Impact of Education Abroad onCareer Development:

Four Community College Case Studies

VOLUME II

Martin Tillman, Editor

Compiled by the American Institute For Foreign Study

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Introduction by William L. Gertz

President and CEO

American Institute For Foreign Study

It gives us great pleasure to publish this small volume detail-ing options for community colleges in the study abroad andcareer development fields.

While education abroad at the four-year college level contin-ues to increase, despite September 11, the weak dollar andIraq war, limited attention has been paid to developing studyabroad programs at our nation’s 1200 community colleges.

This publication presents a number of different models forinnovative study abroad and career development programs.It is clear, as the authors state, that rather then mimic their

university counterparts in creating study abroad programs,international educators at the community college level mustpropose workable, financially feasible “career focused” pro-grams.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to MartinTillman, a long-time colleague, for pulling together thisproject.

We wish you good luck in creating much needed studyabroad programs for students who do not fit the “Junior YearAbroad” mold.

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In this volume, Robert Frost and his community college col-leagues, in a series of innovative case studies, illustrate howcommunity colleges are at the forefront of implementingeducation abroad programs which explicitly meet the voca-tional and professional goals of their students.

While the absolute numbers of students in these programsremains relatively small, it is at the community college thatminority students—and all students from low-income back-grounds—find numerous opportunities increasingly possi-ble. It is at the community college level that educators mustcreatively integrate the vocational curricula requirements of“career students,” or those studying in vocational programs(e.g., nursing, automotive technology), into the overalldesign and outcomes of the education abroad program. Andto lower or completely eliminate cost as a barrier to partici-pation, educators can also develop strong ties with the pri-vate sector or actively seek grant support from the U.S. gov-ernment. (Noteworthy is the case of Fox Valley CommunityCollege and its partnership with GM and Volkswagen.)

It is easy to understand why there is measurable value in thefairly short-cycle duration of the program models cited inthis volume. Unlike short-term education abroad programsat four-year institutions, which are often not connected toany concrete professional goals, the programs in this volumeare explicitly tied to the career aspirations of students (see theBrookdale Community College case). And finally, in each

Prefaceby Martin Tillman

Associate Director, Career Services

Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

case study, the program models are also not stand-aloneexperiences for faculty; there is often an expectation that theexpertise they have gained—as a direct outcome of their rolein design and implementation of a particular program—willresult in new courses in the curriculum (see the TidewaterCommunity College case and its NSEP Vietnam Project). Itseems there is a ripple effect at play at these institutions; ineach instance, the program is such a radical departure fromthe usual curricula offerings, and the international opportu-nities for staff, faculty and students are so atypical, that thepotential for impacts on many levels on campuses is great.

One thing that also is evident in these case studies is the needfor more research—apart from the strong anecdotal evidence—to empirically assess how each education abroad modelcontributed to student career development.

The challenge for community colleges, as it has always been,is to extend the lessons learned of many successful andproven education abroad programs, to a greater number ofinstitutions around the country. Based on the experiences ofthe institutions in this volume, the good news is that com-munity colleges are not merely seeking to replicate the over-seas program designs and structures of their four-year sisterinstitutions. And they are not satisfied with students goingabroad absent any explicit connection to their career goalsand aspirations. Perhaps in the case of the community col-lege, in the long run, there is value in quality over quantity.

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Introduction

Community colleges have made vast gains in the interna-tional programming they offer students. In the past decade,international student enrollments grew more than 57 per-cent before declining appreciably in 2003-04 (Institute ofInternational Education [IIE], 2004). Colleges, with theongoing support of the American Association ofCommunity Colleges (AACC), now actively recruit interna-tional students, as these students bring an internationaldimension to historically local classrooms, and they repre-sent an increasingly important funding stream separate fromstate and local taxes. Unfortunately, study abroad programsdo not attract the same level of interest at community col-leges, and funding is only part of the problem. With theexception of a handful of institutions, colleges invest fewdollars in study abroad, assign few staff members to advisestudents and coordinate programs, and this results in verylimited program and academic content offerings by most ofthe nation’s 1,200 community colleges. But does this meancommunity colleges are not developing international, expe-riential learning activities for their students?

Quite the contrary, community colleges are developingnovel, and highly prescriptive means by which to supportstudents’ career development objectives at the earliest stagesof their higher education experience. This paper details someof the distinctions today in study abroad programming forcommunity college students, based on the principle thatcareer planning and development should be a key compo-nent of any community college study abroad experience.

Background

For the community college as an institution, its job since the1940s has been to educate community residents to beinformed and responsible citizens in a democratic, and

increasingly international, society (for more on this topic, seeZook, 1947). For faculty in these colleges, their role has beento prepare students for the above and, since the 1970s, tofocus increasingly on the development of both critical think-ing and vocational skills, in order to support a healthy worklife. But for many community college students, their educa-tional plan is simple: develop the necessary skills to gainmeaningful employment and or make more money.Community college students consistently identify the desireto gain employment, and increase their income, as the twotop reasons for attending a community college (Laanan,2000). As a result, such a plan challenges faculty who havebroader interests for students’ learning experience, as theplan often does not include degree intentions, or a set peri-od for international study. In fact, many community collegestudents do not intend to complete an associate’s degree atall, as they either work toward a qualifying certificate in theirfield, or cite their primary motivation as wanting to “get abetter job” (Laanan, 2002, p. 27).

