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News Links | January 12, 2021

January 12, 2021 by SBCTC Communications

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

Last Modified: 9/11/24, 12:00 PM
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