News Links | January 7, 2021
System News | Opinion
Commentary: Accelerating degree success for adult learners in uncertain times
Here are our lessons learned from two successive National Science Foundation Advanced
Technological Education (NSF-ATE) project grants building degree programs at the intersection
of technology, sustainability and building science. The ray of hope? At Seattle Colleges, we have the strongest enrollments we have seen yet in our bachelor of applied science
(BAS) program.
Community College Daily, Jan. 6, 2021
Washington’s GED completions are down by half. The test changed amid COVID-19, but did it go far enough?
... While the GED has become more accessible, it hasn’t gone far enough, said Ali
Cohen, the youth high school completion coordinator at Renton Technical College. “There was a slow and cumbersome rollout for the remote testing and it followed
the hierarchy of adults tested first and then youth and Spanish speakers,” she said.
... The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has helped open several new test centers, Sager said.
The Seattle Times, Jan. 6, 2021
Peninsula College to host National Poet Laureate Harjo in virtual meeting
Joy Harjo, National Poet Laureate, author and acclaimed musician, will read poetry
and join in conversation with students from the First Nations Club at Peninsula College in a virtual Jan. 28 Studium Generale event, starting at 12:30 p.m. ... Harjo was
appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, and is the first Native American to
hold this position.
Sequim Gazette, Jan. 6, 2021
Pierce County Connected awards Tacoma Community College Early Learning Center $25,000 grant
Pierce County Connected, a partnership between United Way of Pierce County and the
Greater Tacoma Community Foundation established to respond to the pandemic, has awarded
the Tacoma Community College (TCC) Early Learning Center (ELC) a $25,000 grant. ELC Director Renee Hernandez-Greenfield
says that the grant will help backfill the center’s pandemic-related operating costs.
The Suburban Times, Jan. 5, 2021
Area Briefly: Minimum wage increases; more public access for waterfowl hunting; Sno-Park use soars
... Skagit Valley College has been awarded $32,270 by the Washington Student Achievement Council for a one-year
pilot program designed to assist SVC’s Running Start students. The SVC Running Start
Pilot Scholarship will support student success by covering the cost of books, course
materials and/or student fees for eligible students during the 2020-21 academic year.
Skagit Valley Herald, Jan. 5, 2021
Opinion: Christine Johnson: COVID-19 defined our year. We won’t let it define our decade.
If hindsight is 20/20, then a perspective looking back on this year should be remarkable.
And I mean the word in its purest definition – not just the positive connotation we
assign it: worthy of attention; striking. As chapter 2020 closes, it’s the word I
keep returning to. It’s remarkable how nimble, steadfast and determined our faculty
and staff [at Community Colleges of Spokane] acted to move our classes online last spring when Gov. Jay Inslee gave the order
to shut down.
Spokesman-Review, Dec. 30, 2020
A student of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program at Shoreline Community College
Retraining for a new career in the midst of a pandemic is a fact of life many will
face into the new year. Thanks to Workforce Education funding, that reality can be
a lot less daunting. Alex Langenstein is a student in the Advanced Manufacturing and
Mechatronics program at Shoreline Community College. She's transitioning from a career as an illustrator, animator, and artist for games
to a career in mechatronics and is using Workforce Education funding to pay for her
tuition.
Patch, Dec. 29, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
Pandemic doesn’t slow NASA program
While NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) didn’t work on that mission,
the program for two-year college students has encouraged them to pursue STEM careers
for 15 years – and provided some of those NCAS participants with practical experience
learning how to build and program their own Mars rovers.
Community College Daily, Jan. 7, 2021
Greater need for food at community colleges
... Many community colleges across the country are working to meet a surge in demand
for food and other basic necessities. Staff members who run these programs are concerned
about what the future will hold if the pandemic, and thus the need, doesn't subside
soon. Food insecurity among college students is nothing new, but the pandemic is exacerbating
the problem.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 7, 2021
What SolarWinds hack means for campuses
... In the meantime, IT leaders in higher ed should think about their procurement
processes and ask potential vendors tough questions about their security practices,
said Kim Milford, executive director of the Research and Education Networks Information
Sharing and Analysis Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, known as REN-ISAC.
Brian Kelly, director of the cybersecurity program at the IT organization Educause,
agreed.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 6, 2021
'Illusion of inclusion'
White professors and their nonwhite counterparts have very different perceptions of
what constitutes diversity and inclusion, according to a recent analysis from the
Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at Harvard University’s Graduate
School of Education. White faculty members are much more likely to agree (73 percent)
that there is visible leadership support and promotion of diversity on their campus
than are Black professors (55 percent).
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 6, 2021
Politics | Local, State, National
Washington state releases COVID-19 vaccination tiers, timeline through April
Washington will next prioritize vaccinating anyone who is 70 years and older, or anyone
50 and above who lives in a multigenerational household, the Washington state Department
of Health announced Wednesday. Dr. Umair Shah, the state’s health secretary, said
the state has not yet approved vaccinating people in this tier, called B1, but plans
to later in January. Health providers and industry groups have been waiting for the
guidance to begin preparations.
The Seattle Times, Jan. 6, 2021