Germanna partnering with FRED bus service

Germanna Community College has announced a partnership with FREDericksburg Regional Transit. FRED is a department of the City of Fredericksburg and provides scheduled bus service in the City and counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, Caroline and King George.

Germanna’s contribution of $25,000 annually to FRED qualifies it as a Major Partner and member of FRED’s Public Transit Advisory Board (PTAB). As a Major Partner, GCC employees and students will be able to ride all regular FRED services free upon showing a valid ID.
“We are delighted to have Germanna Community College as a major FRED partner," said Kathleen Beck, Director of Public Transit for the City of Fredericksburg.

“Germanna Community College is equally pleased to become a FRED partner. With a growing student population and expanding facilities and staff, we see this opportunity to partner with FRED as a significant benefit for the GCC community, while supporting public transit in the region,” said Dr. Ann Woolford, GCC Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services.

GCC President David A. Sam said the partnership with FRED provides a greener way to get to the college and that “it can provide access for those who might not have a car.”

FRED has served the Fredericksburg Campus of GCC since December 1998. Recently, FRED restructured service in Spotsylvania County so that the campus now receives hourly service between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, with connections at Lee Hill Center to the rest of the FRED network.

Sen. Mark Warner: Third building at GCC's Fredericksburg Campus would help attract "world-class jobs" to area

Sen. Warner says expansion of Germanna's Fredericksburg Campus critical to area's economic future.

"In the past," Sen Mark Warner says, "there was the expectation that public education would be funded by public funds. Increasingly, that’s not the case."

"... Community college, where so much is really done, particularly in terms of economic development, doesn’t have the kind of donor base universities do. [Capital] has to come from the business community."
Sen. Warner says area businesses would be wise to help supply seed money necessary to break ground on a third building at Germanna's overcrowded Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania.

"Part of the challenge this community has got is not just attracting jobs—it’s attracting world-class jobs," he said.

"This is a community that in its own right is world class. You don’t want it to be just the lower-income jobs that are actually coming. At the end of the day, you want to have that kind of world-class job."

NEW GCC PROGRAM BEGINS WITH 16-DAY STUDY ABROAD TRIP IN JULY AND AUGUST; INCLUDES ELEPHANT AND CAMEL RIDES, TAJ MAHAL STOP, CULTURAL & BUSINESS STUDY

Germanna student Kristeen Hadeed talks with Indian fashion designer Elisheba John of Magic Clothing Pvt. Ltd. about the business. John was part of an Indian delegation that visited GCC this week. ...


Germanna Community College has established a program that will involve cultural and business study in India as well as student exchange.

The India Study Abroad program launches this summer, with destination cities of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kumarakom and Chennai.

There will be three travel tracks--an India Study humanities class track, a Business/IT/Ayurvedic visit track and a general cultural interest track. Ayurvedic is a system of traditional medicine native to India.

Highlights of the 16-day, July 23-Aug. 8 tour will include the Taj Mahal, an elephant ride at Amber Fort in Jaipur, a cross-country Jeep safari ride, a camel ride in Samode, a house boat cruise in Kumarakom, Hindu Temples and other stops. The deadline for registration is May 15.

Last year, a small committee traveled to six Indian cities to investigate opportunities in information technology, history and culture.

Germanna is the first institution in the Virginia Community College System to establish a program in India.

Frances Lea, GCC associate professor of economics and marketing and a member of the committee, said that during an exploratory mission to India last year, “We were surprised by how open the Indian universities and chambers of commerce are and how wiling they were to work with us.”

“I am delighted that Germanna has approved its first Study Abroad Program to India,” said Sunithi Gnanadoss, a GCC faculty member who was part of the team that traveled to India on the exploratory mission. “This is a fruition of a vision, research, and much work. It is good for students to connect with the global world--connecting today with tomorrow's world is very important.”

This week a delegation of Indian business people visited Germanna and talked to students and faculty about opportunities and culture there.

GCC associate professor of English Gnanadoss, who is a native of India, said she hopes the relationship will help change the idea that American can only lose jobs to India through outsourcing. She sees the program as a step toward creating American jobs.

She sees opportunities instead: Student exchange could provide internships at information technology centers and jobs tutoring English.

GCC Director of Workforce and Community Education Martha O'Keefe, who also was part of the exploratory committee trip, agreed. "I think it will lead to just a better understanding of the business climate in India," she said.

Unlike study-abroad programs in Europe, where some customs are similar to American culture, India would immerse students in an entirely different environment, Gnanadoss said.

For more information, call 540/423-9857, e-mail sgnanadoss@germanna.edu or go to www.germanna.edu.