Community College Week articles from November 2003

Community College Week archives from November 2003

Florida College students watch as man kills student, self.(around the nation)
November 10, 2003... DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A man fatally shot a woman at Daytona Beach Community College in front of her fellow students, then killed himself, police said. Students watched as the man grabbed Miriam Nina Fernandez by the hair during an...

Recalled Calif. Gov. vetoes bill giving illegal-immigrant students free ride.(around the nation)
November 10, 2003... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In his final days as the state's chief executive, recalled California Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have given free tuition to some illegal-immigrant students and made reform of a scandal-tarnished...

N.C. College Officials rule against anti-war former instructor.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Officials at Forsyth Technical Community College have ruled against a former instructor who contends that her contract wasn't renewed because she spoke out against the war in Iraq. The personnel committee of the...

N.J. President refuses to resign over harassment charge.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The president of Mercer County Community College has rejected an offer to join a pretrial program in a deal that would have led to the dismissal of a criminal sexual contact charge against him. Dr. Robert Rose was...

Pa. community-service graduation requirement proposed.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... MONACA, Pa. (ALP) -- A state legislator wants student at 14 state-operated universities and 14 community colleges to complete 25 hours of community service per year as part of their graduation requirements. "This should be part of what...

Bill seeking to tie tuition to inflation draws fire.(dateline Washington)
November 10, 2003... Decrying a "crisis" in college affordability, Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are touting a bill they say would hold down higher-education costs by making schools accountable for tuition increases. But some Democrats and...

Senate Democrats unveil higher-education bill.(Capitol briefs)
November 10, 2003... Democrats in the U.S. Senate have proposed a higher-education bill that would boost college aid, encourage universities to hold down costs and allow students to refinance higher-interest college loans. The additional help would come, in...

Report: community-college tuition, fees jumped 14 percent over last year.(dateline Washington)
November 10, 2003... Community-college tuition end fees have climbed 14 percent during the last year, primarily due to dwindling state funds and the need to remain competitive, according to an annual College Board report. At two-year public institutions,...

Take this job and shove it.(point of view)
November 10, 2003... The life of the adjunct is oftentimes a life of frustration, bewilderment and downright disillusionment. Most of us who teach part-time do so in hopes of securing a full-time position; it is certainly not for the money. What happens when our...

Clarification.(point of view)(Correction Notice)
November 10, 2003... A typographical error distorted the meaning of part of the Point of View piece by Dr. R.P. Pedersen on Page 4 of the October 13 Community College Week. In a paragraph about a study by Dr. Linda Aiken, a professor of nursing at the University of...

Humor 101.(point of view)
November 10, 2003... Hey Administrators! Sick of whiny Full-Time Faculty? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Get... INSTA-ADJUNCTS It's as easy as saying, "You're hired!" * as low as $1200 per class * no benefits, offices, or promises of future...

High-stakes hold 'em: as class sizes grow and budgets for pay raises freeze over, colleges are struggling to hold onto their faculty.(Special report: recruitment & retention 2003)
November 10, 2003... Amid all the predicaments plaguing community colleges these days, recruiting faculty is one task many schools don't have to worry about: There's no money to do it anyway. But the Incredible Shrinking Budget phenomenon now playing in an...

Presidential candidate Kerry proposes big tuition help.
November 10, 2003... DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Massachusetts Sen. and presidential aspirant John Kerry last month unveiled a job-training proposal that would create incentives worth thousands of dollars per person for would create students to attend college. Kerry's...

Congressman wants more ideological 'diversity'.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Spurred by concerns that college students are getting too strong a dose of liberalism in the classroom, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., recently announced plans to introduce a resolution encouraging colleges to balance liberal and conservative...

Mo. professor helps document former Surgeon General's life.(faculty lounge)
November 10, 2003... SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Community-college professor Larry Rottmann is using art to imitate a life. Rottmann and Mark Biggs. award-winning independent Filmmakers, are working to turn the story of Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the first black woman...