Thus, it is unfortunate that almost all of the measures of stu-dent success, or even participation, today count degreeachievement as the base measure. Practitioners andresearchers conclude, based on yearly IIE’s annual OpenDoors research, that small numbers of community collegestudents even go abroad. Given the definition applied to thesurvey, that only includes students studying abroad for aca-demic credit, this should come as no surprise. In early 2005,an informal SECUSSAnet survey found that the 18 collegesresponding sent nearly 3,000 students overseas, but this sur-vey did not ask if academic credit was awarded (Bailey,2005). As a result, the IIE instrument discounts the volun-teer nursing programs that go to Mexico, Ecuador and theCaribbean each year, or the community-based volunteer san-itation, literacy, and other projects that happen through

Education Abroad and the Career Development ofCommunity College Students: Four Case Studiesby Michael Brennan, Director of International Education,

Hillsborough Community College District, Tampa, Florida

Robert Frost, Associate Professor of International Education,

Parkland College, Champaign, Illinois

Emily Hagadorn, Director of the International Center

Brookdale Community College, New Jersey

Marie Martin, Ph.D., Associate Dean of International Studies

Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wisconsin

Jeanne Natali, Ph.D., Coordinator of International Programs

Tidewater Community College, Virginia

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community college international education offices, as well asthe many community-based programs that community col-leges offer. While they may not be “academic,” certainly thecolleges and the students consider them educational, andcareer-enhancing, programs.

Even so, applied credit programs are why more than 26 per-cent of community college study abroad students do so inLatin America, compared with only 15 percent of their uni-versity counterparts, even as their percentages were almostidentical to Europe (IIE, 2004). Latin America is a destina-tion that not only offers considerable professional field expe-rience opportunities, but Spanish is a language most com-munity college students see as directly applicable to their twogoals identified above. Thus, community college students aremaking career and professional development decisions in thestudy abroad programs they select, and community collegesare orienting programs to the needs of their student andcommunity population. Because these programs offer littletime to “soak up” culture, as a semester-length programwould, no sustainable effort has been made to measure par-ticipation or their value.

Method

In response to the above, this paper reviews four highly suc-cessful “cases” where community colleges have designed pro-grams, harnessed funding, and addressed students’ careerneeds via short-term study programs. Following the cases,conclusions are drawn to aid college study abroad practi-tioners, college leaders, and policy makers. This paper con-siders the current vocational and career issues that both col-lege personnel and students face, identifies how currentstudy abroad programs respond to the unique features of thecommunity college and its students, and offers recommen-dations and conclusions for college leaders and policy mak-ers. It does so through a presentation of literature thatreviews the current community college learning paradigmand related student-community issues. The four programsare discussed in a descriptive case study format outlining thediverse components contributing to the success of each pro-gram (for more on descriptive case studies, see Yin, 2003).Each program design is based on how the college or consor-tia sought to meet students’ career needs based on the com-munity college learning paradigm.

The Community College Learning Paradigm

Community college practitioners commonly describe thepast 15 years of community college history as including threebig changes that result in a new institutional paradigm.These include the concepts of the Learning College; NewVocationalism, and; the Entrepreneurial College. The learn-ing college concept was proposed in the mid 1990s and pri-oritizes the work of every college employee toward increasedstudent learning. No longer “teaching institutions,” teachersbecome facilitators and administrators look at each problemand ask, “how can this be solved in a way that enhances stu-

dent learning?” (O’Banion, 1997). The college, as a learningorganization, works to create substantive change in the indi-vidual learner (PBS, 2002). New vocationalism implies ashift from traditional vocational and career training to life-long workforce development, where credit courses, training,and other forms of instruction are revised continuously tomeet economic development needs as well as those of the cit-izen-student-worker (Bragg, 2001). Along these same lines,the “entrepreneurial college” concept is a continuation of thetrend toward seeking alternative funding sources as publicfunds decline. These sources include contract training andother for-profit educational endeavors, establishment of col-lege foundations, and private building campaigns. Whilesuch entrepreneurial efforts have tremendous benefits, thereare also pitfalls such as the divisions within programs basedon profitability or service, and the extra attention for-profitactivities receive contrasted with traditional service areas(Grubb, 1997).

The aforementioned provides background to understand theenvironment study abroad programs face on community col-lege campuses. This new paradigm of a learning centered col-lege, focused on lifelong employment, with increasing orien-tation to seeking new funding sources, provides both arationale for career-focused study abroad programs, and alsoposes high hurdles over which international educators mustleap. Combined with this institutional paradigm are the pri-mary motivations for offering study abroad programs atcommunity colleges:

• Meet the learning needs of current community college stu-dents.

• Provide intercultural professional development opportuni-ties to faculty.

• Help communities develop global awareness and experi-ence.

While faculty develop study abroad programs with intercul-tural learning, language goals, and career skills developmentin mind, students may not see the inter-related nature ofthese goals. As stated above, most community college stu-dents base their coursework decisions on a few clear ques-tions:

Will it help me get a (better) job?

Can I afford it?

Beyond these first two questions, other questions vary basedon ethnicity, income level, and family influence. However,based on research by Laanan and Boyer, and data from theNational Center on Education Statistics (NCES), we doknow that financial aid may be the most critical factor indetermining how students select educational offerings atcommunity colleges; students from more collectivist cultures(family or group-centered, as opposed to the individual) aremore likely to be influenced by their parents’ experience orrecommendations; and that some groups’ career interests are

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influenced by service and volunteer opportunities (Boyer,1993; Laanan, 2000; NCES, 1999). All of these factors canplay a role in the design of college and consortia educationabroad programs as we prioritize how to meet students’learning and career interests. One of the key features notedin the case studies that follow is how funding issues wereconsidered and addressed well in advance of the programbeing advertised, and as a result, recruitment was of minorconcern. This allowed for much stronger planning of theacademic and vocational aspects of each program.

