Global Development

Can Tho University and the Kien Giang Community College Project

In May 2001, the rector of CTU invited representatives from each of the 12 provinces to meet and discuss higher education development in the Mekong Delta. One of the CTU vice rectors gave a presentation on the community college concept, and CTU made the recommendation that each province establish its own community college. To deal with the image problem that community colleges have as a result of (a) misunderstanding their role and (b) the strong preference for receiving a Bachelor’s Degree, the vice rector focused on distinguishing between the university and the college. According to an interview with this vice rector, he emphasized that universities serve the market sector comprising state owned organizations, large companies, and foreign owned companies. Therefore, community colleges are essential for the development of private industry, training entrepreneurs, and developing small to medium size businesses.

A short time after CTU’s meeting, the Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee submitted a proposal to MOET for the establishment of a community college. With a population of more than 1.5 million, Kien Giang is one of the larger provinces in the Mekong Delta. Twenty two percent of the people were rural, 78% were urban, 86% were Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese), 12% were Khmer, and 2% were Chinese (Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee, 2001). The demographics of Kien Giang Province are quite different from those of Tra Vinh; however, in the KGCC proposal, Kien Giang is described as a “bordering province very far from big cities, has two-thirds of [its] districts in remote rural regions and islands and therefore people are very poor. They cannot afford their children’s education in big cities” (Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee, 2001, p. 2). The socioeconomic situation and a shortage of trained workers were two of the compelling justifications for establishing the community college. It was estimated that Kien Giang Community College (KGCC) would enroll between 3,600 and 4,500 students.

CTU had already developed an excellent relationship with the Texas Tech University Vietnam Center, and one of the Center’s staff members was conducting research to evaluate the suitability of a U.S. community college-like model relative to the Vietnam context. Thus in June 2001, CTU asked the Vietnam Center to find a U.S. partner for KGCC, and Mohawk Valley Community College (New York) agreed to take on that role with the continued involvement of Texas Tech University. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System accepted an invitation to join the partnership in March 2002. In April 2002, the Kien Giang People’s Committee received approval from MOET to establish the community college.

In November 2002, KGCC’s U.S. partners, in cooperation with CTU and MOET, held a 2-day seminar that was attended by seven of the eight Vietnamese community colleges. Apparently, Ha Tay Community College was not invited by MOET. The reason is unclear but there is some evidence that MOET did not approve of the initial approach Ha Tay took to forming its community college; a subsequent reorganization seemed to resolve the issue. During the conference, the rectors and MOET representative announced that they would form an association of community colleges. While the association would have been very helpful in terms of sharing ideas and experiences, it is not easy to obtain approval for such a formal organization in Vietnam, so the rectors could not bring this to fruition. But MOET periodically calls the rectors together for meetings and this approach to working on systemic challenges seems to be reasonably effective.

By the time that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between KGCC and the U.S. partnering institutions in May 2003, Richland College of the Dallas County Community College District (Texas) had joined. Because the U.S. partners did not have a funding source to support the KGCC project, they realized that an incremental approach would be necessary rather than trying to help develop an entire community college, as was done in Tra Vinh. KGCC was asked to prioritize the programs that it wished to develop, and the rector singled out the area of information technology (IT). One important factor in facilitating communications and exchanges of ideas during this formative period was that the partner from Mohawk Valley Community College worked at KGCC as a Fulbright Scholar from February to June 2003 (Engel, 2003).

In October 2003, the U.S. partners met at Mohawk Valley Community College to draft a grant proposal, and in 2004 a major milestone occurred with the award of a USAID/The Association Liaison Office for Cooperation in Development (ALO) grant to upgrade KGCC’s two and three year IT programs (Kentucky Community and Technical College System, 2004). This project involved work by U.S. community college faculty in Vietnam and KGCC faculty in the U.S. It was excellent for faculty development, served to make the partnership even stronger, and clearly demonstrated the great value in exchanging people and ideas.

As of the 2005 academic year, KGCC had 2,024 full-time and 2,975 part-time students. The primary three-year programs were IT, accounting, electrical engineering, and food processing technology. The two-year programs were in aquaculture, IT, accounting, and animal husbandry. KGCC also offers short-term and vocational training.

