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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2012)
e Clackamas P rint newsed@clackamas.edu W ednesday, Feb. 15, 2 0 1 2 Scholarship specialist offers advice B y P a tty Salazar News Editor W inner, winner, chicken dinner! You could be a w inner or free education. A t Clackamas C om m unity College, m any scholarships exist for new arid return ing. students. D arcie Iven, financial aid and scholar ship coordinator, has a few things .to say to help you know w hat you need to be a scholarship recipient The Clackamas Print: H ow m any students apply for scholarships? Darcie Iven: Between 500 and 700. TCP: H ow m any scholarships are available? DI: T h e num ber is always changing because the foundation is always adding more. T his is 2011-12, num bers; we received 561 applications for 321 scholarships and 247 individuals got awarded. T he odds are really good. So far this year we have awarded $592,000 and th at will be m ore by the end o f the year, we will be over $600,000. TCP: W hen are the scholarship applications due for 2012-2013 and where should they be turned in? DI: April 30. T hey [students] can type 1ft the lication online, b u t it still has to be printed out. en they [students] subm it it, they have to have their essay and letters o f recom m endation'and their transcript. Just turn them in the front counter o f Rook HaU. ■ T C P : W hat is the largest scholarship offered by the foundation? DI: T h e largest dollar am ount is the James Streeter. T C P: D o local high schools w ork w ith the college to offer scholarships? DI: H ow o u r program works here is our college’ offers each o f the nigh schools in our service district three scholarships; we have all o u r high school seniors tu rn their Clackamas applications into their high school counseling and career office. T hey get a group together and they decided who gets those three scholarships. W e offer an honor, opportunity and academic incentive, scholarships. T hen they let me know w hat their decision is and also give m e all o f the applications and they all go into the running for the rest o f the scholarships here. TCP: W ould you highly recom m end for any and all students to apply for schblarships? DI: I absolutely w ould because there is som ething for everyone. All you need is a 2.0 GPA or higher. You could be going six credits or more. There’s is some thing for the autom otive students, there’s som ething for the theater student there’s just general scholarships no m atter w hat you’re taking. Some are specific and some are general. So yeah everyone should apply. TCP: Does getting scholarships affect you getting FASFA?. D I: You can get them both. W e have a couple o f grants th a t comes [through] FAFSA and som e, o f them run out before since there is only th at am ount o f money. Students norm ally fill it in w ith loans so scholarship m oney can go in and make it so th at you don’t have to take out so m any loans. It’s a m uch better deal. , t T C P : Is there anything else you w ould like to, add? DI: Scholarships are ju s t the sm art thing to do. It’s free m oney you don’t have to pay it back. Anybody who is com ing to a com m unity college try to keep cost low as m uch as you can cause it’s going to cost you so m uch m ore w hen you move on to a four year, 1_____ Iven also suggested that students start w ith a search engine such as fastweb.com, w ith festweb you fill o u t some dem ographic questions and then you are sent emails offering scholarships th at are fit to yourself. Although using such a website a person is in a pool o f everybody in the nation. Iven’s next suggested step w ould be to apply to the O regon Student Access C om m ission [OSAC] w here the pool o f applicants shrinks to only O regon students. A nd o f course apply to scholarships offered by the school you are attending, such as C C C . To check ou t o ff the scholarships that are up for grabs go to www.ciackamas.edu/scholarships. Online classes help busy students load credits B y J o sh u a D ille n Associate News Editor Frustration, disappointment and confusion are commonplace emotions on campus when registering for classes. The logistics can be overwhelming when working education into a busy lifestyle. W inter term is halfway through and its time to think about spring. Pre-registration for spring enrollment at Clackamas i Ge m a ttm iy "beg i ns "tin1 Tuesday, "fefa r . "281 ’forre rurHliTg' students. New enrollees can begin the process a week later. Its difficult for some to work put the right schedule while opti mizing their educational goals. It can be particularly hard to coor dinate an effective class load that fits into a student’s everyday life. Single parents, full and part time workers and those who may have a substantial commute often find it difficult to effectively juggle a busy lifestyle and, school. Whatever the hindrance, distance learn ing may be the solutionthat overcomes these and other obstacles. Taking online courses removes the attending part o f the educational