International community colleges group will continue, but probably not in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - An international consortium based at Kirkwood Community College will stay intact, despite up to $280,000 owed to the host college.

The Board of Community Colleges for International Development voted last week to continue as a non-profit with plans to repay the debt to Kirkwood over the next five years, said Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich, treasurer for the group.

'By spreading it over five years the idea is that we will be able to grow CCID and make it stronger,” Starcevich said.

The board will continue to look for a new host institution for the consortium that assists community colleges around the world with study abroad programs and other international exchanges.

The group was founded in 1976 at Brevard Community College in Florida, with the goal of forming partnerships with community colleges in the United States and abroad to expand development of the community college model and support international exchange programs.

Although the group has been based at Kirkwood since 1998, the non-profit is not well-known in the Corridor. The non-profit has more than 160 member institutions, including community colleges in 18 countries and five in Iowa.

Freddy Miranda, director of international affairs at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, told The Gazette in January the development consortium has helped the school obtain J-1 visas for exchange students. J-1 visas are for programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain medical or business training.

A Jan. 12 letter from board President Jack Bermingham told members the group wouldn't be moving to Miami Dade College as scheduled and said Director Carol Stax Brown had resigned, effective Feb. 1. Stax Brown told The Gazette last month Kirkwood officials had not told her the group owed money until December, months after the board had voted to leave Kirkwood and Stax Brown had moved to Florida.

The debt includes payroll, fringe benefits, and other 'ongoing expenses CCID incurs,” Starcevich said.

Bermingham's letter encouraged members to attend the consortium's 39th annual conference Feb. 20-23 in Newport Beach, Calif., where the board voted on the group's future.

Starting next week, Interim Director Shawn Woodin, of Florida, will be the group's only paid employee, Starcevich said. Woodin has authoritization to hire one full-time employee and one part-time employee to provide services to member schools.