MOVING TOWARD A NEW ERA

In November 2005, an important Vietnam Community College Conference was co-sponsored by MOET and the Kien Giang People’s Committee. The primary organizer was the rector of KGCC and the conference was held in the People’s Committee’s conference rooms near KGCC in Rach Gia, the capital city of Kien Giang Province. The objectives were to have a dialogue and facilitate drafting, for the first time, a permanent regulation authorizing the operation of community colleges. KGCC’s U.S. partners arranged for conference speakers from the U.S., Canada, and Thailand. “Present were representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese provincial People’s Committee members, NGOs . . . and others. Most importantly, more than 100 Vietnamese higher education leaders attended” (Whitus, as cited in Bondurant, 2005, ¶ 5). An interesting comment made by the Deputy Press and Cultural Attaché, U.S. Consulate, was that the Vietnam Community College Conference followed shortly after the tenth anniversary of normalized relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, and the Prime Minister’s visit to the U.S.

Harvey (2005), who provides a detailed analysis of the provisional regulation on community colleges, states that the original decree establishing community colleges in 1994 was amended on August 8, 2002. “The legislation recognized that community colleges played a pivotal role in tertiary program articulation, especially between the vocational and college programming levels that were delivered in the colleges themselves” (Harvey, 2005, p. 89). Particularly significant was the discussion concerning decentralization of program decision-making to the People’s Committee level.

Another conference was conducted at Ba Ria-Vung Tau in January 2006 to work on the draft of a permanent regulation for Vietnam’s community colleges. The participants included nine community college and two MOET representatives. According to one of the rectors, most of the ideas, opinions, suggestions, and papers from the November 2005 conference were considered in preparing the final draft that was submitted to MOET a few days following the conference at Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

These conferences, the current existence of nine community colleges in Vietnam (Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Thap, Ha Tay, Hai Phong, Ha Giang, Kien Giang, Quang Ngai, Tra Vinh, and Vinh Long), the impending completion of a permanent regulation, and the government’s plan to establish community colleges in seven more Mekong Delta provinces by 2010 indicate that community colleges are now being accepted as an important way to meet the country’s socioeconomic and higher education needs, especially in the rural areas. The government’s future plan includes the establishment of community colleges at Soc Trang in 2006, Ca Mau and Long An in 2007, An Giang in 2008, and Bac Lieu and Can Tho in 2010 (Nguyen Xuan Thu, personal communication, October 11, 2005). Additionally, one of the rectors mentioned that a community college has been approved for establishment in Hanoi.

Another significant development is that, according to an announcement by CTU, MOET will be enacting an official document in May 2006 that will allow for transfers between the community colleges and universities. CTU expects to receive transfer enrollment quotas from MOET in mid 2006 for four academic programs: IT, accounting, food processing technology, and aquaculture. KGCC has students who will be completing their second year of training and at least some of the qualified students can transfer (KGCC rector, personal communication, March 15, 2006).

Challenges

Currently, there exists the difficulty of adapting global concepts to local conditions; therefore, perhaps the greatest challenge facing the further development of community colleges in Vietnam, other than funding, is establishing its own basic model. This task requires a clear definition of mission and flexibility for adapting to the local context. It also requires management that is informed by strategic planning and quality assessment. Strategic planning is not one of higher education’s strengths in Vietnam. Quality assessment is just beginning to be discussed as a result of progress made over the last several years to establish an accreditation system.

Additionally, there is a second challenge that could have a substantial impact on the future development of Vietnam’s community colleges. “For Vietnam, in contrast to many other developing countries, Confucian philosophy strongly influences the way that society views education” and knowledge itself is highly valued (Oliver, 2004, p. 5). Thus, even though employment surveys indicate that the community college is an excellent fit for human resource development, especially in the rural areas, some provinces will not be satisfied with anything but a university. And this reflects the mindset of the Vietnamese people. There has been a community college in My Tho, Tien Giang Province, at each phase of the community college movement (in 1971, 1996, and 2001). Yet the Tien Giang People’s Committee made a decision on January 6, 2005 to turn the community college into a university. This transition may be replicated in other provinces as well, but it is probable that at least some community college leaders and People’s Committees will stay the course in developing their community colleges. That the government has voiced the need to focus on providing vocational, occupational, and technical training, and it has discussed a need for increased autonomy and accountability for higher education institutions (Viet Nam Net, 2005) is encouraging for the community colleges.


