... "There
are so many challenges to college access … It’s already a very heavy lift" for neurodivergent
students and those with disabilities, Grigal said. "Adding this additional piece of,
you’re going to do all that work but not be on a campus -- it could be hard to see
that as a good use of their time."
Inside Higher Ed, May 13, 2020
Calif. community colleges sue DeVos over DACA exclusion
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos exceeded her authority and violated the constitutional
principle of separation of powers when she ruled undocumented and hundreds of thousands
of other college students were not eligible for emergency grants in the CARES Act,
the California community college system alleged in a federal lawsuit Monday.
Inside Higher Ed, May 13, 2020
Student parents underserved
... The largest share of student parents, 42 percent, attend community colleges, the
report said. Compared to their non-parent peers in higher education, student parents
are more likely to have low incomes. Just over half (51 percent) of student parents
are students of color, and nearly 60 percent are first-generation college students.
However, student parents at community colleges felt the most welcome on campus; 48
percent felt very welcome, compared to just 32 percent of student parents at four-year
colleges.
Community College Daily, May 13, 2020
Colleges want no repeat of the last recession's cuts
During the last recession more than a decade ago, states slashed about $33 billion
in funding for the nation’s colleges and universities from 2008 to 2012. The cuts
were so bad that even though states have been gradually spending more on higher education
since then, a recent study found colleges have gotten back only about two-thirds of
the state funding per student they lost.
Inside Higher Ed, May 11, 2020
Politics | Local, State, National
Senator Alexander sounds positive note on reopening campuses
Senator Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate's education
committee, on Sunday questioned whether testing capacities for COVID-19 were adequate
to reopen a large university campus in August. Alexander, a former U.S. Secretary
of Education and president of the University of Tennessee, expanded on those thoughts
during a Fox News interview Wednesday. "If I were president of a university today,
I would be planning on going back to school," he said, according to a transcript of
the interview.
Inside Higher Ed, May 14, 2020
Pence, DeVos hold call with 14 college presidents
Vice President Mike Pence held a call Tuesday with leaders of 14 colleges and universities.
They were joined by Betsy DeVos, the U.S. secretary of education, and Deborah Birx,
the White House coronavirus response coordinator, in a discussion about "best practices
to get students back to school in the fall," according to a news release from the
vice president's office.
Inside Higher Ed, May 14, 2020
Fauci: Developing vaccine by fall term is 'bridge too far'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force,
told a Senate committee that the prospects of developing a vaccine by the fall to
truly make college students comfortable enough to go back to campuses “is a bridge
too far.” But he said that doesn’t mean students cannot return, depending on the amount
of infections and available testing in an area.
Inside Higher Ed, May 13, 2020
