WORLD VIEW COLLEGE UPDATES

January 2005

Inaugural Community College Issue: Strengthening Support for Community Colleges

“There is not a country in the world that does not touch us. We are a country of countries with a citizen in our ranks from every land. We are attached by a thousand cords to the world at large, to its teeming cities, to its remotest regions, to its oldest civilizations, to its newest cries for freedom.” -- Colin Powell, US Secretary of State

W orld View, an international Program for educators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was established in 1998 to help K-12 and community college educators anticipate and respond to the challenges of an increasingly interconnected world. It collaborates with other international programs at Duke, NC State, UNC, and global businesses to sponsor professional development programs and provide tools and resources to K-12 schools and community colleges.

Programs and Services for Educators
•  Fall Symposium (explores a topic of global significance)
•  Spring Seminar on Hispanics/Latinos in the Carolinas
•  2nd Spring Seminar (examines world region that is destination of study abroad trip)
•  Study Abroad Trip
•  Global Education Leaders' Program
•  Global Education Partners' Workshop (summer program at a school site)
•  Global Updates ( monthly K-12 electronic newsletter )
•  College Updates (bimonthly community college electronic newsletter)
•  ThinkGlobal ( bi-annual newsletter)
•  World View Website (global resources and links, program information, online registration, etc.)
•  Visits and university outreach to colleges and schools

World View Partnerships
World View provides focused services and information to 27 school system and community college partners. Partners, in turn, provide a commitment to global education, involvement in all World view programs, and support to their educators.

Community College Initiative
In 2004 World View began an initiative to strengthen support and resources for community colleges. Neil Bolick, Associate Director (that's me) is responsible for this initiative and is at your service to help internationalize your school. Below are key changes we've made to existing programs as
well as new programs for community colleges.

Professional Development Programs for Faculty and Administrators
The first step was to establish separate sessions in regular programs that were designed specifically for community college educators. While most presentations on global issues were appropriate for both community college and K-12 educators, community college educators have distinct interests and needs, and requested sessions tailored to meet their unique needs. All programs now contain separate breakout sessions, and in
some cases general presentations, for community college educators.

We will produce three exclusive programs for community colleges in 2005.
The upcoming programs include:

• Community College Librarians Workshop on Globalization jointly sponsored with the UNC Library System in April 2005.

• Annual Symposium exclusively for community college educators, in November 2005.

• Annual Seminar on specific world regions exclusively for community college educators. New seminar series starts with a South Asia Seminar in April 2006, which will be cosponsored with the Center for South Asian Studies.

Outreach
World View's basic outreach mission is to connect schools and colleges to university international programs and faculty working in the international arena. However, there are several programs that can be tailored to the college's unique environment. Examples include the following.

• Speaker Series on Global Topics. World View has helped Lenoir Community College and Wayne Community College establish speaker series on global issues. Another example is a group of colleges organized by Sampson Community College that trains terrorism emergency responders. World View connected them to the Triangle Institute for Security Studies which set up a speaker series on the cultural and religious backgrounds of global terrorism.

• Globalizing the Curriculum. Regina Higgins, new Assistant Director for Curriculum, is working with the UNC Center for Teaching and Learning on a guide for adding global components to college courses. World View also consults on a case-by-case basis with faculty who want to “internationalize” their courses.

• International Film Festivals
  This is not only a great way to introduce students, staff, and faculty to different lands and cultures but also a valuable component of outreach to your communities. World View can connect you with the UNC and Duke Centers for Asia , Eastern Europe and Eurasia , Europe , and Latin America . They have films for loan and can help you set up a film festival.

• Sister Schools
  World View will help community colleges locate and establish sister school arrangements with schools across the globe.

• Travel Abroad for Students and Faculty
  Besides World View's annual Study Abroad Trip, our faculty will work with colleges to develop their own study abroad trips.

• World View College Updates
  Since 2001 World View has sent electronic updates on global issues to a combined listserve of K-12 and community college educators. With this issue, World View begins a new update, titled College Updates , specifically for community college educators. In 2005, the updates will be sent bimonthly. Topics will include:

  • Study and travel abroad
  • Sister Schools
  • Setting up and expanding international film festivals
  • Model Programs across the state and nation for internationalizing colleges
  • Latin American Studies Center at UNC and Duke

We Need Your Input
Your input is essential to the success of this initiative for two reasons. First, only you can determine what type of assistance you need from World View in your in your efforts to internationalize your college. We can tailor our outreach to your needs, but only if we know them. Second, community college educators have said that they want to know what other schools are doing so that resources and ideas can be shared. World View wants to become a nexus between colleges seeking to share efforts, resources, and ideas on international projects. Let me know what you are doing, and World View will publicize this information and help coordinate efforts between colleges (Neil Bolick, nebolick@email.unc.edu , tel: 919-843-5332).

Next Issue – Study and Travel Abroad
The next College Updates is on study and travel abroad. Several colleges have asked about coordinating and even combining trips in order to insure that they have enough participants and resources for a successful trip. Please notify me of any trip abroad, planned or contemplated in 2005.