Community College Week articles from May 2003

Community College Week archives from May 2003

Calif. puts off audit of colleges' 'bridge programs'. (around the nation).(high school physical education programs)
May 12, 2003... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California officials are shifting gears on their previous plans to investigate physical-education programs for high-school students operated by the state's 108 community colleges; some of these programs had been operating...

Report: secondary teachers' low expectations may cripple students' writing. (around the nation).
May 12, 2003... IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A new national curriculum survey finds that high-school teachers may be partly responsible for the lackluster language skills of incoming college freshmen. Preliminary results of the survey by ACT Inc., which administers...

Student suspect in La. college shooting indicted.(Louisiana)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... NATCHITOCHES, La. -- A student accused of opening fire at a local vocational school, killing one student and wounding another, has been indicted on a charge of second-degree murder. The case is "being scheduled for arraignment in the...

Report: no college connection to former president's drug charges.
May 12, 2003... DES MOINES, Iowa -- No connection could be found between anyone at Des Moines Area Community College and the drug charges pending against former President David England, a report submitted to the school's board said. England, 50, resigned...

Ed. department's plan to revamp ERIC roils researchers. (dateline washington).(Educational Resources Information Center)
May 12, 2003... The Bush administration recently proposed an overhaul of the Educational Resources Information Center, citing a need for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness. But many higher-education officials are rallying against the proposal, saying it...

Hispanic colleges get $6 million in new funds. (Capitol briefs).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The Bush administration is offering new grants for Hispanic-serving colleges and tribal colleges to help them address needs on their campuses and in their communities. Under the new competition, Hispanic-serving colleges are eligible for...

The endless class.(teaching online courses)(Illustration)
May 12, 2003... Ask Judy Donnelly what's hardest about teaching online courses and she says, only half joking, that it's the wear and tear on her body. That might sound strange to you if the words "online instructor" conjure up a vision of a relaxed or...

Teaching one-handed. (point of view).(online education teaching)
May 12, 2003... This semester I found that I could teach my online composition course one-handed. Literally. I often sit at the computer holding my newborn son in one arm and tapping keys with my free hand, sending messages to students, grading...

Keeping the education in online education. (point of view).(teaching on the Internet)
May 12, 2003... Back in 1969, when I first started to teach, a rough day in class led to a recurring nightmare. I would be standing in front of a full classroom of students with featureless faces. One student could not be distinguished from another, and they...

Sensitivity, not censorship. (point of view).(Letter to the Editor)
May 12, 2003... To the Editor, Irvine Valley College does not have a ban on discussions regarding the war in Iraq (see Community College Week, April 14, 2003). Vice President of Instruction Dennis White sent an e-mail to the deans asking them to...

Humor 101.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... What do you Like Most about Web-Courses? The Anonymity. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Congratulations to the 2003 NISOD excellence awards recipients.
May 12, 2003... Aiken Technical College * Rebecca Hilton * Aims Community College * Bill Hardgrave * Algonquin College * Norma Albert * Doug Duminie * Brian Henderson * Maureen Hunka * Liz Link * Ivan McVitty * David Rubeli * Allan Hancock College * Dolores...

Certificate exam fails federal financial-aid test.
May 12, 2003... BOSTON -- Students who meet local graduation requirements but don't pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam cannot qualify for federal financial aid, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Secretary of Education...

Community colleges launch in Maine.
May 12, 2003... AUGUSTA, Maine -- Seventeen-year-old Amanda Jalbert has a passion for art, but the Lewiston High School junior never dreamed she'd get a chance to go to college to develop and refine her talent. Then she was called to the school's guidance...

Instructor loses retaliation suit against Wash. college.
May 12, 2003... TACOMA, Wash. -- A foreign-born math instructor has lost a suit accusing Tacoma Community College of retaliation after the board of trustees granted him tenure despite the adverse recommendation of a tenure review committee. Robert Tan...

State probe finds misspending at Utah college.
May 12, 2003... SALT LAKE CITY -- A state Board of Regents audit of the Salt Lake (Community College shows that administrators misspent funds intended for custom-designed employee training programs. SLCC spend most of about $158,000 in restricted state...

Former Fla. student, marine killed in Iraq.(Armando Ariel Gonzalez)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... HIALEAH, Fla. -- A former community-college student serving as a U.S. Marine died in an aircraft refueling accident in southern Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said. Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez, 25, of Hialeah, was killed when a...

Consulting a computer expert. (A Tech Perspective).
May 12, 2003... So you need to upgrade a half dozen PCs in your office. Or you'd like to install a network, connecting a new computer in your home to an existing one to share its cable modem and printer. You can do it yourself, listening to vendors who...

