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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