The American Indonesian Exchange Foundation held the 2015 Community College Administrator Program (CCAP) Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) and Alumni Networking Report at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel, Jakarta on March 31 – 1 April, 2015.  The Community College Administrator (CCA) Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State designed for senior-level Ministry officials of the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (DIKTI) officials and administrators who are working on the development of Akademi Komunitas regionally here in Indonesia. The participants will explore aspects the U.S. higher education system and U.S. community college administration. The participants are also expected to enhance ability to effectively address governance and policy questions integral to the establishment of a community college system relevant to the Indonesian context. In the U.S., this exchange program is hosted by the Florida State University and Santa Fe College who will organize the one-week Executive Dialogue and the five-week Community College Seminar series and activities in Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida from May 1 – June 15, 2015.

The purpose of the orientation is to prepare the participants for their upcoming programs in the U.S. and to establish strong networking among the participants and the alumni. Marzul Hidayat, a Fulbright Ph.D candidate at Florida State University provided some insight and guidance on the departure preparation and living in the U.S. throughout the two days of the orientation.  Mr. Hidayat has been assisting the previous cohort and will later assist the current cohort during the program in the U.S. The alumni joined the orientation to share their roles and contributions after the completion of the program. They gained more confidence and better perspectives in supporting their AKs and most managed to hold an important position that affect the decision-making process in their AK. The lively discussions with abundant of useful information about the CCA program and the achievement of the alumni have motivated the current cohort to be actively involved in the upcoming program in the U.S.