Ill. college computers help farmers cultivate the cream of their crops. (technology today).
May 12, 2003... SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A group of central Illinois farmers spent last winter trying to improve their crops, but they were nowhere near a field. Hoping to improve their yields and keep better track of their operations, the farmers spent seven...

Not just playing around.(curricula of Camden County College)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Camden County College studen Kevin Croft and, professors Elain REader and Phyllis Owens work on a computer animation sequence for a video game. The New Jersey college is planning to launch an associate of applied science degree in video game...

220 students lose dorm access for file sharing. (Bits & Bytes).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State students can't say they weren't warned. Three weeks after an administrator sent an e-mail warning against sharing copyrighted material over the Internet. 220 students were sanctioned for doing just that,...

Pa. colleges fill the training gap for laid-off blue collar workers.
May 12, 2003... PITTSBURGH -- For the past 23 years, Larry Plowman fixed everything from electric arc furnaces to overhead cranes to assembly lines. But these days he's learning how to break criminal cases using computers and the Internet. Laid off from...

Cedar Valley welcomes new president. (Presidents).(Dr. Jennifer Wimbish )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Jennifer Wimbish has been named president of Cedar Valley College in Dallas. Wimbish, Cedar Valley's first black president, most recently served as chief academic officer and interim provost at Michigan's Lansing Community College. She has...

Brian Ebersole, president of Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Wash., has retired after 32 years of public employment. (Retirements).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Brian Ebersole, president of Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Wash., has retired after 32 years of public employment. Ebersole, 55, who has also served as mayor of Tacoma and speaker of the state House of Representatives, cited the recent...

Foothill-De Anza appoints interim chancellor. (Presidents).(Dr. Lois Callahan)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Lois Callahan, former chancellor of the San Mateo Community College District in San Mateo, Calif., has been named interim chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Callahan holds a bachelor's...

Dr. Hal R. Ramer recently retired from the presidency at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn. (Retirements).(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Hal R. Ramer recently retired from the presidency at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn. Ramer, 79, took the helm at Volunteer State on July 1, 1970, more than a year before the first classes were held in a few Gallatin...

Northwest picks president. (Presidents).(Dr. Miles LaRowe)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Miles LaRowe, president of the Eastern Idaho Technical College in Idaho Falls, Idaho, since 1996, has accepted the job as president of Northwest College in Powell, Wyo. LaRowe, 55, is expected to start at Northwest July 1. He holds a...

Hodges to head Wayne campus. (Presidents).(Dr. Jacqueline Stewart Hodges of Wayne Community College)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Jacqueline Stewart Hodges is the new president of the downtown campus of Michigan's Wayne Community College District. She was previously the school's dean for enrollment management and student services. Hodges earned a bachelor's degree...

Gavilan names Kinsella president. (Presidents).(Dr. Steven M. Kinsella of Gavilan Community College)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Steven M. Kinsella has been appointed president of Gavilan Community College in Gilroy, Calif. Formerly interim president of Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif., Kinsella holds a bachelor's degree from Hawaii Pacific University, a...

Perfumo takes helm at Solano. (Presidents).(Dr. Paulette J. Perfumo at Solano Community College)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Dr. Paulette J. Perfumo is the new president/superintendent of Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif. Perfumo most recently served as vice president for educational services at Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif. She has a bachelor's...

Texas lawmakers propose end to pre-college test.
May 12, 2003... AUSTIN, Texas -- Legislators have proposed eliminating the Texas Academic Program Skills Test, which has been used for more than a decade to decide whether students are ready for college classes. Opponents of the test see it as an obstacle to...

Coming events. (Career Connections).
May 12, 2003... June 1-4, Philosophy. Annual meeting, Association for Symbolic Logic, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Contact: ASL Business Office, Box 742, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604; asl@vassar.edu, www.aslonline.org...

Fla. dean arrested after 4-hour police standoff. (around the nation).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The president of Florida Community College at Jacksonville said the school is standing behind dean Bruce Hood Brunson, who was arrested recently after a four-hour standoff with police at his Ponte Vedra Beach home. ...

Colo. bill to shunt colleges' money to students withdrawn. (around the nation).(student aid bill withdrawn)
May 26, 2003... DENVER -- A bill that would have made Colorado the first state in the nation to give tax money directly to students instead of colleges was killed at the sponsor's request. House Majority Leader Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, asked the...

Former Des Moines president pleads guilty to drug charges. (around the nation).
May 26, 2003... DES MOINES, Iowa -- Standing side by side with their lawyers, former Des Moines Area Community College President David England, his wife and their daughter pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this month. England, 50, his wife Donna, 49,...

La. students sue college over teacher's 'not teaching'.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... LAFAYETTE, La. -- A group of current and form Louisiana Technical College students, alleging they were not taught what they paid to learn. has filed suit against the school and an instructor. The students, who took classes in industrial...

