News Links | January 12, 2021
System News | Opinion
Skagit Valley College clubs stay connected
In a year of upheaval, Skagit Valley College student clubs have worked to keep members connected — and the community richer for
it. While some of the college’s clubs have been unable to operate because of COVID-19
restrictions, others have turned to community-service projects and strived to remain
connected.
Skagit Valley Herald, Jan. 11, 2021
LCC's international program 'bucked the trend' of pandemic decline
At the end of 2019, Lower Columbia College International Programs Director Marie Boisvert thought the 2020 international program
was going to be the “strongest ever.” “We had a whole bunch of students (interested)
and I was thinking we would break the threshold of 30 students,” Boisvert said. “Then
this happened.” “This,” of course, was the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daily News, Jan. 8, 2021
COVID-19 grades? Pandemic prompts area colleges to implement new grading systems
... Whether it’s a changed grade, credit/no credit policies or other models, colleges
and universities nationwide have taken similar action for the fall and spring semesters.
Not all have, however. That includes the Community Colleges of Spokane, where administrators said faculty accommodate for COVID- related absences on a case-by-case
basis, such as by hiring substitutes or giving faculty additional hours to work with
students individually to make up assignments.
Spokesman-Review, Jan. 8, 2021
YVC opens new West Campus building
Yakima Valley College's West Campus is the new home for the Allied Health program. Stephanie O'Brine, one
of the program chairs, says this new building is a night and day difference from where
they used to teach classes. "Well we have five programs using one classroom. So, you
could imagine that was really difficult, some scheduling conflicts," O’Brine said.
Because of COVID-19 there's a bigger need for healthcare workers especially in the
valley.
KIMA, Jan. 7, 2021
Lawmakers call for President Trump's removal from office
... NBC Right Now spoke with an expert in American politics at Columbia Basin College Dr. Pär Jason Engle, Ph.D. said if successful this would make history. "If they were
successful this would be the first time a permanent removal would have been done with
the 25th amendment. People may think twice about it because it's arduous and we are
not exactly sure if it would be successful in the end either," Engle said.
NBC Right Now, Jan. 7, 2021
Time runs out on Jan. 10 to see online art exhibit at Helen S. Smith Gallery
... Art students at Green River College work through the visual arts program studying drawing, painting, ceramics, photography
and design, and students in the Artist’s Portfolio exhibition represent the capstone
class, Art 180. Serious art students in the program traditionally take Art 180 in
the fall to learn how to package and present their work professionally as a cumulative
body.
Auburn Reporter, Jan. 7, 2021
CBC receives $2.3 million from Dept. of Ed to promote farmworker education
Columbia Basin College has received a new five year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue
the High School Equivalency Program (HEP). The program is designed to assist migrant
and seasonal farm workers to earn their General Educational Development (GED®) certificate.
HEP provides, at no cost, academic advising, tutoring, college visits and tours, career
planning, and free classes to prepare to earn the GED.
Fox 41, Jan. 7, 2021
Boeing robot arm donation helps Shoreline Manufacturing students get job-ready
[Shoreline Community College's] Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program has a new robot arm for students
to train on thanks to the generosity of Boeing. The arm is used for drilling and riveting
on assemblies for airplane programs and was previously used at Craft College, a Boeing
employee training program. Boeing donated the arm to the College through the MechWA
grant.
Shoreline Area News, Dec. 30, 2020
Trends | Horizons | Education
Dept. of ed says Title IX does not apply to LGBTQ discrimination
The United States Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel published
a memorandum on Friday that states that LGBTQ students are not expressly included
in protections under Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally
funded institutions. Questions about how Title IX applies to LGBTQ students surfaced
after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June, Bostock v. Clayton County
...
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 12, 2021
DataPoints: Significantly more parent students attend community college
Young college students with children disproportionately attend community colleges,
according to a new analysis of federal data by Child Trends, a research organization
focused on improving the lives of children and youths.
Community College Daily, Jan. 11, 2021
Stimulus aid won't suffice for colleges, Fitch warns
Billions of dollars dedicated to colleges and universities in the recently enacted
stimulus legislation won't come close to helping the institutions fill budget deficits
caused by pandemic, Fitch Ratings said Thursday. The ratings agency stated that the
$22.7 billion allocated to postsecondary institutions in the Consolidated Appropriations
Act is significantly more than the $14.3 billion distributed through the federal CARES
Act last spring, and that the new aid provides more flexibility to institutions in
how they can spent the funds.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 8, 2021
Politics | Local, State, National
Little legacy on higher ed -- except controversy
What’s perhaps most telling about Betsy DeVos’s contentious tenure as education secretary,
before her resignation last week, is the legacy she’ll leave behind for colleges.
There likely won’t be one, in a matter of months or at most a couple of years. For
DeVos, a longtime champion of the rights of parents to send students to the K-12 school
of their choosing, higher education hasn’t been a focus during her time in office.
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 11, 2021
Betsy DeVos resigns
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned Thursday night in the wake of President Trump’s
role in encouraging the storming of the Capitol by protesters on Wednesday, The Wall
Street Journal first reported. The department confirmed her resignation. "We should
be highlighting and celebrating your administration's many accomplishments on behalf
of the American people," she wrote in the resignation letter to Trump, which was obtained
by Inside Higher Ed. "Instead we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters
overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business."
Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 8, 2021