Monthly Archives: February 2013

February 28, 2013 · 7:43 pm

Dispatches from the 2013 CCID Conference in Atlanta, GA

February 28, 2013

CCID_Logo_plastic

Though I’d been to Atlanta before on business, this was my first time attending the CCID (Community Colleges for International Development) https://programs.ccid.cc/cci/ Conference. The Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead (known as the Beverly Hills of the South) served as the venue for the conference. After the hubbub of the French Quarter in New Orleans, where the AIEA conference was held, arriving to the serenity of Buckhead was a much needed relief. And, as much as I intended to make it to the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum, except to a visit to the Office Depot (2 miles from the hotel) for the printing of handouts, a slice of pizza at a pizzeria nearby and a celebratory dinner at Kyma, a Greek Restaurant in Buckhead, majority of my time was committed to meetings.

At the invitation of Zepur Solakian, Executive Director of CGACC http://www.cgacc.org , I served on a pre-conference workshop panel (chaired by Ms. Solakian) on how community colleges can optimize their recruitment strategy by elevating the global branding of their college through 2+2 university pathways and partnerships. The other presenters serving on the panel included: Ross Jennings, Vice President of International Programs and Extended Learning at Green River Community College (WA) http://www.greenriver.edu/ , Dr. Jing Luan, Vice Chancellor, Educational Services and Planning at San Mateo Community College District (CA) http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/smccd/ , and Vilma Tafawa, Executive Director of the International Center at Bunker Hill Community College (MA) http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/ .

The 2+2 model, though not a new concept, can be a popular choice for international students whereby they can take their general requirements at a community college and then transfer to a four-year university to complete their bachelor’s degree. As the global middle class continues to grow so is the global demand for International Higher Education. It is projected that student mobility will grow 70% by the year 2025. However, as more countries enter into the global arena to recruit students, the U.S. is losing its global market shares due to the perception of high education costs, and the budget cuts effecting all institutions of higher education as well as issues concerning the issuance student of visas.

The workshop set out to determine how U.S. community colleges were doing and what they can do to remain globally competitive? While each presenter discussed the steps their respective community colleges have taken to optimize their recruiting strategy they unanimously agreed that success lies in enhancing, articulating and marketing of 2+2 jointly by four-year institutions and community colleges. The 2+2 process provides huge savings to students and all institutions of higher education. As the global middle class grows the 2+2 can bring affordability of a U.S. degree to these families who would have otherwise looked at other countries. Panelists discussed existing articulation agreements, joint marketing strategies and success models giving credibility to 2+2 globally and eliminate myths about 2+2.

But no amount of recruiting to attract international students is effective if their academic documents have not been properly vetted and evaluated. I spoke of the reasons why accurate credentials evaluations are important for international admissions. Accurate academic credential evaluations allow the admissions decision makers to properly assess and integrate the international students into their scholastic environment while ensuring due diligence in international admissions has been satisfied.

The benefits of the credential evaluation to institutions are twofold: 1) they are protected against credential fraud and misrepresentation and 2) enhance their global competitiveness while nurturing development of international partnerships. Students also benefit by receiving a clear understanding of their academic achievements and enjoying an obstacle-free pathway to further education, professional development and employment opportunities in the future.

Finally, Zepur shared with the audience the initiatives which CGACC has undertaken in its efforts to make the U.S. community colleges and the 2+2 model an attractive and cost effective feature to international students. The CGACC ‘s global initiatives include:

2+2 Guide (New)
2+2 Workshop around the world
2+2 Educational Tours
2+2 Pavilions at Fairs
2+2 Partnerships
2+2 Videos
2+2 Examples with Testimonials

CGACC will continue with its efforts to meet with universities at NAFSA and regional conferences to establish strategic MOUs and continue blogging on the 2+2 model. Through its global partnerships with ACEI and other select organizations, CGACC aims to provide its member institutions the tools needed to optimize their recruitment strategies by enhancing their position in the global education market.