equation* They could possibly alleviate some o f the time wasted trying to make a class schedule work. Travel related expenses can be substantially cut or eliminated. W ith the definite advantage o f freeing up large chunks o f time, these courses look very attractive to some, b u t nave they aré a. disadvantage for others. “Distance learning requires self regulating skills,” said Steve Beining, department chair o f distance learning. “If you’re not that kind o f student, you probably won’t do well with distance learn in g ” f W ith four years at his current position, Beining stresses that someone who is “good” at being a student is the best candidate for this m odem style o f teaching. A student should be studious and be able to seek help via the virtual classroom setting, he explained. O f course, a computer, preferably less than four years old and a reliable Internet connection are necessary. .“O ur gOal is' to make educational resources available to more and more pebple,” Beining said. “It provides convenience and flexibility.” Last term there were I 1'9 online courses offered at CCC, in which, a total, o f 3,570 students enrolled. Beining explained that is generally where-he sees enrollment statistics staying for the foreseeable future. W inter term in 2011 had 131 courses.with 3,235 enrolled. Students that are apprehensive about such nontraditional learn ing environments do nave resources at the college to encourage and support their success. Beining highly recommends taking classes like EL-90 (Applied Study Skills for 3 credits which is not available as an online class). T he course emphasizes the building o f study skills, organization and time management with an introduction to distance learning and Moodle. Moodle is the virtual classroom environment students use to access lessons, turn in assignments and even interact with classmates via discussion forums. H e also said hybrid courses can be a great option for those who want to test online education. Hybrid courses have less real class time than regular courses a n d ’offer many o f the aspects o f completely web- based classrooms. Dátifél Réfed", “CC!<Su'Sffidéti^K"'ialaH^*{?lSS‘sé§Tfí*bdth formats. She works in the call center at the college and would not have the time to manage the 17 credits she is taking this term if not for distance learning. In spite o f this advantage she expresses that you will not get the same experience without a real classroom. ‘You’re not getting the face to face interaction you need to get it and really understand the les son,” she said. “People need that interaction with teachers and classmates to see their viewpoint and understand moré. Y>u have a better experience in , a classroom.”* T Reed admits it is hard to balance the benefits o f freeing up time versus her obvious respect for good old fashioned teaching in a classroom. She admits distance learning is a necessary thing for her and plans to enroll in more online classes next term. Trista Cornelius, English instructor, has taught sev eral distance learning courses at the college arid believes it is a great way to learn. As an English instructor-at C C C for 10 years, she said she has taught at least one online class for each term she has worked here. “They’re different, but I really enjoy teaching online courses. I get to be organized. It’s like hav- 1 ing a lot o f pen pals,” she said, “B,ut I do miss the g spontaneity o f a real classroom, no m atter how lively your discussion board is.” ' ‘ Cornelius also feels it takes the right kind of- learner to be successful in a virtual environment. If the energy o f a classroom isn’t necessary and a student has the right study skill or there are other inhibiting factors, the curriculum works'very well. “As long, as you are totally motivated-and disci plined it’s great,” she said, “but'it’s not the same? * Cornelius likes the contemplative and creative natures o f the teaching style. She enjoys the cultural diversity that online classes seem to have, in her experience. CORNELIUS Editors The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased and professional man- ner. Content published In The Print is not screened or subject to Censorship. Editor-in-Chief: Brian Baldwin Copy Editor: Katherine Suydam News Editor: Patty Salazar Associate News Editor: Joshua Dillen Arts&Culture Editor: Issac Soper Sports Editor: John William Howard Photo Editor: Hillary Cole 19600 Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 Web Editor: Anna Axelson - Design Editor: James Duncan Ad Manager: Brad Heineke Writers & Photographers : Nora Goodman Hiroaki Hayashi Mark Sunderland Chris Taylor Adviser: Melissa Jones 503-594-6266 Production Assistants Christian Adams * Mollie Berry Brenna Craine Tyler Eheler Joey Fisher Jaronte Goldsby Telicia Juliano HichamKerkour Ellen Niles Darla Nguyen Emily Rask Audra Slanina Evon Trembly Sharon Wetmore Contact Inform ation chiefed@clackamas.edu copyed@clackamas.edu : newsed@clackamas.edu aced@clackamas.edu sportsed@clackamas.edu photoed@clackamas.edu admgr@clackamas.edu webeditor@clackamas.edu
