International
Opportunities
Other International Opportunities
University
of Kentucky Partnership Project in Indonesia
This project
involves a strategic
partnership between the
University of Kentucky and three key Indonesian universities, Brawijaya
University (Malang, East Java), University of Lampung (Banda Lampung,
South
Sumatra), and Syiah Kuala University (Banda Aceh, North Sumatra) to
help them in
reforming their academic programs to serve the people in their region. The program restructuring will focus in the
areas that are relevant to their regional economies – agriculture,
business, education,
engineering, and public administration.
The overall project goal is to
increase the ability of three
Indonesian universities to meet the needs of their constituents:
students,
businesses, governments, and non-government organizations.
The objectives are to:
- Strengthen their teaching
programs, especially in agriculture, basic education, business,
engineering, and public administration, to make them more relevant to
an increasingly globalized Indonesian economy.
- Provide technical assistance and
mentoring for Indonesian professors as they change their teaching,
research, and extension programs to make them more relevant.
- Assist in the development of
management systems in these universities that will diversify their
income sources and provide more support for the broad-based mission to
assist the region.
Because of the basic education elements, the
project would
have widespread benefits to many Indonesians – they will be better
equipped
with life and work skills. A better
educated citizenry will be able to follow healthier lifestyles that
involve
better nutrition, less environmental degradation, and improved disease
control. The business climate will be
improved by having better trained students going into the public and
private
sectors. Students who understand the
need for effective, clear regulations that are advertised and enforced;
who
have more skilled to be used in agricultural research and extension;
who have
technical skills that businesses need and the management expertise that
can
attract new investment; who have technical know-how in engineering
fields that
can help in manufacturing and other industries; and who can provide
better
government services at the regional and local levels.
Regional universities in Indonesia
need to influence the way
that students are taught in primary and secondary schools through
programs that
improve teacher training, education management, and school-based
decision-making. These universities need
to lead the way if the country is to produce graduates that can not
only fill
jobs, but also create jobs. A
combination of courses that involve technical and scientific skills,
along with
business applications can greatly assist the private sector to develop
in
dynamic local economies. U.S.
universities can show these Indonesian institutions how a university’s
multifaceted programs can serve as the major engine for growth in local
and
regional economies.
This project will help the Indonesian
universities promote
local economic development, particularly development of small and
medium-sized
enterprises. It will encourage the
universities to be more actively engaged with local businesses and
governments
through outreach programs and continuing education.
It will facilitate local governments’
preparations for more decentralization. The
USAID strategic plan recognizes the efficacy of such
collaborations
when it states that “USAID will support business, academia, and civil
society
as key constituents responsible for creating the demand for economic
reform
needed to sustain Indonesia’s
economic growth.” The spread effects of
this project will be particularly great because it will increase the
capacity
of the universities to serve local needs for years to come.
The specific activities that will
take place during this two
year project are:
1. A
planning visit
by four top-level administrators from each Indonesian partner for
better
understanding among the partners and to plan the detailed activities of
the
project for the two years.
2. A university
management seminars that last for two weeks. Each
seminar will train 6 people per Indonesian university
on U.S.
academic management systems and the way resources are used to maximize
the
university’s impact on students, businesses, government, and the
community.
3. Curriculum
development
visits by Indonesian faculty members to work with a U.K.
mentor. The Indonesian faculty will attend
classes to
view class management styles, discuss class activities, assessments,
and
teaching methods with their U.K.
mentor, and use library and other resources to develop teaching
materials for
classes that will be offered in Indonesia.
4. Three
four month
residencies (one at each university) for U.K.
faculty to teach and develop research projects in Indonesia.
Residents will be chosen who can provide
short courses that meet the project’s objectives. These
key activities will promote a stronger
relationship among the project partners and promote long-term
collaborations.
5. Eight
other three-week
short courses will be conducted in Indonesia over the two
years. These short courses will be chosen
by mutual
agreement among the partners. Examples
of potential short courses include education management for primary and
secondary schools; international business and finance; robotics and
automation;
food technology; and public finance. Each
short course will be held at one of the partner
universities, but
faculty from the non-host partners will also attend.
6. Twelve
(four per
university) technical assistance visits by U.K. faculty members that
will
provide curriculum development assistance, laboratory assessment and
design,
outreach mechanisms for businesses and government, and specific
research
endeavors.
7. Nine
(three per
university) extended visits (three months each) to U.K. to establish deep
relationships involving academic, research, and extension matters. The Indonesian faculty members would attend
classes, teach jointly with U.K.
faculty members, work jointly with U.K. mentors on research,
and
participate directly on extension activities.
8. Nine
additional
research visits (three per university) will be by Indonesian graduate
students
who will visit laboratories for four months and be directly involved in
research projects at the U.K. These
longer term collaborations will provide
deeper interactions between U.K.
and the Indonesian partners.
