Community College Week articles from May 2008

Community College Week archives from May 2008

Del. bill aims to keep aid recipients in state.
May 19, 2008... DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Some state lawmakers want to force nursing students who benefit from state scholarship programs to stay in Delaware to work for two years. The lawmakers believe the proposal would help ease Delaware's nursing...

Long legal battle continues as judge rules retired professor can pursue retaliation claim.(around the nation)
May 19, 2008... After decades of conflict, grievances and litigation, a retired mathematics professor has the go-ahead to pursue a claim that Westchester Community College illegally failed to hire him as an adjunct in retaliation for filing an age...

California higher ed leaders claim proposed budget cuts imperil quality of colleges.
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SACRAMENTO (AP) -- In a rare show of unity, California's top higher education officials are warning inadequate state funding is bleeding the quality from one of the world's most celebrated college and university...

Calif. system gets new chancellor.
May 19, 2008... California officials have tapped a well-known state Legislator with decades of experience in the community college system to become the next statewide chancellor. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] State Sen. Jack Scott of Pasadena will take...

Credit counseling service lands Seattle foundation in court.
May 19, 2008... SEATTLE -- North Seattle Community College Foundation, a multimillion-dollar nonprofit credit counseling agency closely associated with the college of the same name, is embroiled in a legal battle over whether it skirted Georgia's debt...

Free speech v. censorship: regulating free speech on campus is forcing colleges nationwide to walk a legal tightrope in balancing rights of students and protesters.
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] How free are campus free speech zones? And who should be allowed to use them? As more and more colleges around the country create policies establishing specific "free speech zones" on their campuses, the...

Congress moves to bolster education benefits for veterans.(dateline Washington)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Substantial increases in veterans' educational benefits took several steps toward approval in Congress recently. The House and Senate bills, however, deal with different issues. The House bill focuses on increasing benefits...

Aggressive credit card pitches draw criticism.(capital briefs)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Banks are too aggressively pitching credit cards to college students already struggling with debt, charges the U.S Public Interest Research Group in a recent report, The Campus Credit Card Trap: A Survey of College Campuses and...

Education tax incentives need clarification, Congress told.(capital briefs)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The smorgasbord of tax incentives to pay for higher education is too confusing. But so is the menu of proposed solutions, the Treasury Department informed Congress. The conflicting choices of credits, dependent-related...

Report finds flaws in conflict of interest review system.(capital briefs)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The review process to spot conflicts of interest in the Federal Family Education Loan program succeeds in finding problems, but it fails to correct mistakes in disclosure forms, the Office of Inspector General of the Department...

College Navigator Website now available in Spanish.(capital briefs)(Website overview)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The College Navigator website is now up in Spanish. The Department of Education's site provides information about postsecondary institutions students and parents can use to compare them. Viewers can see programs offered,...

Bill would give student loan borrowers added protections.(capital briefs)
May 19, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Borrowers will get new protection for student loans if recently passed legislation becomes law. Congress approved the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008, which includes a variety of provisions to protect...

Proposed N.J. college cuts generating fears.(money tree)
May 19, 2008... TRENTON, N.J. -- Jennifer Brettman went to high school in Gloucester County, Nadia Nieves in Bergen County. Brettman wants to be an elementary school teacher, Nieves a clinical psychologist. Both worried about affording college,...

Mo. candidate outlines college affordability plan.(money tree)
May 19, 2008... ST. LOUIS (AP)--Attorney General Jay Nixon has announced a higher education plan that he says would provide a way for middle-class Missouri students to earn a four-year degree tuition-free. Nixon, a Democratic candidate for governor, said...

Boomerang generation: for new college graduates, there's no place like home.(money tree)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEW YORK (AP) -- When Melissa Jenkins received her college diploma last year, she was ready to get on with life--and move in with her parents. The 23-year-old from North Reading, Mass., was saddled with student...

Behind the music: Mich. college teaches band management.
May 19, 2008... LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The class on band management that Michael Daniels teaches at Lansing Community College doesn't cover some of the more nuanced realities of life as a musician--how to comfortably sleep five in a tour van, for example, or...

N.M. dean doubles as climbing and rappelling teacher.
May 19, 2008... HOBBS, N.M. (AP) -- Holding the ropes as instructor Kelly Holladay scaled down the side of New Mexico Junior College's Pannell Library on a recent Saturday afternoon, Shane Smith admitted Holladay wasn't someone he'd expect to teach rock...

