Cultural Competence For Students
Developing Cultural Competence (DCC) Student Certificate Program
Prepare for your international career
The Developing Cultural Competence student certificate program is offered online for NC State students and those from our global partner institutions.
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Promoting Cultural Competence
The DCC program aims to improve students’ cultural competence and cross-cultural awareness by facilitating virtual exchanges among participants. The virtual training program consists of self-paced individual learning modules. There are also four 90-minute facilitated meetings where participants can discuss and apply the knowledge and skills they learned in the modules.
Applying Cultural Skills
The course is designed to provide a theoretical framework for understanding culture, learning about cultural dimensions, and improving cultural competence. The program also introduces cultural skills that are immediately applicable to activities on and off-campus. The certificate program appeals to students in all academic disciplines and prepares students to:
- Identify their own cultural preferences and have the tools to understand the preferences of others
- Promote cultural awareness in personal and professional settings
- Implement strategies for working effectively across cultural differences
The virtual exchange experience includes four 90-minute live Zoom-facilitated discussions, independent learning, personal reflection, and a group presentation component. Global participants are enrolled in a shared learning management system for shared content and collaboration.
Orientation and Introductions
– Introduce the learning community
– Connect favorite traditions to cultural identities
Developing Cultural Knowledge
– Group presentation of a cultural knowledge report
– Identify cultural gaps
Foundations
– Describe one’s personal cultural identities
– Form cultural knowledge research groups
Skills and Application
– Consider how cultural skills bridge gaps
– Apply learning to past experiences and common scenarios
Exploring the World, From Home
Interest in the Developing Cultural Competence student certificate program has grown exponentially since its inception in 2018. In-person educational exchange programs are still limited because of travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic, but students can still connect with others from around the world. Our live, facilitated online discussions promote cultural awareness and provide strategies for working across cultures. More than 1800 students have successfully completed the program already.
Contact Becky Cibulskis (rcibuls@ncsu.edu) for more information.
Register For Upcoming Sessions
Please note that all dates and times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time and Eastern Standard Time, reflective of their alignment with the NC State University academic calendar and time zone. All courses are facilitated in English.
Sessions will be offered depending on student enrollment preferences and facilitator availability. Spring 2023 courses are all month-long programs, meaning they will meet the same one day per week for four consecutive weeks with the final quiz due at the end of the course. Students should plan to dedicate 3 hours to DCC classes and assignments per week.
MARCH-APRIL 2023 SESSIONS
Mondays March 20 and 27, April 3 and 10 @ 8:00 – 9:30 PM (full)- Tuesdays March 21 and 28, April 4 and 11 @ 9:00-10:30 AM
- Wednesdays March 22 and 29, April 5 and12 @ 9:00-10:30 AM
Sessions will be offered depending on student enrollment preferences and facilitator availability. GTI will only offer one meeting time for the month-long Summer program. The July session will meet the same one day per week for four consecutive weeks with the final quiz due at the end of the course. Students should plan to dedicate 3 hours to DCC classes and assignments per week.
JULY Wednesdays: 9:00-10:30 AM EST (July 5, July 12, July 19 and July 26)
Participant FAQs
The Developing Cultural Competence Student Certificate program is open to all currently enrolled students at North Carolina State University, regardless of degree program or graduate/undergraduate status. The program is also open to students currently studying at NC State’s various global partner institutions.
SPONSORSHIP: Please check with your academic advisor or program director to see if a sponsorship exists for you. If so, simply choose “Sponsor Pay” on the application form and fill in the Sponsorship code or contact information related to your program.
Verified global partner students may also pay the fee directly via Flywire wire payment using the instructions provided upon acceptance to the program.
NC State students may pay the fee directly via the University Controller’s Office Non-Student Credit Card Payments webpage using the instructions provided upon acceptance to the program.
In line with the NC State University Academic Calendar, the Global Training Initiative seeks to offer multiple sessions of the DCC course each Fall, Spring and Summer semester.
All DCC course sessions are led by professional and student staff at NC State University. All listed are times are in the Raleigh, NC time zone (Eastern, USA).
DCC sessions are designed to meet four weeks in a row, often all in the same calendar month.
The Developing Cultural Competence program requires, on average, 10 hours of time:
- Four 90-minute live facilitated discussions offered via Zoom Web Conferencing (6 hours)
- Weekly self-paced lessons and individual assignments to be completed online (4+ hours)
As a four-week program, students should plan to spend up to 3 hours per week developing their cultural competence.
Some competence in English is required to succeed in this program. All course materials, lessons, instruction and discussions are led in English.
DCC applicants need not provide proof of English language ability, however, we recommend the following minimum English competence: (TOEFL – iBT: 85 total points; Previous Paper Version (PBT): 563; CET 6: 480; IELTS: 6.5; TOEIC: 800; Duolingo: 100).