News

Columbia Gorge Community College board members this week formally opposed efforts by the White House to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, joining a national effort by the American Association of Community Colleges to encourage federal legislation allowing DACA recipients to pursue higher education in the United States.

College board members also urged the public to contact Members of Congress in support of DACA and enactment of the “Dream Act” or comparable legislation to safeguard those who arrived in the United States as children but who have not yet achieved citizenship.

When I first started working at CGCC it became apparent that limited staffing levels at the college constrained our ability to build effective relationships with local high schools throughout our multi-county service area.

In Academic Advising we wear a lot of hats. Our duties are spread across many areas beyond providing academic guidance, career services and retention support: student outreach and recruitment, new student orientations, "on-boarding" new students, and more. With our new organizational adoption of Student Outreach And Recruitment (SOAR) as an integral part of Student Services, we are confident we can better serve our local schools with more intentionality and focus.

Columbia Gorge Community College's Student Support Services will be hosting a Health and Wellness Day, Thursday, Sept. 28, as part of Welcome Week activities. Throughout the day, students can find healthful snacks, information about stress management and good self-care, and college and community resources to keep them on track to success.

A mindfulness-based Stress Management and Reduction Workshop, presented by Rebecca Hunter, MSW, will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. on The Dalles Campus (room to be determined). Please watch for more information around campus or follow our Facebook page to keep up-to-date on Support Services events and information now and throughout the year.

Curious about what some of the tech businesses in the Gorge do? The Gorge Technology Alliance (GTA) invites all tech enthusiasts and job seekers to our Sept. 20 Gorge Tech Showcase for short presentations from ten of our tech company members. From software to advanced manufacturing, unmanned aerial systems (drone) companies and more, learn about the growing tech industry in the Gorge. Presenters include 4-Tell, Cardinal IG, Custom Interface, Hood Tech/ TacAero, Innovative Composite Engineering, Insitu, Sagetech, Trillium Engineering, UTC Aerospace Systems, and Zepher.

Board members at Columbia Gorge Community College this week selected a national search firm to lead the quest for a new president, meanwhile naming the college's chief academic officer, Lori Ufford, as interim president for the institution.

Gold Hill Associates, the firm selected by board members Tuesday night, was among five search firms responding to the board’s invitation for proposals. The firm is composed of six principal associates based across the United States. Two of them, Dr. Walter Nolte and Dr. Preston Pulliams, would be assigned to the CGCC presidential search once an agreement is formalized. Dr. Nolte recently retired as president of Casper College, Wyo. Dr. Pulliams, the owner of Gold Hill Associates, was president of Portland Community College from 2004-13.

On Oct. 7 the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation (WSVEF) is hosting the 11^th annual Gorge Grape Escape at the Best Western Inn in Hood River. The WSVEF is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to enhancing the quality of public education in the White Salmon Valley School District by creating a stable source of supplemental funding for curriculum enhancement and investment in our teachers. Over the past decade, the WSVEF has provided more than $2.5 million to our local school district through grants and community-raised funds.

Gorge Works is celebrating National Manufacturing Day, Friday, Oct.6, with a group of events designed to let people know about the opportunities available in the Columbia Gorge to get training and employment in many family-wage jobs in advanced manufacturing and the trades.

Gorge Works, a regional initiative, will be promoting internships and other paid work experiences at regional businesses starting in summer 2018. Anyone high school graduate over 18 is eligible to apply.

Jim Pytel, an instructor in CGCC’s EM-Tech program (formerly Renewable Energy Technology), has received a one-year, $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support development of the revamped program’s core classes. The grant will be used to prepare online instructional content for electronics, hydraulics, and motor control classes, review and test online content, create accompanying study guides, hire a part-time lab instructor, and for program recruitment.

The National Science Foundation finances educational research in non-medical science fields. Its $7.5 billion annual budget supports approximately 24 percent of federally-supported science research in America’s colleges and universities. While the grant CGCC received is a tiny chip off that large block, the money is a significant opportunity for a relatively small school to build robust, timely instructional content.

It’s time for you to discover the high-quality education and training available at Columbia Gorge Community College, and two upcoming events provide just the opportunity.

“Discover CGCC!” are two-hour informative sessions at the college’s campuses in Hood River and The Dalles, where you’ll learn about program options, opportunities to reduce the cost of college, and steps to enroll this fall.