La. specialized language course aims to knock down barriers.
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- "Despacito." The echo followed--"despacito"--as 18 Lafayette Parish sheriff's deputies slowly mouth the word in Spanish for their instructor, Nancy Gomez. In English, "despacito"...

Citing health reasons, Gadsden State president to step down.
May 19, 2008... MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The two-year college system is out yet another college president. Renee Culverhouse announced she will be leaving the helm of Gadsden State Community College later this year. Culverhouse has been president of the...

Ala. colleges, union settle lawsuit on background checks.
May 19, 2008... MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The Alabama Education Association sued over criminal background checks for junior college employees, and quickly got a change in the procedures to make it optional for employees to provide their Social Security...

E. Oregon college considers offering wine making classes.
May 19, 2008... BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Wine producers in Idaho eager to learn how to produce a quality product might be able to get that kind of instruction much closer to home. Treasure Valley Community College, based just on the other side of the Idaho...

N.C. universities work to attract community college grads.
May 19, 2008... DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Several universities in North Carolina are working more closely with community colleges to help successful students transfer into four-year degree programs. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports North Carolina...

Frederick Community College marks 50-year anniversary.
May 19, 2008... FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Frederick Community College has grown along with the city of Frederick. The college, which has 5,000 students, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month. College President Carol Eaton says the founders of the...

Tuition to increase at Maine's 2-year colleges.
May 19, 2008... AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- The Maine Community College System Board of Trustees has approved a 2.5 percent tuition increase at the state's seven two-year college campuses next fall. The board voted unanimously in favor of the increase to help...

Nazi-related items vandalized at Long Island college.
May 19, 2008... BRENTWOOD, New York (AP) -- Vandals stole and stomped on items related to Nazism in a college exhibit about the Holocaust, damaging photographs of a propaganda poster and Adolf Hitler's autobiographical book "Mein Kampt," police said. ...

W.V. college plans new office, class complex.
May 19, 2008... BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) -- New River Community and Technical College plans to build a $13.5 million central office, classroom and laboratory complex in Raleigh County. New River President Ted Spring says the college also plans a $3 million...

Ivy Tech dedicates new campus in Marion.
May 19, 2008... MARION, Ind. (AP) -- Ivy Tech Community College has officially opened its new $21 million campus near Interstate 69 College officials and several government leaders dedicated the school's permanent home two years after ground was broken...

College of Southern Idaho changes tuition plans.
May 19, 2008... TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Part-time students at the College of Southern Idaho will pay less per credit hour this fall under a plan approved by the school's board of directors. The board voted to reduce the cost for students taking fewer...

Expand your e-mail by starting an online discussion group.(technology today)
May 19, 2008... Most people these days know how to do e-mail. You probably also know how to send e-mail to multiple people. But you may not know how to do group.discussion in the most efficient way, particular when there's a lot of interaction. Deciding...

Ariz. student dies after being found ill in professor's condo.(technology today)
May 19, 2008... PHOENIX (AP) -- A professor at a Phoenix-area community college is on administrative leave as police investigate the death of a female student who fell ill at a condominium he owns. Andria Ziegler died last month less than an hour after...

Owen's Community College.(around campus)
May 19, 2008... The sights and smells of spring are abundant throughout Northwest Ohio as the winter season gives way to rising temperatures and sunny days. However, the tropical temperatures of the spring and summer seasons never left Ohio's Owens Community...

A collaboration between Dyersburg State Community College and the University of Memphis will enable students to earn bachelor's degrees in education and nursing by attending classes at the Dyersburg State Community College Jimmy Naifeh Center in Tipton County.(around campus)
May 19, 2008... A collaboration between Dyersburg State Community College and the University of Memphis will enable students to earn bachelor's degrees in education and nursing by attending classes at the Dyersburg State Community College Jimmy Naifeh Center...

With an estimated shortage of 3,000 healthcare workers by 2012, Oregon faces one of the worst healthcare worker shortages in the country.(around campus)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With an estimated shortage of 3,000 healthcare workers by 2012, Oregon faces one of the worst healthcare worker shortages in the country. Oregon's Columbia Gorge Community College is helping to address this crisis...