Northwest Vista College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Frederick Williams, an instructor of American government at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas, received the Frederick Douglass Emancipator Award at the 5th Annual Juneteenth Freedom Dinner held recently.

The Texas Speech Communication Association.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The Texas Speech Communication Association has honored two faculty members from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. Janna Holt-Day, an assistant professor of speech, has been named Community College Educator of the Year for 2003. ...

Arapahoe Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Chris Ransick, an English and journalism faculty member at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton. Colo., was recently awarded the 2002 Colorado Book Award for Poetry for his book "Never Summer: Poems from Thin Air."

Raritan Valley Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Ellen Lindemann, an instructor in the business and public service department at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J., was awarded the Third Annual International Educator of the Year Award at the N.J. Global Educators'...

Raritan Valley Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The Verizon Foundation has contributed $10,000 to Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J., for the "Bridge to Graduation and Beyond" program. The project targets at-risk Bound Brook High School students.

Johnson County Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., received a $1.5 million gift from Jerome and Margaret Nerman of Leawood to build a contemporary art museum. The Nermans announced that their family would donate the money to help...

Malcolm X College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Malcolm X College in Chicago has received a TRIO Upward Bound grant worth more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education. The fund will help low-income and potential first-generation college students to gain access to and achieve...

Santa Monica College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif., has been awarded a $35,000 grant from The Dwight Smart Youth Foundation for the college's Youth Opera Camp. The funding will cover teachers, production costs, rental of the Miles Memorial Playhouse...

Kirkwood Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The U.S. Department of Education has given a $2 million grant to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to train 6,300 community responders in using technology to combat terrorist incidents.

Sussex County Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Sussex County Community College in Newton, N.J., received an $85,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Education to create a Center for Effective Teaching of Mathematics. This K-12 partnership will increase effective teaching and learning...

Middlesex County College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The National Center for Advanced Technological Education and its partner institution, Middlesex County College in Edison, N.J., have received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program....

Forsyth Technical Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C., has been given a $10,000 grant by Sara Lee Branded Apparel to be used by the Early Childhood Program to translate core course materials from English into Spanish.

Alaska teachers' union sends members strike ballots.
November 10, 2003... FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- Strike ballots have been to the approximately 300 members of the Alaska Community College Federation of Teachers, the union representing faculty at University of Alaska rural campuses, including some two-year campuses,...

Colleges gear up to fight cyberterror.(technology today)
November 10, 2003... PITTSBURGH -- When the Bugbear.B virus burrowed its way into computers in almost 160 countries last June, it wreaked havoc on thousands of network systems in less than 24 hours. As virus writers have grown increasingly deft at disguising and...

Mass. Gov. OKs loans for 3 high-tech centers.(Bits & Bytes)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Gov. Mitt Romney has approved a roan for an $18 million business and technology center at Holyoke Community College. Officials had been ready to seek bids on the Holyoke building in May when the Romney...

Tenn. College gets $1.7 million for engineering, technologies.(Bits & Bytes)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Pellissippi State Technical Community College a $1.7 million, five-year Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant. The grant will be used to enhance the curriculum and technology...

St. Philip's College manufacturing engineering technology instructors Cipriano Gonzales, and Joe Ybarra give a demonstration of a piece of plastics processing training equipment at the college's Southwest Campus in San Antonio, Texas.(Bits & Bytes)
November 10, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: St. Philip's College manufacturing engineering technology instructors Cipriano Gonzales, left, and Joe Ybarra give a demonstration of a piece of plastics processing training equipment at the college's...

Got google?(A Tech Perspective)
November 10, 2003... When looking for information online, you use n Internet search engine. So when you're trying to lure people to your Web site, whether it's a business or personal site, you need to make sure people can find it using Internet search engines. But...

