University Administrators from Russia to Visit Community College of Beaver County to Study Workforce Training

Eight university administrators from Russia will visit the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) and other area institutions this week as part of a program entitled “Higher Education and Workforce Development in the U.S.: Multifunctional Role of U.S. Community Colleges,” arranged by GlobalPittsburgh.

The group will discuss how CCBC is training workers for the shale gas drilling industry in western Pennsylvania, including how it is building partnerships with industries, four-year institutions, and public organizations. After the meeting at the community college, the group will tour NOVA Chemicals, Inc.

Designed to create relationships between institutions to exchange best practices and sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the project will provide opportunities for Russian education administrators to learn about the community college model in U.S. higher education and about the ways that community colleges are helping to meet the goals of providing access to higher education and preparing future workers with in-demand job skills. The national itinerary for the group has been coordinated by GlobalConnect at Meridian International Center in Washington, DC.

The Russian administrators include: Ms. Valentina Fedotova, Head, Secondary Vocational Education Department at Urals Federal University; Dr. Dmitriy Kolykhalov, Deputy Head, Aviation Technology Department, Komsomolsk-on-Amur State Technical University; Ms. Alla Pavlova, Director, Emmanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Technical College; Dr. Gennadii Sosedov, Director, Polytechnic College, Tambov State Technical University; Dr. Audrey Tsarkov, Director, Kaluga Branch, Bauman Moscow State Technical University; Dr. Elena Merzon, Director, Elabuga Affiliation Branch, Kazan State Federal University; Mr. Vasilii Rodionov, Director, Junior Polytechnic College, St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University; and Dr. Ludmila Starkova, Head, Vocational Education Department, Novgorod State University and Director, College of Economics and Humanities, Novgorod State University. The adminstrators will be accompanied by two Russian lnterpreters, Mr. Roman Borukhov and Mr. Kahren Mkrtchyan.

During their visit, the Russian University administrators will meet with Dr. Joe Forrester, President, Community College of Beaver County; Dr. Melissa Denardo, Vice President of Learning and Student Success/Provost, CCBC; Ms. Karen Deichert, Associate Vice President, Career and Workforce Development, CCBC; Ms. Susan Dunlap, Workforce Development Program Coordinator, CCBC; Ms. Deborah Michaels, Director, Business and Technologies, CCBC; Ms. Helen Kissick, Director of Training & Development, NOVA Chemicals, Inc.; and Ms. Deb Newton, Executive Director, Job Training of Beaver County, Inc.