Lone Star College-Montgomery's new audio visual systems specialist program, the first such academic program in the state of Texas, recently received a $430,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.(grants & gifts)
May 19, 2008... Lone Star College-Montgomery's new audio visual systems specialist program, the first such academic program in the state of Texas, recently received a $430,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will help the program...

Augusto J. Gil, a Miami Dade College Foundation board member, Alumni Hall of Fame inductee and former Latin Builders Association president, has made a $50,000 donation to the college's District Board of Trustees.(grants & gifts)
May 19, 2008... Augusto J. Gil, a Miami Dade College Foundation board member, Alumni Hall of Fame inductee and former Latin Builders Association president, has made a $50,000 donation to the college's District Board of Trustees. The amount will help fund...

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System was recently awarded a grant from The Ford Foundation totaling $150,000.(grants & gifts)
May 19, 2008... The Louisiana Community and Technical College System was recently awarded a grant from The Ford Foundation totaling $150,000. The funds will provide support for key community college stakeholders to explore ways of integrating academic,...

In April, during "Community College Month," J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Va., celebrated the philanthropic spirit of Ivor and Maureen Massey and their $1 million pledge to the college's first-ever Major Gifts Campaign.(grants & gifts)
May 19, 2008... In April, during "Community College Month," J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Va., celebrated the philanthropic spirit of Ivor and Maureen Massey and their $1 million pledge to the college's first-ever Major Gifts Campaign....

Portland Community College has received an award of $234,453 from the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development for the college's career pathways efforts.(grants & gifts)
May 19, 2008... Portland Community College has received an award of $234,453 from the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development for the college's career pathways efforts. The 18-month federal grant will fund the development of two...

Morton College.(faculty lounge)
May 19, 2008... Students in Morton College's heating, ventilation and air conditioning program discovered their backyard is home to one of the world's most famous solar hot water systems. Scott Mitchener, program coordinator, led a field trip to the World's...

Shin Lui, a faculty member in the Business & Economic Development Division at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif., was invited to present her research at the Oxford Round Table.(faculty lounge)
May 19, 2008... Shin Lui, a faculty member in the Business & Economic Development Division at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif., was invited to present her research at the Oxford Round Table. The Oxford Round Table is a non-profit group that meets at...

Jennie Long, 52, of Winter Park. Fla., a grandmother and former single mom who returned to college to earn a nursing decree at Seminole Community College, is one of three winners of this year's Houghton Mifflin Student Success Award.(honors & awards)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jennie Long, 52, of Winter Park. Fla., a grandmother and former single mom who returned to college to earn a nursing decree at Seminole Community College, is one of three winners of this year's Houghton Mifflin...

Onondaga Community College architecture and interior design professor Kenneth Bobis was presented with the 2007 Member of the Year Award by GreeningUSA.(honors & awards)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Onondaga Community College architecture and interior design professor Kenneth Bobis was presented with the 2007 Member of the Year Award by GreeningUSA. GreeningUSA is a Syracuse, N. Y.-based organization...

Marie Foster Gnage.(honors & awards)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The president of West Virginia University at Parkersburg is a 2008 recipient of Phi Theta Kappa's Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction. Marie Foster Gnage was selected for the award based on her outstanding...

Onondaga Community College Board of Trustees.(APPOINTMENTS)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Edward J. Heinrich, a veteran administrator in secondary and higher education, has been appointed to New York's Onondaga Community College Board of Trustees. Heinrich's experience in education includes teaching and...

Lake Tahoe Community College.(APPOINTMENTS)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Paul Killpatrick will be the next president of Lake Tahoe Community College. The Lake Tahoe Community College District Board of Trustees called a special board meeting to appoint Killpatrick to the position of...

Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.(APPOINTMENTS)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sue Rearic, the new chief business officer for the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District in El Cajon, Calif., comes aboard at a particularly challenging time as the state's difficult financial straits mean...

Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City.(APPOINTMENTS)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City has announced Cheryl Carpenter-Davis has been named dean of instruction for Metropolitan Community College-Blue River. Carpenter-Davis started with Metropolitan Community...

Clark College.(APPOINTMENTS)
May 19, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Michelle Bagley, a regional leader in library services and programs, has been named director of library services at Clark College's Lewis D. Cannell Library. Bagley has more than 16 years of experience in...