Stay tuned for dispatches from my upcoming trip to Hong Kong next month where I’ll be attending the APIEA http://www.apaie.org/ Conference and presenting on a panel addressing the 2+2 program alongside partnerships and collaborations with EducationUSA https://www.educationusa.info/ , higher education communities in the U.S. and the East Asia Pacific.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

Like This!

1 Comment

Filed under Credentials, Education

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 21, 2013 · 8:19 pm

Dispatches from the 2013 AIEA Conference in New Orleans

February 21, 2013

aiea-tag-logo

It’s been almost a decade since I last visited New Orleans. I have to thank the AIEA (Association of International Education Administrators) http://www.aieaworld.org/ for hosting its annual national conference in the Big Easy this year. No visit to New Orleans is complete without a stop at the world famous Café du Monde for a plate of its freshly baked powered sugared confections and cup of café au lait. Given that most of my days at the conference were booked with meetings and sessions, I still managed to enjoy the city’s culinary fare (charbroiled oysters at Dragos, bananas Foster’s at the Palace Café) and even took a 45 minute cruise on the Natchez Steamboat with colleagues from various universities in the U.S. and around the world.

This year the conference theme was “Re-imagining Higher Education in a Global Context,” and several of the sessions I attended attempted to address this issue in roundtable or speaker settings. The keynote speaker, Eric Liu http://guidinglightsnetwork.com/bio, former White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, set the tone for the conference by emphasizing that innovation begins with imagination.

I attended sessions on topics like “Using Accreditation Standards to Internationalize,” “Global Changes and Challenges: Is the United States Doing Enough to Stay Competitive as a Study Destination.” But the session that I found most relevant was one about the “Pursuit of Academic Diplomacy in Iran: Challenges and Opportunities.” Gregory Sullivan and Kristen Cammarata with the U.S. State Department and Sara Kurtz Allaei from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis presented the session. According to the session’s presenters, it appears that the number of students from Iran seeking visas to study in the U.S. has risen from the low 1000’s in 2007 to the high 6000’s in 2011/12. The number of Iranian students enrolled at US institutions prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution was about 45,000. The EducationUSA https://www.educationusa.info/ advising center focusing on Iran reports an increase in the number of Iranians querying about studying at U.S. institutions. Sullivan mentioned that 14 specialists at the State Department are dedicated to the Iranian student project.

Specific conditions are in place for granting visas to Iranians planning to study in the U.S. According to Sullivan (paraphrased in this report): “visas are not granted to students or exchange programs relevant to sciences with a clear military, nuclear/energy component” or to groups or agencies with ties or affiliations to the Iranian government, terrorism or human rights abuses, or programs with commercial value that will benefit the Iranian government.” At this time, Iranian students accepted to U.S. colleges and universities must leave Iran for Dubai or Istanbul, Turkey to apply for their U.S. student visas, since U.S. and Iran do not enjoy diplomatic relations and have no embassy presence in their respective countries. We can look at the number of visas reportedly issued in 2011/12 as an indication of the U.S. State Department’s willingness to exercise openness in the visas granted to Iranian students and the Iranian government’s loosening of its hold on the youth.

Another interesting fact shared by Kristen Cammarata was that since the SAT is not offered in the region, many Iranian high school graduates instead take the GRE (Graduate Records Examinations, a test taken by students intending to apply for graduate school admission in the US) and scoring very high on the math section; further proof of how seriously motivated these young Iranians are in their pursuit of higher education in the U.S. Cammarata indicated that her office receives much of the inquiries from young Iranians via email and Skype. She also commented that the Iranian population in the U.S. has proven to be one of the most educated and successful of immigrants in this country’s history.

Sullivan mused that perhaps the government in Iran recognizes its shortcomings in satisfying its youth population with education and job opportunities by relaxing its grip and releasing the pressure valve and allowing some exchange through education (studying abroad in the U.S.). The pressure valve may be temporarily tightened during Iran’s upcoming Presidential elections, but to be relaxed once again after the new President has been elected.

