Developing partnerships between Community Colleges and French Higher Education institutions
About 7 million students are currently enrolled in Community Colleges, accounting for about half of undergraduate students in the US. However, among young Americans studying overseas, less than 2% originate from Community Colleges. A large proportion of CC students are first-generation Americans and first-generation college students. The reasons why these students are not studying overseas is not a matter of academic level, but rather limited opportunities to do so. We aim to address this lack of a solidly established, easily accessible, and adequately communicated path for Community College students to study abroad in France.
Meanwhile, French institutions are seeking to establish international partnerships to offer their students, faculty and staff, opportunities to study and teach abroad and develop new partnerships. These partnerships can lead to the recognition of credits or even open the way to the implementation of double degrees.
Within the framework of the Transatlantic Mobility Program, this initiative aims at supporting Southern California Community Colleges that wish to engage in an international partnership with a French institution in order to offer new experiences and perspectives to their students, providing them with training opportunities to gain academic, technical, linguistic, and cross-cultural skills.
This program is supported by our partner, The Borchard Foundation.
I / What kind of partnership can be supported ?
1- The institutions may be willing to develop a partnership for different reasons
- to support international mobility of students, faculty and staff,
- to promote the exchange of knowledge, mutual learning and the development of joint activities with American and French partners.
- such partnerships may encourage students to strengthen skills in French or English, with the prospect of using these skills during their stay abroad.
Partners can set up many different kind of projects but they all have to provide mobility of students and faculty abroad. Nevertheless this mobility can be articulated with virtual exchanges too.
2- The partnership must be based on 3 shared axes
A/ Reciprocity
This reciprocity between the two partnering institutions can be asymmetrical, e.g :
- Study abroad to France and faculty visits to the U.S
- Differences in the duration of students’ stays in the partner country (short term - less than 90 days - or long term mobility)
- Moreover there may have differences in the type of experience offered to students, e.g. some could be hosted as interns.
B/ Inclusion and diversity
Ensure study-abroad access to underserved/underrepresented populations.
C/ Sustainability
The funding is a one-time allocation, but the program is not viewed as a one-year project. With this incentive grant, we aims at long-term changes, such as to promote the integration of study-abroad programs into the main missions of the institutions.
Finally, proposals may include both virtual (especially at the beginning) and in-person training programming between the partnering HEIs.
II / What type of expenses can the grant support ?
- The grant will support mobility (travel and scholarship) but can include any expenses that lead to mobility, such as virtual activities and faculty training.
- To match the grant offered (at least 1:1) you can include many different costs : equipment, translation, salary/per diem of faculty members abroad, etc…
- The grant will be up to $15,000.
III / Find a partner !
The French Embassy launched a platform to help higher education institutions find a partner.
But the Embassy and the Consulate general of Los Angeles can help community colleges find a partner in many other ways (organizing special online event with French interested universities, helping to establish direct contacts between institutions,…).
IV / Eligibility
The following Higher Education Institutions are eligible to apply:
- U.S. CCs located and legally registered in the U.S. (Southern California)
- French HEIs, including Universities, all private and public schools and institutes recognized in France. U.S. branch institutions in France are not considered potential partners.
V / For further information and to apply for the program
Click here for the overview of the Transatlantic Mobility Program.
Contact: Benoît Labat benoit.labat@frenchculture.org