Community Colleges to Fuel New Business Creation Via Virtual Incubator Network

Mott Grants $995,500 for Pilot Project at Colleges in 10 States

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In an innovative approach to
encourage the creation of more start-up businesses to help sustain continued
economic recovery, The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) today
announced the selection of colleges in 10 states to pilot a Virtual Incubation
Network. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has made a $995,500 grant to launch
the pilot project in early 2011 and anticipates a second year of funding of up
to $742,500.

The AACC initiative was recognized in a White House announcement Jan. 31, as an
example of creative entrepreneurship to be encouraged by a new Startup America
initiative “to celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship
throughout the nation,” as part of the Obama Administration’s national
innovation strategy.

The virtual incubator initiative will be implemented by AACC in collaboration
the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), and
ultimately through partnerships including with the national network of Small
Business Development Centers, many of which are operated on community college
campuses.

“Small businesses play an enormous role in stimulating and sustaining economic
growth – both in local communities and nationally,” said Walter G. Bumphus,
president and CEO of the AACC. “This new initiative presents an exciting and
innovative way to encourage small business growth without costly investment in
new facilities and added infrastructure.”

Community colleges are often called on to establish small business incubators to
nurture local companies through the most challenging start-up stages of
development, increasing jobs and revenue for local communities. Close to 35
business incubators are operated by two-year colleges nationwide. The
development of the virtual incubator network recognizes that these services need
not depend on a traditional brick-and-mortar facility. Instead the new network
will “test-drive” new delivery mechanisms that include support provided at the
business site and hybrid in-person and technology processes. The AACC hopes its
member colleges will eventually be able to bring the work to scale at hundreds
of community colleges, particularly in geographically isolated, depressed and
hard-to-serve communities where they are needed most.

The 10 colleges that will lead this effort are:
Rio Salado College, Tempe, AZ
Long Beach Community College, Long Beach, CA
North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, IA
Mott Community College, Flint, MI
Southeast Community College, Lincoln, NE
White Mountain Community College, Berlin, NH
Burlington County Community College, Burlington, NJ
Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
Lorain County Community College, Elyria, OH
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, WI

The American Association of Community Colleges is a national organization located in Washington, D.C., that represents the nation’s close to 1,200 community, junior and technical colleges. The colleges represent the largest and fastest-growing sector of higher education and currently enroll almost half of all U.S. undergraduates.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. Offices are located in Flint, Michigan; metropolitan Detroit; Johannesburg (South Africa); and London. The Foundation, with 2009 year-end assets of approximately $2.1 billion, made 469 grants totaling $109.3 million. For more information, visit Mott.org.

NACCE connects community college administrators and faculty with knowledge and successful practices regarding entrepreneurial thinking, entrepreneurship education, and student business incubation. NACCE holds an annual conference and symposium, publishes a quarterly journal, hosts monthly webinars and podcasts and a dynamic list-serv, develops Web resources such as shared entrepreneurship curricula and syllabi for faculty, and creates guides in beginning and
sustaining entrepreneurship and student business incubation programs as well as tips for grant proposals specific to entrepreneurial endeavors at community colleges. For more information, visithttp://www.nacce.com.

SOURCE: American Association of Community Colleges

College Freshmen Report Record-Low Levels of Emotional Health

This year’s freshmen reported record-low levels of emotional health, according to the latest results of the University of California at Los Angeles’s national survey of first-year undergraduates. At the same time, more students gave themselves high marks for ambition to achieve.

College counselors say the two are clearly related, as students put more pressure on themselves to excel.

The percentage of students reporting good or above-average emotional health dropped from 55.3 percent in 2009 to 51.9 percent in 2010, according to “The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2010″ survey. That marks the lowest point since 1985, when the survey first asked the question.

Denise Hayes, the president of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, says the data confirm national trends.

Read more of Lauren Sieben’s story at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Two New Editing Tools

Two new tools that every college student can use. Definr and Thsrs are two separate tools for quickly checking out the meaning of the word or an alternate synonym.

Definr makes searching for definitions incredibly easy and fast by populating definitions below the search box as you hit the “meep!” (enter) button. http://definr.com/

Thsrs, an unrelated thesaurus tool doesn’t just find synonyms, it finds shorter words that have the same meaning as the word you enter. So if you are a perspicacious person but want to be modest about it, Thsrs recommends you simply use the word “wise” to describe yourself. http://www.ironicsans.com/thsrs/

Speaker: Early Childhood Programs Key to Arizona’s Economy Now & In Future

Arizona business and political leaders committed to promoting economic development need to consider early childhood education as one of their key strategies, the vice president for a national, business-led public policy organization urged.

“The foundation for the skills needed for America’s 21st Century workforce is developed during the first five years of a child’s life,” said Mike Petro, Vice President and Director of Business and Government Relations for the Washington, D.C.-based Committee for Economic Development. “Yet the United States invests the fewest resources in children this age.”

