Virginia Extends In-State Tuition to DREAM Act Students

Announced earlier today at NOVA Alexandria 
(from NBC4 in Washington)

Students typically came to the country as children,
graduated from Va. schools

Mark Herring said DREAM act students "have known no home but Virginia."

Immigrant students in Virginia, who came to this country as children and graduated from state high schools, should be allowed to get in-state tuition to Virginia colleges and universities, the state's Attorney General said Tuesday.

In an announcement at Northern Virginia Community College, Mark Herring said, "I have concluded that in-state tution rates can and should be extended" to students who qualify.

"They have known no home but Virginia," Herring said.

Typically, these students who arrived as children and are undocumented -- but have graduated from state high schools and meet other key criteria.

After Herring's announcement, the crowd at the news conference, including supporters of the DREAM act, erupted in applause. After the news conference, they began chanting, "We are the DREAMers! We are the DREAMers!"

The event was held at Northern Virginia Community College, where many students could be affected by the change in tuition costs.

The Changing Face of Higher Education

Real Estate Trends in Higher Education Greater Washington is home to a wide range of first-class higher educational institutions, which impact our economy and provide services to the region's highly educated workforce and their employers.  These colleges and universities are continually evolving to respond to the ever changing needs of their students and our community.  On May 22, we will hear from a group of panelists, who represent different segments of Higher Education, about how their schools' programming drives their real estate strategy, and if the regional real estate market supports or challenges their programming. As our panelists discuss changing educational delivery models and contexts, topics will include: Land use, property acquisition and location drivers. Owned space versus leased space. The importance of campus environments. The differences in real estate strategy for public and private institutions. The impact of non-traditional education delivery on real estate needs.   SPEAKERS  Paula Harper, Executive Director of Program Development and Management The George Washington University Virginia Science & Technology Campus    Dana Kauffman, Director, Government Affairs and Community Relations Northern Virginia Community College Robin Morey, Vice President, Planning and Facilities Management    Georgetown University Cathy Wolfe, Director of Campus Planning in Facilities  George Mason University MODERATOR Anthony Lucarelli, AIA, Principal/Partner Grimm + Parker Architects DATE and TIME Thursday, May 22, 2014 Registration and Networking: 11:30 a.m. Lunch and Program: Noon LOCATION Fairview Park Marriott 3111 Fairview Park Drive Falls Church, Virginia  COST Individual Registration $70 member/member company $90 non-member        Chapter Sponsors Akridge - Avison Young - Baker Tilly - Balfour Beatty Construction - Bank of Georgetown - BECO Management Bohler Engineering - Bond Beebe, Accountants & Advisors - Boston Properties, Inc. - Bowman Consulting Brandywine Realty Trust - Brookfield Office Properties - Buchanan Partners, LLC - Burgess & Niple, Inc. Cassidy Turley - CBRE, Inc. - Charm City Concierge - christopher consultants, ltd. - Cityline Partners LLC Clark Construction Group, LLC - Colliers International - Colony Realty Partners, LLC Cooley LLP - Cooper Carry - Corporate Office Properties Trust - Cushman & Wakefield of Virginia, Inc.   DBI Architects Inc. - Dewberry - Duke Realty - ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC - E.E. Reed Construction, L.P.   EQUINOX Investments, LLC - Equus Capital Partners, Ltd. - First Potomac Realty Trust Foulger-Pratt Contracting - Gorove/Slade Associates, Inc. - Grunley Construction - HFF, L.P. HGA Architects and Engineers - Hickok Cole Architects - Hines Interests, LP - HITT Contracting Inc. Holland & Knight - Hubert Construction, LLC - Jacobs - The JBG Companies JLL - KBS Realty Advisors - L.F. Jennings - Manhattan Construction McGuireWoods LLP - Merritt Properties - MOI, Inc. - Monday Properties - MRP Realty  NVCommercial - Peterson Companies - Prologis - PS Business Parks  Quadrangle Development Corporation - RTKL Associates - R.W. Murray Co. SIGAL Construction Corporation - Skanska USA Commercial Development Inc. - SunTrust Bank Tishman Speyer - Trammell Crow Company - TRINITY Group Construction, Inc. Turner Construction Company - United Bank - Vantage Construction Corporation Vornado/Charles E. Smith - Washington Real Estate Investment Trust WDG Architecture, PLLC - WestDulles Properties, Inc. - Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.

