ORLANDO — Efforts to empower and prepare Pitt Community College (PCC) students for success in the global economy began with a vision from three deans.
Although initial surveys on global education at the college indicated hesitancy to begin the work around globalizing the campus, college leaders and faculty have increasingly supported the internationalization of students’ learning experiences, PCC leaders said in a presentation at this year’s American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) convention.
Through strategic partnerships with regional and international partners, PCC has expanded its PCC Global programming and provided opportunities for students and faculty to study and teach abroad, participate in on-campus cultural programming, enhance their global awareness and have an internationalized curriculum.
“If we’re not giving them global exposure, we’re not adequately preparing them for the workforce,” said Katherine Clyde, dean of the Business Division at PCC. “It’s the same as if we don’t teach them to read or write or do math because when you go to work, even if you don’t want to go live and work in Paris or Beijing, you’re going to come into contact with international customers, international suppliers, international buyers. You have to have that cultural literacy and that cultural sensitivity in order to interact with other people.”
Some of the places PCC students, faculty and staff have traveled to include Belize, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, London, the Netherlands and Ireland. With PCC’s study abroad tracks — PCC Global: Explore or PCC Global: Serve — those who go abroad participate in academic-based programs or service-learning programs that enhance their understanding of their disciplines and foster cultural competency.
“There’s no substitute for studying abroad … but its very expensive,” said Dr. Daniel Mayo, dean of public services and fine arts at PCC.
In 2006, PCC established a student and faculty exchange partnership with the Wuxi Institute of Technology in Wuxi, China, making it the first cooperative agreement between a U.S. community college and a three-year, Chinese vocational college.