Calendar.(Career Connections)(Calendar)
May 19, 2008... MAY May 20-21, 2008 ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION 10 CONFERENCE NACADA, Park City, Utah (785) 532-5717; nacada@ksu.edu www.nacada.ksu.edu May 21-23, 2008 COMMUNITY COLLEGE NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT...

W.V. aims to boost test scores by cutting admissions.
May 5, 2008... MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) -- Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is cutting enrollment in its nursing program by more than 73 percent to improve students' performance on a national certification test. The West Virginia Board of...

Strength in numbers: faculty unions provide counterweight in College Balancing Act.(point of view)
May 5, 2008... In Michigan, our community college faculty are, as a general rule, affiliated with the Michigan Education Association. In other words, we're union shops. When people find out I'm a community college professor, the topic of the validity of...

Correction.(point of view)(Correction notice)
May 5, 2008... Two college leaders who submitted articles to Community College Week were incorrectly identified in the paper's April 7 edition. Ding-Jo Currie, in addition to being president of Coastline Community College, is chair of the Board of Directors...

Not an option: no federal loans for 1 million 2-year college students.(money tree)
May 5, 2008... For students who need to borrow for college, federal loans are almost always the best deal. But a new study finds that more than 1 million community college students--a disproportionate number of them minorities--can't get such loans...

Minn. lenders pull away from federally-backed student loans.(money tree)
May 5, 2008... MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Nearly 50 businesses that provide loans to college students have stopped making the government-backed loans in recent months, saying they had to drop the programs as a result of the credit crunch and fallout from the...

Education on the run: the launch of iTunes U fuels the expanding use of podcasts at colleges across the country.(Special Report: Distance Education)
May 5, 2008... You've seen them. The seemingly sullen and distant college student, ear buds snugly inserted, seemingly oblivious to all that surrounds them, embedded deep in a private world while their favorite tunes blare or downloaded video clips play on...

The virtual college: a California college explores a host of new delivery methods, attempting to create an environment where students may never have to set foot on campus.(Special Report: Distance Education)
May 5, 2008... You're walking around a college campus, but this one's not built of bricks and mortar. It exists only in the virtual world, where an avatar representing you, the student, can walk around, interact with people, even visit faculty members...

Online enrollments tilting toward community colleges.(Leading the way)
May 5, 2008... Community colleges, with their legions of non-traditional students, are leading the way in providing distance education opportunities of all kinds. That is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Sloan Consortium, which promotes...

Community colleges: then and now: as part of our 20th anniversary observance, we asked community college leaders to describe key changes they've seen over the past two decades.
May 5, 2008... Changing Times Mean New Missions The mission of community colleges has been enhanced from teaching and learning and public service to include economic development and globalization. We've seen the movement from junior colleges to...

NISOD approaches three decades of mentoring faculty leaders.(from the vaults of COmmunity College Week)
May 5, 2008... Two years ago, we decided to profile the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development, a faculty development program at the University of Texas at Austin. Our reporter talked to John Roueche, head of the Community College...

Report: community colleges lag behind other institutions in making health insurance available to students.(dateline Washington)
May 5, 2008... Health insurance plans are not offered nearly as widely to community college students as they are to other college students, according to a new survey by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The survey found that only 29 percent of...

Legislation would ensure access to loans.(capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Congress is moving to try to ensure that the crunch in the credit markets won't stop any student from getting a loan. The House approved the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 which would authorize the...

Senate bill sets rules for private lenders.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Students who turn to the private loan market would get a variety of new protections under legislation approved by the Senate. The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved the Private Student Loan Transparency and...

Labor dept. tries to help route youth to college.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- More information and guidance will be coming from Washington to help programs succeed in redirecting disconnected youth. The Department of Labor has pledged to provide states and workforce investment boards with improved tools...

Colleges gain access to drug programs.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Innovative projects that reduce substance abuse at community colleges are eligible for Safe and Drug-Free School grants for the first time this year. The Education Department's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, which has...

$50 million in earmarks aid 2-year colleges.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Almost $50 million dollars in 154 separate earmarks went directly to specific community colleges this year, courtesy of their senators and representatives. Citizens Against Government Waste issued the 2008 Pig Book listing the...

New survey probes student loan program.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- All Federal Family Educational Loan administrators are getting another electronic "emergency survey" from the Office of Federal Student Aid. The office is continuing its probe into the availability of the loans this year and the...

