Community College Week articles from January 2005

Community College Week archives from January 2005

Community-College president tapped to head education group.(around the nation)
January 3, 2005... DENVER -- For the first time in history, the head of a community college has been named president of the Denver-based Education Commission of the States. Dr. Piedad F. Robertson will retire this month from the presidency at California's...

Calif. court: some temporary college workers can get benefits.(around the nation)
January 3, 2005... MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- Substitute non-teaching employees who work for California community colleges for more than 75 percent of an academic year are entitled to classified status, including job protection and benefits such as vacation and...

As tuition rises, so does debt for Minn. students.
January 3, 2005... ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- More students are taking on more debt to attend the state's two-year colleges and four-year universities, and administrators at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system have little doubt tuition hikes are to...

From surviving to thriving.(point of view)
January 3, 2005... Flathead Valley Community College is located in scenic Northwest Montana, just 30 miles from Glacier National Park and 60 miles from the U.S.-Canada border. Our college has two campuses, located in Kalispell and Libby, and together they serve...

Top 10 reasons to attend a community college.(point of view)
January 3, 2005... For almost 100 years, community colleges have served as an invaluable resource to help students obtain a quality college education at an affordable cost. Today, there are 1,173 community colleges nationwide, Which provide students with an...

Humor 101.(point of view)
January 3, 2005... President's Address: Budget Cuts and OUR COLLEGE "Frivolous overspending is a major issue and one that my staff and myself plan to discuss at great length during our two week retreat in the Bahamas."

We will survive: rural Americans are increasingly abandoning their bucolic birthplaces, seeking out more urban experiences, and forcing rural community colleges to reposition themselves and tap into new student markets.
January 3, 2005... HELENA, Mont. -- It isn't every day that the regular gathering of Hometime Helena, a business and civic group touting the benefits of living in Montana's capital city, makes the state and national news. But then it isn't every day that the...

S.D. colleges approve transfer agreement.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) -- Students earning two-year degrees at Lake Area Technical Institute will have more options for transferring those credits toward a bachelor's degree program under an arrangement recently approved. Officials...

Thousands of dollars missing at two Colo. colleges.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... DENVER (AP) -- The state community-college system ordered stricter money controls at its 13 schools after auditors discovered that more than $120,000 in cash was unaccounted for at two Denver-area campuses. Dr. Nancy McCallin, president of...

Alabama chancellor urges merger.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- The chancellor of Alabama's two-year college system wants to merge Lawson State Community College and Bessemer State Technical College, which are about 10 miles apart in Jefferson County. Chancellor Roy Johnson,...

Maine college's boat program sets sail again.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... EASTPORT, Maine (AP) -- Washington County Community College is looking for students interested in a retooled Boat School. The boat-building program has a revamped curriculum and is accepting applications for fall 2005. School officials...

Wyoming college breaks ground for new campus.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- Laramie County Community College officials and community leaders broke ground in December on a new $3.7 million Albany County campus. The project was hailed as a milestone for the Cheyenne-based college and a sign...

Report calls for beefed-up ESL programs.
January 3, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The nation's community colleges are a critical link to success for many of the nation's immigrants, particularly those learning English. But better coordination between programs targeted for the English as a Second Language, or...

Michigan panel calls for 'Universal Higher Education'.
January 3, 2005... LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan should guarantee higher education for all students, according to a commission formed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Guaranteed financial support for postsecondary education is among two dozen recommendations...

Another presidential nod.
January 3, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: While addressing the closing session of the White House Economic Conference last month In Washington, D.C., President Bush extolled the virtues of community colleges as affordable and accessible Job-training...

Washington governor has big plans for higher ed.
January 3, 2005... OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Gov. Gary Locke's new budget calls for a major expansion of higher education enrollment and scholarships--but it takes higher taxes and large tuition increases to pull it off. The lame-duck Democratic governor, who...

Maryland nursing schools turn away applicants.
January 3, 2005... FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A lack of instructors and adequate classroom space forced Maryland nursing schools to turn away thousands of qualified students in 2004, officials said. "What we're having is this huge upturn in applicants, and we...