9. Visits
by nine
Indonesian educators or civic leaders (three from each region) to
increase
their leadership skills and expand their understanding of
entrepreneurial
approaches to business decisions, especially in agriculture.
For more information contact
Michael Reed, International
Programs for Agriculture, mrreed@uky.edu
Improving
Agricultural Education in the Republic of Georgia
The University
of Kentucky’s (UKy) role in
the USDA project entitled
“Improving Agricultural Education in the Republic of Georgia
is to work with the Georgia Institute for Public Affairs (GIPA) to
improve the
educational quality of agricultural colleges in the Republic of Georgia
(ROG).
The project assists three of these agricultural colleges, in
Senaki,
TSK, and $%%, in developing a curriculum and in conducting courses in
ways that
will assist in improving agriculture in the ROG. The
activities support for course
development, improved teaching methods, assessment measures, applied
research
and extension programs that support the educational enterprise.
The project began in October 2005
and has included visits by
a high school agriculture teacher, a faculty member in Plant and Soil
Sciences,
two undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture,
and the
executive director of the National Association of Agricultural
Educators. These visits ranged in length
from 10 days to
six weeks and all were aimed at improving the way the agricultural
colleges
conduct their teaching, research, and extension programs.
In the second year of the
project, a few Georgian teachers
will have the opportunity to visit Kentucky
and see first-hand how the use of field trips, the internet, homework,
case
studies, presentations, and team work can improve student learning. These techniques energize students and help
them learn concepts more fully.
For more information, please
contact Michael Reed,
International Programs for Agriculture, mrreed@uky.edu
Technical
Assistance
to
Romanian Agriculture
The project in Romania is a cooperative
agreement
between UKy and USDA, but the funding comes from the US Agency for
International Development. Each activity
is negotiated among the three partners. Thus
far, the disciplinary focus of the work has been in food safety, but
there will
be future work in agribusiness and other areas.
The main activities to date have
brought Romanian university
faculty members and institute scientists to the UKy through the Norman
E.
Borlaug International Agricutural Science and Technology Fellows
Program and
the Faculty Exchange Program. In the
Borlaug Program, scientists spend one month at UKy visiting a research
lab. During the training program, the
Borlaug fellow works closely with UKy scientists to learn new research
techniques,
use the modern UKy library system, and learn how UKy works with the
public and
private sector in its research endeavors. Each
scientist is assigned a UKy faculty member as mentor
for their
training period. That mentor has the
opportunity to visit the Borlaug fellow after their return to Romania.
In
the Faculty Exchange Program
each Romanian participant audits 3-4 courses as visiting faculty (to
observe
teacher-student interaction and to learn new teaching and student
assessment
methods) and develop two new or revised course outlines to put into use
at the
home institution by the end of the program. They are assigned a UKy
faculty
member and meet with their mentors to learn how to develop course
outlines and
how to choose and develop class materials. Participants also attend
short
courses, seminars, and brown bag lunches on research methodologies,
literature
review, and teaching methodologies and other topic areas as appropriate. Participants are also exposed to current
research efforts in their area of expertise through reviewing research
methods
and techniques, collecting publications, and establishing contacts with
other
researchers within the U.S.
For more information, contact
Michael Reed, International
Programs for Agriculture mrreed@uky.edu
Technical Assistance
to the Serbian Extension System
The University
of Kentucky’s (UKy)
agricultural extension project in Serbia,
which began in 2005, has focused on training individuals who work on
rural and
community development. In March 2006,
three UKy professionals (two faculty members and one county agent) went
to Serbia
to conduct a four-day workshop that included presentations on regional
economics (including globalization and the World Trade Organization)
and
techniques to get the community involved in economic development
(through
community asset mapping, appreciative inquiry, and other techniques). The sessions involved group exercises and
outside assignments. The highlight of
the workshop was the development of group action plans for rural
development.
The second workshop, held in June
2006, continued to focus
on skills development for rural development extension advisors. The skills focused on entrepreneurship
development, communications skills, and experience in conducting group
meetings. The attendance at the second
seminar was restricted to fifteen participants and these participants
will
serve as the future Serbian trainers for rural development advisors. The next activity for the project, scheduled
for December 2006, will focus on training of trainers and the specific
materials that the 15 trainers can use in their extension programs.
The project will continue to
provide information and skills
to the core group of Serbian rural development advisors.
However, they will increasingly be involved
in the training of new rural development extension advisors as the
project
progresses.
The project has also funded the
short trips for two
Serbians, including the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, to Kentucky so
that they can see the agriculture
and discuss extension programs with state specialists and county agents.
For more information contact
Michael Reed, International
Programs for Agriculture
mrreed@uky.edu or Ron
Hustedde, Community and Leadership Development rhusted@uky.edu
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