Saratoga News WVC forms a partnership with tech college in U.K. Taking classes together many miles apart By Michelle Alaimo Students at West Valley College in Saratoga and Brighton College of Technology in Great Britain will soon be able to take classes together--without ever leaving their respective countries. WVC president Marchelle Fox and BCT principal Keith Jones have signed a memorandum of understanding forming a partnership that includes student and staff exchanges and creates cooperative programs, faculty training and workforce development. One student and one staffmember from BCT will visit WVC in January to learn about technology, Gladys DeLuca, West Valley's dean of instructional computing, said. One staffmember will be trained in JAVA, a computer language, and the other will work in the technology center. DeLuca said both have a background in technology and will help her on the development of a universal student email project. The project, still in the pilot stage, would make email available to all students. "It's really important that all our students learn the basics, like email," DeLuca said. Another possibility is for students to "take online classes together from both sides of the Atlantic," Fox said. WVC is also looking into the possibility of video conferencing with Brighton students. Some of the first projects students will work together on will focus on fashion design, multimedia and computer technology at both colleges. DeLuca said some of BCT's multimedia students will work with digital media programs that develop art. Another part of the group will work with television students. An exchange of fashion design students will also occur in January, DeLuca said. "Brighton is very cutting-edge with fashion," she said. WVC is also known for its fashion department, which includes the Gerber Soft Goods technology--the same technology found at most major apparel manufacturers. Fox said one of the goals of the partnership is to give students "distance-learning opportunities." She added that she has been working with BCT for about a year, and first learned of their partnership opportunities when she worked at a college in San Diego. "The partnership gives our students an opportunity to learn about the global village firsthand," Fox said. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, November 18, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.