Conclusion

Thus the case is made that there has been a community college movement in Vietnam and it is stronger now than during any former period in its history. The political climate has affected the characteristics of Vietnam’s higher education system, and the move toward a socialist market-oriented economy has resulted in dramatic changes that make community colleges even more relevant to addressing the country’s socioeconomic needs. Normalized relations between the U.S. and Vietnam have facilitated higher education partnerships, and U.S. community colleges are looking for opportunities to join with international partners to develop projects that globalize the perspectives of their faculty and students. The Canadians will likely continue to provide their professional expertise and support to Vietnam’s community college development. Finally, it has been shown that paying close attention to the dialectic of the global and the local is critical to the success of international partnerships and community colleges in Vietnam.

References
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Ashwell, M. A., with Thai, Ngoc Diep. (2005). Vietnam today: A guide to a nation at a crossroad. Boston: Intercultural Press.

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Engel, S. (2003, January 12). Vietnam so much more than a war. Utica Observer-Dispatch. Retrieved March 27, 2006 from http://www.uticaod.com/archive/2003/01/12/opinion/14010.html

Harvey, D. J. (2005). Policy recommendations for community colleges in Vietnam. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Kentucky Community and Technical College System. (2004). U.S. Institutions and Kien Giang Community College partnership program: Information technology workforce development. USAID/ALO grant. (Available from Kentucky Community and Technical College System, 300 North Main Street, Versailles, KY 40383).

Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee. (2001). Kien Giang Community College founding project. (Available from Kien Giang Community College, 217 Chu Van An Street, Rach Gia Town, Vietnam).

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Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between The Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Training, Viet Nam, and Lansing Community College, Michigan, U.S.A. (1996, May). (Available from Lancing Community College, 1113-Multicultural Center, P.O. Box 40010, Lansing Michigan 48901-7210.)

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Oliver, D. E. (2004, Summer). Higher education challenges in developing countries: The case of Vietnam. International Journal of Educational Policy, Research, & Practice, 5(2), 3-18.

Pham, Tiet Khanh, & Harvey, D. (n.d.). The Tra Vinh Community College model: Integration of vocational, college and university education and training delivery to meet local and regional needs. Available from Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST), 119 4th Avenue South, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7K 5X2.

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Community Colleges Development

in India, the Dominican Republic and Georgia
John Halder

Overview

The intention of this chapter is to provide an overview of three case studies of the genesis of the community college overseas.

Only a few years ago, the concept of the community college outside the United States, with a few exceptions, was relatively unknown. Although organizations like Community Colleges for International Development, Inc, have worked for three decades with international colleagues, as have individual colleges in some instances, as a general rule community colleges had not been established overseas. That radically changed in the period from approximately 1990 through 2005, with the community college model being expressly sort out by overseas educators, for implementation or adaptation to conditions outside North America. Some of this has been due to a desire by U.S. community colleges to internationalize their faculty, but also the availability of funds for U.S. community colleges to undertake work overseas has been important. In other instances the overseas country has recognized and valued the community college concept and has pursued partners in the U.S.
Country Selection

For the purposes of this discussion three countries have been selected:

• 
  India
  
• 
  The Dominican Republic
  
• 
  Georgia
  

Each was chosen because the emergence of the community college, while occurring for very similar reasons - the establishment of a process for the training of technicians to meet the needs of business and industry – the paths that have been followed to meet that goal have varied. In India, a grass roots initiative largely took the sub-continent by storm, following the work of a number of colleges in the early and mid 1990’s. It was truly a “bottom – up” phenomenon, with grass-roots initiatives creating “colleges for the people.” By the year 2006 the community college movement in India is being officially accepted by the government, with the introduction of legislation, especially in the Chennai area, to bring the growing number of community colleges (160, at the most recent count) under the umbrella of the higher education system. In the Dominican Republic, presidential candidate, Dr. Leonel Fernandez, having studied and worked in the USA, used the community college as a piece of his political platform, and positioned it as part of his presidential campaign to appeal to the masses – again, as “college for the people.” However, in the country of Georgia we find a different approach as a country finds its feet following years of Soviet suppression. Here, we find higher education officials seeking to identify ways to meet the growing need for technicians for the 21st century, while at the same time addressing the challenges of the melt-down of their higher education system following the total loss of support form the Soviet Union.

These three countries will be case studies we shall describe and analyze on the following pages. In each scenario, the main players will vary, from India (the people), to the Dominican Republic (the president), to Georgia (a progressive educational establishment).