The Problem: Program Design

The problem for the program designer, based on the above,is that the vocational community college student is not shop-ping for a vacation, an experience, a course she needs, or per-haps even a vague learning opportunity. She is shopping pri-marily for an affordable way to gain qualifying, or new skills,to increase her job prospects in an increasingly competitiveeconomy. No matter how the program is packaged, or howmuch the student wishes to travel, community college studyprograms must relate to this reality. This does not mean thatstudy abroad is a remote prospect for community college stu-dents. It does mean that vocationally-oriented programstoday must be much more prescriptive in how they meet stu-dents’ learning objectives. For example, both small rural col-leges as well as large urban colleges must be able to:

1. Harness financial aid resources professionally and effi-ciently to support students’ study abroad applications

2. Design programs that promise instruction in specificskills sets

3. Orient faculty workloads to allow for orientations, super-vising program internships, re-entry, and then assistancein targeted job searches

4. Develop program curricula that meets specific profession-al needs, whether they be social/language skill sets, appliedscientific or mathematical assignments, “clinical” shadow-ing or similar human service functions, as well as the inter-cultural experiences that combine with the above.

The four priorities above introduce the four cases to be pro-filed below. This foundation avoids the repetition typical inmultisite descriptive case studies and allows the reader tobase each presentation on strong programmatic assumptions.

The Troika Model

The first case presented was developed through CommunityColleges for International Development, or CCID, with theexpress purpose of providing community college students,and its member colleges, international career programming.Called the “Troika” program, because of its distinct “leader-ship of three” approach, it combines program componentsthat serve students, provide professional development oppor-tunities to faculty and promote partnerships to sustain inter-national study linkages. Currently there are 13 college part-

ners in the operation of four study programs. What makestroika unique is the degree of college leadership required inaccepting the partner role, the level of financial commitmenteach institution must make, and the consortium’s role incoordinating program development, delivery and evaluation.

Troika study programs developed thus far send students toEurope and Latin America to study agriculture, sustainableenergy, international marketing, or nursing. All require thecompletion of academic credit and last two to three weeks.To be considered a troika program, the programs must:

1. Relate to community college students’ career interests

2. Offer significant opportunities for faculty professionaldevelopment, and

3. Combine intercultural experiences with field-of-studyspecific, applied learning or internship activities. In somecases, CCID partners with the non-profit organization,Youth for Understanding (YFU), to offer a family home-stay component.

As a result, each troika program is built around the practical,career interests of students, the professional developmentinterests of faculty, and can be designed to meet other gener-al education needs of the typical undergraduate student.Troika programs are short-term by nature, as this fits the stu-dent profile. Because programs are in the host country on ashort-term basis, lead colleges deliver pre-program instruc-tion and orientation using WebCT and Blackboard.

Faculty development is central to the troika model’s successand impact. Faculty take turns serving as “lead” instructor.This rotation feature demands regular faculty-to-facultycommunication on pre-program instruction and orientation,and day-to-day program content and curriculum. The yearbefore serving as the “lead” instructor, faculty serve on-pro-gram as the “shadow” faculty member to assist with instruc-tion, evaluate the experience and ensure a smooth transitionin the year ahead. Since multiple colleges are invested in asingle effort, the shortcomings normally associated with fac-ulty-led, group programs are minimized. Losing one key fac-ulty member or coming up short on student recruitment atone college, for example, does not require canceling the pro-gram.

Recruitment in the troika programs is also unique. Becauseprograms are defined by career program areas, there is a well-defined student group with close ties to the faculty who leadthe program. Secondly, troika programs require each of thethree lead partners to recruit a minimum of four students forthe program. To ensure that a minimum of 12 students isguaranteed, troika college presidents raise scholarships fortheir students (minimum of four $750 awards) and directtheir faculty to develop a credit course linked to programcontent so that students pay in-state tuition and register attheir home institution.

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CCID provides a website with program updates, helps withgroup insurance, travel arrangements and other logistics.Each college, therefore, takes on specific, and limited,responsibilities for the program. Leaders meet by conferencecall every three to six weeks in the eight months leading upto a program, and because the consortium includes morethan 75 members with college presidents who take an activeinterest, results can be monitored closely, and qualityimprovements made from year to year.

The troika concept is new; it was launched in summer, 2004.With just one full cycle of programs complete, and morethan 50 students and eight faculty members involved, troikalooks like a positive and affordable step for community col-leges to help students gain valuable career insights throughinternational experiences. Given the success of the first pro-grams, CCID anticipates meeting its original goal of estab-lishing more than 30 troika programs among its members by2010.

Fox Valley Technical College: International ProfessionalField Study Course

Since Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) added to its mis-sion a commitment for preparing students to work in aglobally influenced workplace, international professionalfield study has been expanded in various programs, such asmarketing, accounting, automotive technician, culinary arts,childcare, nursing, occupational therapy assistant, truckdriving, and electromechanical programs. The motivationfor sending students abroad came out of business and indus-try surveys that recommended the college provide trainingthat would both help students learn about their professionalfield in an international environment, as well as gain experi-ence in working with people from different cultures.

To create the most value for its students, FVTC started offer-ing the International Professional Field Study (IPFS) as athree-credit hour course. This course consists of a reciprocalexchange where students and faculty from the U.S. andabroad host each other in their homes and workplaces. Aspart of this course, students also learn the fundamentals of aforeign language spoken in the country they are visiting andgain cultural knowledge and understanding of values andbehaviors in a different society and workplace. Countrybriefings and cross-cultural orientations offered on the homecampus are another important part of this course. Uponcompletion of an IPFS course, students are able to incorpo-rate a global perspective into a comparison of professionaland social practices in the U.S. and the country visited.

