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Kirkwood to Host Global Learning Program

By July 5, 2012January 11th, 2019No Comments

On Saturday, June 30, 2012, over 30 students and faculty from around the world flew in to Cedar Rapids’ Eastern Iowa Airport to take part of the fourth annual three-week Global Learning Program, taking place July 2 – 21. Kirkwood Community College and the Global Education Network (GEN) are partnering to host this intercultural Project Management experience. GEN is a group of colleges across the world working together to provide international training and learning experiences for their students, the partners including Box Hill Institute in Australia, Institute of Technical Education in Singapore, Sait Polytechnic in Canada and Kirkwood Community College of the United States. Visiting students from each of these partners, in addition to 11 Kirkwood students will participate, representing four unique cultures.

Students arriving for the program will earn a certificate of completion in Project Management from Kirkwood by learning specific practical applications, and spending nearly three full days implementing their new skills building a house for local needy families through the Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity Sait Polytechnicchapter in Iowa. The project will be developed by Habitat for Humanity and students will actually work on-site with the organization to learn how it functions. Each team will be comprised of students from all 4 countries and led by a faculty mentor from one of the schools.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for students to work in real multicultural teams on a real project that impacts our community in Cedar Rapids. The experience of working together with students from other cultures is invaluable to workforce needs. Managers who are hiring our students will appreciate the experience students will gain from this project,” asserts Dawn Wood, International Programs Director at Kirkwood Community College.

While in Iowa, program participants will be offered the opportunity to visit some of Cedar Rapids’ premier tourism attractions through cultural visits. These will include trips to the Freedom Festival, downtown to see Independence Day fireworks, to the Amana Colonies and an evening baseball game complete with a cookout at Kernel’s stadium. Students will also enjoy visiting local farmer’s markets and the National Czech and Slovak Museum’s Grand Reopening.

Once the program is completed, students will present a project plan to the board of experts in Project Management that can be used annually by Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. Students will have also put together a reflective journal highlighting the difference approaches between the four countries, including cultural norms.