An underwhelming take on overwhelmed students.(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... College of the Overwhelmed: The Campus Mental Health Crisis and What to Do About It By Dr. Richard Kadison and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo Jossey-Bass, 2004 Hardcover, $24.95 As if anyone who's been through it didn't know, college can overwhelm...

Bitter cookies?(A Tech Perspective)
January 3, 2005... You wouldn't think a computer tool with an innocuous-sounding name like cookie" would create the fear that it does. But these tiny Web-browser helpers are an example of how the useful can get tossed in with the dangerous through the...

Navajo language gets a makeover.(Bits & Bytes)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) -- The Navajo language is getting a fresh new look, thanks to community-college students at San Juan College. Navajo Word Processor 3.1 will soon hit shelves at the college bookstore, offering a full-featured word...

California college group launches online collective-bargaining database.(Bits & Bytes)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Community College League of California recently announced the completion of an online collective-bargaining database system that will help community-college officials better manage collective bargaining negotiations...

The art faculty at the Germantown campus of Maryland's Montgomery College are showcasing their work now through Feb. 15.(around campus)
January 3, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: The art faculty at the Germantown campus of Maryland's Montgomery College are showcasing their work now through Feb. 15. The exhibit features creations in new and traditional art mediums, such as digital...

Baton Rouge Community College student Kimberly P. Coburn recently held her second solo exhibition, "Wats Up," at the Louisiana Building in Baton Rouge, La.(around campus)
January 3, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Baton Rouge Community College student Kimberly P. Coburn recently held her second solo exhibition, "Wats Up," at the Louisiana Building in Baton Rouge, La. After traveling and living throughout Asia for 20...

Casper College Tate Geological Museum.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... The Casper College Tate Geological Museum in Casper, Wyo., has received a three-year $142,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The funds will be used for lab and field equipment, improvement of storage facilities for...

Central Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco recently presented a $1.6 million check to the multi-campus Central Community College to train Nebraska workers for careers in the...

Prairie State College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Ill., will receive a $1.79 million grant for improving student success and retention during the next five years under the U.S. Department of Education's Title III Strengthening Institutions Program.

Calhoun Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Ala., recently received a $30,000 contribution from the Daniel Foundation to buy equipment for the school's nursing program. The nursing department will buy 20 human patient and pediatric patient...

Thomas Nelson Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Va., has received a $20,000 grant from the Virginia Community College System to develop a customer service program with the Williamsburg Area Chamber of Commerce and other organizations in preparation...

Mohave Community College's North Campus.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Intermountain Health Care has awarded a $100,000 grant to Mohave Community College's North Campus in Arizona to support its nursing program. The grant will be distributed over a two-year period and will help accept additional students into the...

Matonak to lead Hudson Valley.(Presidents)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Dr. Andrew J. Matonak, who currently serves as president of Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, Iowa, has been named president of Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y. Matonak earned an associate's degree from Butler Community...

Santa Monica names interim.(Presidents)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Thomas J. Donner has been named interim president of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif. He is currently the college's executive vice president of business and administration. Donner received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree...

Raritan Valley Community College.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Dr. Constance Mierendorf has been named senior vice president for academic affairs at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J. Previously, she served as chairwoman of the humanities division at Minneapolis Community College in...

Irvine Valley College.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Dr. Gwendolyn Vendley was recently named vice president of student services at Irvine Valley College in Irvine, Calif. She most recently served as the college's interim vice president of student services. Vendley holds a bachelor's degree from...

Coming events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 3, 2005... January 14-15 African American Student Leadership 11th Annual Conference "A Call to Action! Bridging the Gap: Keeping the Civil Rights Legacy Alive" Rust College Holly Springs, Miss Phone: (662) 252-8000. ext. 4311...

Education department revises funding formula.(around the nation)
January 17, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Student-aid offices will have to readjust their formula starting with the summer term. The equation for federal and some state aid for students has changed as of Jan. 1. That's because the U.S. Department of Education revised its...

Legislation could affect colleges, foreign-student enrollments.(around the nation)
January 17, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Several provisions in both the highly controversial national intelligence overhaul bill and the massive omnibus spending bill could have repercussions for foreign students as well as American colleges and universities. The...

Calif. president asked to resign over campaign-finance laws.(California)(Sierra College)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... ROCKLIN, Calif. (AP) -- Sierra Joint Community College District trustee Aaron Klein has asked Sierra College President Kevin Ramirez to resign over allegations that Ramirez potentially violated campaign-finance laws. Klein, who was elected...

