An initial two-day conference held in November 1994, "Building the Global Community: The Next Step," provided a vision of the global imperative. A second conference in November 1996, "Educating for the Global Community: A Framework for Community Colleges," defined what characterizes the globally competent learner and the steps institutions must take to prepare such learners.

A third gathering was held in November 1997 for US government officials and community college leaders on "Building Constituencies for US and Community College Involvement in the Global Arena." Conference objectives were to clarify public policy issues seen as barriers to global involvement for community colleges; to identify new and existing vehicles for sharing information between community colleges and government agencies; and to explore new partnerships, collaboration, and consortia to strengthen the effectiveness of global education initiatives.

This conference was considered the first step in a broad-based process to develop a comprehensive guide to resources for global initiatives in community colleges and to assist federal agencies in advancing their global education objectives.

The energy and enthusiasm of seminar participants translates to local and state action plans—including revised mission statements; review and revision of curriculum; establishment of college-wide committees for global initiatives; local and regional collaborations; and in six states, the formation of statewide community college consortia to facilitate global education efforts. Planning is under way for similar events in other states from coast to coast.

The foundation has also convened workshops in the states of Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia, and California, where participating institutions sent their president and a trustee to learn about globalizing the community college and to develop a one-year action plan for their own institution.

The Stanley Foundation planned and cosponsored an international gathering in Bilston, England, in 1998. Representatives from Africa, newly independent states of Western Europe, Canada, England, and the United States attended this meeting. The objective was to examine and fashion international mechanisms to develop communications and cooperation among these countries in advancing global education in higher education.

Two summit meetings were conducted at the Stanley Foundation headquarters in Iowa during 1998 and 2000. These meetings were held for the leadership of the American Association of Community Colleges, American Council on International Intercultural Education (ACIIE), Association of Community College Trustees, and Community Colleges on International Development (CCID). The intent was to discuss options to further define and to enhance individual and collective global education initiatives.

The Stanley Foundation, in cooperation with ACIIE and CCID, has developed 24-hour retreats for community college presidents, deans, faculty, and trustees. The global education seminars have been held in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The ultimate goal for these and future seminars is to establish viable global education programs in each of the 1,400 community and technical colleges in the United States.

This Web site has been created to help community and technical colleges set up such programs.

"To ensure the survival and well-being of our communities, it is imperative that community colleges develop competent global and multicultural citizenry."