Bills aimed at improving campus safety.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- A year after it took place, the shootings at Virginia Tech inspired introduction of new legislation. Prospective students and staff members would have to get a copy of emergency response and evacuation policies of a campus...

Survey finds demand for 2-year colleges.(Capital briefs)
May 5, 2008... WASHINGTON -- The market for community colleges will grow large, if you believe what parents of junior and senior high schoolers say. Parents of more than 90 percent of students in grades six through 12 said they expect their children to get...

Court upholds Louisiana college gunman's conviction.
May 5, 2008... The Louisiana Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld the murder conviction of a former student at the Natchitoches campus of Louisiana Technical College. The three-judge panel unanimously rejected defense arguments that incriminating...

Ill. Campus Security group calls for better training.
May 5, 2008... CHICAGO (AP) -- A state task--ce has recommended that Illinois colleges and universities increase safety training for first responders and mental health counselors and coordinate emergency plans. The Campus Security Task Force, formed...

Colo. students want to bring concealed guns to campus.
May 5, 2008... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (AP) -- College students who say they re powerless against campus attacks by gunmen want to push legislators and school administrators to let them arm themselves. In the wake of campus shootings at Virginia Tech...

Perilous path: displaced workers navigate obstacles on Wash. campus.
May 5, 2008... WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) -- The walk across a college campus is a bit awkward when you're a 58-year-old student, and Gary Moog can tell you all about it. His classmates could be his grandchildren. The paperwork to get settled could bury him. ...

Legislative panel votes to keep double dipping in Alabama.
May 5, 2008... MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama legislators are trying to override the State Board of Education's new policy prohibiting two-year college employees from serving in the Legislature after the 2010 legislative elections. The Senate...

Green economy fuels new opportunities for workers, colleges.
May 5, 2008... EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Thomas Brex is on top of the world now that he's on the roof at a massive construction project here. He purposely sought a career in renewable energy. He enrolled in the two-year energy program at Lane Community...

Maryland student dedicated to his art.
May 5, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A tattoo design, a wall-size mural and a side panel on a truck make up Sam Grantham's resume. Grantham, a 20-year-old student at Hagerstown Community College, calls it his "living...

University of California makes room for 60,000 freshmen.
May 5, 2008... SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The University of California has accepted a record 60,008 California residents as freshmen for the coming fail despite worries that cuts in state funding could lead to overcrowded campuses and tuition increases,...

Kentucky College brings death, dying discussion into classroom.
May 5, 2008... HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) -- For most people, it's difficult to talk about death. It's not easy to think about planning a funeral, to consider end of life issues or contemplate what others are really feeling when they're going through the stages of...

N.M. students find creative outlet in online journal.
May 5, 2008... CLOVIS, N.M.(AP) -- A literary journal designed to give undergraduates at Clovis Community College a chance to publish their work is blossoming, according to founder, publisher and English instructor Gina Hochhalter. Started in the fall...

Neb. college students went to school constructing new house.
May 5, 2008... HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) -- A three-bedroom house built by first-year students at Central Community College-Hastings is nearly finished. About 60 students--28 in construction, 20 in electric and 10 to 15 in heating/air conditioning--started...

Delayed college funding raises concerns in Wyo.
May 5, 2008... RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) -- The president of Central Wyoming College says she's worried about a proposal to delay some funding for community colleges. Jim Rose--executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission--has told colleges...

Son of former college head to plead guilty.
May 5, 2008... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- The former head of the Alabama Fire College's son has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud and to repay $66,000 he received from a bogus contract with Gadsden State Community College, according to a...

Ore. colleges to get emergency text system.
May 5, 2008... CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP)--An emergency text message system could in place this fall at Oregon State University and other state colleges and universities. The system would use personal cell phones to notify students of an emergency, such as...

Newsman named S.D. college president.
May 5, 2008... SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The news director at KELO-TV has been named the new president of Kilian Community College in Sioux Falls. Mark Millage begins full duties at the Sioux Falls institution on May 19. On May 16, Millage, a Sioux...

Salt Lake College tops fundraising list.
May 5, 2008... SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Salt Lake Community College leads the country in fundraising among community colleges. A report from the Council for Aid to Education says the college raised more than $26 million in fiscal 2007, earning it the No....