CCID pays a visit

Representatives of Community Colleges for International Development, Inc. (CCID) visited Parkland College on May 28. Executive Director John Halder, and Dr. Patricia Keir who is a member of the CCID's board of directors, began their day meeting with international students, who are participating in the CCID exchange program. Currently, Parkland is hosting sixteen students from five countries - Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, and South Africa.Included in the site visit was a tour of each department and a meeting with each department chair, a visit with International Admissions, the Parkland Library, lunch and afternoon discussions with the directors and staffs of participating Parkland programs.

The idea of, and plans for, an international exchange between community colleges were first developed in 1976. Information from the CCID web site indicates that approximately 170 community colleges are association members - 80% from the United States. Twenty percent of the membership is schools throughout Australia, Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America.

The organization's founding principles include:

 Responsibility to the student. Students need to know about other countries and cultures in order to make informed judgments about world events and their impact on their lives.
 Responsibility to the faculty. In order to teach students an international perspective, faculty must be knowledgeable and willing to incorporate this perspective in their teaching. Community colleges should seek opportunities for faculty professional development through international education.
 Responsibility to the community. Community colleges seek to promote economic development within their districts. International trade offers this possibility.
 Community colleges can participate effectively in international development. Community colleges offer training in the skills that developing countries need to build an effective work force. This offers the college the opportunity for training contracts at home and in the client country.

(from the CCID Web site: http://ccid.cc/index.htm )