Bates Foundation awards over $14,000 in mini-grants

The Bates Foundation Board of Directors has approved eight mini-grants for 2012 totaling $14,378.86. Awarded each year through a competitive application process, mini grants fund innovative and unique projects or programs that enhance the mission and goals of Bates Technical College, but which may not normally be funded through the college’s annual operating budget. Congratulations to those programs that were selected this year.

Project Name	Program	Amount
Virtual Learning Environment	Practical Nurse	$2,500
Diversity Academy	Diversity Center	$2,500
Microprocessor/Reball Equipment	Biomedical Service Technician: Clinical Engineering	$2,500
Educational CD’s	Welding	$1,993.25
Refrigeration Training Equipment	Facilities Maintenance Engineer	$1,701.30
Duct Testing Course	HVAC/R and Sheer Metal	$1,684.31
Educational Library	Commercial Truck Driving - Entry Level	$1,000
Brain Series	Home & Family Life	$500

April is national Community College Awareness Month

April is national Community College Awareness Month and we invite you to celebrate by learning more about Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges.  Our nationally-acclaimed colleges serve roughly 470,000 people each year -- creating brighter futures, better jobs, and a stronger economy.  

For a brief history of our colleges, visit http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/general/a_history.aspx.  You’ll find much to celebrate, and perhaps learn a few intriguing facts along the way.

10 Things You Should Know About Community and Technical Colleges

1. Community and technical colleges make up the largest sector of Washington’s higher education system, serving 60 percent of students enrolled in public colleges and universities. 
2. Each year, almost 470,000 Washingtonians attend a two-year college to train for careers, earn certificates and degrees, and earn credits toward bachelors’ degrees. 
3. National acclaim for cutting edge initiatives that promote student success is routine – our open course library drastically reduces textbook costs, a performance-based funding system rewards colleges as more students achieve academic milestones, and the I-BEST program teaches basic literacy and workforce skills at the same time, allowing students to move through school and into work quickly.
4. Community and technical colleges have an “open door” policy so everyone has a chance to learn and move up in the world. 
5. Washington’s two-year colleges offer classes 24/7, on campus and on line. 
6. Tuition at community and technical colleges is a fraction of the cost of four-year institutions, and high school students earn college credits tuition-free in Running Start. 
7. Forty percent of all bachelors’ degree graduates and 32 percent of all STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree graduates in Washington start at community and technical colleges.
8. Seven community and technical colleges offer applied bachelors’ degrees in radiation and imaging sciences; interior design; health care technology and management; applied management; applied design; nursing; behavioral science; and hospitality management. 
9. A typical community and technical college student is a 26 year old working parent; 37 percent are students of color and many are the first in their families to go to college. 
10. Community and technical colleges and their former students add $11 billion annually to Washington’s economy. 

Stay connected with ctcLinkConnect

You may have heard of ctcLink, but what exactly is it? ctcLink is the implementation of a new, integrated technology foundation that will provide modern online services—anytime, anywhere—to all students, faculty and staff of Washington’s community and technical colleges.


Called Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP, ctcLink will replace the CTCs aging legacy systems—such as the current Financial Management System (FMS), Student Management System (SMS) and Personnel/Payroll Management System (PPMS)—with a set of interconnected software modules to help the CTC system streamline and standardize the way colleges do business today.


A major milestone was reached this week on the ctcLink Project with the release of the Request for Proposals.  Additionally, Tacoma Community College and the Community Colleges of Spokane were selected as the FirstLink (pilot) colleges.


Some of you may be more familiar with the ctcLink project than others but, now everyone can keep up on the latest news about ctcLink with the ctcLink Project Team’s new blog, ctcLinkCONNECT.


If you want to be notified when a new story is posted to the blog, click the “sign me up” link on the upper, right side of the page. Enter your email address and you’ll get a message in your inbox when something new is posted.