Study Abroad Advisor

Study Abroad and Community Colleges

The Example of Rockland Community College

An Interview with Jody Dudderar Conducted by Bill Hoffa

Bill Hoffa: The last IIE Open Doors survey listed Rockland Community College at the top of the list of two-year institutions sending students overseas to study, with nearly 300 students. What is it about Rockland that accounts for such numbers?

Jody Dudderar: We have been at it for a long time. We send some students on programs we ourselves administer, mainly semester programs in England. And we have a lot of two- to three-week summer study tours led by our faculty. But we are also part of the College Consortium for International Study and we are part of the New York SUNY system. This gives our students a lot of choices, and we work hard to make all of them known to students and to faculty. Rockland’s success has a lot to do with our being able to offer programs of various lengths and in different kinds of learning formats. Some students come back from a two-week program and go abroad again for a semester.

BH: Can you say more about CCIS and the SUNY System connections?

JD: Through CCIS membership, we can enroll students at Rockland, so they get RCC credit and financial aid for study in about 20 countries. We were one of the founding members of CCIS, which was originally for community colleges alone, and was intended as a means of developing programs. The agreement was that one institution would develop and administer a program and others would support it by enrolling students as if it were their own. CCIS members now include numerous small public colleges and universities. The CCIS programs are considered rock-bottom in price, so CCIS programs attract students from non-member institutions as well.

Through the SUNY system our students have access to programs sponsored and administered by any of 64 different SUNY campuses. In the late 1960s, the Chancellor of the State Univ. of New York was very interested in education abroad. He issued a document to all the campus presidents saying this, and offering them his support (meaning some funding) to internationalize the curriculum and set up overseas opportunities. He said, “Look at your curriculum, but also look beyond your curriculum.” So SUNY had this system-wide mandate in 1968. RCC had a president who was also very forward-looking and he latched onto the idea. We started with short courses in January and the summer months, and these were very successful. Then we expanded into semester programs.

BH: How many of your students do the semester programs and how many the shorter programs?

JD: The smallest portion of the 300 students who study abroad, about 50, are in our semester programs—or do CCIS or SUNY system programs. The vast majority of our students participate in shorter courses. We register students from four-year institutions in these programs as well. A lot of our students feel that they do not have three months to take away from their life here in the States, and they see the two-week period as something more manageable. I also know from our surveys that a lot of students do the two-week programs first; they see it as less threatening in terms of their own ability to go overseas.

BH: In what ways then is RCC like and unlike other community colleges? How typical is it?

JD: We are typical, I suppose, in some of the programming we do, meaning the shorter courses. We are unusual in offering semester programs as well. But this is starting to change. I think you will find more and more two-year colleges developing semester programs and you might also find different models—for example, a three- to four-week study abroad experience as part of a 15-credit semester-long program of study in a particular technical or academic area. This sort of program would address the twin obstacles community college students always face: lack of time and lack of money. It isn’t that they don’t want to participate, but that they think they can’t. That’s why early advisement is essential, identifying study abroad as part of what students are doing in associate degree programs, and not as “time off.” Students have to see—and we have to make it known to them—that credit and grades will become a part of their transcript and will be a part of their academic record if they go on to four-year colleges.

BH: Do the numbers of community college students studying abroad listed by IIE in Open Doors correspond with your estimate of national activity?

JD: No, my guess is that there are many students who are not counted. In New York we are addressing this counting problem in SUNY discussions. It is a challenge to get accurate information out of most community colleges, in part because most do not have designated study abroad advisers or offices. Others think that IIE doesn’t really want to know about short-term program numbers, and often faculty who lead programs do not report their figures.

BH: What needs to be done to get more two-year college students overseas?

JD: Money is always a problem but the most important thing is advising and top administrative support. Advising needs to be done as early as possible and at all levels. Our students need more attention, support, and encouragement than students at other types of institutions. They need to know that living and learning overseas is both possible and worthwhile. None of this will happen, however, without committed institutional leadership from the president and board on down. Only they can set up the structures and provide the resources to let students know that this is something you can do while you are here. We have had some of this leadership at Rockland, and it has made a real difference.

JODY DUDDERAR is Director of International Programs, Rockland Community College, in Suffern, NY. BILL HOFFA is an independent consultant in education abroad.