Learning Without Borders

By Jane Sharp



Howard Community College (HCC) has been a local leader in addressing a global reality of this millennium: The world is getting smaller.

As HCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Ron Roberson said, "Today's students are likely to be working anywhere and with anyone in the world. We need to offer them the opportunity to develop the global competence necessary to successfully compete in this 'smaller world,' especially in comparison to the multilingual, well-traveled students of other nations."

The college has twice been internationally recognized for successful initiatives to globalize the campus and curriculum. HCC was one of five United States colleges or universities to receive the 2005 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange. The award is named for the late senator from Illinois, who identified international education as crucial to U.S. strength and security. Recipients of this award have included Dickinson College, Duke University and Yale University.

HCC has also been recognized with the International Intercultural Achievement Award from the American Council on International Intercultural Education (ACIIE). As an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges, the ACIIE uses its collective expertise to facilitate programs, activities and linkages in international and intercultural education. HCC was selected as an award recipient for an "established, comprehensive global education program with broad-based impact on institutional life."



Strength in Diversity

The college's dedication to diversity and support of global experiences is evidenced by a walk across campus. Students hailing from more than 100 different countries are currently enrolled at HCC, with one out of seven credit students coming from somewhere outside the United States.

HCC has developed a wide range of study-abroad and international exchange programs for students, faculty and community residents. Opportunities exist for HCC faculty-led travel in China, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Scotland and Turkey. Learning experiences range from language immersion to cultural activities to specialized art or culinary practicums. Collaborations have also been formed with educational institutions such as Dickinson College and College of Notre Dame, Maryland, to participate in their international study programs.

Faculty exchange opportunities include Belarus, Macedonia and Turkey. More than 25% of HCC faculty has traveled abroad on teaching or research projects, and this number is expected to grow with a new endowment, the Sharon Schmickley Faculty Fund for International Travel.

Here in Howard County, credit students can earn transfer degrees with an international focus, including International Studies, International Business, Global Economics, Diversity Studies, Arabic, Spanish and Cross Cultural Health.



Training and Services

Opportunities for credit or noncredit language and culture training abound at HCC, including critical and heritage language instruction, the English Language Institute, the Arabic Institute, Command Spanish for the workplace and a federally-funded free summer program, Startalk, for Howard County high school students to learn Arabic or Chinese.

The college's World Languages Institute also can provide translation services, skills evaluation and customized language training for government and private organizations.

The college has established a number of global partnerships that help strengthen educational programs and promote economic development here and abroad. As a member of Community Colleges for International Development (CCID), HCC has engaged in a number of overseas projects as well as hosted international visitors to campus.

One noteworthy collaboration involved the college's nursing program directors traveling to Ghana to help that country's first private nursing school obtain accreditation, while HCC nursing students and faculty on campus held fundraising teas and collected needed supplies and equipment for the African nursing college.



World Player

In June 2008, HCC will host the annual conference of the Transatlantic Technology & Training Alliance, commonly referred to as TA3, an international group of mostly community and technical colleges.

As a TA3 member, HCC's Continuing Education division has collaborated with colleges across Europe and the U.S. on a virtual enterprise network for students. The expertise of United Kingdom partners, forerunners in entrepreneurship education, helped in the development of HCC's curriculum, and research is currently underway to develop a new credit program option in entertainment technology, a well-established field in Europe.

Looking forward, a priority of the college is to obtain funding with scholarships and grants to enable more students, community members, faculty and staff to participate in HCC's study abroad opportunities. On campus, even general education courses will be globalized, such as incorporating metrics or foreign currency in mathematics problems.

For details, visit www.howardcc.edu, or contact the Office of International Education at 410-772-4148, World Languages at 410-772-4441, or the World Language Institute at 410-772-4705.