Sullivan also noted that the US in turn will grant specific licenses to U.S. institutions wanting to engage in education, cultural, and sports exchange programs as well as topics concerned with human rights, the environment, health and medicine. Perhaps through academic diplomacy we can begin to see a thawing of the icy relations between Iran and the U.S. But I can’t help wonder how concerned the Iranian government may become when its youth heading west to the U.S. returning not only armed with their university degrees but an arsenal of information.

Partnering with my colleague Zepur Solakian, Executive Director of CGACC (www.cgacc.org), we held joint meetings with representatives from Washington State University (USA) http://www.wsu.edu/, Istanbul Bilgi University (Turkey) http://bilgi.edu.tr/en/university, and Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) http://www.swinburne.edu.au/. We discussed how the U.S. community colleges serve as a viable route to the four-year institutions for international students and the added benefits of international credential evaluations in the admission and transfer credit processes. With more exchanges on these topics, we feel community colleges can begin to become a significant venue for higher education in the international market alongside the four-year institutions.

The exhibit hall showcased exhibitors from China, South Korea, Italy, and companies like Zinch http://www.zinch.com/ a website connecting students with colleges, and Mezun http://www.mezun.com , an educational portal for Turkish students studying abroad.

Stay tuned for next week’s dispatch from Atlanta, Georgia where I’m co-presenting a workshop on “Best Practices in Recruitment and 2+2” at the CCID (Community Colleges for International Development) https://programs.ccid.cc/cci conference.

Jasmin S. Kuehnert
President & CEO ACEI
www.acei1.com

Like This!

3 Comments

Filed under Credentials, Education

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

February 14, 2013 · 7:17 pm

10 Valentine’s Day Celebrations from Around the World

February 14, 2013

heartworld

It’s Valentine’s Day today, and though I’m no fan of the over the top commercialization of love, I’m still a romantic at heart. I couldn’t let this day go by without delving a little deeper into its history and origins and finding out how the rest of the world celebrates. It is a temporary diversion from evaluating international credentials though I’m still maintaining a “global” perspective.

Without going into too much detail (for the longer version check out this link http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day), its believed that the origins of this day of love stemmed in an attempt by the early Christian church to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival celebrated on February 15 or the Ides of February. By the end of the 5th century, Lupercalia was outlawed and February 14th was declared by Pope Gelasius as St. Valentine’s Day. Now, it needs to be said that the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different martyred saints named Valentine each with his own appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure.

Here in America, we celebrate February 14th by exchanging greeting cards, giving chocolates, gifts and roses. I’ve randomly picked 10 countries to see how they celebrate this day or similar day dedicated to love and here’s what I found:

1. Brazil – Celebrates “Dias dos Namorados” or the Day of the Enamored on June 12th where couples exchange flowers, chocolates, and presents. They celebrate it on June 12th because June 13th happens to be Saint Anthony’s Day, which is when single women perform “simpatias” or rituals to attract a nice boyfriend. They probably don’t celebrate it in February because it’s too close to Carnival, which by itself is a love-fest of its own!

Brazil

2. China – Celebrates two Valentine’s Days, one being the commercially recognized February 14th and the other falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, known as “Qi Xi,” or “Magpie Festival,” or “The Night of Sevens.” The legend is that a young cowherd and a weaver girl, who happened to be the daughter of the Goddess, met on earth, fell in love and married. But when the Goddess learned of her daughter’s marriage, she ordered her return to heaven. The cowherd followed his beloved which angered the Goddess who cast a river into the sky, creating the Milky Way, separating the two lovers. But once a year, all the magpies from around the world would fly up into the Milky Way forming a bridge over the river so that two
lovers could meet and reunite.

China

3. Dominican Republic – Friends and family play a game called “Angelito” where they rip pieces of paper and write the name of another person, either girl or boy. Then each player gives his/her “angelito” a present.

4. El Salvador – Same game as “Angelito” in the Dominican Republic, but they call theirs “secreto.”

5. Japan – There are two Valentine’s Days in Japan. On February 14th, girls give dark chocolate to the boys they like and on March 14th, boys give cookies or white chocolate to the girls they like.