Computer Science in Schools

from today's Washington Post:

High school students are all about computers but get little instruction in computer science

(Katherine Frey/ The Washington Post ) - Stone Bridge High School seniors, all 18, from left, Jon Ting, Eric Velosky and Jacob Hibbard, take partin a computer science ”camp” this month in Reston, Va.

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By Donna St. George, Published: April 23 

Though computer science can lead to high-paying technology jobs and boost skills for a variety of fields, many students get little exposure to the subject in class. Across the Washington region’s school systems, fewer than one in 10 high school students took computer science this academic year, according to district data.

Their lives swirl in technology, but the nation’s high school students spend little time studying the computer science that is the basis of it all. Few are taught to write lines of code, and few take classes that delve into the workings of the Internet or explain how to create an app.

In a world that went digital long ago, computer science is not a staple of U.S. education, and some schools do not even offer a course on the subject, including 10 of 27 high schools in Virginia’s Fairfax County and six of 25 in Maryland’s Montgomery County.

“It’s shocking how little there is,” said Rebecca Dovi, who has taught computer science for 17 years in Virginia schools and is an advocate for more courses statewide. Even when schools offer classes, she said, there are relatively few of them. “You might have one person teaching it in a school of 1,400 kids.”

NVTC STEM in Schools - April 30 event, 8am to 10am

NVTC is launching a challenge to get the business community to donate 10,000 volunteer hours to building the STEM pipeline in Northern Virginia during the next school year.  As a member of the Committee, you’re well aware of the skills gap and efforts underway to close it. 

The NVTC Volunteer Challenge will be launched with a great list of speakers for the April 30^thNVTC-wide event, featuring keynote speakers NOVA President Dr. Robert Templin and Arlington Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy.  

The Northern Virginia Technology Council hopes to see broad participation at this event.  You can register by no later than COB this Friday.  

This April 30^th event will take place instead of the regular NVTC Workforce and Education monthly meeting. 

The NVTC STEM Challenge:  10,000 Volunteer Hours

The Role of the Business Community in Building the STEM Pipeline

Join NVTC for an event that will provide NVTC members with the tools to inspire the region’s youth to explore STEM education, strengthening the regional workforce as a result.  Through networking and expert keynote speakers, attendees will hear best practices that will address the following:

·         What is the role of businesses and their employees in supporting STEM education?

·         What is the return on investment (ROI)? 

·         How can small, medium and large-sized businesses participate?

·         Who is redefining corporate citizenship?

·         What is the impact of school volunteers - on the students, volunteers and their organizations?

·         How do we support teachers and counselors?

Keynote speakers:

- Dr. Patrick Murphy, Superintendent, Arlington County Public Schools

- Dr. Robert Templin, President, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA)

Speakers and panelists include:

- Jonathan Arehart, President & CEO, Cavendo Corporation

- Altyn Clark, Chief Solutions Officer, Transaction Systems (TSI)

- Alisa Cowen, Cowen Design Group, Parent and Advocate for STEM Dual Enrollment Programs

- Patrick Gusman, Executive Director, Equal Footing Foundation

- Paula Harper, Executive Director of Program Development and Management at the George Washington University's Virginia Science & Technology Campus

- Amy Harris, Director, NOVA SySTEMic Solutions

- Lisa Kimball, VP, Telos Corporation

- Josh Labrie, Program Manager, NOVA SySTEMic Solutions

- Bryce Lenon, Communications Manager, NOVA SySTEMic Solutions

- Raj Narasimhan, Micron Site Director and NVTC Board Member

- Diane Rietz, Senior Produce Engineer and Manager, Time Warner Cable

- Brian Wolfe, CIO, LogisTech

- Doug Wright, on behalf of VA STAR; Supervisor of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Office of Student Learning, Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS)