SUNY to grade its campuses with standardized tests.
November 10, 2003... ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The State University of New York will use standardized exams to measure campuses against SUNY's standards, but it won't release campus comparisons to the public, according to SUNY. The tests would begin with a two-year...

Pa. College Dodges faculty strike.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... READING, Pa. (ALP) -- Reading Area Community College averted a potential mike when a majority of faculty union members voted to accept a new four-year contract. About 60 full-time faculty members recently voted in favor of the contract,...

Allbritten tapped as Fla. campus-head.(Presidents)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. Jeffery S. Allbritten has been named the first president of Edison Community College-Collier Campus in Naples, Fla. In his previous position, he served as associate dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences and as an associate...

Louisiana System gets new chancellor.(Presidents)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... The Louisiana Community and Technical College System board of supervisors has approved the appointment of Dr. Margaret Montgomery-Richard as chancellor of the system. Previously, she was senior vice president for academic and student services...

Scott takes over as chief of Pa. College.(Presidents)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. Arthur L. Scott has taken over the reins at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pa. He was previously the college's vice president and provost. He has a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College and a master's degree and doctorate...

Northampton Community College.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pa., recently announced three new appointments. Dr. Melba Ramos is the new vice president of academic affairs. Ramos comes to NCC from Broward Community College in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where she...

Bronx Community College.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. Penny Bloom has been named vice president of student development at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. Most recently, she was the executive dean at the Essex Campus of the Community College of Baltimore in Maryland....

Laredo Community College.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dianna L. Miller has been appointed dean of health sciences at Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas. Miller, who served as interim dean from November 2002, began her association with LCC in 1990 as a nursing instructor. She received a...

Dr. Byron N. McClenney.(Retirements)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. Byron N. McClenney win retire as president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, N.Y., effective Dec. 12, 2003. McClenney's three-year tenure caps more than three decades in community-college leadership. Prior to joining...

Dr. John Blong.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. John Blong, the chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community College District, will retire on June 30, 2004, after 37 years in the college system. He came to the district, made up of Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges, as vice...

Dr. Lee Willis.(Retirements)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2003... Dr. Lee Willis, the associate provost of Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio, will retire Dec. 31, 2003, after 2 years of service. Previously, he served as consultant-evaluator with he Higher Learning Commission. Willis has an...

Coming events.(Calendar)
November 10, 2003... November 19-23, Anthropology. "Peace: Affinities, Divisions, Transformations," annual meeting, American Anthropological Association, in Chicago, IL. Contact: Lucille Horn, American Anthropological Association, (703) 528-1902, ext. 3009,...

Bush touts job creation at N.C. college.(around the nation)
November 24, 2003... WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- President Bush recently sought support in a Southern state that's losing manufacturing jobs, touting worker retraining--which he says can help ease the pain--at a community college. "As the economy changes, as...

Budget blows hammer California college enrollment.(around the nation)
November 24, 2003... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Community-college enrollment in California dropped for the first time in eight years this year--a result of the shrunken course catalogs and hiked student fees necessitated by the state's severe budget crisis. A...

Maine colleges to get bulk of $19 million bond package.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Maine's voters recently approved an education bond issue that will deliver $12 million to the state's community colleges. Question 5 on the November ballot sought $19 million for state university and...

Wash. student dies from hantavirus.
November 24, 2003... MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- The death of a community-college soccer player was the first known case of hantavirus in Skagit County, the director of the county's Health Department said. Garrett Chase, 21, died just a few days after he was...

Balancing act.(point of view)
November 24, 2003... The presidency is no accident. You struggle for years to get it, and then you wonder how it happened How did this prize fall into your lap? Then you may ask, "Is it really a prize'? Is it a reward, or a punishment? Is it an accomplishment to be...

Making rural communities count.(point of view)
November 24, 2003... Just one section alone justifies reading "Windows on the Future," the study issued last summer by the Center for Rural America of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Whereas publications of the reserve banks (such as the "Beige Book")...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 24, 2003... On page 20 of the Nov. 10 issue of Community College Week. Dr. Margaret Montgomery-Richard was incorrectly listed as the chancellor of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Montgomery-Richard was appointed as chancellor of...

