Collegial Conversations, July 2008

Through these conversations NAFSA hopes to target the best practices and experiences of some of international education's preeminent leaders. Over the coming year we hope to see many unique and thought-provoking interviews.

Ron Roberson

Ron Roberson has served as a professor of art, chair of the division of humanities, and, currently, vice president of academic affairs at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts from Morgan State University and a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he studied Art History on a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Louvain in Belgium. This was the beginning of his appreciation of the importance of a global perspective. He has made presentations on international education, distance learning, outcomes assessment, learning communities for at-risk students, liberal education, and intellectual property at Telelearning, the League for Innovation, the Learning Paradigms Conference, the Futures Assembly, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Ron also served as art history lecturer and drawing/painting instructor on study tours of Italy. Most recently he has been involved in developing international articulations and faculty and student exchanges in Mexico, Estonia, Denmark, Turkey, Macedonia, and the People’s Republic of China. Since 2000, Howard Community College has evolved from an institution that had relatively little happening internationally to an institution that in 2005 won the NAFSA Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization and the ACIIE International Intercultural Achievement Award.

During month of July, Ron answered questions and offered gems of wisdom. View the discussion now!

Being a leader in international higher education, how/where do you see yourself in the big picture of internationalization of U.S higher education?

Community colleges appreciate the importance of developing global competency in their students, faculty, and staff and have some unique challenges, which I will address later, and some unique opportunities. Many countries are facing the challenge of moving from systems where only the brightest and best received an education to a new model where, in order to compete in a global economy, educational opportunity must be dispersed more broadly. For those nations, the community college system represents a powerful and successful model of how to deliver education and training to a broad and diverse population. Community colleges will have multiple opportunities to assist these nations in developing more broadly dispersed, open, and flexible community-based education systems. Organizations like the Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) are leaders in providing technical training, curriculum development, and partnerships to these nations.

What are some of the specific challenges that community colleges face in internationalization?

The nature of community colleges as open access, commuter campuses presents some significant challenges for some globalization initiatives. Many students are part-time, many are working, and many are married with families. Unlike university students, they frequently have not thought of studying abroad, and study abroad presents many logistical issues as they try to balance school, work, and family. The expense of study abroad is also an issue for many. Most community colleges do not have dorms, which complicates the issue of accommodating exchange students and exchange faculty. In addition, many community colleges have not been approved to issue J-1 exchange visas and so must find a partner institution to do so.

What type of leadership skills are required for your success in internationalizing your community college?

Considering the inherent challenges, a community college leader in globalizing the campus must have a sense of mission, institutional support at the highest levels, and a team of innovative thinkers around her or him. Each of the challenges mentioned above has a solution. If it is difficult to get community college students abroad for long-term programs, concentrate on developing a variety of short term programs. Help students to visualize themselves abroad and appreciate the value of study abroad. Raise funds for scholarship support and form partnerships that can reduce the costs. If there are no dorms, consider leasing space to accommodate international exchanges. Affiliate your institution with partners, like CCID, that can assist you in getting the needed visas. If the vision and commitment are there, the barriers become little bumps along the way.