Chemeketa Community College

Chemeketa Community College officials are considering a $10.50 per credit increase in tuition and fees for Oregon residents.

At a meeting Wednesday night, Chemeketa administrators suggested that members of its Board of Education consider the proposal to partially offset expected budget shortfalls while Oregon weathers the national economic recession.

Chemeketa students currently pay $61.00 per credit for tuition, and that cost per credit would rise to $70. The universal and services fee students pay will also increase $1.50 to $8 per credit hour. The total cost of tuition and fees would increase about 16 percent to $78.00 per credit hour under this proposal. Chemeketa’s board will take action on student tuition and fee proposal February 18^th. If approved, the increases would take effect fall term 2009.

“Chemeketa has traditionally kept its costs among the lowest of Oregon’s seventeen community colleges,” said Craig Smith, Chemeketa’s chief financial officer. “We anticipate other community colleges, which are facing the same funding circumstances we face, will have to adjust upwards. Our goal is to place tuition charges for Chemeketa in the middle third of state community colleges.”

Last year, student tuition and fees accounted for 23 percent of Chemeketa’s general fund budget with local taxes providing 24 percent and state sources providing 44 percent. Miscellaneous revenues and the beginning fund balance forwarded from the previous year account for the remaining 9 percent of Chemeketa’s revenues. Community colleges throughout the state are already facing a decline in state funding for the 2009-11 biennium and college officials are concerned the situation could get worse.

“Current economic trends suggest we could be facing even more funding cuts,” said Liz Goulard, vice president. “We have to plan for the right balance of increased revenue and cost reductions to maintain the education and workforce development training our local residents require now more than ever.”

Terry McLaughlin would stand up to anyone who would dare to tarnish the Chemeketa College Volleyball team’s historic undefeated 50-0 season.“There are those who might claim that we had an easy season, but our team fought their way back from close matches four times,” said McLaughlin, head coach.Looking back, he could see the team beginning to take shape as early as tryouts.“We had 50 athletes turnout for the two tryouts, and it was the decisions we made there that made all the difference,” he said.

 Two players, Chelsea Fosback and Alisha Shigley, were named two-year college All-Americans, first and second teams, respectively. McLaughlin was named Coach of the Year by the American Association of Volleyball Coaches.The 2008-09 volleyball team is just the second undefeated team in the Chemeketa’s history. The first was the 1990-91 men’s basketball team that went 33-0.The team member decided early on that if they didn’t perform no one on the team would receive any honors. McLaughlin said that commitment paid out in spades.

 “This was a cohesive team from the start,” he said. “If they hadn’t been unified working toward a common goal, none of the rest would have been possible.”McLauglin returned to Chemeketa coaching this year after a seven-year break between 2001 and 2008. During his prior 14-year run, McLaughlin led the Storm team to a cumulative record of 491-173, a .739 winning percentage, and two championship seasons in 1997 and 1998. His teams accumulated nine top five finishes in NWACC.(Photos: McLaughlin, Fosback, Shigley.)

The Chemeketa volleyball team beat Walla Walla Community College in four sets Saturday to win the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College’s championship title. The title is the first for the team since 1998.

Congrats to all the women on the team and thanks for your hard work.

Tip of the hat to the men’s soccer team as well. The team, in its inaugural season, played for the NWAAC soccer championship on Sunday, but fell 4-3 to the Walla Walla Warriors in overtime

Chemeketa’s Taylor Marrow will lead a discussion about poverty in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties (Chemeketa’s coverage area)  today from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Center, Building 2 on the Salem Campus.

Chemeketa celebrated the history and cultures of indigenous people on the Salem campus last Thursday. For a full gallery of pictures, click here.

With architectural work for a new health sciences complex underway, Chemeketa Community College and Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) officials have laid the foundation for a new program to be housed in the building.

On Friday, Nov. 7, the presidents of both colleges signed documents joining the schools in a dual enrollment agreement and offering OIT’s dental hygiene program at Chemeketa. The signing ceremony was held at Chemeketa’s Salem Campus.

“We’ve built a bridge spanning distance and time for students that might otherwise see those two elements as obstacles to education,” said Cheryl Roberts, Chemeketa president. “The agreement also creates more opportunities for a trained workforce.”

Dual enrollment will allow Chemeketa students to be jointly admitted and enrolled at both OIT and Chemeketa, to benefit from one financial aid package, and to have access to both Chemeketa and OIT services and support.  Chemeketa’s Health Sciences Center will add dental hygiene to its cluster of nursing and allied health programs.

The bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene will be offered on Chemeketa’s Salem campus and supported by both institutions.   In short, students will receive all the benefits of Chemeketa’s small classes and support services while earning a higher level degree than those typically offered at a community college.

“This agreement feels good,” said Dr. Christopher Maples, president of OIT. “We’re streamlining opportunities for success to students increasingly concerned about accessibility to education.”

The new program will be instituted shortly after the completion of Chemeketa new health sciences building in 2011. OIT will be the fourth college Chemeketa holds dual enrollment agreements with, joining Western Oregon University, Oregon State University and Portland State University.

Photos: (Top) Dental assisting student Melissa Del Real practices rinsing and drying teeth on student Ayla Duyn. (Bottom) Cheryl Roberts, president of Chemeketa Community College, and Dr. Christopher Maples, president of the Oregon Institute of Technology, joke as they sign documents joining the two schools in a dual enrollment agreement. 

The Chemeketa men’s soccer  team will face Wenatchee Valley College Saturday, Nov.15, in a quarter final playoff match for the NWAAC title.

Game time is 1 p.m. at Blanchet High School,4373 Market St., in Salem.

Admission is free for Chemeketa students and staff. Congrats to the entire team on their undefeated season.

Normally, I would only post a short clip of something like this, but I thought the whole program was stellar.

Click below to hear her read from Clown Girl, talk about her writing process, reveal her personal experiences as a clown, and detail the sacrifices one must make in art to reach the intended audience.

Thanks againg to Monica for making time to visit the college and share her insight.

Next quarter, Oregon poet Clemens Starck will be joining us for readings and a workshop. More details as they come available.

 

 Monica Drake on writing [49:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Portland author Monica Drake will be on campus Friday for a free reading and discussion of the writing process.

Drake be in the Chemeketa Multicultural Center, Building 2 on the Salem campus, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Drake will also be reading at the Blue Pepper in downtown Salem at 7:30 p.m.

On Nov. 8, Drake will provide insight into the act of writing and her own process in a workshop, titled “Stolen Truth: Bringing Life to your Fiction,” at Chemeketa Community College. All you’ll need is your memories and a pen, no prior writing experience required. The workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cost is $125 and includes lunch. Participants in the workshop will also be encouraged to submit a short fiction piece for inclusion in Chemeketa’s online literary journal, “Building 45.”

For more information, or to register, call 503-365-4728.

If you missed poet Lawson Inada’s visit to campus last spring,  click here for a taste of what you missed.

Well, if all goes well, voters across the country will have determined the next president of the United States by this time tomorrow. We’ve got a couple of programs lined up to keep you busy while you wait for the results and, possibly, to comfort you in the aftermath.

Today, Chemeketa is hosting an Election Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Center.

Tomorrow, Chemeketa instructors TaylorMarrow and Peter Starr will be discussing the next steps for American democracy now once the election is over. The talk begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Center. There’s lots of work to be done out there and we need all hands on deck.

In the meantime, make sure to get those ballots in or get down to your local polling place.