The course focuses on three training areas: academic, profes-sional, and cultural, offered in equal portions. While abroad,students attend classes in their technical field, participatingin instructor-guided discussions and activities. They visitbusinesses related to their profession, where they spend sev-eral days shadowing their hosting student. For example,

automotive program students in Germany visit auto dealer-ships and Volkswagen training facilities. Nursing and occu-pational therapy students in the Netherlands visit hospitalsand various community clinics, and culinary arts studentswork in bakeries, restaurants and hotel catering businesses.

Students acquire cultural education from host families,observe day-to-day living, attend language classes and partic-ipate in cultural sightseeing trips. Upon their return home,students make presentations on their international learningexperience to the entire program class, thus educating otherstudents about the academic and work environment inanother country. This activity helps career students under-stand and relate their fields from non-U.S. perspectives, andrecruit new students for a program the following year.Students report that as a result of an IPFS course abroad,their professional and academic knowledge increased, whiletheir cultural learning was described as invaluable; their over-all experience was “life changing and unforgettable.”Students also reported that such study abroad affected theiremployment in a positive way. Employers reported greaterinterest in learning about the student’s/employee’s interna-tional experiences, which helped to establish a better infor-mal rapport with supervisors and co-workers. Since this is avery young program, it is too early to report how such train-ing eventually impacts job growth or promotion.

The IPFS courses are led by instructors who design questionsfor investigation during the field studies, a final assignment,and grading parameters. Just as it is for students, for manyinstructors such a field study may be their first trip abroad.The FVTC International Studies department provides train-ing for instructors leading a course abroad, addressing suchissues as safety, cultural differences, culture shock, geography,history, demographics and political environment in a givencountry. To make a course abroad more attractive for instruc-tors, in addition to compensation for teaching, FVTC offersinstructors credit for professional development required forall faculty and their supervisors as part of their employmentin the Wisconsin Technical College System. FVTC alsoshows its commitment to international education by allocat-ing funding to the International Studies department, whosestaff is dedicated to providing services to students, facultyand staff, and to organizing such international programs.Like the other college cases cited in this paper, faculty devel-opment goes hand-in-hand with student career developmentin study abroad.

For vocational students at FVTC, the major obstacle tostudy abroad is funding. Financial aid is available to them,but it is also challenging to get time off work and away fromfamily responsibilities. FVTC looks for ways to help studentsfund international field studies by allocating scholarshipsand seeking grant opportunities. One specific field study in

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an automotive technician program has been awarded fund-ing by FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-SecondaryEducation) for six colleges, three in the United States andthree in Europe (Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal),to participate in international exchanges and develop newinternationalized curriculum in the automotive program.The faculty members have designed a project with thelifestyles and limitations of the technical college student inmind to maximize the international influence for all stu-dents.

The Transatlantic Automotive Technology (TransAutoTEC)project recognized the fact that international experiences forvocational students are effective when incorporating a varietyof instructional resources to introduce new concepts.Appreciation for another culture or industry in a differentcountry can be learned and experienced through methodsother than those available in a traditional study abroad pro-gram. FVTC faculty found that creative international expe-riences, which may appear minimal by comparison to semes-ter or yearlong foreign travel, may be life changing for stu-dents who frequently have not ventured far from theirMidwestern hometown. Moreover, the experience has evenmore relevancy as it is linked to their occupational learningwith the faculty modeling the language and culture learningalong with the students.

The FVTC college climate also has been enriched by theinternational opportunities offered by the TransAutoTECProject and related activities. In 2004 this project receivedthe IIE Andrew Heiskell Award due to its innovativeapproach to building an international dimension of studyinto the traditional vocational curriculum of automotivetechnology. Using Web-based technologies, students and fac-ulty in three U.S. community/technical colleges linked withthe GM Automotive Service Educational Program (ASEP)teach and collaborate with European apprentice students andfaculty linked with the Volkswagen Corporation. Faculty inpartner colleges synchronized the instruction of selectedunits using common Web-based multimedia learningresources. This created a virtual transatlantic classroom withinternationally integrated peer-based learning opportunities.Advanced digital technologies, including remote video/audioconnections, 3D, and animation, as well as chat rooms andemail, are used to enhance learning and build relationshipsin an international context. Subsequently, transatlantic stu-dent and faculty exchanges reinforced the technology-enabled relationships, promoted cultural experiences, andcontinued the collaborative learning in automotive technol-ogy. This project united the practice of transatlanticexchanges and distance learning to establish an internationaldimension often not available in this field of vocational edu-cation.

The overall learning outcomes of this project were for stu-dents to understand some of the similarities and differencesof the American and European automobile industry whileessentially learning the same technical content. These expe-riences enhanced international work skills of all studentswith more intensive learning opportunities for the mobilestudents participating in the actual exchange. The non-mobile students, who were not able to take time away fromfamily and work responsibilities, benefited from the interna-tional peer-based learning made possible via technology, aswell as through working with visiting exchange students andwith their college classmates upon their return from theinternational experience. This purposeful integration ofinternational concepts into the learning experience of bothmobile and non-mobile students removed barriers to inter-national education often encountered by adult students withlimitations to participation in extended exchange activitiesdue to financial and family responsibilities.

