Tidewater Community College is one of eight U.S. colleges and universities selected to participate in a project to highlight promising practices in international education. According to The American Council on Education, the eight colleges and universities are "known for their outstanding achievements in internationalizing their undergraduate programs."

"I am delighted that the college's internationalization program has been selected for this most prestigious recognition," said Deborah M. DiCroce, president of TCC. "Indeed, the program is critically important to advancing the college's strategic vision for the 21st Century, a piece of which includes preparing our students to function in a world that has become increasingly global in mindset."

The eight institutions selected from a pool of 57 applicants are Tidewater Community College, Appalachian State University (NC), Beaver College (PA), Dickinson College (PA), Indiana University, Kapi'olani Community College (HI), Missouri Southern State, and The State University of New York, Binghamton. Each institution was cited for the creative and strategic ways they have integrated international activity into their mission, curriculum, and student life.

Tidewater Community College was cited for having "launched a comprehensive internationalization program 13 years ago that provides faculty with multiple opportunities to travel and study abroad, established sister colleges in five countries, and created short-term study abroad courses tailored to the needs of community college students. The college has also mentored nine other community colleges on enhancing their international programs, and built a consortium that offers students opportunities to understand the developing world."

"These eight are models for other institutions to improve the quality of international education on campus," said ACE President Stanley O. Ikenberry in announcing the selection.

As part of our Promising Practices Award, Tidewater Community College is currently drafting a self assessment document for final presentation to the American Council on Education. This project is headed by April Campbell of the Portsmouth Campus. She is charged with compiling data on numerous topics and forming a comprehensive document that details the internationalization process as it has evolved here at TCC. To do this, she has assigned topic areas to individual committees throughout the college. Below, please read about the topic areas and who is responisible for that piece of the final presentation.

So why do an assessment at all? The goal is to amass information that will assist the review team in identifying important issues and problem areas. TCC is considered a leader in International Education throughout the country, and the time has finally arrived for the college to determine what got us here, what works and what doesn't, where do we want to go, and how do we get there?

Subject	Responsible Party	Explanation
Basic Information	Barbara Johnson	This section includes a brief overview of the institution itself including a history, major institutional focus, major benchmarks and growth over the last decade. Additionally, this part of the report should also include the history of our internationalization process listing major milestones and current status of programs.
Internationalization Mission and Goals	Judy Gray ~ Ken Spencer ~ Rick Alley	This section should describe the institution's vision, goals, and mission in regard to internationalization. How does internationalization link into college policy and programs, and what is their effectiveness in the current enviroment? And finally, yet perhaps most difficult, what is the mission of internationalization itself?
The Enviroment	Fran Jacobsen ~ Dave Sieg	What is the local and the national environment on issues of internationalization? How does this help or hinder the process here at TCC? This part of the paper will research the special characteristics of Hampton Roads as it relates to the internationalization effort.
Institutionalization Strategies and Plans	Ed Gibbs	What is the Institution's Strategic Plan and how does internationalization fit into this plan? What are the goals that seek to prepare our students for a global arena and how effective and/or realistic are they? Where do faculty and staff fit within these goals and guidelines?
Organizational and Support Structures	Jeanne B. Natali ~ Donna Zimba ~ Susan de Veer ~ Patty McGuire	What are the structures that support internationalization and how effective are they? Who is responsible for the internationalization effort at the college, and to whom do these bodies report?
Financial Support and Resource Allocation for Internationalization	Jeanne B. Natali ~ Donna Zimba ~ Susan de Veer ~ Patty McGuire	This section details the external and internal sources of financial support that feed international programs and the internationalization process at the college.
International Dimensions of the Curriculum and Co-Curriculum	Dr. Terry Jones ~ Fritz Zeisberg	Using category groups as guidelines, this piece of the paper will describe the state of internationalization at TCC. It will also add an assessment of strengths and areas needing improvement.
	The guidelines for curriculum are Admissions and graduate requirements in foreign languages & global education, Foreign languages, General education requirements. The guidelines for co-curriculum include Clubs Services dedicated to international activities. Study Abroad Number and gender of participants Length of trips Disciplines Participation of under represented groups Grants and loans that are made available specifically to study abroad Credits Awarded Program Cost Foreign Students and Scholars Numbers and genders Sending countries and average length of stays Services provided Visa status Support funding Motivation for coming to TCC Ties to International Efforts Faculty and Staff Numbers involved in international teaching, administration, development and cooperation (related to instruction) and other activities (specify) Previous experience abroad (study abroad, intern, service) Funding opportunities (internal) for international activities. Community services and international partnerships research (students/faculty) with international connection links to the curriculum and co-curriculum.
Overall Conclusions and Recommendations about Internationalization	April Campbell ~ Patty McGuire ~ Whole Committee	In this section, the paper will summarize the conclusions about internationalization at TCC and will seek to make recommendations for changes to our international plans, our goals and visions, and our strategies.

Timeline for the ACE/Carnegie "Promising Practices" Project

June 2000	July 2000	August 2000	September 2000	October 2000	November 2000
Draft Criteria for Selection Create Guidlines for Project Website Developed	Compile List of Nominees or Candidates Begin Draft of Self Assessment Application on the Web	Organize Reviewers Work on Self Assessment	Applications due 9/5/00 Review of Applications Draft Self Assessment	Participants Selected (Carnegie 8) Notify Carnegie 8 Institutions Institutions Organize Teams Summaries on Web	Meeting with the Carnegie 8 Create your own Self Assessment
December 2000	January 2001	February 2001	March 2001	April 2001	May 2001
Participants Start the Self- Assessment Site Visits by Project Director	Site Visits by Project Director	Follow-up with Participants Work on Profiles and Self- Assessment	Draft of Profiles Due on 3/30/01	Work on Self- Assessment	Draft of Self- Assessments to Site Visit Teams Due May 15
June 2001	July 2001	August 2001	September 2001	October 2001	November 2001
Telephone Conference with Institutional Site Teams Draft of Final Reports to Carnegie 8 Due on 9/14/01	Site Visits by ACE Team Profiles Feedback from Carnegie 8 Due 10/05/01	Site Visits by ACE Team Profiles Report Due	Revise Profiles Report	Carnegie 8 Workshop in DC October 29-30, 2001	Profiles Published