Beautiful Gardens - Outreach & International Affairs - Virginia Tech

Commonwealthirginia Tech's four Commonwealth Campus Centers (CCCs) in Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke,and Southwest Virginia are an essential part of Outreach and International Affairs. The university's NationalCapital Region integrates the university with national policy and research strategies.Each center provides a home base for Virginia Tech to serve regional needs. All offer graduate degreeprograms for working professionals, distance learning programs, customized continuing and professionaleducation, certificate programs, and meeting rooms for community gatherings.ds Centerwww.hrc.vt.eduCenter Holds Second EducationalLeadership Research ForumIn 2006, the Virginia Tech HamptonRoads Center initiated two outreachprograms, one geared toward disseminatingdissertation research results and theother designed to give U.S. educatorsin -person knowledge of European educationalsystems.Some of the hottest topics in K-12education, such as year-round sessions,the impact of pre-school education, anddrop-out prevention, were addressed atthe Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center'sSecond Annual Educational LeadershipResearch Forum on Feb. 15-16, 2007, atthe Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel, VirginiaBeach, Va.Twelve graduates in Virginia Tech'seducational leadership and policy studiesprogram who successfully completed theirdoctoral degrees during the 2005-06academic year shared their dissertationresearch findings.School leaders, such as superintendents,principals, cOLJnselors, andc'lassroom teachers, attended, says TravisTwiford, outgoing director of the HamptonRoads Center and a former nationalaward-winning school superintendent.Education in Three LanguagesEducation of children poses spec,ialproblems in Switzerland, which has noSingle national language, but rather offerspublic education in French . Italian, andGerman, the languages spoken locally inits cantons. The influence of the French,German, and Italian education systemsis deep-seated in these regions of thecountry, yet there are elements that arecharacteristically Swiss.Recognition that multiculturalismis becoming extremely important foreducators in the United States promptedTwiford and newly appointed Director.....Charlotte Anders to organize the first Conferenceon European Education last year.The program was based at Tech 's Centerfor European Studies and Architecture inRiva San Vitale, Switzerland, and introducedparticipants to the French . Italian,and German educational systems."We also learned about teaching andeducational administrator training inEurope," notes Anders, who accompaniedthe first group.A second conference is planned forJune 2008.onw w w. n cr.vt.eduSynergy for Success - Sharing aProgra m across RegionsIn December 2006, three of VirginiaTech 's Commonw ealth Campus centerscollaborated to coordinate a successfulopen enrollment program on charretteplanning and management - an acceleratedcollaborative approach to communityland-use planning.Planners and architects from acrossthe eastern and southern United Statesand from as far away as Michigan traveledto Roanoke, where they were hostedat the Roanoke Higher Education Centerfor the class and at the Hotel Roanokeeach day for lunch. While Virginia TechOutreach and International Affairs andContinuing and Professional Educationoften hold events that attract audiencesfrom across the nation and the world,this program was unique because it wasthe first to evolve from the "signatureprogram" mission of each Virginia TechCommonwealth Campus Center.The charrette courses come to VirginiaTech through a contract with the NationalCharrette Instit'ute (NCI), a researchand educational not-for-profit organizationthat is a national leader in teachingthe transformative process of dynamicplanning featuring collaborative planningprocesses to harness the talents andenergies of all interested parties, creatingand supporting feasible, transformativecommunity change. The course is part ofthe signature urban planning outreachportfolio developed in the NationalCapital Region in conjunction with thePlanning Academy, which is based in theurban affairs and planning department,College of Architecture and U.rban Studies,Alexandria Center.In response to a request from anarchitect in Roanoke, Susan Short, directorof the Virginia Tech 'Roanoke Center;Penny McCallum, di rector of the SouthwestCenter in Abingdon; and BarbaraBennett, associate director for outreachprogram development in the National CapitalRegion, committed to work together tobring the charrette program to Roanoke.Virginia Tech's Center for Organizationaland Technological Advancement providedfunds to help underwrite the cost.w w w .rich mond,vt.eduSecond Cohort Earns Master ofPublic AdministrationSeven Richmond area residents receivedtheir masters of public administrationdegrees on F'riday, May 11, at the VirginiaTech Graduate School Commencementheld in Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.Last year, the first four students to enterthe program at the Virginia Tech RichmondCenter received their master ofpublic administration degrees.Outrea ch NOW 30