The demand for an internationally skilled workforce, particularly in areas of technical and vocational training, far exceeds the supply currently available in today’s global workplace. Furthermore, short-term, cost-effective international student exchange programs with integrated vocational/academic emphasis are difficult for students to find. Often missing is the important language/culture component. These concerns have driven the INUNED consortium, which includes undergraduate higher education and vocational institutions and industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

The INUNED project has undertaken not only to develop partnerships among institutions and to provide mobility experiences for students and faculty, but also to develop "a framework for exchange." The framework to which partners agreed involves the concept of short-term modules. Each learning module is comprised of two key components: language and culture; and a particular technical field of study. Under each component, a number of elements are subsumed. These elements vary with the project and field, and provided flexibility to suit various situations.

Learning modules have been developed in the areas of Electronics/Semiconductor Technology, Information Technology, Solar Energy, Environmental Studies, and Tourism/Theme Park Management. Over the grant period a total of 73 students participated in the mobility portion of the program: 21 US students traveled to the EC, and 52 from the EC exchanged to the US. The students received an international undergraduate certificate in the occupational area selected. The certificate is recognized by the member institutions and the model can be easily expanded in terms of units of instruction and to other disciplines across the curriculum. The certificate requires completion of 40 hours of pre-departure in the home country and 120 hours of industry-specific course modules, a language/culture module, job shadowing and/or internships, and a final project posted to the Internet in the host country. Classroom language training was built on a "non-traditional" paradigm; namely, that students best learn language within a field, language they can use in technology, tourism, or whatever the profession, "language for a purpose."

A supplemental grant was awarded to the INUNED project to create an organization and methodology of cross-evaluating, benchmarking, and setting of common performance indicators for credit transfer between the vocational educational systems of the US and the EC. A text-based guide, International Credit Recognition System for Vocational Education Training (ICRS-VET), was developed to provide an additional instrument or tool to increase transparency as part of a framework for professional/technical mobility. The system has been presented at several FIPSE project directors’ meetings and is currently being tested with the North American Three Dimensional Environmental Education (3DEE) program at Golden West College. The intention of the project directors in developing these concepts and structures is to help create a lasting foundation for future short-term programs.

ONLINE REFERENCE: 

Marius Cucurny
Project Director
U.S. Lead

Orange Coast College/Golden
  West College
Language Department,
  Technology Department
P.O. Box 2748
15744 Golden West Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92647-
  2748
Tel: (714) 892-7711 x52180
Fax: 714-892-3985

Tom Hersh
Project Co-Director
U.S. Lead

Orange Coast College/Golden
  West College
Technology Department
P.O. Box 2748
15744 Golden West Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92647-
  2748
Tel: 714-895-8224
Fax: 714-892-3985

Eduard Pujol-Xicoy
European Lead

Escola Técnica Professional
  del Clot
València, 680
Barcelona 08027
Spain
Tel: 34-93-351-60-11
Fax: 34-93-408-46-82