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The Certificate Program in International Development Policy and Management

The Evans School of Public Affairs

The Certificate Program in International Development will equip UW graduate and professional students from a wide range of disciplines with the conceptual framework and practical tools to become effective practitioners in international development work. The Certificate will complement current Masters and PhD programs, and can be completed within a normal two-year Masters program. The 21-credit curriculum includes a strong interdisciplinary core with flexible elective options, drawing upon faculty expertise throughout the university. The program will stimulate University-wide faculty collaboration in preparing students to understand theories of development; combine professional skills with policy expertise; assess the impact of development programs and strategies; and analyze, plan and participate in economic, social and political change. Certificate program students will also be required to complete an International Development Practicum in an international development agency, NGO or project. This is a joint UIF-Tools for Transformation award.

Contact:	Paul Hill Acting Dean, Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs bicycle@u.washington.edu
Allocation:	$395,000
Date Funded:	February 2000

Progress Report - Autumn Quarter, 2000

Summary
This report summarizes the activities of the University of Washington’s new interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program in International Development Policy and Management through Autumn Quarter 2000. The program was initiated in Autumn 2000 as an interdisciplinary effort among several UW units, including the College of Forest Resources, the School of Nursing, the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, and the Office of International Programs and Exchanges. Each participating academic unit has pledged to provide support in the form of new elective courses designed specifically for the Certificate Program. The Office of International Programs will provide tuition support for up to three international students per year. The Certificate Program has been approved by both the Graduate School and the UW Board of Regents, and has received UIF/Tools funding for the first three years of operation.

Students
There are currently 22 graduate students enrolled in the program from a variety of different departments across the UW campus. Students must already be enrolled in a University of Washington graduate degree program in order to apply for the Certificate Program. All of the students are currently in their second or third year of graduate studies in a Masters or Ph.D. program. The majority have experience working overseas in a variety of different capacities and geographic regions, including Central America, South America, Africa, Eurasia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. There are three international students in the Certificate Program - from Spain, the Central African Republic, and Singapore. The following UW departments and professional schools are represented in the program:

Department of Anthropology

Department of Sociology

Department of Geography

Department of Nutritional Science

School of Nursing

School of Public Health and Community Medicine

College of Forest Resources

Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs

Faculty and Staff

There are three Evans School faculty members teaching courses for the Certificate Program during the 2000-2001 academic year. The school will conduct a search for a professor of international development who will teach one or more of these courses in the future, and also serve as an administrator or advisor for the program. Faculty members in participating departments are also in the process of developing new elective courses. Elaine Chang, Assistant Dean of the Evans School coordinates the Certificate Program, with support for program administration, internship development and outreach from two Research Assistants.

Advisory Board

The Certificate Program has an advisory board made up of representatives from 12 different UW departments, professional schools and offices, and several locally-based international development organizations. The board is responsible for making decisions about the structure and rules of the program, and finding resources for the various program activities. The advisory board met on November 27, 2000 to discuss a variety of issues, including the Evans School’s faculty search for a candidate with administrative and teaching responsibilities in the Certificate Program, and possible overlap with other programs, such as the new Peace Corps Masters International.

Curriculum

The Certificate Program requirements include 21 credits, made up of three core courses (9 credits), a year-long International Development Seminar (3 credits), and nine credits of additional electives. All of the core courses and the seminar are being offered during the 2000-2001 academic year. The course curriculum is modeled after a list of conceptual and practical competencies, which was developed by an advisory board that includes a special panel of leaders in the international development NGO community. Students are required to complete an academic planning form for the Certificate Program.

Core Courses: The first of the core courses, PBAF 537 - International Development Management and Evaluation - was taught this quarter by Professor Steve Arnold, the former Director, and Associate Professor of the International Development Program at American University’s School of International Service. Professor Arnold is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Evans School. The class was made up of Certificate Program students, participants in the Hubert H. Humphrey and Population Leadership Fellowship Programs (two programs at the Evans School that bring mid-career professionals from developing countries to the UW for one year), and other Evans School students specializing in International Affairs.; The course focused on concepts and tools for the design, implementation and evaluation of development programs and projects. This was done within the context of several case studies, and students applied the concepts and skills they learned to a specific development project of their choice in the final paper. The course also included two interactive sessions: a telephone conversation with an employee of the World Bank, and a presentation and conversation with two guest speakers who worked for USAID in Rwanda. The second in the series of core courses, PBAF 551 - Managing Policy in a Global Context will be taught during Winter Quarter 2001 by Marc Lindenberg, Dean of the Evans School.
International Development Seminar: Students completed the first segment of the International Development Seminar this quarter. The seminar, a weekly speaker series only for students enrolled in the program, gave certificate students the opportunity to hear presentations from practitioners in a variety of different areas related to international development. The Certificate Program collaborated with CARE Seattle to bring several speakers from CARE’s international offices. Other speakers included managers from international development organizations located in the greater Seattle area, including World Vision and Global Partnerships, and Humphrey and Population Leadership Fellows. A list of the speakers for Autumn Quarter is included with this report. The seminar will continue to expose students to diverse aspects of international development by bringing more speakers during the Winter and Spring Quarters.
Electives: Certificate students have the option to choose from among a variety of different electives from across the university. Electives must be 400-level courses or higher, and must be chosen from a list of approved electives for the 2000-2001 academic year. The electives were chosen on the basis of whether or not they contribute to the competencies developed for the program. Courses relevant to international development were identified through a search of the UW catalogue. Questionnaires were sent out to UW faculty members who teach these courses, asking them to evaluate their specific course or courses. The courses included in the list of approved electives are based on these responses. Students may also petition to have other courses that are not already on the list included.