The Community College as a Model

When we in the United States think of the community college, we perhaps picture the typical institution resting on three pillars. One pillar is that of the university transfer student, beginning their academic career at an institution where they will find less expensive tuition, small classes, and very approachable professors. The second pillar is that of the student returning to the classroom, having graduated perhaps ten years earlier with a baccalaureate degree, but now needing further training in specific skills for career purposes. Studying for a two year degree or diploma will equip her for that career

change.

The final pillar is that of the contract training division of the college. This department works closely with business and industry to identify their training needs and requirements.

The concept of credit transfer is firmly established in US higher education. In a society as mobile as the United States, how could it not be so? A student may begin their higher education at a community college, transfer to the local university, and drop out of education to pursue a promising career, move to another state a thousand miles away, and then enroll at the university in the new location. Five years later he or she returns for more training. No where in the rest of the world does a higher education model exist that so accurately reflects and supports the mobility of the society through built in flexibility.

In addition, open access and financial accessibility are key attributes. Another major component of the US community college is that of open access. We commit to work with the student to ensure their success, no matter their prior academic history or lack thereof.

When reviewing the community college overseas, however, this US model needs to be cast thoroughly and unceremoniously to one side. The community college overseas is an adaptive, creative and cunning variation on the theme established in the United States. It has emerged under unique circumstances, often under the stern overview of prestigious universities, established a century or more ago, under perhaps colonial tutelage. Universities, polytechnics and technical colleges may already occupy the landscape, each with their own unique histories, political connections and funding formulae.

It is into this milieu that the overseas community college thrusts its precocious self, filling the void identified by its champions in the country in question.

The Experience of India

Community Colleges for International Development has had at least a 25-year history of working in India. In recent years, leadership has been provided equally by Eastern Iowa Community College District, Iowa, (EICCD) and Sinclair Community College, Ohio, (SCC) but faculty from other CCID colleges have also been involved. Prior to these colleges’ engagement, early CCID India activities included Fulbright Exchanges, and the hosting of Indian education delegations sponsored by the World Bank, the University Grants Commission, and the U.S Department of State. CCID has also sponsored U.S. community college delegations to India, conducted workshops in India on community colleges, and created working partnerships between higher education and the business community.

The real impetus for the development of community colleges in India resulted from a chance meeting between Indian educator Adrian Almeida and Professor Jean Cook of Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, in 1990. Following their meeting at a conference, Sinclair applied for a USAID University Development Linkage Project grant to assist Mr. Almeida with his vision for creating the Center for Vocational Education in Madras. This five - year project, begun in 1992 and valued at $750,000.00 with equal match, was directed by Sinclair Community College and co-directed by Eastern Iowa Community College District, and was completed in 1997. The project brought 15 vocational / technical faculty from eight CCID colleges to what was to become the Center for Vocational Education in Madras. Ultimately over 25 U.S. faculty participated in this project, with some traveling to India using college professional development funds after the grant expired. These faculty working with Indian partners, developed vocational training programs aimed at school dropouts, rural and urban poor, and women with limited opportunities, modeling fairly closely the concepts of open access so familiar in the U.S. community college. The building was donated by the Catholic Arch-Diocese of Madras which also spent funds on updating and repairs. Later, the name of the Center for Vocational Education was dropped in favor of the Madras Community College, which is still thriving today. Representatives of CCID were present at the inauguration in August 1997.

Under the auspices of that grant, in August 1997, the “Training Options for Early School Leavers Conference,” took place in Madras, developed jointly by CVE, Sinclair Community College and EICCD. More than 100 people representing five countries attended. The conference focused world attention on the plight of the early school leaver. Teaching / learning experiments that promote training and education for this population were shared, thereby providing impetus to workforce development, and school to work concepts.

Map Courtesy of The CIA World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html

Today the Community College movement in India thrives, with an estimated 150 colleges established in 17 states¹⁴⁰. The Madras Center for Research and Development of Community College Education (MCRDCE) has been the pioneer in keeping the momentum going, under the leadership of Father Xavier Alphonse. Father Alphonse followed Mr. Almeida as Principal of the Madras Community College, before leaving to establish and direct MCRDCE in 1999. The function of this organization, undertaken by the Jesuits of Tamil Nadu, is to act as a resource to help and facilitate the community college movement. They provide consulting services, hold national workshops, provide networking and monitoring services, and act as a resource center.