For the TransAutoTEC mobile students, the exchange expe-rience was an intense month of activities, including stayingwith a host family and linking with another automotive stu-dent in the classroom and the workplace. Another uniqueaspect of the TransAutoTEC Project was the GlobalAutomotive Symposium that occurred as the European stu-dents visited the U.S. campuses. The Symposium in Detroitbrought together the visiting students and faculty fromGermany, Portugal and England with associate degree auto-motive students from colleges in Wisconsin, Illinois andMichigan. Sponsored by General Motors, the group visitedautomotive related sites to learn together about the U.S.automotive industry. The U.S. student participants in thesymposium were those planning an exchange to Europe laterthat spring as well as their classroom peers who were not par-ticipating in the exchange. Additionally, the students had theopportunity to prepare for the cross-cultural and languagechallenges of the IPFS course.

Partnerships with private corporations like Volkswagen andGeneral Motors enhanced the resources available to the fac-ulty to create a new course entitled “Global AutomotiveMarket.” The new course established a permanent creditvehicle for integrating international learning about the auto-motive industry into the associate degree program. As aresult, the TransAutoTEC project strengthened the interna-tionalization of vocational activities and perspectives oncampus while providing foundation and rationale for themore academic components of international study focusedon language and culture. This project also has served as amodel for internationalization of other technical programs toprepare students for working in a global economy.

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The EC-U.S. Recipe for Success: International VocationalCurriculum Development

In 2003, Brookdale Community College (NJ) received a$204,000 grant from the Fund for the Improvement ofPostsecondary Education (FIPSE) to develop an internation-al hospitality industry curriculum. A European Commis-sion/United States Cooperation FIPSE Program sponsoredby the U.S. Department of Education, this three-year grantproject involves partnerships with Baltimore CityCommunity College (MD), Nassau Community College,(NY), and institutions of higher education in France, theNetherlands, and Scotland. Because Brookdale is in the earlyphase of implementation, this case will present the rationalebehind a successful FIPSE proposal for one community col-lege and partners, present the learning outcomes anticipatedfor career culinary arts students, and share some early results.

The genesis of this international vocational initiative result-ed from a desire among the partnering institutions to fosterglobal competencies among culinary arts and hospitalitymanagement students that would make them more compet-itive in the workforce upon graduation. The components ofthe three-year FIPSE grant include: transatlantic facultyexchanges; development of new international curricula withshared components among partners; articulation of hospital-ity courses between the U.S. and European partners; credit-bearing transatlantic student exchanges for study abroad andwork experience (ranging from one to three months in dura-tion); foreign language and intercultural training forexchange students; assessment of grant outcomes; and devel-oping the means to sustain the program once the grant ends.

Rationale for Applying for a FIPSE InternationalProgram Grant

A FIPSE International Program grant was an ideal vehicle topromote global competence among hospitality studentsthrough the aforementioned activities for the following rea-sons:

1. Faculty exchanges as well as curriculum development arerequired and funded by the grant. These exchanges enableU.S. and European professors to share different approach-es to pedagogy, curriculum development, internship pro-grams, and student assessment. Faculty observe hospitali-ty equipment and facilities abroad while they experiencethe unique culinary traditions found in each college’srespective geographic region. Through this professionaldevelopment experience, faculty return to their homecampus with new capabilities to: implement newapproaches to existing courses; determine how to articu-late courses abroad to the home curriculum; develop newinternational curricula; speak to students with authorityabout the intercultural and linguistic challenges of theprogram; and articulate the academic, personal, and pro-fessional benefits of an international experience to theirstudents.

2. Lack of sufficient funding commonly prevents vocationalstudents from participating in international programs.Because student mobility is a key component of theFIPSE program, the majority, if not all, of the selectedstudents’ costs to study or complete an internship abroadare covered by grant funding.

3. FIPSE requires students to gain intercultural and foreignlanguage competence. As a result, the grant awards lan-guage training stipends for exchange students.

4. The grant affords students unable to go abroad many on-campus benefits from the program: through a newlyinternationalized curriculum; reports from faculty andstudents who go abroad; interaction with European stu-dents through distance education; and exposure to visit-ing European hospitality students in the classroom.

5. Development of a new international curriculum (that willcontinue after the grant ends) is one of the most effectivemeans of sustaining the project’s goals.

6. Partnership among a minimum of three U.S. institutions(each from a different U.S. state) as well as threeEuropean institutions (each from a different EuropeanUnion member state) as required by the grant, enablesresources and knowledge to be shared in many ways: forclassroom and on-line curriculum development; web andprint recruitment materials; intercultural and languagetraining; internship sites; and appropriate student supportservices (visa processing, pre-departure orientation, anddevelopment of an emergency response protocol).

7. Furthermore, the partnership creates a larger network ofparticipating faculty and students and brings a greatervariety of new cross-cultural experiences to campuses.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who participate in the project are expected to:

• Obtain an understanding of European culinary and hos-pitality traditions and techniques in the classroom andthrough international internships and improve their careerskills and knowledge as a result of this knowledge

• Obtain an understanding of non-U.S. cultural values andcommunication styles and increased cultural self-aware-ness

• Demonstrate understanding of the process of culturaladaptation

• Gain knowledge of non-U.S. political, historical, and cul-tural contexts

• Evaluate cultural differences with empathy in a variety ofsettings (academic/professional/personal)

• Practice critical thinking to navigate through and succeedin a study abroad environment

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• Demonstrate increased proficiency in a foreign language(French and Dutch)

• Apply intercultural skills, personal development skills, andcultural knowledge to other environments, such as theworkplace, upon graduation.

One culinary student’s experience of working in a four-starhotel in Holland during summer, 2004 was a testament tothese outcomes. Although the student originally had intend-ed to become a chef, he decided that because he enjoyedworking with people during his internship, he would nowprefer to be a hotel manager. This would enable him to con-trol aspects of the hotel restaurant while also being responsi-ble for many other areas of hotel operations. As for intercul-tural skills, the student stated, “I appreciate new culturesmore now. When I see someone in the U.S. struggling withthe language or to just fit in, I have more patience for thatperson now because I understand what they’re goingthrough.”