Ariz. colleges trying to lure foreign students.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... PHOENIX (AP) -- Recruiters from community colleges in Maricopa County are trying to lure international students to their campuses with cheap tuition and small class sizes. Recruiters are hoping to increase diversity and stabilize dropping...

The enemy within.(point of view)(for-profit schools)
January 17, 2005... For-profit schools tend to be seen as an alien, outside threat to "traditional" colleges and universities. But I have seen the enemy... and it is me. My master's degree is in community-college English teaching, as is most of my experience. But...

It takes two.(community colleges)
January 17, 2005... The "Echo" generation, the children of the baby boomers, now constitutes one-third of the U.S. population. They are the future college students and working adult learners in America. This generation has grown up with e-mail, DVD's, Napster,...

Rising above the differences: in the past, community colleges and proprietary schools have often been at odds, whether it be about money or mission. But educators say it's time the schools give the quibbling a rest and start working together.(Cover Story)
January 17, 2005... The ideological gulf between community colleges and for-profit schools is wide. Community colleges say their focus is on education and that proprietary schools just want to make a buck. But for-profits say they apply business principles to...

Kentucky college helps turn town into historical attraction.(Southeast Community College )
January 17, 2005... LYNCH, (AP) -- Three decades after the historic coal mine in this Appalachian town played out and shut down, state officials are hoping to revive old Portal 31 as a Disney-like tourist attraction with animatronic miners and underground tours....

California prison-education programs report success.
January 17, 2005... BLYTHE, Calif. -- Stretching across 1,700 acres in the middle of the desert near the California-Nevada border, the Ironwood State Prison may seem like a forbidding place, but for at least 10 percent of its 4,600 inmates, it has become an...

Woman to bequeath ranch to college.(Laramie County Community College)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- A woman who owns a 1,200-acre horse ranch plans to bequeath it to Laramie County Community College. Anne Mears, who raises world-champion Morgans nine miles southwest of Laramie, is already offering use of the ranch...

Wyo. student escapes tsunami.(Wyoming)
January 17, 2005... CASPER, Wyo. (AP) -- When Lydia Rush planned a Christmas vacation in Thailand, she thought she would be rock climbing, swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. Instead, she and six other tourists from Casper found themselves escaping a...

Seven plead guilty in student-aid scheme.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Seven people have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a scheme to illegally obtain more than $400,000 in federal student-aid payments, the U.S. attorney's office announced recently. Sharon Lee Walker, 37, of...

Iowa college enrollment grows-again.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Enrollment at Iowa's 15 community colleges grew 4.5 percent to more than 81,000 students for the fall 2004 semester, education officials Said. The increase of about 3,500 students from the previous year reflects...

Report cards show struggles of Colo. students.(Colorado)
January 17, 2005... PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) -- Only about hall of Colorado students who enroll in a four-year college go on to graduate, and one in five who enter a community college earn an associate's degree or certificate, according to a new report card from the...

Kansas college faces sanctions.(Barton County Community College )
January 17, 2005... WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Barton County Community College is preparing to face sanctions that will be imposed on the school following the indictment of its former basketball coach, who is charged with illegally providing athletes with financial...

Iowa colleges to seek more-money from legislature.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa community-college leaders will ask the Iowa Legislature for a $7.8 million budget increase in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Attendance at the schools has increased 25 percent since 2000 and decreases in...

Higher-ed. in Oregon looking to climb legislative totem pole.
January 17, 2005... PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)-- Oregon's last few legislative sessions have not been especially kind to the state's community-college system and its seven public universities. Legislators debating whether to pay for medication for the impoverished...

Maine lawmakers to challenge changes to higher-ed. system.
January 17, 2005... PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The plans of several lawmakers to challenge the University of Maine System's consolidation plan during this legislative session could affect the state's two-year colleges. At least two bills are being drafted to...

Calif. students, educators decry rising costs of higher ed.(California)
January 17, 2005... BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- In 1960, California leaders pledged a tuition-free ride for state high-school graduates with the smarts and gumption to pursue a degree at a public college or university. Four decades later, it seems a distant...

