Professional Exchanges
The Seattle Colleges has established linkages with institutions abroad in order to facilitate international exchange and collaboration for staff, administrators and faculty.
The following models are designed to help you arrange an exchange with a colleague at your chosen institution. Please apply for the International Professional Development Grant or other campus based funding to pay for airfare and other expenses.
Getting Linked Up: Collaboration of Research, Curriculum or Best Practices
Faculty or staff notifies the Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Initiatives () that he or she is interested in being linked with a colleague or department abroad at a specific institution for collaboration. The Seattle Colleges employee should provide as much information as possible such as what they would like to do, when and for how long.
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Short Term Observational Exchanges
(for classified, administrator and faculty)
See section above to establish a contact.
Once you receive information about who your point of contact is at the institution you wish to visit...
You and the person you are linked with design a one way or reciprocal professional development exchange. If reciprocal, these will likely not take place at the same time.
Collaborate on a plan in which to host each other for the short period of the visit (or suggest inexpensive housing) and discuss and draw up a program of professional development in which you can share expertise and also learn from the institution abroad. Participants apply for funding from their home institution to cover international airfare. If the person who is initially “hosting” isn’t interested or can’t make an exchange visit themselves, somebody else from a completely different area of the institution abroad can participate and visit with the appropriate department/discipline at one of the colleges in our District.
Example:
In this model, Staff A from North Seattle College takes 1-2 weeks during a slow time (perhaps the summer) to visit Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology to learn about their system of embedding developmental language and math into college courses. CPIT is in session during this time period. Staff B from Christchurch assists Staff A by either hosting or providing low cost accommodation information. Staff A and her counterpart, Staff B, have established a visitation program in which A has the opportunity to both share and learn from colleagues at CPIT. Staff B comes to North Seattle the following year during one of his slow times in Christchurch. North Seattle is in session. Staff A hosts him or helps locate accommodations and has developed a program with him to ensure a rewarding professional development experience.
Faculty: Direct Course Load Exchange
Instructors identify a colleague in a like discipline through the process listed at the top.
Instructors collaborate on a plan in which to exchange course/work loads for an agreed period; (for example, one or two quarters) and discuss and draw up a program of professional development in which instructors can both share expertise and learn from the hosting institution. Instructors ideally exchange accommodations or agree to assist each other in logistics. Instructors maintain their salary and apply for a travel grant from their home institution to cover international airfare.
Faculty: Sabbatical
Faculty may choose to include a visit to one of the institutional partners as part of their sabbatical. For assistance in selecting the right institutional partner and make the connection, refer back to “Getting Linked Up”.