Although it is premature to assess the long-term anticipatedoutcomes of the grant project, initial response to the pro-gram from faculty, students, and the hospitality industry isvery positive. Faculty participating in exchanges return to theclassroom full of enthusiasm for international education andthe desire to implement new ideas from Europe into theircurriculum, including development of new courses. U.S. stu-dents warmly embrace European faculty as guest lecturers inthe U.S. classrooms and express great interest in completinga study abroad or internship experience in Europe. Finally,local restaurants and hotels demonstrate their support forthis initiative by agreeing to host a European intern, or lookfavorably upon graduates from the international hospitalityprogram. For example, culinary students with internationalinternship experience mention that employers are very curi-ous about this experience during employment interviews, somuch so that it positively differentiated these students fromother candidates and thus helped them secure employment.

FIPSE programs, while highly specialized and offeringopportunities to relatively small numbers of students, never-theless provide important benefits previously unseen in com-munity college study abroad programming. First, they offershort-term intensive cultural immersion experiences.Second, they connect apprentice students with master prac-titioners in a cross-cultural learning environment. Third,they provide new qualifications and increase the ability ofcareer program graduates to team with diverse work groups.Finally, they do all this in similar fashion with the college fac-ulty who participate as both teachers and learners in theexperience.

Tidewater Community College and Mid AtlanticConsortium: NSEP Vietnam Project

In 1999 Tidewater Community College, in an effort to unifyfaculty, student, and mission interests, sought a newapproach to study abroad that would provide opportunitiesfor the college community to gain significant interculturalskills. College funding for a program of this nature was outof the question. In the past, international programmingsince the 1980s had included assistance to more than 55 fac-ulty to pursue international projects, and support for twotraditional study abroad programs based in France and CostaRica. While students and faculty had received ongoing sup-port for these efforts, college leaders recognized that almostall the efforts seemed to point toward Europe. After review-ing various federally funded international education pro-grams, the college successfully requested funding from theNational Security Education Program (NSEP).

Background

The NSEP Vietnam Project began in 2000, with an overallgoal of building a critical mass of scholarship about Vietnamamong eight Mid-Atlantic community colleges. The pro-gram combined formal classroom instruction, informal sem-inars, and travel to Vietnam to give students and faculty athorough understanding of Vietnam and the developingworld. It was hoped students would gain valuable academicand intercultural skills that would benefit them in theirfuture academic and career goals and beyond. Faculty partic-ipated closely with students, serving as teachers and mentorsin each phase of the program.

Faculty and student seminars were held throughout eachphase of the program. The project began with a two-weekcurriculum development seminar for 20 faculty from theconsortium colleges. Vietnam experts from a wide range ofacademic disciplines and local business people who havecommercial transactions with Vietnam conducted the semi-nars and provided feedback to participating faculty. As aresult of these seminars, twenty new curriculum moduleswere developed. These teaching modules were infused intothe faculty members’ courses at their home institutions, andcontinue to be taught, multiplying the impact of the granteach semester. Student seminars were held at several pointsin the program. In early seminars, program staff assessed stu-dents’ expectations and needs so they could tailor programactivities to meet them. Later seminars prepared students fortravel in the developing word. Students also participated inteam building exercises and other activities designed to builda cohesive group that would succeed in the upcoming studyabroad experience.

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In the pre-travel phase of the program, students joined theirfaculty counterparts in the classroom to study two years ofVietnamese language taught by distance learning. Theinstructor was based at one participating college and broad-cast the language course to five of the eight participating col-leges. Faculty served as mentors to students in the difficulttask of studying a less commonly taught language by dis-tance learning. Students and faculty were required to partic-ipate in language instruction before travel, with all studentsearning at least six credits in Vietnamese language.

Participating faculty also collaborated to develop a three-credit, interdisciplinary class, Introduction to Vietnam, whichwas first taught using distance learning technology to partic-ipating students. Faculty used the expertise they gained inthe introductory seminars to develop a course whichapproached the study of Vietnam from a variety of disci-plines, including the humanities, social sciences, health pro-fessions, geography, and business. The course has now beendeveloped into an online course and is taught each semester,again multiplying the impact of the program.

The study abroad portion of the program was the final phaseof the program. Faculty served as mentors to students, manyof whom had never traveled outside the United States. Theprogram contained a variety of activities designed to buildthe academic and intercultural skills of students and faculty.The program began at Hong Duc University in rural ThanhHoa Province, where participants collaborated with HongDuc’s students and faculty to exchange academic and cultur-al information. Participating faculty taught English in HongDuc’s classrooms while students assisted their Vietnamesecounterparts in the classroom. Students also were assigned toshadow HDU students to get a first-hand understanding ofthe lives of the Vietnamese college students. Hong Duc’sEnglish language and hospitality studies students seized theopportunity to interact with native English-speaking stu-dents, spending every minute possible practicing their lan-guage skills. This interchange between students and theirVietnamese counterparts created a rich environment forintercultural learning. Consortium students reported thisphase of the trip to be the most difficult and also the mostrewarding.

At the conclusion of the HDU phase of the study abroad,students and faculty visited historical and cultural sites fromHanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, meeting local experts who pro-vided historical information, tours and lectures, which puteach site in an academic and historical framework. Finally,students and faculty visited Phu Mai Orphanage in Ho ChiMinh City, which had received substantial financial and vol-unteer support from one of the seminar leaders whom stu-dents had worked with while still on campus. The groupspent the day at the facility and experienced the provision ofcare for severely disabled orphans in Vietnam.