Support of the community college initiatives in India by American colleges and CCID have been on-going, and in recent years have included, fall 2000, a series of four, one-day workshops. Targeted at business, government and educators, they were held in the cities of Chennai, Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Bangalore. They focused on the development of relevant workforce training in India and the potential for partnerships with U.S. colleges. CCID representatives have also met with officials from Mahindra Motors, Nasik, and with L & T John Deere, Pune, to discuss their workforce development needs.

Other key factors supporting community college development in India included a USIA University Affiliations Project 1995-1998, valued at $120,000.00 for three years, again directed by Sinclair Community College. This involved the exchange of faculty from Stella Maris College, Madras (a private, Catholic, women’s college), with faculty from Sinclair and Eastern Iowa Community College District. The project strengthened literacy education in the U.S. and India, and today (2006) is leading to discussions about the establishment of a community college under the auspices of Stella Maris College and with Eastern Iowa taking the lead.

Another project was a U.S. Department of Education – Title VI B Business Linkage Project, for two years, and directed by EICCD, that strengthened international business education at U.S. community colleges and promoted trade relationships between companies in India and the U.S. EICCD led a trade mission of small and medium- sized businesses to India in the fall 1996. In addition to the resulting trade development, it also provided an excellent case study for the Indians of the role that a community college can play in the economic development of a community.

The rapid growth of the community college in India is largely due to the pre-existing college infrastructure created by the Catholic Church. Over many decades the Church has been instrumental in developing sewing schools, cooking schools, secretarial colleges, etc, and transforming these has been the main impetus for the rapid growth of community colleges across the sub-continent. Early converts to the community college concept in the Indian context, where class and caste have been major barriers to education, leapt at the idea of open access for all, once it was made known to them. Providing opportunities, especially for females and minorities, resonated with the church from a peace and justice perspective, and assisted with creating the growth in the new colleges we have reported. Key persons in India traveled to the United States, and key college personnel from the States working in India, helped to generate the fertile conditions for the growth we have observed. While the university sector of Higher education in India is of the highest quality, and can hold it’s own with universities around the globe, the pre-existing technical colleges were extremely low on the totem pole in terms of quality and standards. Creating the new community colleges, with short-term, good quality, relevant training, was a contributing factor in their rapid adoption and growth.¹⁴¹

Today, the Indian federal and regional governments are making attempts to manage the growth, and find the appropriate structure within higher education to house these new colleges. Course approvals, funding, accreditation and other issues are now being more centrally addressed, with the colleges in many instances being placed under the administrative purview of the universities. In a country as large as India there are many variations on this theme, but there appears to be a serious attempt to rationalize and organize the system.

The Experience of the Dominican Republic

Presidential candidate, Dr. Leonel Fernández, was running for re-election in 2004 when he received a group of businessmen who were leaders of a business council in the Eastern province of Santo Domingo. Due to the lack of qualified and adequately trained labor, they had been trying to develop formalized technical training for their province for the prior 10 years. They had attempted to align themselves with the Public University, and with former government officials, but because of political interests could never get the project off the ground.

Map courtesy of the CIA World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/dr.html

Prior to this visit, Dr. Fernández had signed an agreement with Dr. Sharples, President of Daytona Beach Community College, Florida, to foster exchanges and work on a variety of projects together. Dr. Fernández reviewed the Eastern province of Santo Domingo, the industrial development in the area, and the nearby airport and free zones, and thought it would be a perfect place for the community college, based on an American model of education that had impressed him for so many years (Fernández had lived in the U.S. during his middle and high school years, and had also been exposed to the model while visiting the U.S. while President of the country and as former President). He viewed this educational model as having the flexibility necessary to provide for quality training in a short timeframe, enabling these communities to offer incentives to companies wanting a capable labor force and promoting economic development for the country. The community college model also would provide a service to the growing population of young people that cannot afford to attend the private universities in the country. The community college would enable them to learn the skills that will allow them to get jobs, and at the same time continue their education if they so desire. He strongly believed that economic development begins with education, and that in order to compete in the 21st century, the Dominican Republic needed to focus on training its human capital.

Ms Yvette Lopez¹⁴², on the staff of Dr. Fernandez, became the liaison with Daytona Beach Community College, and with the local business people, holding regular meetings and getting input from the leaders in the Eastern Santo Domingo community.

