The Community College Program

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Special Reports: August 7, 2004: Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview: The Community College Program

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-239-147.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.239.147) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 1:01 pm: Edit Post

Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview - The Community College Program

Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview - The Community College Program

Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview - The Community College Program






The Community College Program

PCOL: The community college program has been one of your biggest initiatives. How successful has this program been and how do you respond to critics who say that community college graduates may lack the skills and the maturity to serve effectively as volunteers? How do you measure the success of the program so far and has your evaluation been positive or negative?

GV: Let me answer this in two basic parts. One, the initiative was just launched about five months ago. It is very early in the process to render any kind of judgment on the success of the program. But let me just tell you, if the response of community colleges across the nation is any indicator, I think this is going to be one of the great opportunities for the Peace Corps going forward. We already have over 250 points of contact across America at community colleges who are promoting the idea of community college students serving in the Peace Corps.


 The Community College Program

The second part, I would say in relationship to people who believe or speculate that we are somehow compromising the standards or qualifications of the Peace Corps, they are simply wrong. We're not changing the standards. We are not changing the requirements.

As I said when I made my remarks at the NPCA conference, the average age of a community college student is 29 years of age, older than the average age of an undergraduate student coming out of a four year school. Eleven million Americans attend community colleges across this nation. There are community college students who have undergraduate degrees, and I suspect graduate degrees who have gone back to community colleges to study specific areas like health, information technology, areas that we have an interest in and areas and sectors that may be beneficial to Peace Corps in the future. It is incumbent on us to look at all the available talents that we have in this country to see when and where those talents might fit into the future of the Peace Corps.

The other dimension is that community colleges are more ethnically diverse than four year schools across this nation. So, it creates a pool of talent for us that also creates greater diversity for the Peace Corps.

It is too early to make any conclusions, but what I can tell you with certainty, is that we are not compromising the standards and qualifications for Peace Corps service by virtue of a recruitment program at the community college level. That's an erroneous conclusion of those who have rendered that judgment. I'm a product of a community college program and I know what it is to go to a community college. It was a great education and I went to school with some pretty talented people who will be very successful in life.





Read our interview with Director Vasquez in this month's issue of PCOL Magazine:


Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview
This month we sat down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before.

Then read the questions and answers one by one and leave your comments on the issues raised during the interview including Infrastructure Upgrades and the new Situation Room at Headquarters, Is there a Budget Crunch this year at Peace Corps, Peace Corps' Long Term Expansion, the Changes to the Five-Year Rule made last year, Safety and Security Issues, the Cooperative Agreement with NPCA, RPCVs in Policy Making Positions at Peace Corps Headquarters, Peace Corps' Departure from Russia in 2002, Director Vasquez's Accomplishments as Director, the Peace Corps Safety and Security Bill before Congress, Continuity at the Agency during Changes in Administration, the Community College Program, and the Director's Message to the Returned Volunteer Community.


Read the questions and answers and leave your comments.






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Story Source: PCOL Exclusive

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Peace Corps Directors - Vasquez; Community Colleges

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By henryfoundation (192.116.128.162) on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 2:27 pm: Edit Post

Dear Sir/Ma,
I'm Corps police trainned in Nigeria.I vist your web page and i was happy to learned that you recruit internationally,i will like to know when to apply for the upcoming recruitment programmed.I'm learned person with Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management,National Diploma In Cooperative Econimics and Management,Advenace Diploma In coputer Economics. And i hadsome works experience. I will be Happy to hear from you soon.


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