Iraqi Educator Group Visits United States; QCC Hosts Campus Tour

Worcester, MA – October 15, 2013 – Early in September, QCC hosted a group of eleven Iraqi College Administrators and Educators at 670 West Boylston Street in Worcester. The visitors were invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program and co-sponsored by the International Center of Worcester (ICW). Kathy Rentsch, Dean of QCC’s School of Business, Engineering, and Technology facilitated the visit in conjunction with ICW’s Executive Director, Royce Anderson.

Among the key objectives of the visit, as outlined by the State Department were to:

• Orient participants to the higher education system in the U.S. and to
• Connect participants with U.S. higher education faculty and administrators for exploration of potential opportunities for research collaboration and student and faculty exchanges.

The Iraqi government will also seek opportunities for other types of exchange and linkages with foreign institutions of higher education, including colleges and universities in the United States. This is not the first time QCC has hosted international educators with similar objectives. In July, delegates from Chinese Universities, Hefei Polytechnic University and Shandong University of Science and Technology, visited QCC’s Worcester location and in 2011, the Russian State University of Tourism and Services visited QCC to compare and contrast QCC’s successful Hospitality and Recreation Management program.

QCC welcomes visitors and students from around the world, illustrating commitment to diversity and access to high quality education for all; QCC students come from all corners of the globe including Africa, Italy, Albania, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Greece, Syria, Iraq and many more. QCC students from Syria and Pakistan were in attendance for the Iraqi visit and spoke about their experiences, helping to clarify details of the American educational system in Arabic. 

During the tour of the QCC campus, the Iraqi group looked in on a computer design class, conversed with students in hallways and classrooms, talked with Dean Rentsch about QCC’s expansion plans, and examined science and computer networking labs, assisted by two State Department interpreters.