Students attend BC for a variety of goals: to acquire the education they need to find jobs or advance in their careers; earn credits to transfer to a four-year college or university; or simply to learn a fun new skill or have a rewarding experience.

In addition to 76 certificates and 23 associate degree programs, BC offers four-year bachelor’s degrees in three fields: Interior Design, Radiology and Imaging Sciences, and Healthcare Technology and Management. Two additional degrees – in Nursing and in Information Systems and Technology – will be offered for the first time in the fall.

For those who wish to pursue bachelor’s degrees in other fields, BC has a well-respected transfer program that sends more students to the University of Washington than any other community college in the state. By attending BC for the first two years of college and then transferring to four-year colleges or universities, students can save thousands of dollars on the cost of their education.

Additionally, the college’s Continuing Education program has many courses that allow professionals to learn marketable skills and achieve certifications – in computer software and programming, business and accounting, web development, real estate and many other fields – to advance their careers. An assortment of personal enrichment courses is also available, in subjects ranging from cooking, foreign languages and travel seminars to arts and crafts, health and fitness and much more.

Flexible scheduling options, including day, evening, weekend and online courses (several programs are now offered entirely online), make pursuing a degree or certificate more convenient than ever. To browse classes offered over the summer, visit http://bellevuecollege.edu/classes/Summer2013; for Continuing Education courses, visit http://www.campusce.net/BC/category/category.aspx. For enrollment information, visit http://bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/.

“The success of the foundation and of the luncheon is dependent on the tremendous support we receive from the community, and I’m thrilled that so many people stepped up in a big way to help our students,” said Paul Swegle, president of the foundation’s board.

Read more:  http://www.bellevuereporter.com/community/207236081.html

Her essay is titled “Doing the Right Thing…and Passing It On,” and is about her habit of picking up litter left behind by others, and passing that practice on to her family. Read it by clicking here.

Read more:  http://kirkland.patch.com/articles/sustainability-kikland-student-at-belleve-college-wins-essay-contest

(from left) Bellevue College President David L. Rule, Ph.D.; Deborah Horne, reporter and producer at KIRO TV; Paul Chiles, chair of the Bellevue College Board of Trustees; BC supporter Dan McDonald; and Rob McKenna, emeritus member of the Bellevue College Foundation Board of Directors, joined 600 other guests at the Foundation's 14th Annual "Become Exceptional" Luncheon. The event, held at the Meydenbauer Center on May 1, raised over $245,000 for scholarships and academic programs that will benefit Bellevue College students.

The Bellevue College Foundation’s “Become Exceptional” Luncheon raised more than $245,000 from over 600 guests, whose generous giving will provide crucial support for scholarships and academic programs for BC students. Now in its 14^th year, the May 1event, held at the Meydenbauer Center, also attracted 33 corporate and in-kind sponsors that underwrote the cost of the luncheon, allowing every dollar that guests donated to support Bellevue College and its students.

“The success of the Foundation and of the luncheon is dependent on the tremendous support we receive from the community, and I’m thrilled that so many people stepped up in a big way to help our students,” said Paul Swegle, president of the Foundation’s board.

Gerald Chertavian, founder of Year Up, a nationwide network of education and training programs for low-income young adults, delivered the keynote address. Additionally, several Bellevue College students spoke to the audience about their success at BC and in life thanks to Foundation scholarships, which enabled them to stay in school despite difficult financial circumstances.

Established in 1978, the BC Foundation is a non-profit organization that receives and manages individual and institutional gifts, grants and awards on behalf of Bellevue College. Last year, the Foundation raised more than $1.4 million to support quality educational opportunities for the college’s students, including scholarships, program enhancements and equipment purchases. Complete information about the Foundation is posted at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/foundation/.

“We wanted to do something that a lot of people will notice, because there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to improve accessibility for people who need it. This type of awareness can lead to solutions being found that will make technology more accessible for all people,” said Russ Beard, Vice President for Information Resources at the college. On a given day, close to 25,000 people access BC’s homepage and associated websites.

