The ribbon is cut on the next 10 years of Clark College at CTC.

Clark College Interim President Sandra Fowler-Hill and ASCC President Evans Kaame celebrate the 10th anniversary of Clark College at Columbia Tech Center with a traditional Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting.

Business and community leaders joined Clark College on Monday, October 14 for a Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting to celebrate a milestone. Clark College first opened Columbia Tech Center in east Clark County in fall 2009.

Responding to feedback from employers and residents in East Vancouver, the college refreshed its offerings at Columbia Tech Center to be a hub for business and technical education.

“Columbia Tech Center is today a bustling campus on the east side with a wide range of programs available to our students. We are grateful for the community’s support over the years and renew our commitment to serving the community in a way that best meets their needs.”

Clark College Interim President Sandra Fowler-Hill

The
college has worked to create a series of course offerings this fall that will
allow students to pursue career-oriented higher education in subjects that
include business, information technology, computer support, and project management—all
without having to travel to the college’s main campus near downtown Vancouver.
Most classes are scheduled to run just two days a week (Tuesday and Thursday),
allowing students to plan their studies around work and/or life obligations.

We are committed to offering business classes at Columbia Tech to provide our students viable pathways forward to earning the new skills that they need to be successful–whether that be a single course, a certificate or a degree.”

Professor Adnan Hamideh, Division Chair, Clark College Business Administration Department

Hamideh is also preparing to create a business degree path for office administration, he said. The school already offers accounting, marketing, management and business administration. About 7,000 full-time students take business classes at Clark College he said.

Additionally, Clark College Economic and Community Development, which provides non-credit continuing education and customized training, has relocated to the Columbia Tech Center location.

Last month, ECD moved its business classes from a leased space in downtown Vancouver to the Columbia Tech Center, said Kevin Witte, vice president of the program. The move was in part a way to help the college save money, but it also moved students closer to some of the city’s larger employers, including WaferTech.

Witte said participating employers include Boeing Co, and they request specific skills for students to learn, which the college incorporates into its training.

Business and community leaders toured the college’s nationally recognized Mechatronics lab. The engineering program focuses on both electrical and mechanical systems. It is a foundational training program for advanced manufacturing. Graduates earn an average of $88,000 as mechatronics engineers and 100 percent of Clark’s graduates are finding jobs in their chosen field.

The college has also expanded the range of class offerings serving Running Start students, a popular state program that allows high school students to earn college credit, tuition-free, while still in high school. The expanded offerings provide more opportunities for families with children attending high schools in the eastern portion of the college’s service district, which covers Camas, Washougal, and parts of the Columbia Gorge.

ASCC President Evans Kaame spoke to the business leaders and elected officials thanking them for their support of Clark College students over the years.

“Because you care, students at Clark have opportunities to succeed. Our students are better prepared to go out and do great things.”

ASCC President Evans Kaame

As Clark County’s demographics and economics change, Clark College is ready to adapt to serve its community’s needs. Responding to feedback from employers and residents in East Vancouver, the college is transforming its facility at Columbia Tech Center into a hub for business and technical education.

The college has worked to create a series of course offerings this fall that will allow students to pursue career-oriented higher education in subjects that include business, information technology, computer support, and supervisory management—all without having to travel to the college’s main campus near downtown Vancouver. Most classes are scheduled to run just two days a week (Tuesday and Thursday), allowing students to plan their studies around work and/or life obligations.

Additionally, Clark College Economic and Community Development, which provides non-credit continuing education and customized training, is relocating to the CTC location. CTC is already the home of the college’s popular mechatronics program, which teaches students the skills they need to work in automated manufacturing.

“As more and more
employers establish facilities in East Vancouver, they’ve expressed a need for
additional training for their employees,” said Associate Vice President of
Instruction Genevieve Howard. “We want Clark College at Columbia Tech Center to
be the hub for career-oriented education in East Vancouver, while also opening
opportunities for students on the eastern side of Clark County to take
advantage of the state’s Running Start program.”

Clark College at CTC is located at 18700 SE Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. Opened in 2009, the location will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on October 14 with an official ribbon-cutting.  

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

International students make new friends in the International Student Lounge on the first day of fall quarter. Fall 2013 marks record enrollment for International Programs.

On Monday, September 23, Clark College opened the doors for its 2013-2014 academic year. The college welcomed 13,373 students on opening day, down slightly from fall 2012, when the college welcomed 13,927 students.

