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Reviewed by:
  • International Reform Efforts and Challenges in Community Colleges. New Directions in Community Colleges, No. 138
  • Patricia Somers, Associate Professor
Edward J. Valeau and Rosalind Latiner Raby (Eds.). International Reform Efforts and Challenges in Community Colleges. New Directions in Community Colleges, No. 138. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. 112 pp. Paper: $29.00. ISBN: 978-0-470-17688-7.

This monograph provides a basic overview of the issues, challenges, and models involved in internationalizing community college education. The editors wrote this book to fill the post-September 11 void about information on international education reform for community colleges. However, 9/11 was a double turning point: Americans understood the need to be more globally connected yet monies were diverted to national safety and security programs rather than educational activities.

Eleven chapters form the monograph, with three common threads: (a) the role of new community college leaders in providing leadership for international programs, (b) how some community colleges have embraced globalization, and (c) how international education can become a catalyst for educational revitalization in community colleges (pp. 2–3).

The book is aimed at relatively novice practitioners. The first three chapters have a good, but at times redundant, general overview of internationalization in community colleges. Two interesting chapters deal with the globalization of workforce development and technical/occupational programs.

Six chapters review specific details of how to internationalize. Two of these chapters discuss consortial efforts. Consortia provide key support for international programs, particularly study-abroad efforts, which need a critical mass of students to be financially viable. Other chapters present examples of on- and off-campus programs and profile international faculty in community colleges.

The most useful part of the monograph is two case studies. The first is a cautionary tale about how international education programs can become politicized, especially in a localized setting such as a community college. This case included charges of "pork barrel" trips by administrators for recruiting students and administrators who are junketing on "inspection visits" to colleges abroad. The final chapter is a case study of the successful Asia-Pacific Emphasis at Kapi'olani Community College in Hawai'i.

While this volume seeks to help practitioners, it also contains useful research. For example, a study of 700 community college students found that they acknowledged financial barriers to study abroad, yet family and job considerations were even more important in their decision not to study abroad. Further, one of the consortia did a pre- and post-study of intercultural sensitivity, with mixed results depending on the program location.

The monograph could be very helpful to community colleges just beginning an international effort. There are some omissions, however. A more detailed description of visa issues for international students and faculty would provide a realistic understanding of the effort involved in bringing international scholars to campus. Additional case studies would be useful. One author mentions that a community college has successfully used local immigrant communities to help develop its international program; a description of this program would be interesting. Further, a case study of a successful program at a "border" college (U.S/Mexico or U.S./Canada) would provide another model for globalizing the community college.

On the whole, Valeau, Raby, and associates provide good basic information on internalizing the community college. The addition of a few more case studies would make the volume outstanding. [End Page 521]

Patricia Somers, Associate Professor
Higher Education and Women's/Gender Studies, University of Texas at Austin, and Fulbright New Century Scholar
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