Bill would steer pre-college students toward healthcare. (Capitol briefs).(summer health care programs)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... A new bill in the U.S. Senate would help two- and four-year colleges create summer health career programs for middle- and high-school youth. The bill from Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., is styled after an initiative in Campbell's...

Government offers new nursing funds. (Capitol briefs).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... The Bush administration is offering grants under a recently approved law to improve nursing education. Funds available under the Nurse Reinvestment Act can support student scholarships, internships and career-advancement programs. Nursing...

Colleges revive 'HOPE' for scholarship. (dateline Washington).
May 26, 2003... Community colleges this spring are renewing efforts to give students greater access to one of the landmark higher education accomplishments of the past decade--the federal HOPE Scholarship. Since its enactment in 1997, the program has...

The end of ERIC as we know it. (point of view).(Educational Resources Information Center)
May 26, 2003... The clock is ticking down. Without some miraculous intervention--a veritable deus ex machina--the nation's 16 clearinghouses at the Educational Resources Information Center will start closing down their operations. Without any hearings, a...

Perking up retention rates. (point of view).
May 26, 2003... Whenever the issue of retention is discussed, one can always expect a lively debate. What is retention? What is its impact on students, faculty and staff? Within the context of a community college, these questions are even more difficult to...

Cut higher education last. (What Others Are Saying).
May 26, 2003... From the Dubuque Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, Iowa). Is any institution, organization or governmental unit not clamoring to preserve or increase its piece of the government-funding pie? If so, it is keeping its good fortune quiet. Local,...

Training the best, expecting the worst. (In The Face Of Terror).
May 26, 2003... In the wake of the national jolt that was Sept. 11, 2001, a handful of community colleges across the United States have begun launching anti-terror- and homeland-security-training programs. Programs to prepare "first responders"--those who...

Budget slumps force Mass. colleges to hike fees.(rising higher education costs)
May 26, 2003... SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Many of Massachusetts' public colleges have yet to announce the amount of the increase, but all are looking at raising fees and cutting services because of state budget cutbacks. "It's ridiculous," said Andrea...

Court throws out students' fraud suit against Calif. college.
May 26, 2003... LONG BEACH, Calif. -- After 14 disgruntled graduates of a training program failed to obtain jobs in the long-shore industry, they sued the Long Beach Community College District, as well as the labor union and trade association that jointly...

Appeals court tosses former Ohio dean's age-bias suit.
May 26, 2003... CLEVELAND -- A divided state appeals court has tossed out a former dean's $670,000 age discrimination-verdict against Cuyahoga County Community College. Dr Mary Ann Stevenson, who was dean of health careers and sciences at the Metropolitan...

Oregon considers resident tuition for illegal immigrants.
May 26, 2003... SALEM, Ore. -- As a young boy in a farming village in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Francisco Urenda dreamed of being like the paramedics he watched on the TV show "Cops." Orphaned at age 10, he moved to California to live with relatives....

Michigan colleges woo Canadian students.
May 26, 2003... PORT HURON, Mich. -- With cuts in state funding forcing Michigan colleges to tighten their budgets, some of them are stepping up their recruiting efforts across the border. Senior classes in Ontario this year are about to double the size of...

Canadian-born U.S. student won't be deported, officials say.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... BEND, Ore. -- U.S. immigration officials have agreed not to deport a Canadian-born Redmond teenager and community-college student who spent almost two weeks in a San Diego prison on immigration charges after he crossed into Mexico to visit...

Washington State allows tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.
May 26, 2003... OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Gov. Gary Locke has signed legislation that allows children of undocumented workers--mostly Latinos--to attend state-supported colleges at the much-cheaper residents' rate. But it took some creative use of his veto to...

Utah college promises to return misused funds.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake Community College will return $158,521 to a program that provides employee training for Utah businesses. Donald L. Porter, vice president of business services at the college, said it had misapplied money meant...

Former student admits to lesser charge in N.Y. dorm assault.(college student accused of rape)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... HERKIMER, N.Y. -- A former Herkimer County Community College student accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in campus housing admitted to a lesser charge last month. Rudy Volcy, 18, of New York City, was one of four other former...

Bill would waive tuition for some Nev. prisoners.
May 26, 2003... CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley questioned whether Nevada should waive college tuition for some prison inmates pursuing a degree. The bill establishes a statewide education system for prisoners, including...

Budgets lag enrollments, Fla. colleges tell governor.
May 26, 2003... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida's community college presidents told Gov. Jeb Bush that funding for the schools isn't keeping pace with enrollment. Presidents from most of Florida's 28 community colleges told the governor that current funding...

Maryland debates in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants.
May 26, 2003... ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland high-school graduates without legal immigration status are at the heart of a heated debate over whether illegal or undocumented immigrants should be allowed to attend public colleges at the same tuition rates...