President Fernández took office again in August of 2004, and since then the project has been formalized through government channels, specifically with the Secretary of State for Higher Education, in order to develop a model that takes into consideration the specific issues of the Dominican Republic, its educational system, with the goal of successfully opening the first community college in the fall of 2006. In the most recent phase of the project Ms. Ligia Amada Melo, Secretary of State for Higher Education, and Victor Hugo Delancer, Asst. Secretary of State for Higher Education, have also been highly engaged in the project.

Specific challenges faced by President Fernández have included finding the right location for the new institution, clearing the site and commencing construction. Other challenges have involved finding a working compromise with existing higher education institutions - the local universities - and other partners, to work together to develop a model. Ms. Ligia Amada Melo has had the practical issued of hiring and training staff and administrators, formalizing the boards of directors, and certifying course content and community college programs. Dr. Don Matthews, Director of International Programs at Daytona Beach Community College has been the liaison between DBCC and the government, in order to host delegations and hold informational programs to provide expertise in various fields. Ms. Lopez as the overall project director has been the liaison between the Dominican government and working with Don Matthews, in order to strategize and create timelines, analyze obstacles, and devise solutions.

In this case study the Daytona Beach Community College model was used as the model for the Dominican community college organization, student services, adult education and remedial programs. The courses and programs followed their comprehensive model of a community college, while making adjustments in accordance with the Dominican situation. Other key US colleges that have played a role have included Tompkins-Courtland Community College, NY, and Portland Community College, Oregon. Each has played an important role, allowing Dominican delegations to review and further understand the diversity in the programming, and the college models, available within the United States.

In the long term the Dominican Government plans to create four community colleges and creating United State partners for them. With these relationships they plan to review the diversity of programs, in order to partner depending on the area of expertise and the needs of the communities around the future sites.

In this instance of community college development overseas we have a mandate from the President of the country, who had experienced first hand the educational system within the United States. Being a populist leader he had very clear ideas about what he wished to develop, and incorporated these into his election platform. This approach is different from the other two countries reviewed in this chapter, but with a public mandate to proceed, political support for the new colleges had to follow from the government. Clearly in this case study, the support of business and industry is apparent and in no way in doubt, and will be a key component in the choice of courses and programs being developed at the college.
The Experience of Georgia

The development of community colleges in Georgia, while in its early stages, continues the reform of Georgia’s educational institutions begun in the post – Soviet era. First, new specialties were introduced and then during the past three years a major program of educational reform has been introduced by the Georgian Ministry of Science and Education. As a result the numbers of majors, departments, teachers, and students at the universities have been diminished. The reforms, importantly for us, also follow the requirements of the European Bologna Process for Higher Education, by providing access to all Georgian school graduates (and school leavers) to a system of vocational and professional career education, through the network of new community colleges.

As background, after the break up of the Soviet Union the system of professional education (like the Russian style Technikons that had been the sole source of technical education) began to fall apart as educational and training needs of the enterprises shifted. The Technikons, as throughout all Soviet dominated territories, had been designed to produce large numbers of technicians, but in extremely limited and focused disciplines. Many of these disciplines were producing too many graduates, while others were not required at all. Compounding this was the fact that many of the enterprises whose training needs had been met in the old system themselves were no longer working. Nowhere were the courses focused on the needs of business and industry, and the new areas of potential business growth, with a workforce development mandate. Clearly new ideas about post secondary education and how to focus it on the topics needed by business and industry were required.

Starting in 2005 dialogue among professors at the Georgian Technical University, members of the government and administration, and with colleagues overseas, began to plant the seed concept of the community college in the minds of key Georgian policymakers. The Ministry of Education and Science had earlier began the larger reform process of primary and secondary education with World Bank funding, but as with the story of the emergence of the community college around the world, their establishment in Georgia is being funded through a combination of building donations, in-kind contributions, U.S. grant submissions, funding from the Ministry, and hope.

CCID’s involvement came through the efforts of two key figures in this re-design effort. Dr. Lali Ghogheliani¹⁴³ is the Coordinator of Higher Education and Science Reforms at Georgian Technical University. Dr. Ardith Maney¹⁴⁴, a political science professor from Iowa State University, USA, who was working on “women in science” issues globally, and who also was familiar with community colleges and their programs. Both nurtured the fledgling concept to the point where Ghogheliani led a delegation of Georgian Higher Education officials to the U.S. in the summer of 2005, and visited community colleges. These officials, including other teachers from the Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi, visited Kirkwood Community College and Eastern Iowa Community College, both in Iowa; Waukesha County Technical College in Wisconsin; and Moraine Valley Community College in the western Chicago suburbs in Illinois. All of these outstanding colleges are members of CCID, and all within easy access of airport hub city Chicago, both important factors when working with tight budgets and travel schedules.