Snow feat.
January 17, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: The Ohio National Guard was called in by Gov. Bob Taft to help with the removal of about 16 inches of snow on downtown Dayton streets Dec. 26, including those surrounding the Sinclair campus of Sinclair...

Higher Education Inc.(Book Review)
January 17, 2005... The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market By Dr. Frank Newman, Lara Couturier and Jamie Scurry Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint Hardcover, $33 The problem with American higher education today results from its...

Salary gap persists between women and men faculty, report finds.(faculty lounge)
January 17, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Although there are more women faculty members than ever before in the nation's two-and four-year schools, the gap between what they earn and the positions they hold, compared to their male counterparts, remains stubbornly wide,...

Professor Leonard Bruton, a history instructor at the Boca Raton campus of Palm Beach Community College in Palm Beach, Fla., has been inducted into the Florida Community College Hall of Fame.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Professor Leonard Bruton, a history instructor at the Boca Raton campus of Palm Beach Community College in Palm Beach, Fla., has been inducted into the Florida Community College Hall of Fame by the FCC Activities Association.

Dr. Eugene P. Keferl, a professor of biology at Coastal Georgia Community College in Brunswick, Ga., has received the Regents Hall of Fame Faculty Award.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Eugene P. Keferl, a professor of biology at Coastal Georgia Community College in Brunswick, Ga., has received the Regents Hall of Fame Faculty Award for the two-year and state college category.

Two professors at Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio, have been selected to be among Ohio's Top 100 Educators in Higher Education by Ohio Magazine, which features the 2004 Excellence in Education Award recipients. .(Honors & Awards)(Jim Anderson)(Dr. Lawrence Killian)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Two professors at Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio, have been selected to be among Ohio's Top 100 Educators in Higher Education by Ohio Magazine, which features the 2004 Excellence in Education Award recipients. The faculty...

Karen Hale, a mathematics instructor at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., is one of 29 two-year college faculty nationwide selected as Advancing Community College Careers.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Karen Hale, a mathematics instructor at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., is one of 29 two-year college faculty nationwide selected as Advancing Community College Careers: Education, Scholarship and Service Fellows for 2004-2005.

Jay Cloud, an emergency medical services professor at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, has received the Outstanding Emergency Medical Services 2004 Educator of the Year Award.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Jay Cloud, an emergency medical services professor at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, has received the Outstanding Emergency Medical Services 2004 Educator of the Year Award. The honor is given by the Texas Department of Health.

Is your Web site a winner?(A Tech Perspective)
January 17, 2005... HOW do you know if you're doing a good job at work, if you're growing and improving? If you're an employee, it can be through performance reviews. If you run a publication, it can be through readership surveys or focus-group studies. And...

Illinois college launches online payment system.(Bits & Bytes)(Waubonsee Community College)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- For the past several years, returning students at Waubonsee Community College have been able to register for their classes online, but they couldn't pay for their tuition that way. But that's about to change, now that the...

Distance course on corporate security unveiled at N.C. school.(Bits & Bytes)(Blue Ridge Community College)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... FLAT ROCK, N.C. -- A new online program that's being unfurled at Blue Ridge Community College will equip students with the knowledge and ability to function as entry-level corporate security employees. This course covers a range of topics,...

Around campus.(exhibition of paintings)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Lee Valdez, a Polk Community College alumnus, was the featured artist at a recent show at the Fine Arts Gallery in Winter Haven, Fla. Valdez works with acrylic, oil and paper and focuses on an electric array of subject. Among his paintings on...

Grants & gifts.(around campus)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Several hospitals, insurers and a radiology group in Rochester, N.Y., will be giving $624,000 to Monroe Community College across the .span of five years. The money will be spent on Monroe's radiology and technology program, helping boost the...

Rubenzahl to head Springfield Tech.(Presidents)(Ira H. Rubenzahl )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Ira H. Rubenzahl has become the fifth president of Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Mass. For the past eight years he has served as president of Capital Community College in Hartford, Conn. Rubenzahl holds a...

Griego takes helm at Northern New Mexico.(Presidents)(Jose Griego appointed as president of Northern New Mexico Community College )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Jose Griego is the new president of Northern New Mexico Community College in Espanola, N.M. Griego has been dean of instruction at the college since 1992 and previously worked as a consultant with the Ford Foundation to establish a...