6. Slovenia – Celebrates the day of love on March 12, or Saint Gregory’s Day, known traditionally as the day of love and the first day of spring, although Valentine’s Day/February 14th has usurped tradition. There’s Pust, or Carnival, where Slovenians celebrate the beginning of a new cycle of nature and farming. The celebration includes wearing masks and costumes resembling the animals in the field. To learn more about this festival, check out this link: http://www.slovenia.info/en/Pustne-prireditve/search-selected.htm?carnival=0&srch=1&srchtype=sel&sqlst=3090&lng=2&ctgrdr=1

Slovenia
“Pust” (Carnival) Celebration in Slovenia

7. South Korea – Apparently the 14th day of every month is celebrated in some way to honor love in Korea. There is Kiss Day, Green Day, Wine Day, Hug Day, you get the picture. But on February 14th, also known as White Day, men give candy or gifts to women. On April 14th or Black Day, the women who didn’t get anything on February 14th, go to Chinese restaurants and eat black noodles to mourn their lackluster love life.
A bowl of jjajang myeon noodles served on Black Day, image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

8. Spain – Only people in love get and give presents.

9. Vietnam – Couples wear the same style and/or color of clothes.

Vietnam

10. Iran – May have rejected Western influences, but Valentine’s Day and all its accouterments have worked their way into the minds of the youth of the Islamic state’s affluent culture who want to have fun and romance. Giving cards, flowers, chocolates are just some of the ways the romantically-minded youth in Iran express their Love on February 14th, despite the disapproval of the authorities.

iran
Image Source: Sepidedam & Persian Icons

iran2

Whether you personally celebrate or not, let us know how Valentine’s Day or its equivalent is celebrated in your country. Here’s wishing you a Happy Valentine’s day!

hearts


The Frustrated Evaluator
www.acei1.com

3 Comments

Filed under Creativity, Education, Gratitude, History, Human Interest, Travel

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 7, 2013 · 6:55 pm

5 Common Types of Non-Official and Illegitimate Academic Documents

February 07, 2013

Binded Document

When evaluating academic documents from around the world, ensuring their authenticity and legitimacy is the most important step. An official academic document, e.g. transcript, certificate, diploma, degree, is one that has been received directly from the issuing/source institution. It must bear the institution’s seal, logo, date, and an appropriate signature.

What makes a document illegitimate or non-official? Here are 5 of the most dubious types of documents:

1. Counterfeit or Fabricated documents – These documents are made up to represent official documents from legitimate or non-existent institutions and in some instance they use stolen letterheads.

2. Forged or altered documents – Official, legitimate documents that have been tampered and altered usually by omission, erasers, deletions, additions, or changes. For example, the transcript may show an entry with a typeface that doesn’t match the typeface of other text on the document.

3. Creative translations – These are actual “translations” of foreign-language documents that embellish, fabricate, and provide misleading information. For example, a secondary/high school diploma from Argentina is called “Bachiller,” but the translation translates it into English as “bachelor,” which is misleading.

4. Inside jobs – These are very difficult to detect on initial review as the documents are actually produced by an unscrupulous employee at the institution for a fee.

5. Degree or Diploma Mills – According to Allen Ezell in “Accreditation Mills,” a degree mill is an organization that: “awards degrees without requiring its students to meet education standards for such degrees; receives fees from their so-called students on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation and/or makes it possible for the recipients of its degree to perpetrate a fraud on the public.” The academic studies the degree or diploma mills purport to represent are based on fabricated information.

For more reading on this topic, we recommend the following published sources:

Accredited Mills, by Allen Ezell, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Washington, DC. (2007)

Bear’s Guide to Earning College Degrees Non-Traditionally, by John B. Bear, Ph.D., C&B Publishing, Benicia, CA, USA. (1994)

Better Translation for Better Communication, Commission of the European Communities, 1983, Pergamon Press.

Guide to Bogus Institutions and Documents, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Washington, DC. (2006)

Misrepresentation in the Marketplace and Beyond, Ethics Under Siege, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Washington, DC. (2007)

ACEI

Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc.
www.acei1.com

2 Comments

Filed under Credentials, Education

Tagged as , , , ,