GCF Site Visit to Thailand Campuses and Beyond, March-May 2011

It is always amazing to me how each site visit with the foundation’s colleagues in Thailand is surrounded by impressive, inspiring and creatively meaningful accomplishments. Examples and highlights of those accomplishments continue to demonstrate the valuable outcomes of lifelong learning and the transformative power of education.

Global Campus Chiangmai, GCC, continues to be the hub of the foundation’s efforts in S.E. Asia. With two other well-established campuses, GC San Sai and GC Nan, and two newly developed Global Campuses, GC Mae Tang and GC Sangkampang, there is much growth to report. Also, Global Campus Nan now supports four smaller satellite campuses in the rural northern mountains near the Laos border.

GCF and GC Chiangmai have strengthened their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chiang Mai University, CMU, with a variety of activities. (1) GCF is sponsoring a contest with the Faculty of Architecture third year students to submit building and site plans for a Global Campus Complex that is being planned. This complex will be 100% Universal Design, fully accessible and environmentally green and will become the educational center for GCF’s efforts in S.E. Asia. (2) GC Chiangmai continues to work with the student club at CMU that participates with university students who experience disabilities through natural support efforts and disability awareness seminars.

Additionally, I had the pleasure of being invited by the Vice President of CMU to be a keynote speaker and a panelist for a conference of University administrators from the Chiang mai area. My presentation, “Disability Culture: Changes in Social Attitudes and the Value of Lifelong Learning for All”, introduced the conference focus of exploring disability issues and disabilities studies in higher education.

The efforts of GCF are being recognized in the region, and I was invited to travel to Chengdu, China to share about Global Campuses with colleagues at Chengdu University. It was a wonderful introductory site visit, and as an outcome we are responding to their request to pilot a Global Campus in the Chengdu area.

So, as we at GCF look to the future work for the foundation, we are inspired by the potential for further growth to advance the foundation’s mission in South East Asia and around the world. These are exciting times!

Jim Tewksbury, GCF Director of Programs