Daily Lumina News 021221

Even in the dark of night, chalky smoke from the coal power plant looms over Craig, Colorado. For generations, coal has been a constant in this northwestern city. But by 2030, the Craig Station stacks will go quiet as Colorado shifts to renewable energy.
City leaders see a tight window of opportunity to build a new economic base, provide residents replacement jobs, and ensure the city’s survival. They hope Colorado Northwestern Community College will play a key role, retraining displaced workers and building a diverse job base.
College leaders have embraced the city’s optimism. But limited funding for the college threatens that bootstrapping vision.

Alida Garcia is the vice president for advocacy at an immigration advocacy group known as FWD.us. Now more than ever, Garcia says she is "scared" for the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the people who count on it for survival.
Texas and eight other states are asking the court to end DACA. They argue the program is unconstitutional and forces states to bear extra costs from providing DACA recipients with services like education.

A little over a month into his tenure as leader of the nation’s largest public university system, California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro says his No. 1 priority is safely reopening the state’s 23 campuses for in-person classes this fall.
Castro also wants to focus on closing income and racial equity gaps in graduation rates, restore state budget cuts from last year, improve faculty diversity, and research better ways to integrate technology in teaching and learning.

Technological limitations, financial stresses, and balancing external responsibilities are some of the challenges faced by rural students as they pursue an education. COVID-19 has only exacerbated many of these access issues.
This week, college leaders gathered for a virtual legislative summit to discuss the pandemic’s impact on rural community colleges and the efforts to support students. Among their strategies: offering Wi-Fi hotspots, providing success coaches, mentoring first-generation and first-time students, and establishing new scholarship funding.