- and representatives from General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Sprint Corporation

Platinum Sponsors: General Dynamics IT; Micron Technology Inc.; NOVA SySTEMic Solutions
Location Sponsor: Sprint

Date & Time:

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

7:30 - 8:00 a.m. Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:00 - 10:00 a.m. Program
10:00 - 10:30 a.m. Facilitated Networking and Roundtable Sign-ups

Location:
Sprint
12524 Sunrise Valley Dr
Reston, VACost:
Member: $ 10.00
Non-Member: $ 15.00

Walk-in Prices:
Member: $ 20.00 / Non-Member: $ 25.00

Registration

IF you have questions, contact our Events Department at events@nvtc.org

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WSJ: More support for technical and professional education

from the Wall Street Journal:

Opinion

Welders Make $150,000? Bring Back Shop Class

Taking pride in learning to make and build things can begin in high school. Plenty of jobs await.

By Josh Mandel   April 21, 2014 7:20 p.m. ET

In American high schools, it is becoming increasingly hard to defend the vanishing of shop class from the curriculum. The trend began in the 1970s, when it became conventional wisdom that a four-year college degree was essential. As Forbes magazine reported in 2012, 90% of shop classes have been eliminated for the Los Angeles unified school district's 660,000 students. Yet a 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that 48% of all college graduates are working in jobs that don't require a four-year degree.

Too many young people have four-year liberal-arts degrees, are thousands of dollars in debt and find themselves serving coffee atStarbucks or working part-time at the mall. Many of them would have been better off with a two-year skilled-trade or technical education that provides the skills to secure a well-paying job.

A good trade to consider: welding. I recently visited Pioneer Pipe in the Utica and Marcellus shale area of Ohio and learned that last year the company paid 60 of its welders more than $150,000 and two of its welders over $200,000. The owner, Dave Archer, said he has had to turn down orders because he can't find enough skilled welders.

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NOVA's SySTEMic Solutions in Washington Post's Capital Business

From the Washington Post's Capital Business:

To create a pipeline of STEM workers in Virginia, program starts with littlest learners

The group of safety-goggled third-graders from Jennie Dean Elementary in Manassas is hovered over a large bowl in which they’ve just taken turns dropping chunks of dry ice, or solid carbon dioxide, into water. A swirl of gas has formed that looks like it should be coming off a witch’s cauldron, a process that volunteer instructor Michael Ahern explains is called sublimation.

“Guys, look at that, it’s going around and around!” Princess Lowery, 8, shouts to her classmates.

Their antsy excitement is now heightened as Ahern prepares for his big finale: He has the children put dry ice in soapy water, which causes a snaking train of bubbles to spill out of the container and prompts a collective gleeful shriek from his audience.

Before Ahern sends the students off, he tells them that the nation and their local community need many more people to become scientists. And if they become scientists, he adds, they’ll get to do more hands-on projects like this one.

So, Ahern says, “If anyone asks you what you want to be when you grow up — ”

Before he can finish the thought, Princess jumps in.

“I’m going to say science!” she declares with a wide smile.

Princess’s enthusiasm is just the kind of reaction the creators of today’s lesson, SySTEMic Solutions, are hoping for. The program aims to ignite in Northern Virginia’s littlest learners a passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the STEM fields, as they’re commonly known — and in doing so, to help ready the region for the economy of tomorrow.

Bridging the gap

The goal of SySTEMic Solutions is to tackle a vexing disconnect between employers and the labor force. Companies say they urgently need to hire workers with STEM skills, but they are frequently unable to find people who have the right knowledge and training. Meanwhile, many Americans today struggle to find work, having been left behind by a labor market in which more and more jobs require at least some technical know-how.

A Great Story of Success & Community Impact

Career Ministry Serves Community

People find support and encouragement at Career Network Ministry at McLean Bible Church in Vienna.

Find it here: http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2014/mar/19/career-ministry-serves-community/