Bergen an Inaugural Partner in UK Student Exchange Program
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and U.K. Association of Colleges (AoC) have selected Bergen Community College as an inaugural partner for a collaborative student exchange program focused on sustainability with colleges in the United Kingdom. Officially the “U.S.-UK Community College and Technical Education Exchange,” the program will pair Bergen with Southport College in England to collaborate on initiatives related to sustainable construction. ACCT and AoC officials announced program participants at the ACCT’s leadership congress event this month in Seattle.
“This new educational exchange partnership with Southport College is groundbreaking for Bergen’s students interested in the green economy and sustainability,” Bergen President Eric M. Friedman, Ph.D., said at the leadership congress. “We see tremendous benefits from the cross-cultural learning and foresee the emergence of exciting new workforce pathways.”
The ACCT and AoC selected only two U.S. colleges - Bergen and Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon - from 17 that expressed interest in serving as inaugural partners.
“We’re excited to begin this collaboration,” ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee said. “It is our hope that the first phase will catalyze an expansion to include more colleges throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, given high interest levels on both sides of the Atlantic and the importance of the programs offered.”
Bergen’s application stood out due to its extensive STEM program, which includes the nation’s only STEM Student Research Center at its main campus in Paramus, the College’s success in the national Community College Innovation Challenge and experience in completing gas-to-electric vehicle conversions.
Bergen will now work with its colleagues at Southport to plan the exchange program. College leaders will visit Southport in June to finalize the launch of the student programs later this year.
Among the projects Bergen seeks to complete as part of the initiative, students, faculty and staff have already discussed converting an atrium at the main campus to a fully hydroponic and aquaponic facility, designing news spaces using green architecture practices and creating novel methods of micro-irrigation techniques.
Students will have access to scholarships that will enable their participation in the first exchange cohort. Support from the Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation will also help sustain the initiative.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
Photo Caption: Bergen Community College President Eric M. Friedman, Ph.D., ACCT Vice President for Membership and Educational Services Robin Matross Helms, Linn-Benton Community College President Lisa Avery and Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation Trustee William L. Gertz.