SKC year in review

By Maggie Plummer

PABLO - During their most recent meeting, the Salish Kootenai College Board of Directors reviewed a year-end report of the college's accomplishments during 2006.

Last year, SKC created a Division of Science, established the Indian Language Laboratory Institute, opened the new fitness center, began construction on the new Health Recreation Center and the dormitory, started the SKC Student Choral music program, and began a "Farm to College" food utilization program.

2006 was a good year for progress toward accreditation, according to the report:
• SKC receive Final Institutional Accreditation approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities;
• the Nursing Program received accreditation from the National League of Nursing;
• the Dental Assisting Technology program received accreditation by the American Dental Association;
• the Day Care received Accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children; and
• the college's Social Work Program and its Elementary Education program both made progress toward accreditation, the report states.

Many SKC records were broken, including the number of graduates and the number of fall quarter enrollments. The SKC Foundation auction raised a record $40,000-plus, and the SKC-TV auction also broke its record, raising more than $10,000.

Among awards and grants received during 2006 were a $5 million, five-year grant to support the All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation in Science, Engineering and Mathematics. Another $5 million award came in the form of a five-year NSF Partnership Grant in Science.

The college also received: a $1.5 million, five-year grant to train elementary teachers; a $1.5 million award to construct an auditorium/theatre; $350,000 from the Paul Allen Foundation to help pay for Health Recreation Center construction; and a $390,000 grant to train highway construction workers.