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The Maricopa Community Colleges District recognizes the importance of providing our students, faculty, staff, and community-at-large, with the opportunity to engage with other parts of our interdependent world. Through faculty-exchange programs, study abroad opportunities, and other educational and cultural programs, our district champions international and intercultural education and experiences for our entire community. Among some of the activities promoted by the District's Office of International & Intercultural Education include:
- International Faculty Exchange Programs provide full-time Maricopa faculty the opportunity to live, work, and study for four weeks in China, Mexico, or Australia during the summer break. Faculty participants are nominated by their college presidents and selected by our partner institutions. Travel expenses are paid for by the program.
- Study abroad programs are initiated by faculty interested in offering an international experience to their students. Study abroad opportunities foster among our students an appreciation for the people and cultures of the world we all share. These experiences add a valuable dimension to the learning process by making our students more globally aware and responsive to international and intercultural issues. Faculty interested in initiating a study abroad proposal are encouraged to work through the International Education Office at their respective college.
- International Innovation Grants: These grants are administered through the District's Office of International & Intercultural Education and are intended to foster innovation and project start-up at the Maricopa Colleges. These grants are funded on a competitive basis through a grant proposal process submitted by faculty and employees. Funding decisions are made by the district-wide International & Intercultural Education Steering Committee that includes representation from all ten colleges.
- The new District Director of International & Intercultural Education encourages input from faculty and college administration to explore new projects that enhances the globalization of our curriculum and colleges. After consultation with faculty and administration at various Maricopa Colleges, new venues for faculty exchange programs are being explored, as are opportunities for seeking grants for specific international projects.
Meet the New Director of International and Intercultural Education
José C. Velasco is a product of the US-Mexico borderlands. He was born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and raised in Nogales, Arizona. Mr. Velasco occupied the post of Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Arizona State University since January 1999. In this position he was responsible, among other duties, for
procuring and administering a U. S. Department of Education, Title
VI-funded National Resource Center to enhance the study of Latin
America in the university and community at large. He has also served as
liaison to the business and economic development community throughout
the state of Arizona.
Mr. Velasco has over twenty years of direct international/intercultural professional
experience and an extensive background in governmental, academic, and
international settings.
His previous positions include:
- Director of International Programs for Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona
- Executive Assistant to Arizona Governor Fife Symington for International Relations, and Mexico Policy Advisor during the NAFTA negotiations
- Director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, a public/private partnership to enhance relations between Arizona and Mexico
- Peace Corps Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean
- Peace Corps Country Director in Ecuador
Mr. Velasco has traveled to 44 countries for business, study, work,
living and pleasure. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political
Science from California State University at Long Beach and a Master's
Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona. He has
also studied at the London School of Economics where he specialized in
Regional Economic Integration.
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