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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2012)
PaSe6___________________________________ a' l,c F o r t i a n i » ( © b s e r ü e r December s, 2012 Associate Degrees for Transfer Students Adds new tool for job-seeking graduates T hanks to a statew ide pilot p ro gram , Portland C om m unity C ollege and P ortland State U niversity have agreed to recognize students' past credit w ork by aw arding associate's degrees to those w ho have already transferred from PC C to PSU. Students affected w ill be those that didn't form ally com plete a d e gree via current data m easures w hen they transferred to PSU , but have since fulfilled tw o-year degree p ro gram requirem ents. A m ain benefit is that the degree can help gauge a jo b -seek er's skills on a resum e. PC C President Preston Pulliam s and PSU President W im W iew el officially signed the agreem ent last m onth. "This is cool stuff as far as I'm concerned because it's really reco g nizing the role that com m unity c o l leges play in preparing students to succeed at com pleting th eir b acca laureate degrees," P ulliam s said. "W e're an im portant part o f that pipeline." In O ctober, the O regon D ep art m ent o f C om m unity C olleges and W orkforce D evelopm ent and the O regon U n iversity S ystem w ere aw arded a tw o-year, $450,000 grant Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams (left) and Portland State University President Wim Wiewel sign an agreement to award associate degrees to those who have transferred from PCC to PSU and fulfill two-year degree program requirements. from the L u m in a Foundation to d e velop reverse tran sfer agreem ents. State R ep. M ichael D em brow , w ho has spent 31 years at PC C as an E nglish in stru cto r at PC C , help ed d ev elo p the T ran sfer S tudent B ill o f R ig h ts an d R esp o n sib ilitie s th at p av ed the w ay fo r rev erse tran sfer agreem ents in O regon. D em brow said the intention is to bolster the state's "40-40-20" goal w here 4 0 -p ercen t o f O regonians have at least a bachelor's degree, 40- percent have an associate's degree or certificate, and 20-percent have a high school diplom a. "I know first-hand that m any o f m y students transfer w ith the best o f intentions o f co m pleting their bachelor's degree w ithin four years o r less, but life then happens and they find them selves w ith no c erti fication, o r affirm ation fo r the w ork they have done," D em brow said. "Those should be co u nted as h av ing an associate's degree; they've earned it and colleges and u niversi ties have done their bid in educating them . T hey should be recognized for that." Student Sean Jefferis, w ho trans ferred from PC C to P ortland State, but n ev er got his associate's de gree, said the agreem ent w ill reco g nize his past w ork and spur him on to com plete not only his bachelor's degree, but possibly attend to gradu ate school. "The m o m en t I com plete m y re quirem ents, to know that there's going to be an associate's degree that is signed and giv en to m e, that is a h u g e validation o f m y efforts and o f th e tim e and the energy that I have p u t into receiving a higher e d u catio n ," Jefferis said. "It's a w onderful feeling." Breaking Barriers to Attend College Mt. Hood screens ‘First Generation’ documentary “First G eneration,” an aw ard-w in ning featu re-len g th docu m en tary narrated by G olden G lobe nom inee B lair U nderw ood, w ill be screened free fo r audiences this w eek at M t. H ood C om m unity C ollege. M any M H C C students w ill view the m ovie as if it w ere th eir ow n story. O ne such student is C lem ente T e sc a h u a , a 2 0 -y e a r-o ld S a n d y H igh School graduate and the first in his fam ily to attend college. B efore h e w as b o m , T e sca h u a ’s p aren ts m oved fro m M exico, in search o f a better life fo r their fam ily, w hich w ould later grow to three sons and a daughter. “I learned valuable life lessons SPINACOLUMN An ongoing series of questions and answers about Americas natural healng profession w a tc h in g m y fa th e r, a la b o re r, struggle to support his fam ily ,” says C le m e n te . “T h e se h a rd le sso n s about the realities o f life m otivate m e every d ay to w ork h ard er at e v erything I do, esp ecially sch o o l.” “F irst G en eratio n ” tells the story o f four high school students: an Part 31. Treatment for Lower Back Injury : M y lo w er back has been aching fo r m onths. d ise a se s a n d in ju rie s, an d w h o w o rk s c lo se ly w ith B ut I ’m afraid o f chiropractors, so I h a v en ’t o th e r s p e c ia ltie s re la te d to th e sp in e. A c h iro p ra c to r seen a doctor. W hat should I d o ? w ill first ru le o u t an y se rio u s c o n d itio n s y o u m ig h t : B ack pain is one o f the m ost com m on m edical h a v e , an d th e n w o rk w ith y o u to d e te rm in e th e b e st co m p lain ts fo r people ages 45 to 65. I t’s a lso w ay to tre a t y o u p ain . o n e o f th e m o st c o m m o n re a so n s p e o p le m iss w o rk . F o rtu n a te ly , n o t m an y p e o p le n e ed b ack su rg e ry b e c a u s e n o n -in v a s iv e tre a tm e n ts h elp c o n tro l m o st b a c k p ain . I f y o u h a v e re c u rrin g b a ck p a in th a t m a k es it d iffic u lt o r u n c o m fo rta b le 2124 NE Hancock, Portland Oregon97212 to c o m p le te y o u r d a y -to -d a y a c tiv itie s , e x p e rts Phone: (5 03)207*5504 s u g g e s t y o u see a d o c to r w h o s p e c ia liz e s in sp in e Q A Flowers' Chiropractic Office Dr. Billy R. Flowers Clemente Tescahua inner-city athlete, a sm all-tow n w ait ress, a S am oan w arrior d an cer and the dau g h ter o f m igrant field w ork ers. T h ey set ou t to b reak the cycle o f poverty and bring hope to fam i lies an d com m unities by pursuing a college e d u c a tio n -th e first in their fam ilies to do so. The aw ard-w inning docum entary was created w ith m ission to increase the percentage o f A m ericans w ith college degrees. Students, M H C C em ployees and the general public are w elcom e to attend the screenings on W ednes day, Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. in Room AC 1600 and Thursday, Dec. 6 at 1p.m. in the Student U nion, R oom A C 50 on the Gresham Cam pus,26000S.E. Stark S t
