MAG 2-06.indd - Wayne State College

PreliminaryPartnershipSecured withUniversity ofThessalyDr. Anthony Koyzis, dean of theSchool of Education and Counselingled a group of Wayne State facultymembers on an exploratory trip tothe University of Thessaly. Picturedare, from left: Jim Curtiss, JimKnotwell, Koyzis, Jan Dinsmore,Carolyn Linster, Jean Blomenkamp,Ron Whitt and Gerald Conway.A group of Wayne State College faculty members ledby Dr. Anthony Koyzis, dean of the School of Education andCounseling, participated in an exploratory trip to the Universityof Thessaly in Volos, Greece in November, 2005. They werepresenters at the "Education and Change: The Role of Teachersand Schools" international conference sponsored by the Schoolof Education and Humanities at the University of Thessaly. Participantsincluded representatives of the four academic schoolsat Wayne State: Arts and Humanities, Business and Technology,Education and Counseling and Natural and Social Sciences.While there, the WSC representatives secured a Universityof Thessaly partnership. "The Division of Elementary Education,the largest unit at the University of Thessaly, is willing tobe our major contact-partner," said Koyzis. "They will be theones who will be responsible for any WSC - UT relationship."Koyzis, Dr. Jean Blomenkamp and Dr. Carolyn Linster, facultymembers in the School of Education and Counseling, taughta two-day seminar to students in the newly-established Master’sin Educational Administration program at the University ofThessaly, the only one of its kind in Greece. The director of thatprogram has invited WSC faculty to consider teaching seminarson topics of mutual interest in the future."We discussed with UT faculty the possibility of partneringon a joint learning communities project," said Koyzis. "Therewas also interest from faculty from the University of Patras inSouthern Greece. A UT team will be exploring the possibility ofapplying for a European Union joint grant."The group also met with the mayor of Milies, one of thePelion Mountain key towns. "He assured us of any potentialsupport for future partnerships," said Koyzis. "The mayorhosted a luncheon for our team where he shared with us thehistorical significance of the village, including the existence of a17th century library and writings of one of the key Modern Greekintellectual figures. The college, founded by a group of 17th centuryintellectuals, functioned as one of the training grounds for theGreek War of Independence in 1821."Other accomplishments of the trip:• A meeting with the vice president of the University ofThessaly.• Exploration of the possibility of a WSC English LanguageInstitute in Volos as a means to recover costs for StudyAbroad programs and provide Wayne State College ESL andother students with student teaching opportunities.• A meeting with the Thessaly region commissioner ofeducation who gave assurance of support for any requestshaving to do with N-12 schools in the region.• A visit to the Volos municipally-owned Early ChildhoodCenters (upon invitation from the mayor of Volos) aspossible places for WSC student clinical--field experiences."We feel this exploratory trip to the University of Thessaly wasvery successful," said Koyzis. "In March, we will make a returntrip to Greece to sign the agreement with UT. We are also lookingat a two-week study abroad program for a limited number ofstudents from Wayne State and other schools in May."In the fall of 2006, we will invite University of Thessalystudents and faculty to Wayne State for a two-week program. Wehope to have a semester-long study abroad program in Volos in2007, an English Language Institute and offering MBA and othermaster’s programs in the Thessaly region in 2008. We believethere will be many positive results for both Wayne State Collegeand the University of Thessaly from a partnership. The WSC programwill also be open to students from other colleges and universitiesin Nebraska and the region."10