Professions

Advocacy and Planning in the Globalization of the Professions

The Center serves as an advocate and international facilitator for the professions predominatly through the globalizing processes of quality assurance at the time of professional education (accreditation), and competency assurance at the time of professional practice (certification and licensure). In this capacity, The Center provides a focus of analysis and a forum for debate as it concentrates the professions' attention on the forces reconfiguring the global community. Through such accelerators as the multinational trade agreements and new technologies, the paradigm for the professions is clearly shifting from why should we globalize to how should we globalize:

• How do we identify those countries in which members of our profession wish
  to practice?
• How do we facilitate access to local practice for foreign professionals?
• How do we know that our professional higher education programs are truly world class and can stand up to international standards?
• How do we simultaneously protect consumers and maintain quality in higher education and practice?

In sum, what are the new rules of the global marketplace?

The Center administers the global International Recognition in Teacher Education process in collaboration with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Samples of international reviews of professional education programs include Jordan (sectoral reviews of accounting, finance, banking, English language and nursing), Saudi Arabia (sectoral review of nursing), and Colombia (rehabilitation education: physical therapy, occupational therapy and audiology). Also see Activities in Muslim Countries: Center for Quality Assurance in International Education

To aid the professions, THE CENTER convenes conferences and special meetings for individual professional bodies or cross-cutting groups of accrediting and certifying/licensing bodies which deal directly and practically with issues and information related to the trade agreements, the globalization of higher education and the globalization of the professions through accreditation and certification (quality and competency assurance), including testing. THE CENTER produces major publications which discuss issues related to the globalization of the professions.

A select list of professions with which THE CENTER has worked over the years and/or have been Center members includes:  accounting, acupuncture, allied health, architecture, art and design, audiology, banking, business, construction, counseling, dance, dietetics, computer science, engineering, English language programs, finance, healthcare management, interior design, library, medicine, music, nurse anesthesia, nursing, occupational therapy, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, psychology, public affairs, public health, Rabbinical and Talmudic, social work, teacher education, theatre and veterinary medicine. In addition, THE CENTER has worked with a number of Ministries of Labor, Education and Health in the enhancement of professional education and practice such as in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and others. 

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