By Tim Persyn
The West Valley-Mission Community College District will take part in a statewide summit May 14 with leaders of industry, government and community colleges, aimed at preparing the state's workforce to compete in the global economy.
Called the "California 2001 Executive Partnership Summit," the summit will be held at Apple Computer headquarters in Cupertino.
Participants will include Scott McNealy, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and West Valley-Mission District Chancellor Rose Tseng.
The summit is sponsored by the California Community Colleges Foundation. The summit will be accessible through satellite downlink at five interactive locations, including West Valley College.
"The purpose of the conference is to try to stimulate business to greater interest in community colleges," said John Morgridge, chairman of the board of Cisco Systems and summit chair."There are things we can do together to permit the infusion of technology at community colleges, not at a great a cost."
Tseng hopes summits like these will expand partnerships between community college and industry. "We would like the business world to learn what we need, and we can learn what they need," she said.
For example, a current partnership betweeen the West Valley-Mission district and Gerber Garment Technologies allows West Valley College students to design clothing through the use of computers.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 8, 1996.
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