Big Bend fall quarter enrollment up slightly
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 5 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | November 2, 2016 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Fall quarter enrollment at Big Bend Community College was slightly higher than enrollment in fall 2015. Summer quarter 2016 enrollment was up in terms of students on campus, but there were slightly fewer full-time students in summer 2016 as compared to 2015.
Enrollment information was reviewed at the meeting of BBCC trustees Oct. 27.
Fall quarter students were counted on the 10th day of classes, but the actual numbers for fall quarter were not available. Overall enrollment was up 1.5 percent when compared with fall 2015, the report said.
Enrollment in the college’s academic degree programs, adult basic education and English as a Second Language classes were up, the report said. There was, however, a 5 percent decrease in the number of full-time equivalent students in the college’s professional-technical programs.
The college’s Running Start program has 420 high school students taking one or more classes, an increase of 51 from the same period in 2015. Running Start allows qualifying high school students to take college classes without paying tuition. Running Start students are required to pay other fees, however.
The bulk of Running Start students come from Moses Lake, Ephrata, Quincy and Warden, but students are enrolled from almost every school in the college district (which includes Grant and Adams counties and the Odessa School District in Lincoln County), including alternative schools. There’s one Running Start student from Omak.
Summer enrollment was the equivalent of about 376 full-time students, up from 365 full-time student equivalents in summer 2015. (That’s how the college actually is paid by the state.) That’s an increase of about 2.5 percent. But the number of full-time summer students decreased from summer 2015.
The actual number of students attending at least one class during the summer went up by 205, from 675 in summer 2015 to 880 in summer 2016.
“There was a significant increase in the number of online students,” the report said. The online student count increased to 317, up from 178 in summer 2015.
In other business, vice-president of finance and administration Linda Schoonmaker reported the remodeling of an entrance into the Student Center (Building 1400) should be completed by late December as scheduled.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.