Re-examining the origin of the specie: amid more competition for the few government dollars available to college science programs, some community colleges are looking to the private sector.(A Focus On Science)
November 24, 2003... The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is known for its large contributions to organizations promoting global health and education. The Seattle-based foundation has also given $144 million in grant money to organizations and institutions in the...

Suspect says slaying of student was a joke gone wrong.
November 24, 2003... REDLANDS, Calif. (AP) -- One of two friends charged with killing a community-college student described the incident as a practical joke gone wrong, in which she fired a gun after her friend accidentally shot first, according to court records....

Missouri board approves local vote on new college.
November 24, 2003... JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- People from two local school districts ha south central Missouri will vote next spring on whether they want a community college serving their area, one that officials say could provide a new approach to postsecondary...

Senate committee passes bill easing immigrants' access to college.(Capitol briefs)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a bill that would make it easier for undocumented immigrants to attend U.S. colleges. The Development. Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2003, also known as the DREAM Act, cleared the...

Foreign students to pay $100 SEVIS fee.(Capitol briefs)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that most international students will have to pay a $100 fee to pay for the costs of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, also known as SEVIS, which tracks their whereabouts...

Report: U.S. colleges can do more to internationalize campuses.(dateline Washington)
November 24, 2003... Community colleges have a long way to go before their campuses are fully "internationalized," according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. But despite looming hurdles--particularly scant funding--some two-year schools have...

Foreign-student enrollments down at community colleges, report says.(dateline Washington)
November 24, 2003... Foreign-student enrollment at community colleges has dropped for the first time since the 1995-1996 school year, according to a report by the Institute for International Education. Open Doors 2003, an annual survey of international...

Oregon part-time instructors protest low pay.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Teachers at Portland Community College rallied recently against what they say is a growing trend at Oregon colleges to employ temporary lecturers, who are paid about half a full-time professor's salary. Michael...

Former Colorado student convicted of murder.
November 24, 2003... DENVER (AP) -- A Saudi Arabian student has been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2001 killing of a Saudi oilman's son. Naif Al-Yousif, 25, was convicted of killing Abdulaziz Al-Kohaji. Al-Yousif Paces a mandatory life term without...

Nebraska college to sell vo-tech campus.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) -- Mid-Plains Community College is planning to sell its vocational-technical campus. The college board of governors has voted to move forward, requesting appraisals of the campus value. School officials said...

Man starts car-crash rampage at Florida College.
November 24, 2003... DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A man started a car-crashing rampage recently in the parking lot of a community college, hitting a dozen vehicles before his truck became stuck against a guardrail. Police arrested Wesley Dicks, 29, alter he fled...

Mass. professor disciplined after confrontation.
November 24, 2003... GARDNER, Mass. (AP) -- A Mount Wachusett Community College professor has been disciplined after a confrontation with John Bish, whose daughter's remains were found in the woods last summer after her disappearance in 2000. Gene Cauthen was...

Former Florida student arrested for attacking baseball player.
November 24, 2003... GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A 23-year-old former community-college student has been arrested on allegations he punched a University of Florida baseball player, causing serious brain injuries. Jonathan Aaron Head, 23, was arrested on a...

N.J. Colleges strike deal with state officials.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The state's 19 community colleges have reached an agreement with the administration of Gov. James E. McGreevey that gives them more pull in decisions on programs and other matters. McGreevey signed an executive order...

Va. schools team up to attract teachers.
November 24, 2003... RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Several Virginia colleges greed last month to bypass the regular admissions process for community-college students studying to become teachers in hopes of attracting more people to the profession. So far, nine...

Lieberman announces higher-ed. plan.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., recently announced a "college opportunity" plan to increase federal student aid and boost the number of poor and minority students who graduate from college. Lieberman's plan...

