Our speaker on December 3, 2020 was Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange.
Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange is the President of Seattle Central College. She started her tenure at Seattle Central in August 2015 as interim president, and was named to the permanent position in May 2016. Prior to this, she served as vice president for Minority Affairs and vice provost for Diversity at the University of Washington. Dr. Edwards Lange earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
Providing equitable access to opportunity is a key theme of the unrest observed in our country. Seattle Colleges are playing a key role in addressing this issue.
Seattle has three community colleges and a plethora of satellite facilities that provide $1.1 billion in economic impact. There are 44,000 students in the system.
- The median age is 28.
- 43% are non-white.
- 36% are full time.
- 20% have dependents.
- 48% are first generation college students.
- 49% are in career directed professional programs.
Seattle Colleges accept all applicants. They are focused on programs desired by employers and are a leader in innovation.
Dr. Edwards Lange noted that the Washington Roundtable forecasts that there will be 740,000 job openings in the next five years. Two-thirds will require a degree or professional certificate. Dr. Lange noted that students of color have lower rates of obtaining credentials; one of the results is that our region imports talent instead of hiring local talent.
Currently, students of color graduate at a 48% rate compared to 60% for all other students. Closing this equity gap is a key priority of the college.
To do so, the Colleges are committed to a Equity Can’t Wait program. This includes working with the City of Seattle’s Seattle Promise program that provides support and free tuition to students that enter the college programs right after high school. One third of Seattle Public School graduates are in the program and 64% are students of color.
Much has been accomplished the the Seattle College program–and there are many more challenges to overcome.