> TEACHERS
Broward College is one of the largest and most diverse institutions in America, serving 63,000 students across 8 campuses and centers in South Florida. Broward College is ranked among the top 3 colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute. Broward College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Offering over 140 programs including certificates, associate and bachelor’s degrees with campuses throughout South Florida and online.
Broward College International Division
Since 1974 Broward College has been a leader in international education partnering with colleges and universities throughout the world to provide American educational opportunities to students who live outside of the United States. The BC International Education program model allows students to stay in their home country and complete an Associate’s Degree (the first two years of a 4-year U.S. Bachelor’s degree) before transferring to a university in the U.S. to finish the final two years of the degree. Broward College has a 40 year history of developing international partnerships to deliver two year associates degrees for local students in the host country presented entirely in English.
Currently, we have ten (10) active partnerships approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSOC) in the countries, including four in South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru). Students who complete these programs are then able to seamlessly transfer to U.S. universities at the junior year to finish their bachelor’s degree in two more years. This 2+2 model is common in Florida and throughout the U.S. because so many students begin their university degrees in community colleges. Students who participate in these programs can live at home longer, save money while studying in their home country, have more time to decide where they should transfer in the U.S., improve their language skills and often earn a scholarship based upon articulation agreements between Broward College and a growing number of top U.S. universities. Over the years, we estimate that more than 8,000 students have successfully transferred to U.S. or other universities in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. International partners involved with Broward recruit students, recommend qualified faculty to teach in the program, provide facilities on their campus and local administration of the program. An administrative fee is paid to BC to support the partnership by providing the academic foundation for the program.
I had the opportunity to attend a Trade Mission led by the Miami Chamber of Commerce and entrepreneurs on exploring and expanding into new market in South America. A trade mission is an international trip by government officials and businesspeople that is organized by agencies of national governments for the purpose of exploring international business opportunities. My experience with BCEx, Broward College Entrepreneurial Experience, taught me about the value creation process:
- Getting Your Idea on Paper
- My Why & Idea
- What Matters to Me, Mentors & Team, Testing my Assumptions, Customer Interviews, and Pivoting.
It helped me view my experience from a different perspective describe below during my trip. I was thrilled and honored to have been awarded a scholarship through the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) from Florida International University (FIU). CIBER had a $5,000 grant to support 1-2 faculty members to attend one of their trade missions. I applied when the opportunity was offered. As a language professor, an international educator, and a beginning entrepreneur in our BCEX program, with family ties to Argentina, I was interested in this mission to develop stronger contacts in the business and higher education communities of the two main cities in Argentina and building relationships with educational institutions and agencies to create interconnections between the higher education and business communities. Additionally, I felt that this very first trade mission opened the door for Broward College’s next partner in South America or a chance for BC to build a stronger relationship with FIU and/or create networking connections in Miami. Lastly, I discovered during my visit and conversation with educators from several different educational sectors that there is a potential for an entrepreneurial opportunity in developing an online customized language training program for Argentinians interested in coming to the United States to pursue a degree.
During my trip, I met with many government officials, companies, and many private higher education and language institution directors interested in exploring international opportunities with Broward College, but most importantly I met some very influential entrepreneurs that were part of my trade mission group. See attached bios. The link to the Trade Mission: http://www.miamichamber.com/events/americas-linkage-argentina-cordoba-buenos-aires Through this experience, I was able to meet new people and new trade mission contacts were a great resource for me and our institution to tap into to learn about opportunities and share with others about international trade. Additionally, I developed a sense of initiative and learned to identify and take advantage of opportunities related to my professional field and to adapt and represent Broward College.
I sat in meetings, briefings, luncheons, dinner receptions, and listened to several presentations, (both in English and Spanish) and I was continually surprised by what I was learning. The presentations were timely and reflected the initiatives and efforts that were ongoing at all levels of local public and private entities. The trade mission group had a briefing from the American Chamber of Commerce with an overview of trade and business opportunities. The briefing was attended by 55 Argentine companies from various sectors including professional services, trade and logistics, technology, communications, insurance and utilities/infrastructure –all interested in doing business in or with the Miami market. It concluded with the Coral Gables and Greater Miami Chambers of Commerce signing an MOU of cooperation with the Buenos American Chamber of Commerce by Alfred Sanchez, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce President and Mark A. Trowbridge, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce President. The delegation later met with the Cámara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios, the equivalent of the US Chamber of Commerce, and was given a very insightful briefing on the state of the Argentine economy and the impact the national elections are likely to have.
On another day, the delegation was privileged to meet and have lunch with Maria Eugenia Vidal, the current Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires. Governor Vidal shared her compelling vision for the future of the Province of Buenos Aires and the country of Argentina. She has much confidence in Argentine resilience and believes the incredible resources at Argentina’s disposal will pull Argentina out of the economic troubles it has been facing. We toured the capitol building and witness the very special ceremony in the Eva Peron room. While the delegation worked extremely hard, there were a few moments programmed into the schedule to appreciate the culture, art and values of Argentina. The delegation was honored to have met with the US Ambassador to Argentina, Edward C. Prado, and his top staff at the Ambassador’s beautiful residence, a rare treat indeed. Ambassador Prado gave us a personal tour and history of the residence and his staff gave us a thorough analysis into Argentina’s economy and political outlook. We also were able to see where many state dinners and important meetings have occurred, including the signing of the USMCA treaty between US, Canada and Mexico. That same afternoon, we met with a friend of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Estaban Jose Bullrich, who is interested in developing closer ties with Greater Miami and South Florida. We were then featured in the city newspaper la Cronica https://www.cronista.com/apertura-negocio/empresas/Visita-de-empresarios-de-Miami-que-sectores-miran-y-por-que-ven-una-oportunidad-20190925-0002.html
Looking back, I am proud to have represented Broward College and the U.S. on this mission. I am excited for the future and the many opportunities that this holds globally. I would say that exploring and connecting to new business through trade missions, can present excellent and exciting opportunities in an organized and supportive environment. I was able to connect with private institutions including Universidad Siglo 21 – Centro de Internacionalizacion (Cordoba, Argentina), ICBC Foundation – Instituto de Comercio Internacional, Foundacion Barcelo – Facultad de Medicina- Relaciones Internacionales, and Universidad de Belgrano- Department Internacional (Buenos Aires, Argentina) to discuss the chance of creating educational partnership opportunities. Broward College’s international education programming model is well-suited to take advantage of these contacts in order to develop future potential international affiliates and centers where our courses and degrees may one day be offered to students seeking to start their American education at home. I have shared my contacts and impressions with the BC International Education department and, if the Argentine universities show interest in such a partnership, we will be ready to follow up to take advantage of the opportunity create through my initial contacts.
Finally, I would say that this experience has equipped me as an instructor to contextualize my English language writing course research assignment. Students can explore on how participating in an international trade mission has a considerable impact on the acquisition of professional skills and competencies, as well as the development of personality traits and attitudes. Through this assignment, students would research on what a trade mission entails and how participating in one could help them learn to identify business opportunities and improve their employability. After their findings, students could be asked to create a proposed trade mission that would include the following items: the steps for organizing a trade mission, the country selected to be visited, the participants of the mission, the individual business mission program, and the number of companies likely to become involved.
– Andrea Apa, Assistant Professor, English as a Second Language
