Josiane Hickson, RN-BC, EdD, NE-BC, Chair, Practical Nurse and Patient Care Technician programs, Berkeley College School of Health Studies (left), holds one of the young patients benefitting from the medical mission team’s surgical trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America in 2016. With her (on right) is Maria Perez, SPT, Berkeley College alumna.

For the past several years, Joseph Charleman, CST, CSFA, CRCST, LPN, Chair, Surgical Technology, Berkeley College School of Health Studies, has united students, alumni and faculty with professionals from leading healthcare organizations in the region to help children in a number of countries receive needed surgeries.

It began in 2013 with the Berkeley College students and faculty assisted Healing the Children New Jersey (HTCNJ) with packaging and sterilizing medical equipment for upcoming missions. Since then, Berkeley College volunteers have participated in several medical trips through the Medical Teams Abroad program of HTCNJ, which provides pro bono medical care and related medical care and related services to children in developing countries.

“Over the past several years we have developed a strong partnership with Berkeley College as a result of Joe’s efforts. We value this collaboration and hope it will continue to grow as we continue our mission of providing quality medical care to children in need and giving them the opportunity for a brighter future,” said Diane Calesnick, President, Board of Trustees, Healing the Children New Jersey.

Mr. Charleman’s first trip brought him to La Romana, Dominican Republic in 2013, where he served as a Trip Administrator for a team that evaluated 325 patients and performed 52 Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeries on children. The 18-person team included surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists from New Jersey and New York hospitals. In 2014, Mr. Charleman was a member of an HTCNJ team that returned to La Romana on a combined ENT and ophthalmology trip to evaluate 620 patients and conducted 112 medical procedures.

In 2014, the Berkeley College School of Health Studies participated in its first medical mission trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador, with HTCNJ. While volunteering at the Dr. Roberto Gilbert Elizalde Children’s Hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in Ecuador, faculty and alumni were proud to be part of the team who evaluated 44 patients and performed 24 surgeries for pediatric urology-related issues.

Mr. Charleman received recognition for his efforts from the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management in 2015. The following year while on a medical trip in Guayaquil, the Healing the Children pediatric urology team, including Mr. Charleman and Berkeley College volunteers, were honored during a dinner reception hosted by the United States Counsel General to Ecuador.

“The feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment cannot be put into words,” Mr. Charleman said. “The opportunity for students and faculty to participate in a global healthcare experience and apply interventions through skills they learned within the classroom is education at its highest level.”

Mr. Charleman will be bringing Berkeley College faculty and students on a HTCNJ pediatric urology medical trip to the Dr. Roberto Gilbert Elizalde Children’s Hospital in Guayaquil from October 28 to November 4, 2017.’

Berkeley College and Guizhou University in China’s Global Collaboration Gains Momentum

This summer, eight faculty members from Guizhou University of Finance and Economics (GUFE) will spend July and August training in teaching methods and practices at Berkeley College. The training is part of the Berkeley College Global Alliance – Collaborative Programs at GUFE, with visiting faculty focusing on curriculum development, assessment, best practices in teaching and learning, and use of technology in the classroom. In the fall semester a cohort of students from GUFE will earn credits toward their Bachelor’s degrees from Berkeley College.

“This relationship has been developing for several years and is part of our Collaborative Programs network,” said Judith Kornberg, PhD, Associate Provost, Berkeley College. “In 2012 we hosted representatives from the Public Security and Law Enforcement Bureau in Guizhou Province. The group members learned about technology, policing procedures and methods from our Criminal Justice – Justice Studies faculty, and field site visits.”

Lou Piermatteo, Management, Berkeley College Larry L. Luing School of Business®, participated in the Visiting Faculty to GUFE program in the fall semester last year, and will serve as faculty administrator for instructors from China who are visiting this summer.

Students and faculty from GUFE also visited Berkeley College as part of a business and management Summer Immersion program in 2015 and 2016. The participants attended classes in English Business Communications, and partook in visits to American historical and cultural sites, as well as businesses and government institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank, United Nations, and IBM. Services for the visiting students and faculty are strongly supported by Berkeley College staff from the Office of Student Development and Campus Life.

The Berkeley College Global Alliance – Collaborative Programs at GUFE are the largest such programs in Guizhou Province, China. During the past year, nine Berkeley College faculty members traveled to GUFE, located in Guiyang, China, where they taught the following courses: Accounting, Business Communications, Business Law, Principles of Management and Principles of Marketing.

The Berkeley College Global Alliance – Collaborative Programs at GUFE enrolls 600 students annually. Since 2015, more than 1,000 students have enrolled in the Global Alliance – Associate’s Degree Collaborative Program at GUFE. Students graduate with Associate’s degrees from GUFE and have the option to complete their Bachelor’s degrees at Berkeley College.

Photo Caption: Students from China studying at Berkeley College during summer 2016 listen to fellow students’ business plan presentations about their ideas for new businesses in the United States and China. The group of college students from Ghizhou University of Finance and Economics (GUFE) completed a 90-day Summer Immersion program at Berkeley College. This year a new cohort of students from GUFE are expected in the fall semester to attend and earn credits toward their Bachelor’s degrees from Berkeley College.