Wash. higher-ed. panel calls for buffed-up college system.
November 24, 2003... OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington needs to greatly expand its higher education to accommodate a 20 percent increase in the number of graduates projected between now and 2010, the Higher Education Coordinating Board says in a draft version of a...

Tribal profs. teach how the West was won--and lost.(faculty lounge)
November 24, 2003... BILLINGS, Moat. (AP) -- In Joe McGeshick's classes, explorers Meriwether "Lewis and William Clark aren't presented as the larger-than-life heroes some of his students at Fort Peck Community College read about in high school. Neither is the...

City University of New York's Queensborough Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Dr. Paris Svoronos, a professor of chemistry at City University of New York's Queensborough Community College in Bayside, N.Y., has received the 2003 Outstanding Community College Professor award from the Council for Advancement and Support of...

Hagerstown Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... David T. Yohman, a professor of criminal justice at Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, Md., has won first place in the Police Management and Operations examination and second place in the criminal law and corrections written...

Delaware County Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Dianne Belitsky Shames, an associate professor and coordinator of reading and essential writing at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa., has been awarded the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation's Distinguished Teaching...

Morrisville State College.(Honors & Awards)
November 24, 2003... Kerry Beadle, an assistant professor and chair of the hospitality technology department at Morrisville State College in Morrisville, N.Y., was among nine food-service professionals throughout the world selected to judge a national food-tasting...

St. Charles Community College.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Two instructors from St. Charles Community College in St. Peters, Mo., have won the Ring of Excellence Award from the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. They are: Chris Van Mierio, a learning specialist and founding instructor of the First Alert...

Theresa A. Savard, an associate professor of English as a foreign language at Montgomery Country Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., served as academic director of a NATO language academy in Poljce, Slovenia, this past summer.
November 24, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Theresa A. Savard, an associate professor of English as a foreign language at Montgomery Country Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., served as academic director of a NATO language academy in Poljce,...

Bits & bytes.(technology today)
November 24, 2003... Butte College MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement) Program students receive a new wireless mobile classroom donated by: Hewlett-Packard worth more than $100,000, MESA students Alicia Lopez-Rivera, from left, Christine Sampson and...

Fla. college shoots for the stars.(technology today)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Brevard Community College joined its partners the Florida Space Authority, the University of Central Florida/Florida Space Institute and the 45th Space Wing, for the dedication of Launch Complex 47 as an educational...

Out with the old, in with the new.(A Tech Perspective)
November 24, 2003... If you don't keep up with the latest in computer hardware, will you get left behind? Or should you follow the maxim, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? How to best decide when it's time to replace your home computer, or those in your...

New report gives colleges performance yardsticks.
November 24, 2003... AUSTIN, Texas -- The results of a recent survey of community-college students are expected to offer the nation's two-year colleges insight into how successful their academic programs have been, and how well they are serving their students'...

Okla. faculty decry executive pay bonuses.
November 24, 2003... TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The faculty association for Tulsa Community College is calling for changes in the way school business is conducted after top executives received bonuses. Faculty recently passed a resolution saying the quiet approval of...

Law lets N.Y. colleges tighten security.
November 24, 2003... ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The state's 30 community colleges may now choose to replace security guards with peace officers who can carry weapons and make arrests. The law is in response to "increasing incidents of violent behavior, drug use and...

N.D. college holds fund-raiser for student who lost grant.(around campus)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... BELCOURT, N.D. (AP) -- Faculty and staff at Turtle Mountain Community College recently sponsored an auction to raise money for a student who lost her federal financial aid. Tamara Arnell is a senior studying elementary education at the...

Song and dance.(around campus)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2003... Community colleges celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in October with a little song and dance. The College of Southern Maryland in La Plata, Md., hosted a performance of "The Flamenco World of Don Quixote" by Danzamarina, a Spanish dance troupe...