South America Program Overview

Community College Administrator Program

Program Overview

The Community College Administrator Program will be a six-week program of study for officials with higher education planning responsibilities and administrators from post-secondary vocational and technical institutions from Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. Three or four individuals from each country will be selected to participate in the program. Conducted by the Florida State University and Santa Fe College, the exchange will consist of a one-week Executive Dialogue and a five-week Community College Seminar.

Executive Dialogue 

The Executive Dialogue is designed to provide an overview of the U.S. community college system for officials tasked with the development of new and/or existing institutions focused on improved access to higher vocational education. These officials and institutional administrators will meet with legislative leaders and senior policy-makers of the Florida Community College System to provide a comprehensive understanding of the development, organization and administration of a U.S. community college system integrally linked to secondary education, higher education and the workforce training needs of business and industry.

Five-week Community College Seminar

The Seminar is designed to train 12 administrators from post-secondary vocational and technical institutions or officials with higher education planning responsibilities in key elements of community college leadership, to provide direct exposure to the day-to-day administrative responsibilities and challenges of a U.S. community college, and investigate specific community college academic and vocational programs relevant to the needs of participants’ home countries and institutions.  

Objectives

As a result of participating in this program, participants will

• Demonstrate enhanced ability to effectively address governance and policy questions integral to the establishment of a community college system relevant to home country contexts;
• Contribute to the present and future demands for policy formulation, continuous planning, program management decision making and day-to-day administration of community colleges in participants’ respective countries;
• Explore aspects the U.S. higher education system and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the U.S. community college administration;
• Articulate the unique and important opportunities created through merging academic, business and management skills through the community college system; and
• Encourage on-going collaboration between Latin American and U.S. counterparts involved in community college administration.

Topics of Study

• Governance
• Finance
• Student Affairs/Student Services
• Program Assessment
• Leadership
• Technology
• Workforce Development
• Community Engagement
• Private Sector Partnerships
• Distance Learning

Format

• Classroom Instruction. 20 hours per week of intensive instruction by graduate faculty of the Florida State University College of Education, former officers of the State of Florida Community College System, and current Santa Fe College administrators.
• Job Shadowing/Mentoring. One-on-one interaction with current community college administrators whose day-to-day responsibilities most closely match those of participants.
• Site Visits. Targeted site visits to Florida community colleges to investigate academic/vocational programs or administrative practices of relevance to participants and their home institutions.

Audience

• The program will fund the participation of 1-2 senior-level officials from each country to participate in the one-week Executive Dialogue. The Executive Dialogue will be the first week of the Community College Administrator Program. Interpretation services will be made available for the Executive Dialogue if needed.  
• The program will also fund the participation of 1-2 senior-level administrators from post-secondary vocational and technical institutions in Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru to participate in the one-week Executive Dialogue and the five-week Seminar.

Locations

• Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
• Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.

Tentative dates

• The program is tentatively scheduled to take place from mid-October to late November, 2016. Final program dates will be determined in discussions with relevant officials of the participating countries and the US Department of State..