Practicum Requirement and Opportunities

One of the requirements of the Certificate Program is a five-week minimum practicum or internship. The practicum serves to integrate the concepts and skills that the students learn in the Certificate Program by allowing them to apply them in a practical setting. Students must submit an evaluation from their supervisors, which will then be approved by the Evans School’s Career Services Director. Students may waive the requirement if they have extensive previous work experience with an international development organization in a program management or analysis capacity.

The Evans School has taken many steps to create opportunities for domestic or international internships with organizations working in international development. The program has hired a graduate assistant to work with the Career Services Director, specifically to focus on developing contacts for fulfilling the internship or practicum requirement. We have also developed forms and procedures for facilitating and waiving the practicum requirement. In addition, we have established a process for identifying possible internship opportunities. We have already contacted the following organizations regarding internships:

CARE
Carter Center
Gates Foundation
Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
International Medical Corps
International Rescue Committee
Mercy Corps
Microsoft Community Affairs Group
PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health)
Rural Development Institute
Solentiname Development Association (Nicaragua)
United Nations Development Program - Honduras
United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees
World Concern
World Vision

Many of these, including World Vision, International Medical Corps, World Concern, the Carter Center, UNDP-Honduras, PATH, Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, and Rural Development Institute, have expressed interest in setting up internships for students in the Certificate Program.

One internship has already been finalized. During the Winter and Spring Quarters of 2001, a couple of certificate students will be working with PATH and the Cambodian Women for Peace and Development (CWPD) to create a village-based health improvement and micro-lending project. Students will receive a cultural orientation to Cambodia, including site visits to current CWPD projects. They will research different micro-lending programs in Asia and beyond, assess CWPD’s organizational effectiveness, and working with CWPD staff to select the program model. In addition, they will prepare and implement a work-plan for skills transfer and program development at selected village sites, and develop projections to determine the program scale that will be required for sustainability beyond year 3 and year 5.

Recruiting Activities

During Autumn Quarter 2000, recruitment sessions were held at the College of Forest Resources, the School of Nursing, and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Information was also distributed at the UW’s Program on Africa’s open house, and at various Student meetings at the Evans School. Recruiting efforts will continue at other departments during Winter Quarter. Applications for enrollment in the program next year are due on April 15, 2000. Informational brochures are available for the program, and general information, including an application for admission and the list of approved electives, can be found on the International Fellowship Programs web page.

Additional Events

In addition to the activities and speakers offered in the core courses and the International Development Seminar, the Certificate Program sponsored and participated in several other events during Autumn Quarter. These events are described below:

World Food Day - The Certificate Program participated in the Seventh Annual World Food Day Teleconference, a national event dedicated to issues of food security and famine in developing countries. This year’s Teleconference included a speech by Amartya Sen, winner of a Nobel Prize in economics, followed by a question and answer session.
Hilary French - Certificate students attended a presentation and discussion on environmental policy in a global economy with Hilary French, Vice President for Research at the World Watch Institute. The focus of the talk was on the challenges presented by environmental problems of international significance, and the difficulties that national governments have dealing with them. The World Affairs Council of Seattle sponsored this event.
Presentation on Masai of Tanzania - This presentation was co-sponsored by the UW’s Program on the Environment and Program on Africa. Representatives from an NGO working in Arusha, Tanzania spoke about the problems of the Masai associated with loss of their traditional land and subsistence means, and how they were coping with these challenges.
The UN’s Role in Promoting Health and Human Rights in Africa - Students also had the opportunity to participate in this policy forum on health and human rights in Africa. Among the speakers were Ambassador Patrick Hayford, director of African Affairs for the Office of the UN Secretary General, and local experts on African issues.
Tostan Presentation - Certificate students attended a lecture by Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, a community education NGO begun in Senegal and also working in Mali, Burkina Faso and the Sudan. Tostan provides women and adolescents with skills and concepts that they can put to use in their own grassroots campaigns, such as the Senegalese national movement against female circumcision.

Other Resources

The Certificate Program has taken advantage of two international fellowship programs hosted by the Evans School: the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, and the Population Leadership Program. These programs bring mid-career professionals from developing countries to the University of Washington for one academic year of coursework and other professional development activities . The Humphrey Fellows work predominantly in the fields of environmental protection and natural resources management. They audit courses and complete a professional affiliation or internship during their stay. Population Leadership Fellows generally work in family planning, reproductive health and population control, completing extensive coursework in their field during their stay at the UW. Fellows from both programs have given presentations about their work in their home countries to the International Development Seminar, and have also participated in the International Development Management and Evaluation course.

Tools for Transformation Funded Proposals