The college has made digital accessibility for all students a priority, regardless of their impairment. “We feel that those who have a disability should have the same expectation of being able to use the software as someone who doesn’t. To us, it’s no different from making a building accessible by adding a wheelchair ramp,” Beard said.

To that end, the college is instituting policies that require any technology purchasing decisions to take accessibility into account. Vendors must provide detailed information about how persons with various levels of impairment can use their products. “We’ve made it very clear that we don’t intend to authorize anything that’s not accessible. While there is no product that is perfectly accessible, there are products that are not usable at all by the disabled, and we will not buy them,” Beard continued.

More information about Global Accessibility Awareness Day can be found by visiting http://www.mysqltalk.com/gaad.html.

Fifty Bellevue students in an Autism Spectrum Navigators program have been taking advantage of a discussion board feature inside Canvas, a learning management system from start-up Instructure.

The Navigators program, now nearing the end of its second full year, has deployed the Canvas software for the past year, giving Bellevue students and teachers access to assignments, grades and other materials as well as collaboration through text, audio and video from desktops, tablets and even smartphones and tablets.

“We’ve had Canvas this entire year and we’ve seen a lot more confidence and interaction with students,” Sara Gardner, manager of the Navigator program, said in an interview. “We use a social justice model instead of a medical one [for dealing with autism], so we aren’t aren’t trying to fix our students and rather are trying to use the technology to put students together to communicate better and…support them with skills.”

Read more:  http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238727/Bellevue_College_looks_to_online_software_to_help_autistic_students_collaborate?taxonomyId=18&pageNumber=1

Summer Sterling

Summer Sterling, a student in Bellevue College’s Interior Design program, has won the International Interior Design Association’s Northern Pacific Chapter Student Essay Competition. Titled “Doing the Right Thing…and Passing It On,” her essay discusses the importance of creating sustainable designs. The essay is posted on Bellevue College’s website: http://bellevuecollege.edu/interiordesign/wp-content/uploads/IIDA-Leaders-Breakfast-Essay.pdf.

Sterling, who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, originally worked in state politics and K-12 education in California. To launch her second career, she is pursuing a four-year degree in Interior Design, and expects to graduate from Bellevue College this June. Sterling was a committee chair for the recent reaccreditation of the program, and currently serves as president of the IIDA Puget Sound Campus Center.

Bellevue College’s Interior Design program is one of only three in Washington state to earn accreditation. Serving approximately 500 students each year, the program awards certificates, associate degrees and, since 2010, has offered a bachelor’s degree program that graduated its second class last year.

Titled “Passport to STEM,” the event will feature: a custom tank used to model ocean waves; a simulated dig for shark tooth fossils; a vacuum cannon that can shoot ping pong balls though soda cans; planetarium shows; and more. The college’s latest science research equipment will also be on display.

Read more:  http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/205867641.html

Titled “Passport to STEM,” the event will feature: a custom tank used to model ocean waves; a simulated dig for shark tooth fossils; a vacuum cannon that can shoot ping pong balls though soda cans; planetarium shows; and much more. The college’s latest science research equipment will also be on display.

Attendees will be given “passports” that will be stamped at each activity station. Those with stamps from each station will be entered into a raffle to win science-related prizes.

“We have a lot of great activities planned that kids will love, but that will also get them thinking about science and math, and hopefully spark a lifelong interest in these subjects,” said Kate Souza, program manager of BC’s Science and Math Institute.

The event is free and open to the public, and is appropriate for adults and children of all ages. It will take place in the S building on the college’s campus, located at 3000 Landerholm Circle SE in Bellevue. More information can be found by visiting http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/sami.

The festivities kick off on Earth Day on Monday, April 22, with two events. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., an EV car and bicycle show will take place in the central courtyard, featuring plug-in electric vehicles from Tesla, Mitsubishi and Nissan. At 9:30 a.m., local weather guru and University of Washington professor Cliff Mass will present an informative talk about the impacts of global warming on the Northwest.

Read more:  http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/203787081.html