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News Links | September 21, 2021

September 21, 2021 by SBCTC Communications

System News | Opinion

How it feels to join a nursing program at Campus Zero

In the winter of 2020, I interviewed for the associate dean of nursing position at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech). On Friday March 6, 2020, I received a call asking if I would start on March 9. Little did I know that nursing students in clinicals at a long-term healthcare facility would soon be at the center of the first U.S. Covid-19 outbreak ...
Community College Daily, Sept. 20, 2021

Yakima Valley College starts fall quarter with limited in-person classes

Yakima Valley College begins its first day of classes for the fall quarter Monday. Most classes will remain online only, but a limited number of hybrid classes will bring some students back to campus. This quarter, certain theater, music and clay classes will have in-person components, as well as some science labs, Dean of Arts and Sciences Kerrie Cavaness said.
Yakima Herald, Sept. 20, 2021

Wenatchee Valley College extends vaccination deadline

[Wenatchee Valley College] has updated student vaccination requirements and extended the student vaccination deadline until Nov. 1. Students must either attest that they are fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or complete a medical or religious exemption form and have it approved by Nov. 1.
News Radio 560 KPQ, Sept. 19, 2021

Home Away from Home exhibit opens Sept. 22 in The Gallery at TCC

“Home Away from Home,” an exhibit by photographer and [Tacoma Community College] art professor Alice Di Certo, explores the stories of local immigrants, refugees and undocumented citizens through photo essays and interviews.
Suburban Times, Sept. 19, 2021

Everett Community College cancels $1.2 million in student debt

Everett Community College is forgiving $1.2 million in student debt accumulated during the pandemic. EvCC is using institutional Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) to cancel student debt for 3,442 students who attended classes spring quarter 2020 through summer quarter 2021.
Patch, Sept. 18, 2021

Demand for COVID testing grows in Yakima Valley, rest of the state

Demand for COVID testing has increased in the Yakima Valley and statewide as infection rates have increased. The community testing site at Yakima Valley College tested an average of 612 people a day from Monday through Friday this week, with the Sunnyside site picking up another 250 people a day.
Yakima Herald, Sept. 17, 2021

Eastern Washington colleges begin crackdown on submission of student, staff vaccine statuses

... The Community Colleges of Spokane have taken an approach similar to WSU’s, requiring students to attest to their vaccination status in order to register for winter quarter classes, while employees are also bound to the state’s Oct. 18 deadline. ... Meanwhile, 1,893 out of 6,524 enrolled Spokane Community College students (29%) have attested ... At Spokane Falls Community College, 1,287 out of 3,747 enrolled students (34.3%) have attested.
Spokesman-Review, Sept. 17, 2021

Big Bend Community College enrollment down; professor leaves

The unexpected resignation of a Big Bend Community College professor has forced the school to cancel a program this fall and prompt a hunt for a replacement. BBCC Communications Director Matt Killebrew said that because of privacy concerns, he could not release the name of the instructor, the reasons the instructor resigned, or the program affected.
Columbia Basin Herald, Sept. 16, 2021

Trends | Horizons | Education

GAO report: Office of Federal Student Aid is understaffed

The Office of Federal Student Aid at the Department of Education is understaffed, as its staffing levels haven’t kept pace with the growing student loan portfolio, according to findings by the Government Accountability Office. From fiscal year 2010 to 2019, FSA’s Direct Loan volume increased 450 percent and the number of borrowers increased 150 percent, but the number of staff increased only 6 percent during that time frame. 
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 21, 2021

Survey: Students support vaccines, mask mandates

A new survey has found that students support vaccine and mask requirements. College Pulse conducted the survey for Kaplan. Of the 1,001 college students across the United States polled this month, 72 percent support colleges requiring students to be vaccinated if they want to attend in-person classes. 
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 20, 2021

Report: Community colleges drive workforce education, training

A new survey found that community colleges, and especially their noncredit programs, play an outsize role in providing job-focused education. Opportunity America, a Washington, D.C., think tank focused on economic mobility, explained the survey findings in an accompanying policy report released Tuesday.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 16, 2021

Politics | Local, State, National

A 'forceful voice' for community college

Jill Biden returned to in-person teaching at Northern Virginia Community College this fall. The first lady, an English and writing professor, taught online last semester and spoke widely and publicly about her eagerness to come back to the classroom.
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 21, 2021

Last Modified: 9/11/24, 12:01 PM
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