Happy New Year!

By Wendy Stewart, Vice President of International Programs and Extended Learning, January 15, 2020

We are honored and excited to be ranked 9th in the US among almost 1,200 community colleges in the USA according to IIE Open Doors.  Why? Because we have a reputation for truly caring about our students and taking the time to ensure they are happy and successful at Green River and beyond. 

We are always thinking of new ways we can serve our students, parents, and agents. Here are some of the exciting areas that we continue to develop in order to make certain our students will succeed at GRC and beyond:

• Parent Orientation - We enjoy partnering with our parents at the beginning and throughout the student's journey. We offer a free parent orientation at the beginning of every quarter. Parents meet Green River staff, tour campus and the area, and get important information about housing, safety, insurance, banking, and advising. If you have parents that may be interested in joining, please email Tawnya McLavey, International Visitors Program Manager.
  
  
• 16-year-old Housing Program - This "Eye’s On" program is for our younger students who are placed with host families who have been specifically trained to take care of 16-year-olds. They drive the student to and from school daily and provide weekly reports to housing. In addition, students meet with housing staff once a month to share how their stay is going. Housing sends monthly reports to parents and agents regarding the student’s well-being.  Here is some feedback from happy parents:
  
  

  "Today we received your letter with the host family's comments about Dilnaz. We are very grateful to you for it Emilee. It’s very important for us to get any information about our daughter from you." - Askar Temirtasheva - (Parents of Dilnaz Termirtasheva)

  "We are very pleased to see that Jacky's continuous progress and integration into the surrounding environment. We are more thankful than we can express. I hope more help will be provided in the coming days, thanks!" - Justin (Parents of Yuanpeng Guo)

  "Thank you very much for your detailed information. We have peace of mind with our children in your hands. Look forward to hearing the next update from you."  - Justin (Parents of Yuanpeng Guo)

• Global Leadership Program - The third cohort successfully completed the Global Leadership Program during fall 2019. The participants enthusiastically applied their new leadership skills by working in groups on projects they feel passionate about. Examples of projects aimed at making a difference for GRC students include encouraging greater interaction between international and local students, bus service to GRC, textbook pricing, campus food options and price, and on-campus jobs. The next cohort will start spring quarter and participants will be encouraged to continue working on some of these projects. 
  
  
• Global University Transfer Opportunities - Green River College has established partnerships with universities in Europe, Australia and the UK. These partner universities have agreed to accept transfer credits from Green River College and/or to give special consideration to Green River College students in their admissions processes. Currently, we have partnerships with University College Roosevelt in the Netherlands, Deakin University in Australia, London Metropolitan University in the UK, and the International Management Institute in Switzerland. We are also developing partnerships in additional countries to ensure that students who transfer internationally will have the same seamless transition as students transferring within the US.
  
  
• Alumni University Chapters - We believe that once students join the Green River family, they are always part of the family, even after they transfer. To keep the Green River family connected, we are developing Alumni chapters at some of our most popular transfer universities including the University of Washington, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Minnesota, and Columbia University. Please follow us on LinkedIn.

 Looking forward to continue to partnering with you in 2020!