The delegation that visited the U.S. during 2005 certainly had a major impact, as officials from the Ministry of Education & Science asked to attend the CCID 30th Anniversary Conference in Jacksonville, Florida, February 2006. These meetings between the Ministry and community college officials clearly heralded a new commitment by all to see that the Georgians had the informational resources to see the project through. These resources included a commitment by the colleges that the earlier Georgian delegation had visited to continue to be part of the effort of support; an assurance that the ministry officials had a clear understanding of the scope of community colleges, achieved by also taking them to visit Santa Fe Community College in Jacksonville, Florida; and the agreement to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the Georgian Ministry of Education and Community Colleges for International Development, Inc to support the reform efforts. A key step such as this provided the impetus for further work to be undertaken between the parties.

The signing took place on April 6th 2006, when an official from CCID met the Minister of Education in Tbilisi, and signed the Agreement. The importance of such an event was underscored by the attendance of the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, The Honorable John Tefft, who in his remarks talked about the vitality of the U.S. economy being in part due to the training and retraining capabilities of the U.S. community colleges. He envisaged such a system planted in Georgia with U.S. assistance, and designed to meet the unique needs of the Georgian economy. During a visit to Georgia in April 2006, this writer learnt that the Prime Minister, when opening a new factory, was talking about the new community colleges training the factory technicians in the skills needed for modern industry. Clearly the initiative to introduce community colleges in Georgia had political support from the very highest sectors of the government and administration. As a result of these initiatives it is hoped that the enabling legislation will be introduced into Parliament before the close of 2007. Issues to still be resolved include student testing, the application process, teacher qualifications, university transfer, etc.

The Minister of Education and Science, Dr. Lomaia, decided to locate the first community college in Gori, a regional center approximately 1 ½ hours north-west of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. Due to its location near the main east-west and north-south transportation corridors, and located close to one of the two regions claiming independence from Georgia, Gori is strategically important.

Map courtesy of the CIA World Fact Book:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gg.html

Although Tbilisi is bustling and renewal is coming to the cities of the Black Sea coast through travel and tourism and the activities of the oil and gas pipelines that are running from the Caspian Sea oilfield through Georgia’s sea coast terminals and/or to Turkey’s Mediterranean Sea coast for onward shipment to Europe, the economic conditions in the small towns and rural areas is still difficult and many people outside the cities now rely on subsistence agriculture. Because the goal is to assist economic modernization and build careers for Georgia’s young people – so that they do not have to leave for careers elsewhere - Gori is an excellent location to establish the Ministry’s new market-responsive model of professional training.

Thanks to a start-up grant awarded from the U.S. Agency for International Development (spring 2006), to a consortium of the U.S. colleges mentioned above, and GTU, as the implementing agency in Georgia, the plan is to open the doors of the first community college to students in fall 2007. In follow-up work CCID will assist in the Ministry’s plan to have community colleges based in 12 locations around the country, with the college at Gori as the pilot.

The adaptability of the community college model, and it’s planting in parts or the whole, is a key attribute to the flexibility of community colleges, and how they can be adapted to the needs of international clients. While most overseas nations do not have the capability to implement the credit transfer part of the model, in Georgia they are viewing this component positively. It will require a much larger educational reform to achieve this, but with the dynamism observed in the Georgina education officials, this goal is achievable.

Concluding remarks

The goal of this chapter has been to indicate that the community college model in the United States has been a beacon to other countries as they contemplate educational reform. Although the model has been remade in local images, the core values remain. These include open access, and relevance to workforce training, and in some instances, transferability of credit. While the model has quite correctly been adapted, in most instances in these countries it would not be recognized by a community college educator from the United States. But it is probably equally true to say that an educator from the early years of the U.S. community college system – let’s say from 1965 – would be hard pressed to recognize the colleges of the 21^st century, that have developed from their humble origins. That is the great benefit of the community college model – adaptability and creativity. The community college creates a gateway to the world of higher education for the underprivileged, and thereby connects potential with opportunity. The education reformers in India, the Dominican Republic and Georgia have seen how the model can be adapted, and are moving forward assertively. As with all adventures, the journey is equally important as the destination.