Twenty Outstanding International Women Chosen to Study at College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: April 29, 2008

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

Twenty Outstanding International Women Chosen to Study at SUNY Rockland

Host families needed to house students beginning Fall ’08

Suffern, NY - Twenty women from socio-economically disadvantaged communities in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean will spend two years at SUNY Rockland Community College preparing for business careers.

The College has the honor of being selected to participate in the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS) program, which brings outstanding students from underserved communities in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua to the United States for two years of study, leadership training, community service and cultural exchange.  While in Rockland, the students will be involved in community service activities in the county and will prepare a community action plan to be implemented upon return to their home countries.

Rockland Community College selected twenty female students between the ages eighteen and twenty-four, who will study small business management.  Students arrive with little or no English language skills, and live with host families for the first year.  Host families are given a stipend in exchange for providing the student with housing and meals, and are expected to integrate the student into the life of the family. During the second year, the students transition to apartment living.

CASS collaborates with a network of 15 academic institutions in nine states that provide students with the critical technical, professional, and leadership training to address development challenges in their home countries. Rockland Community College and Broome Community College in Binghamton are the only two institutions in New York State involved with the CASS program.

The program is administered by a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), community-based educational institutions, and Georgetown University’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development (CIED).

Students will begin arriving in mid-August. Any community member interested in becoming a host family, please contact Laurie Pina at lpina@sunyrockland.edu. For more information about SUNY Rockland, visit:  www.sunyrockland.edu

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Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.