Benefits to Program Participants

The NSEP Vietnam Project was a unique faculty and stu-dent opportunity for several reasons. First, the faculty/stu-dent relationship was unique. The program did not assignstudents and faculty to their traditional roles of teachers andstudents. Instead, faculty and students worked together in alearning community. Faculty gained academic expertise inVietnam studies, and then worked with students as facilita-tors to transfer this knowledge as students built on their ownexpertise. Students were then given the opportunity to sharetheir newly acquired knowledge with faculty mentors acrossthe program using distance learning technology. Faculty andstudents also studied the Vietnamese language together, giv-ing faculty the opportunity to model for students the aca-demic skills needed to study a difficult, less commonlytaught language. This model, where faculty facilitated stu-dent learning and students participated with their facultymentors, was ideal for both faculty professional developmentand student learning.

Second, the project provided faculty with a sustained oppor-tunity for international professional development. Duringthe early stages of the program, faculty had access to majorfigures in Vietnam studies, business, and aid organizations.Faculty gained a considerable background in Vietnamesestudies, but they also used this opportunity to develop spe-cific areas of academic interest. Further, faculty used theselinks and the contacts they made in Vietnam to developmutually beneficial international projects of their own.

However, it was the students who gained the most from theirparticipation in the program. Like their faculty mentors, stu-dents gained a general background understanding ofVietnam studies, and then delved more deeply into theirown areas of interest. The result was that students with aca-demic majors as diverse as public health administration,business, international studies, and theater developed per-sonal interests in these varied areas. The most tangible resultscame from students’ three-week cultural immersion inVietnam. They were able to practice their language skills atHong Duc University, in local markets, and with the peoplethey met. Students grew dramatically from the time thegroup left the United States to the time they returned. Upontheir return, students noted the personal satisfaction they feltovercoming their own fears and reservations to immersethemselves in the Vietnamese culture. These same studentsreported in interviews, conducted two years after theirreturn, that they had gained specific academic, social, cul-tural, and personal skills of long-term benefit.

Students reported that their participation in the projecthelped them to refine career choices, better understand theirchosen career fields, and make future decisions with moreconfidence. For example, one student knew prior to his par-ticipation in the program that he would major in interna-tional studies because he had a general interest in interna-tional affairs. After returning from Vietnam, he chose to

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minor in Asian studies, and is now living and working inTaiwan. He credits his participation in the program withhelping him pursue an interest in depth, and helping him tofind a meaningful career path. Another student participatedin the program as she was completing a degree in publichealth administration. Because she had never traveled out-side of Western Europe, she could not fully understand thehealth issues that immigrants from developing countriesfaced once they arrived in the United States. After studyinghealth issues in Vietnam and experiencing the conditions inthe country, she reports she now has a much clearer under-standing of her career field. Finally, another student report-ed that his participation helped him to redefine the goalsthat he set for himself. Following the study abroad program,he felt more confident in his personal abilities, so much thathe raised his own expectations of himself. The program hadclearly a profound impact on many of the student partici-pants.

As one might imagine, a program this complex could notpossibly be available without significant external funding.Because the program was completely funded by NSEP, mostcommonly faced funding issues were solved in the planningstages of the program. As a result, program staff had littleconcern about recruitment, and the threat of program can-cellation. Program staff were able to focus on the academicaspects of the program throughout the project’s timeline. Allcosts associated with the professional development seminarswere paid by grant funds, including two week-long curricu-lum development seminars and a weekend retreat for all par-ticipants. Further, one faculty project associate was paid asmall stipend to facilitate their college’s participation in theproject. A second major cost of this project was associatedwith the distributed teaching of the Vietnamese languageand humanities courses. The grant paid the language instruc-tor, which assured college approval for running languagecourses at smaller than required enrollments. To ensure thesmooth distribution of the classes, the grant also paid for atechnology assistant in each classroom so that problemscould be addressed immediately and students would not loseinstructional time because of technical difficulties. Finally,and equally important, the grant paid for the three-weekstudy abroad program, which would have been prohibitivelyexpensive without grant funds.

The NSEP Project’s influence on the colleges’ international-ization priorities is unmistakable, and has contributed signif-icantly to the internationalization of Tidewater CommunityCollege and its seven partner colleges. Faculty and studentswere afforded an immersion experience that would neverhave been available without NSEP funds. The faculty whoparticipated and developed teaching modules continue toteach from the materials they produced during the project.These teaching modules are also available as reference mate-rial for any faculty who need instructional materials on a

variety of Vietnam studies topics. Finally, the course that wasdeveloped from the critical mass of scholarship on Vietnam,An Introduction to Vietnam, continues to be taught toapproximately 75 students each year, further integrating thestudy of Vietnam into the regular curriculum.

Summary and Recommendations

The four cases presented in this paper highlight the uniqueways community colleges are creating international careerand professional development opportunities for their stu-dents. While each is exemplary, many colleges already joinsimilar partnerships and consortia to deliver offerings rele-vant to students’ career needs. Both the Troika and theTidewater models harness the strength of multiple partner-ships to build security and depth to their program offerings,while the Brookdale and Fox Valley programs harnessedFIPSE funding to create specialized international career pro-grams. As these cases were finalized, several important rec-ommendations emerged from the presentations. They arelisted below.

1. Funding pools must be expanded specifically for com-munity college students to complete applied study pro-grams abroad. College foundations, organizations likeIIE, as well as government sponsored programs likeNSEP and FIPSE, play a vital role in designating suchfunding categories. The above cases, two of them awardwinners, shows the benefits of targeted funding toincreasing community college international career pro-grams.

