University President Arnold Speert (right) signing the agreement with Harry Frantzen, dean of education at Windesheim University

As a result of a new partnership agreement recently signed with Windesheim University in The Netherlands, students and faculty from the University’s Department of Special Education and Counseling will have the opportunity to participate in an international program that will encourage the exchange of new ideas and philosophies regarding special education programs.

The agreement with Windesheim University, which will facilitate the exchange of faculty and students and coordinate programs between the two institutions, was signed by University President Arnold Speert and Harry Frantzen, Windesheim University dean of education on October 10 as faculty from the College of Education at William Paterson hosted a large contingent of faculty from Windesheim.

“Our faculty has the expertise in many of the special education issues, such as inclusion, that the Dutch faculty and students are interested in,” says President Speert. “We are happy that this agreement will bring us into closer contact with them so that we can share what we create, foster, enhance, and nurture.”

During their visit, the Windesheim faculty also visited the University’s professional development partnership schools, an urban school district in Hackensack, suburban schools in Kinnelon, and a rural school, Sussex County Technical High School, to get a feel for the different school systems in the U.S.

Windesheim University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest of the fifty-five universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands with approximately 15,000 students. It offers study programs in fifty different academic disciplines. The emphasis is on a student-focused, practice-oriented education. Windesheim is a graduate university with a curriculum that includes a program in special education.

“Right now, the impetus of the agreement is on special education,” says Ana Maria Schuhmann, interim dean of the College of Education. “Windesheim is a comprehensive institution, very similar to William Paterson in preparing students for professions, but we expect the agreement will eventually encompass all areas.”

Although faculty from both institutions have already visited each other’s campuses, Schuhmann expects that the first student exchanges will take place in summer 2009.