Apendix A 

Community Colleges and Global Education

Executive Summary

Airlie I: Building the Global Community: The Next Step

The participants in the first ACIIE/Stanley Foundation conference at Airlie Center, charged with drafting the policy direction and implementation strategies for global education in community colleges, adopted the following mission statement: "To ensure the survival and well-being of our communities, it is imperative that community colleges develop a globally and multiculturally competent citizenry."

They went on to state that community colleges must provide an educational experience which advances knowledge and understanding in five areas:

• Global interdependence

• Human resources, values and culture

• Global environment and natural resources

• Global peace and conflict management

• Change and alternate futures

Strategies to accomplish this mission were organized under six categories:

• Educational approaches

• Organizational partnerships

• The technological frontier

• Consultation with other nations

• Coordination of community college efforts

• Celebration of our commonalities, our differences, and our interdependence

Airlie II: Educating for the Global Community: A Framework for Community Colleges

The second Airlie conference was convened to examine two questions:

1. What does it mean to be a globally competent learner?
   
   

2. What is required institutionally for community colleges to produce globally competent learners?

The participants agreed on the following definition of global competency: "Global competency exists when a learner is able to understand the interconnectedness of peoples and systems, to have a general knowledge of history and world events, to accept and cope with the existence of different cultural values and attitudes and, indeed, to celebrate the richness of this diversity."

They went on to determine that the globally competent learner possesses nine primary characteristics:

• Is empowered to make a difference in society

• Is committed to lifelong learning

• Is aware of diversity, commonalities, and interdependence

• Recognizes geopolitical and economic interdependence of our world

• Appreciates impact of other cultures on American life

• Accepts the importance of all peoples

• Is capable of working in diverse teams

• Understands the nonuniversality of culture, religion, and values

• Accepts responsibility for global citizenship

If community colleges are to produce such learners, institutions will be required to

• Obtain the commitment of the CEO and trustees

• Include global education as an integral component of the institution’s mission statement

• Develop and implement a comprehensive global education program on campus

• Allocate resources to faculty for research and development of curriculum, exchanges, and activities

• Provide support and incentives for international initiatives

• Conduct a needs assessment for local businesses and services

• Revise accreditation criteria to acknowledge the importance of global competency

• Provide student services to promote access to global education for all learners

The forces which restrain efforts to globalize community colleges were grouped under the rubrics: Attitudes, Practices, Priorities, and Marketing.

Strategies devised to counter the obstacles to systemic support for global education were categorized as follows:

• Review and revise institutional policies and practices

• Increase public awareness of diversity

• Develop collaboration and partnerships at the local, state, and federal levels

• Advocate more effectively for global education

• Prepare individuals and institutions to deal with change

Beyond the community college campus, the goals of global education can be advanced through

• Initiatives at the federal level

• Inclusion of global education in accreditation criteria

• Initiatives at the state level

• Making the case for global education with the general public

• Exploring alternative sources of funding