MCC enters partnership with German school

Wednesday, October 29, 1997

By Dave Alexander
CHRONICLE BUSINESS EDITOR

Muskegon Community College students are for the most part unaware of the world beyond Muskegon County and of the realities of working in the global marketplace.

The unfamiliarity with the world also can be seen in the student body at Kaufmaennische Schule, a vocational economics college in Stuttgart, Germany.

The faculty at Kaufmaennische Schule and at Muskegon Community College hope to open their own eyes to the emerging world economy and in turn the eyes of their students. MCC and Kaufmaennische Schule are working together to launch a curriculum that will begin with an international business course planned for the second semester. Faculty and student exchanges and overseas internships also are anticipated.

Sharon VandenHeuvel, chairman of the MCC business department, traveled to Stuttgart last October. This week Reinhard P. Poehlmann, a business and economics professor at Kaufmaennische Schule, is in Muskegon to work on setting up the joint programs with MCC.

"I want my students to see the system here, such as the detail you have for service in your businesses," Poehlmann told The Chronicle after a Monday luncheon with MCC faculty and staff.

The American system of marketing and operations in retail businesses is very different from the
German practices, Poehlmann said. One of his Monday afternoon trips was to Meijer Inc. in Norton Shores. Store hours are strictly regulated in Germany, in part to protect union employees from working
night and Sunday shifts, Poehlmann said. The idea of a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week store like Meijer is completely foreign, he said.

Just like their Stuttgart counterparts, MCC students have a lot to learn about the international business scene, said Robert Ferrentino, dean of business, health and industrial technology.
"Our students need to know more about the business world than just what is in Muskegon County," Ferrentino said. "Without such world exposure, they will be ill prepared to compete."

The effort to bring an international perspective to MCC business courses began when VandenHeuvel attended the International Business Institute for Community College Faculty at Michigan State University. She met Lansing Community College faculty who already have a relationship with Kaufmaennische Schule.

Poehlmann said that Michigan and the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg have an educational exchange program established. His school hopes to have exchanges with LCC, MCC and other Michigan colleges.

Kaufmaennische Schule has 2,500 students of American college age. Part of the school's mission is to provide vocational business training in law, tax accounting, economics and retailing. It also has a post-vocational program for middle managers and a graduate program in business.

Ferrentino said one of his goals since coming to Muskegon last year has been to bolster the international aspects of the business department. MCC offers certificates and associate degrees in traditional business areas of accounting, management, marketing, office administration, computer information, hospitality services and banking.

MCC will be sending eight faculty members to Kalamazoo Valley Community College to learn how to integrate international lessons into standard courses. MCC and Kaufmaennische Schule will begin joint Internet assignments for their students.