REad the full story at AZ First Things First.

New Center Offers Veterans Comprehensive Services

A new center is opening in the East Valley that will connect Arizona’s veterans and their families with educational, vocational and community resources.

The grand opening of the East Valley Veterans Education Center (EVVEC), hosted by Rio Salado College, takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

“We wanted to reach out to the thousands of Arizona veterans and provide them increased access to high-quality college programming,” said Kishia Brock, Vice President for Student Affairs at Rio Salado College.

“The center acts as a one-stop shop for information about services and programs offered through the Maricopa Community Colleges,” Brock said.

Services offered at the EVVEC include: educational, employment and workforce development workshops, tutoring and academic skill-building, assistance with applying for VA benefits and understanding the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI bills, referrals to community resources, Skype communication with family members in the military, and cultural events/activities.

The EVVEC is a collaboration between five Maricopa Community Colleges – Rio Salado, Chandler-Gilbert, GateWay, Mesa, and Scottsdale, – and several government and military agencies including the Department of Economic Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program.

Learn more at http://www.riosalado.edu/locations/veterans-center.

Obama Calls for Spending Freeze but Says He’ll Spare Education

In a State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama proposed a five-year freeze in discretionary spending on nondefense programs and vowed to veto any bill containing earmarks. But the president said he would spare education and research from the freeze and spending cuts, calling them vital to the nation’s long-term growth and competitiveness.

“Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine,” he said. “It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you’ll feel the impact.”

Read all of By Kelly Field’s article at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

AZ Gov. Brewer wants to cut community college funding

According to Capitol Media Services, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, proposed budget cuts for higher education that stand out even in a year of deep budget cuts. For community colleges, she wants to cut state funding in half.

Brewer wants to cut state support by 20 percent at four-year universities. The governor’s budget director told the news service that “inefficiencies” in higher education can be eliminated so that the four-year institutions don’t have to raise tuition. As for community colleges, the governor is hoping that they can bring in more funds from local support and tuition.

Maricopa Colleges, University of Maryland Announce Education Agreement

Officials from the Maricopa Community Colleges and the University of Maryland’s University College have finalized a transfer partnership agreement that will allow Maricopa students to apply up to 70 credits toward a UMUC Bachelor’s degree.

The Maricopa/UMUC agreement also includes an application fee waiver, as well as dedicated transfer scholarships for Maricopa Community College students.

UMUC’s Dual Enrollment Scholarship is a $1,000 per year scholarship if students are taking a minimum of three credits at UMUC and one of the Maricopa Community Colleges each semester. Students applying for admission online at umuc.edu will have the $50 application fee waived.

In addition, UMUC’s Community College Transfer Scholarship ( CCTS ) will pay eligible students $3,000 per year for full time students, $1,650 per year for part time students. The CCTS is for Associate degree earners from the Maricopa Community Colleges who have carried a minimum 3.0 grade-point-average ( GPA ) on all college coursework.

The agreement was finalized in a signing ceremony held at Rio Salado College in mid-December.

Maricopa Community Colleges Chancellor Dr. Rufus Glasper; Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the Maricopa Community Colleges; Chris Bustamante, President of Rio Salado; and Dr. Susan Aldridge, President of UMUC, participated in the ceremony.

UMUC already has a rich tradition of Maricopa Community College students transferring to UMUC. To date, more than 230 students have transferred Maricopa credits to UMUC.

“In keeping with President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative, this flexible agreement offers Maricopa students a unique opportunity to move seamlessly from an Associate’s degree to a Bachelor’s degree without losing credits, or ever leaving home,” said UMUC President Aldridge. “In return, UMUC will reap the benefits of Maricopa’s tremendous expertise, while serving yet another amazing group of community college transfer students who, I might, add are consistently among our most talented and successful graduates.”

UMUC is an international leader in on line education, as is Rio Salado. UMUC offers more than 100 Bachelors and Masters Degree programs on line, with more than 760 on line course offerings. They also offer on site courses in more than 23 countries around the world.

More information on the Maricopa Community Colleges’ partnership with UMUC is available at www.maricopa.edu/transfer/partners/viewpartner.php?loc=62967, or at umuc.edu.

UMUC is so committed to the program that they are hiring two coordinators of community relations to promote the program in the Phoenix area and manage their other partnerships in the western United States.

Community-college enrollment stretches Valley colleges

Enrollment at the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges is up nearly 9 percent this semester compared with the spring 2010 semester – the third year in a row of increased spring enrollment, the district office said.

The burgeoning enrollment, attributed at least partly to the increased cost of attending the state’s four-year universities, is straining the community-college system, officials say, because student tuition covers only about a third of the cost of educating a student.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/01/18/20110118maricopa-county-community-college-enrollment-up.html#ixzz1BWvbAfTX

Guns on campus? New laws could allow for weapons

At Mesa Community College, officers with guns patrol the campus, but soon students and teachers might also be packing heat.

http://www.abc15.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=7151