Ohio professor peddles "Almanack" for Midwesterners. (faculty lounge).
May 26, 2003... YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio -- If want to know the best time to plant tomatoes in the Midwest, the answer might be found in Poor Will's Almanack, a 90-page medley of weather forecasts, planting tips, essays and humor. "Poor Will"--William...

Iowa instructor to help build new Iraqi police force. (faculty lounge).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... ANKENY, Iowa -- Community college instructor Jim Davey helped set up police forces in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. Now the longtime law-enforcement officer leaves for Iraq, where he'll do the same. "It's kind of exciting: it's like...

Honors & Awards.
May 26, 2003... Charlene F. Walker, a professor at Lexington Community College in Lexington, Ky., will be honored with the placement of her name on the Wall of Tolerance at the new Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Ala. The American Technical...

N.J. casinos join in college employee-training lab. (Bits & Bytes).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- New Jersey casinos aren't known for playing nice with each other: They compete for gamblers, entertainment acts and new slot machine products, among other things. Now, a handful are joining hands in a training...

S.C. college, university cooperate on incubator. (Bits & Bytes).(University of South Carolina )(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College have agreed to collaborate on a program that helps small businesses get started, officials said. The schools said that Midlands Tech will begin putting...

University-developed program designed to stop terrorism. (technology today).
May 26, 2003... SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University will use a $500,000 grant to develop a new high-tech computer system to translate Arabic and other foreign language documents that may contain hidden anti-American and terrorist messages. The new...

Officials: colleges vital to making N.Y. state a high-tech hub. (technology today).
May 26, 2003... ALBANY, N.Y. -- For New York to succeed as a high-tech hub, the state must collaborate with colleges and businesses to attract companies and skilled workers, officials said last month. "The seed has been planted," said Dr. Alain E....

Blogs: worth a look or a waste of time? (technology today).
May 26, 2003... One of the more compelling aspects of the news coverage of the war in Iraq was the personal accounts, or logs, of "embedded" reporters traveling with U.S. soldiers. Readers got a first-person account of what fighting men and women experienced....

Tribal student journalists balance heritage with future. (around campus).
May 26, 2003... PABLO, Mont. -- Tribal college students from six states gained some insight from professionals recently as they geared up for a unique online course designed specifically for American-Indian journalism students. It will not be easy, the...

N.H. college gives high-school students a running start. (around campus).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... CONCORD, N.H. -- About 1,300 New Hampshire high school students are getting a running start on college credits. The students are participants in Running Start, a program offered by the New Hampshire Community Technical College System. At 55...

Grants & Gifts.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... Baton Rouge Community College in Louisiana received matching funds of $60,000 from the Louisiana Board of Regents to be joined with a donor gift of $40,000 to establish its first endowed professorship. San Antonio College in Texas recently...

Laramie County Community College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... Dr. Marlene Tignor was recently named the new vice president of instruction at Wyoming's Laramie County Community College. Tignor, set to take office July 1, will replace the current vice president, Dr. Jim Johns, who will retire in June....

College of Redwoods. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... The Del Norte Campus of the College of Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., has named Dr. David Throgmorton as its new vice president. Currently a director of one of the centers of the Keller Graduate School of Management in Broomfield, Colo.,...

Polk Community College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... Polk Community College in Florida has named Frank Papke as vice president of administrative and business services. A native of Illinois, Papke has more than 25 years of experience as a business and finance executive at Illinois community...

Northwest Technical College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... A vice president at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, N.D., has been named the new provost of Minnesota's Northwest Technical College. Dr. Jerry Migler is scheduled to start his new job in Moorhead, Minn., on June 16. He...

San Jacinto College District. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... The San Jacinto College District in Pasadena, Texas, has named Dr. Gwen Tilley, a 32-year veteran of the college, as vice chancellor of instructional programs and services. She filled the position on an interim basis since January. She holds a...

Truckee Meadows Community College. (Appointments).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... Dr. Jowel C. Laguerre has joined Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nev+., as vice president of academic affairs. Laguerre was most recently the executive vice president for academic and student services for Montgomery College in...

Sygielski named president of Lord Fairfax. (Presidents).(Brief Article)
May 26, 2003... Dr. John J. Sygielski, vice chancellor for workforce development for the Virginia Community College System, will become the next president of Lord Fairfax Community College. He succeeds Dr. Marilyn C. Beck, who left earlier this year to become...

Deaths.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
May 26, 2003... Dr. Cedric Sampson, former chancellor of the South Orange County Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif., died recently from complications due to leukemia. Sampson, 60, had served there till 2001 when he became too ill to work. Sampson...

Coming events.(Calendar)
May 26, 2003... June 10-13, International Issues. "Confronting the Evolving Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction," institute, Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies (Pawss), at Amherst College, Amherst, MA. Contact: Pawss, (413) 559-5367,...