NMC to strengthen educational partnerships in China
TRAVERSE CITY — A team from Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) will travel to China next week to strengthen educational partnerships that will benefit NMC students and solidify the institution’s international leadership in the area of water research.
The purposes of the trip include preparing curriculum with partner Yellow River Conservancy Technical Institute (YRCTI), representing a consortium of colleges at a conference in Beijing, and initiating new partnerships at two additional Chinese technical colleges.
NMC President Timothy J. Nelson has been invited to speak at the conference and was invited back to YRCTI after the Chinese Ministry of Education formally recognized the partnership between NMC and YRCTI in February 2016.
“NMC students will have the opportunity to practice their skills in one of the most important rivers of the world. Likewise, we can offer opportunities for freshwater experiences to Yellow River students in the Great Lakes,” Nelson said. “As a result of experiencing these diverse resources, students from both schools will have the potential to work anywhere in the world on matters related to water.”
The NMC team includes Nelson, Vice President of Lifelong & Professional Learning Marguerite Cotto, and Director of the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute Hans Van Sumeren. The team will be in China October 16-October 26, 2016.
While in Beijing the team will participate in the China Annual Conference for International Education. Nelson will present in the president’s lecture series and Cotto will participate in a panel on implementation of new programs.
NMC has been developing the partnership with YRCTI since 2012 as part of the strategic directions determined by the college Board of Trustees to prepare learners for success in a global society, establish international competencies in the area of freshwater and deliver learning through a networked workforce.
Through the partnership between NMC and YRCTI, instructors from NMC are preparing to deliver courses at the YRCTI campus over the next 18 months. Yellow River students will travel to Traverse City to complete the NMC degree the following year.
During the visit the NMC team will also visit Changsha Polytechnic College and Huanggang Polytechnic College as coordinated through the consortium agreement with the Michigan Community College Association and the University of Toledo. The Huanggang visit will explore interest in the area of Computer Information Technology. The area of interest in Changsha is wastewater and stormwater technology.
“In the next few years, select NMC courses will be taught by our instructors in China and after that, those students will be here completing our degree,” Cotto said. “NMC students specializing in Marine Tech will have an opportunity to study in the Yellow River the year after. As just one example of the power of relationship-building across the globe, we know these experiences truly have the capacity to change the lives of students and of communities. We’re looking forward to the next step.”
Release date: October 14, 2016
For more information:
Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019