2. State higher education officials need to support grantcategories that combine college faculty professionaldevelopment activities with development of studyabroad programs. Programs receiving funds could berequired to open their programs to statewide applicants,thus paving the way for improved statewide cooperation.

3. States, funding agencies and consortia should expandfunding for programs that offer two-way educationalexchanges. Particularly for community colleges, thesebenefit the many students who cannot afford to travel.Also, it incorporates a “share America” component dur-ing an important time in U.S. foreign relations.

4. Colleges must develop programs based on students’career interests and academic needs. Seventy percent ofall community college students participate in short-termstudy abroad programs. At the same time, many of thesestudents are not studying a foreign language, thus, pro-grams must be prescriptive in their application to stu-dent career development in both their organization anddelivery of curricula.

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5. Based on the above cases, colleges can maintain multiplepartnerships and memberships to meet the diverse needsof community college students. AIFS, CCIS, state studyabroad organizations, and targeted career partnershipscan thrive in co-existence, and more students will reapthe career benefits of international study.

6. Service and experiential learning activities are necessarycomponents in community college short-term studyabroad programs in order for students to integrate inter-cultural skills development with career knowledge.

7. Online communications before and after the interna-tional component can redefine and reconfigure interna-tional learning within a technical or community collegeprogram curriculum. It appears the study abroad pro-grams in each of the four cases cited in the paper inspiredsignificant internationalization of vocational curricula.

8. As Fox Valley showed, not all students involved in aninternational learning experience need to go abroad. Byrequiring students to report back within their programs,building in a program-wide symposium, and expandingstudent learning exchanges to online projects, many canlearn from the intercultural experiences of a few.

9. As the four colleges showed, faculty inclusion and com-pensation, and student supervision, are issues which canbe addressed through development of an integratedstudy course in which all students enroll. Specializedreadings, internships, excursions, and even assignmentscan be built around this core course.

10. It is important to designate college officials who caneffectively influence international education policy at thestate and national levels. Such leadership is essential tosuccessful advocacy of international education into othercollege curriculum and workforce issues.

11. Finally, colleges should assess student learning outcomesin study programs based on how they relate to futureemployment and community workforce development,and integrate these assessments into ongoing program-wide assessments.

Conclusions

The above cases and recommendations illustrate how com-munity colleges are not merely mimicking their universitycounterparts in the study abroad programs they offer. Quitethe contrary, despite limited funding and staff, internationaleducators are designing “career-focused” study programs thatfit their constituents’ career and workforce developmentneeds in consideration of how the study program will affecttheir qualifications for future employment and their success-ful participation in community life. Rather than reject the

short-term format as nonacademic, community and techni-cal colleges have applied new technologies and creative part-nerships to offer programs worthy of their students’ time. Inmany ways, this creativity mirrors the innovative programsand services colleges have designed and improved upon forover 100 years—always with a focus on students’ civic par-ticipation and career development.

References

Bailey, R. (January, 2005) SECUSS-L and SECUSSCCNAFSA: Association of International Educators listserve sur-vey results on community college study abroad program-ming. Shared by means of listserve. Email R. Frost for copyat rfrost@parkland.edu.

Boyer, N. (1993). Vietnamese choice of majors at Golden WestCollege. Huntington

Beach, CA: Golden West College. (ED 365 385).

Bragg, D.D. (2001) Opportunities and challenges for the newvocationalism in American community colleges. NewDirections for Community Colleges, no. 115, Fall 2001.John Wiley, and Sons, Inc.

Community Colleges for International Development(CCID). www.ccidinc.org

Grubb, W.N., and others. (1997). Workforce, economic andcommunity development: The changing landscape of the entre-preneurial community college. Berkeley: National Center forResearch in Vocational Education, The University ofCalifornia.

Institute of International Education. (2004). Open Doors:2004. Retrieved from website on January 10, 2004,http://www.iie.org.

Laanan, F.S. (2000). Community college students’ career andeducational goals. New Directions for Community Colleges,no. 112, Winter, 2000. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 19-33.

O’Banion, T. (1997). A learning college for the 21st century.Phoenix: Oryx Press.

PBS Adult Learning Service. (2002). Creating a learning col-lege. www.pbs.org/als/revolution/whatis/principles. htm.

National Center for Education Statistics. (1999). Integratedpostsecondary education data system (IPEDS) completions sur-vey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Zook, G. (1947). The President’s commission on higher educa-tion: Higher education for American democracy.

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American Institute For Foreign Study, Inc.

Founded in 1964, the American Institute For Foreign Studyand its family of companies organize educational and culturalexchange programs throughout the world for more than40,000 students and young people each year.

Program include College study abroad, Summer Institute forthe Gifted, ACIS High School, Au Pair in America, CampAmerica, Cultural Insurance Services International andAcademic Year in America.

AIFS College Division Study Abroad

In affiliation with 20 universities in 12 countries, AIFS organ-izes study abroad programs for more than 5,000 Americanstudents during the academic year and summer. AIFS worksclosely with 500 American colleges and universities, providing

students and faculty with high quality educational experiencesabroad.

For a complete list of programs, see www.aifsabroad.com.

Partnership Programs

AIFS also arranges study abroad programs for 80 Americanuniversities and colleges on a partnership basis providinghousing, transportation, classrooms, meals, student servicesand cultural activities.

Faculty from U.S. institutions participating in the partnershipprogram teach their own courses at AIFS centers throughoutthe world.

American Institute For Foreign Study9 West Broad Street

Stamford, CT 06902-3788203.399.5000 • fax 399.5590

www.aifs.com

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