University Business - October 2010 - (Page 66)

COMMUNIT Y C O L L E G E S Programs for ELL Integrating immigrants into the community By Ann McClure E lEction yEars always tend to revive the debate surrounding immigration policy. what is often forgotten is that many people with a foreign accent arrived here through proper channels. community colleges are working to help integrate them in their new homes. “Everyone has heard of the immigrant doctor who is driving a taxi,” says teresita wisell, associate dean of the Gateway center at Westchester Community College (n.y.). “we want to help them navigate the process to help them use their education.” Tulsa Community College’s Education Outreach Center entry aims to welcome lowincome and first-generation students. advanced students will have the opportunity to work in the welcome center because, wisell explains, it is important to give people “the opportunity to contribute in their native language.” this program, plus the fact that existing campus programs are relocating there, means there has been no problem finding staff or translators for the new center. On LOCatiOn By contrast, the tulsa Community College (okla.) Education outreach center has had to recruit “aggressively” to find employees, says tony alonso, dean of diversity and civic engagement. “and it’s paid off.” the staff members provide academic advising, financial aid information, and other student services needed to transition to the main campus. in addition to being bilingual, all staff attend workshops on cultural competency, in addition to other training. “But mainly they treat everyone who walks through the door with respect, and that is what makes people return,” says alonso. while wcc’s Gateway center was built to provide additional classroom space for programs with rising enrollment, tcc’s outreach center was built to be a bridge to the main campus. “we sensed that many low-income and first-generation students found our campuses very intimidating. they didn’t know where to go or what questions to ask,” says tcc President tom McKeon. “we wanted a place that was small and welcoming.” the college bought and renovated a convenience store in a low-income, highuniversitybusiness.com Under One rOOf to that end, a variety of existing language programs, along with business programs and a citizenship integration center, are being brought together in the Gateway center, which opened this fall. “we’re hoping for a lot of integration,” wisell says, noting that immigrants learning English and americans learning foreign languages will be housed in one wing for easy mingling. with the English language institute already serving more than 4,000 students a year, there will be plenty of mingling going on. “the plan is to support English language acquisition and transition them [to standard classes],” she explains. a trend she is seeing at community colleges is for “contextualized” courses that promote English as well as skills acquisition. “[we are exploring] how we can blend English and entry-level nursing,” says wisell. as with any community college student, time is often a factor and the blended classes help reduce obstacles. 66 | October 2010 colleges are exploring the idea of vocational English. George Boggs, president of the american association of community colleges, says, “students might be taking a technical skills class in their native language as well as in English as an incentive to learn.” in addition to formal instruction, English language learner (Ell) students can receive casual instruction from the “conversation Partners” volunteer group. FOcus On ImmIgrants T h E G a T E w ay C E n T E r a T Westchester community college (n.y.) will also house the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education (www.sunywcc.edu/cccie). “It’s a national group that tries to raise awareness of what community colleges are doing in this area,” says Executive Director Teresita wisell. The two-year-old organization has 20 member institutions from across the country. Members have been serving on panels, discussing best practices, and developing a compendium of practices on the website. http://www.sunywcc.edu/cccie http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - October 2010

University Business - October 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Survey Savvy
Perfecting the Pitch
Business Continuity Plan Refresh
Welcome Alumni
Community Colleges
What’s New
End Note

University Business - October 2010