Rappahannock names president.(Rappahannock Community College names Elizabeth H. Crowther )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Elizabeth H. Crowther recently assumed the presidency at Rappahannock Community College in Warsaw/Glerms, Va. Before coming to RCC, she was vice president of instruction and student services at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave,...

Trident Technical College.(Appoints John C. Snowden as vice president )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... John C. Snowden has been named vice president for continuing education and economic development at Trident Technical College in Charleston, S.C. Before joining TTC, Snowden served as vice president of the North Charleston Operations Kraft...

South Piedmont Community College.(Appoints Barbara Tansey )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Dr. Barbara Tansey has joined South Piedmont Community College in Polkton, N.C., as vice president of student learning. Tansey comes to SPCC from Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colo., where she served as the dean of business and...

Coming events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 17, 2005... JANUARY January 27-28 National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Effectively Engaging Faculty in Academic Advising Seminar Trade Winds Island Grand Hotel St. Pete Beach, Fla. Web:...

Schwarzenegger's budget sweetens the pot for California colleges.(around the nation)(Arnold Schwarzenegger)
January 31, 2005... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's community-college advocates breathed a sigh of relief recently when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget for 2005-2006 offered them money to grow and to raise salaries--and included no new fee...

Educators help students affected by tsunami.(around the nation)
January 31, 2005... In response to the far-reaching effects of the Dec. 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the Institute of International Education and the Freeman Foundation are accepting applications for emergency grants to help students studying in the United...

Georgia mulls policy shift for two-year colleges.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... ATLANTA (AP) -- A task force will consider changing admission policies at state two-year colleges. One of the changes being considered is dropping the SAT requirement. Georgia is one of only two systems in the nation that require...

Preparing qualified teachers.(point of view)
January 31, 2005... Teacher-education programs abound at almost every community college in the country. Programs exist from two-year transfer programs to teacher-licensure programs that prepare students to be highly qualified teachers. But what does it mean to be...

Teaming up for teacher education.(point of view)(New Jersey City University)
January 31, 2005... For more than a decade, the New Jersey Department of Education has approved a program that enables individuals who have graduated from college without an education major to become licensed teachers. Known as the "alternate-route" program, it...

A whole new crew: community colleges are navigating increasingly dynamic and vital roles in educating the teachers of tomorrow.(Special Report)(Cover Story)
January 31, 2005... Community colleges long have taken pride in their institutional focuses on excellent teaching. Many see a natural fit between that culture of instruction and the galloping growth of programs to educate future K-12 teachers. "Teaching is...

Democrats' measure would undo Pell Cutbacks.(dateline Washington)
January 31, 2005... Cutbacks in the Pell Grant program would be undone if some congressional Democrats get theft way. Some members in the House of Representatives have introduced the Ensuring College Access for All Americans Act, which has been referred to the...

Senate Committee approves spellings as Education Secretary.(dateline Washington)(Margaret Spellings)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions has unanimously approved the nomination of Margaret Spellings for Secretary of Education. The full Senate was expected to vote Jan. 20 to confirm her to succeed outgoing Secretary Rod...

Calif. court orders college to arbitrate employee grievance.(California)
January 31, 2005... SALINAS, Calif. -- The Hartnell Community College District cannot unilaterally decide whether a faculty grievance should be resolved through arbitration, the state Court of Appeal has ruled. In what it called "an issue of significance in...

Alabama colleges request boost in funding.
January 31, 2005... MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's two-year colleges asked for a 7 percent increase in funding for the next fiscal year, which includes an additional $15 million to train workers. Alabama Postsecondary Chancellor Roy Johnson said the...

Study urges adult, remedial-ed. programs to join forces.(education)
January 31, 2005... WASHINGTON -- As key providers of adult--and developmental-education services, the nation's community colleges can improve programs for their students by collaborating in those areas where their work and their clients overlap, a culminating...

Louisiana colleges gear up for onslaught of students.(Louisiana Community and Technical College System)
January 31, 2005... BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Community and Technical College System is gearing up for the biggest challenge in its short six-year existence. Beginning this fall, many of Louisiana's public four-year universities will have to adopt...