The start of fall quarter is always a time of new beginnings at the college, but this year is seeing a number of changes to the way the college enhances student learning. Some highlights:

• Expanded hours at CTC: For the first time, Clark College at Columbia Tech Center will be open for credit classes on Fridays. The expanded schedule will make it easier for residents of East Vancouver to complete their degrees entirely at CTC, without traveling to take classes on Clark’s main campus.
• Expansion into the Gorge: In response to demand from local businesses and residents, Clark College is offering college-level classes to the communities of the Columbia River Gorge through its new satellite location in the Wind River Education Center in Carson. Until now, residents had to travel 20 miles or more to attend the nearest community college—and that college is located out of state, in Oregon.
• New Phlebotomy program: Clark College has redesigned its Phlebotomy certification program and relocated it to specially configured classrooms and labs on the campus of Washington State University Vancouver in the college’s health care instruction building, which also houses the college’s Nursing and Pharmacy Technician programs.
• Bachelor’s degrees in Health Informatics : Clark College and Bellevue College have signed an articulation agreement that allows students at Clark to earn a bachelor’s degree in Health Informatics Information Technology (HIIT) from Bellevue through online and remote classes—without leaving the Clark College campus. “In our ongoing conversations with regional employers, we realized there was a need for Health Informatics Information Technology professionals and responded quickly to that need, but we also realized that there would be a need for students to take their education to the next level,” said Debra Ortiz, director of allied health programs at Clark College.
• Record number of Running Start and international students: Clark expects to see more than 1,770 students enrolled in Washington state’s popular Running Start program, which allows high school students to earn college credit for little or no cost. This number is a 5-percent increase over last year’s Running Start enrollment. Meanwhile, Clark is also seeing a record number of international students at the college this year. A total of 103 students from 31 different countries are attending the college this quarter.
• Mechatronics offers evening classes: Clark College’s state-of-the-art Mechatronics program will begin offering evening course, allowing workers to retrain for modern industrial jobs without leaving their current positions. This expansion is designed to boost the region’s economy; it was prompted by local businesses who wanted more opportunities to retrain their employees.
  

  Food carts make their debut on campus.

• New food carts serve campus while Culinary Arts program is on hiatus: Clark is discontinuing its Culinary Arts – Food program while it launches an ambitious new redesign of the program that will make it more responsive to modern culinary trends. Three privately owned food carts are supplying food service to the college while the program is overhauled. The college’s widely respected Culinary Arts – Bakery program will continue operating during this time.
• Water-bottle filling stations: Students and college administration have worked together to help preserve the environment by setting up water-bottle filling stations around the main campus, thereby reducing the number of disposable plastic water bottles bought and discarded at the college.

On March 29, Clark College’s Mature Learning program celebrated its 40th anniversary by doing what it does best: providing diverse learning opportunities and a warm and welcoming community for seniors in Southwest Washington.

Guests who attended the half-day event, which was held at Clark College at Columbia Tech Center, were able to attend free “mini-classes” taught by favorite instructors from the program on topics as diverse as t’ai chi, the genetics of human evolution, drawing, and Benjamin Franklin’s time in Paris, to name just a few.

Mature Learning Program Manager Tracy Reilly Kelly, keynote speaker Dr. Larry Sherman, and Associate Vice President of Corporate & Continuing Education Kevin Kussman

The half-day event also featured a guest lecture from OHSU neuroscientist Dr. Larry Sherman, who spoke about his work figuring out how to, as he said, “fix a damaged brain–from trauma, stroke, Alzheimer disease or aging.” He said that the purpose of his work is to the keep the brain active for as long as possible, which is a major aim of the Mature Learning program as well.

“We truly do revere and respect our mature learners at Clark College,” said Clark College President Bob Knight during the opening event. “Not only are you students, you’re advocates for the college. We want to have a thriving program for you.”

Over its history, the Mature Learning program has grown to be one of the core offerings that Clark College provides, said Kevin Kussman, Associate Vice President of Corporate & Continuing Education. “More than ever we need to work to make sure people stay active and connected to their community,” he said during his speech to event attendees.

It’s worked for Garda Hoffman and Elizabeth Gold, who became close friends after meeting in a Mature Learning classroom. “I’ve made a great many friends via this program,” said Hofmann. “It is stimulating. It fills a great need in the community for older people.”

Though Mature Learning students may not have homework, “these are real college classes,” said Mature Learning volunteer and student Margaret Zuke. All instructors are either college professors or experts in their field.

“There’s nothing better than having such an engaged group of students,” said Steve Carlson. Once a Clark College student himself, then Clark faculty in 1977-78 before going on to teach at Portland State University, Carlson is now a geology instructor with Mature Learning and is planning a trip for students to Mount Hood and Crater Lake.

A light lunch was served, followed by the presentation of the Mature Learning Volunteer of the Year Award to Dr. Cleo Pass for her 12 years of work with the Mature Learning program. Dr. Pass, who will be teaching a course at CTC on Sherlock Holmes in spring, said that the “overwhelming” award was a “thank you for doing something I thoroughly enjoy doing with the people I enjoy working with.”

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley