FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC WELCOMES DUTCH

PERSPECTIVE TO CAMPUS

DANVILLE, VA, November 11, 2005 -- Danville Community College students, faculty, and staff

Miranda Wilbrink greets Dr. Carlyle Ramsey.	Charlie Adams, Professor of Information Systems Technology hosted Wilbrink's visit to campus.

embraced the presence of Miranda Wilbrink of Leiden, Netherlands, an exchange faculty member who recently spent two weeks visiting the campus and surrounding communities. Wilbrink was the guest of Charlie W. Adams, a professor of Information Systems Technology at DCC. Both are participating in the VACIE-VCCS international faculty exchange program.

Wilbrink and Adams have a lot in common in that she is a word processing and basic computer skills teacher at an I.D. College in The Netherlands, and he teaches in the information systems technology department. According to Wilbrink, the ID College is a school for intermediate vocational education representing a wide range of professions, and specializes in fields such as economic and secretarial studies, and studies related to health, social well being, beauticians and a variety of other technical professions.

“The students here (at DCC) are quite different from my students,” Wilbrink says. “Mine are between 16 and 22, here they are mostly adults.”

Wilbrink was excited to be part of the exchange program because she wanted an opportunity to observe the secondary and post-secondary education structure in the United States. She noted that the ID College is in a period of transition, as they look at new forms of education.

“In general, I wanted to gather information about education in the United States, such as dealing with absenteeism, school management, teaching classes,” Wilbrink says. “I am especially interested in the differences in teaching, in the approach to students in the United States (as opposed to) and The Netherlands.”

 Adams provided accommodation for Wilbrink as she experienced her first visit to the United States.  Wilbrink is married and has two children 17 and 14.  

“Her visit to DCC has been an advantage to students and has helped me. I am able to share teaching skills and techniques that I employ for the students and the College. Miranda was able to see software packages such as PeopleSoft for tracking student progress and classroom scheduling,” said Adams.

Her visits to some of the Information Technology classes on campus added enjoyment and enlightenment about way of life for students in the Netherlands.  

“DCC students have a better awareness of what the Dutch talents have provided regarding water control, such as the dykes being studied for development in the Gulf Coast as the result of hurricane Katrina,” said Adams.

Dr. Ramsey was thrilled to receive her visit and was excited about her involvement with students at DCC. Students particularly enjoyed the story of St. Maarteen which is the holiday similar to Halloween. The Dutch celebrate it on Nov. 11 instead of Oct. 31. Wilbrink feels that her visit has helped her grow personally. “Yes, it has helped me to learn American people better, not only by the things we see on TV in The Netherlands. I liked it very much to have been able to speak and meet many different people, teachers and students. It is an extra experience in my own life that is very worth full,” said Wilbrink.

Next year, Adams will make his first visit to the Netherlands, where he plans to visit art museums and observe some of the customs including the similarities and differences the Dutch practice.

   The VaCIE-VCCS program is a faculty exchange between the Virginia community colleges and the further education systems of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Its name comes from sponsorship by the Virginia Council on International Education and the Virginia Community College System. The purpose of the exchange is to learn new educational techniques, to study the approaches taken by different educational systems, and to learn something of the history and culture of another nation.