International Relations101

Today, I will be sending off a US Peace Corp Response Volunteer which I hosted for 7 months at BSU. He, I would say, is the last of my many experiments in my on-the-job course on international relations, a job I sort of got myself into initially when I came to BSU after I was ditched from the original job I applied for and thought I was hired for (oops, am i sounding piqued still when it is almost 3 years past).

Anyway, here are accounts of my experiments and my lessons learned:

Case study 1. USAID-STRIDE Visiting Professor Application - Case of BAPTC and Policy Advocacy

Program: USAID-STRIDE Visiting Professor Program

Original intention: Get some professor who could help in the operationalization of BAPTC; I was passionate about not allowing the BAPTC to become a white elephant, first because it has good intentions; second, because BSU stands to lose big time if it will not operate soon.

Method: Checked the internet and communicated with potential professors that would meet the criteria of USAID-STRIDE visiting professor program.

Result: I ended up being able to convince a non-PhD environmental communication expert connected with the Duke University. Since his field was more of advocacy/environmental communication, I communicated with the Dept. of Development Communication and tried to pass this engagement to them, as I thought they might be able to maximize better his engagement since they were on the same field.

Lessons Learned: 1) Even while I did ask one faculty of the DevComm if there is a need for an expert on environmental communication, and she replied positively (so I went on with the preparations, invite, coordination), in this kind of engagements, it is important that the Department owns the initiative as you cannot just pass the hosting just like that; 2) I cannot maximize his engagement since he was not on the same field as mine, although I have some idea about his field; 3) PhD title and position in the university matters -- this visiting professor was not a PhD graduate so while he may good at his field of specialization, not many of the faculty/administrators think he is good enough or let us just say, the respect and confidence is less; 4) Hosting is expensive and entails funds and time.

Resolved No. 1: Not to invite somebody without making sure some Department is willing and have funds to host; and is really in need of the expertise;
Resolved No. 2: Not to invite a nonPhD as visiting professor;
Resolved No. 3: Learn about what "international linkage" is expected or useful in the university setting.

Benefits to BSU: 1) Knowledge gained by students, faculty and BAPTC stakeholders from the workshops; 2) Network: the faculty is editor-in-chief of an international journal on development communication and applied communication and is willing to look at potential research articles; is willing to match expertise needs and faculty in US universities.

Sustainability of linkage: poor since I found that Duke University is a private university and the visiting professor is kind of adjunct faculty in that university, not really organic; and not much further interest from BSU faculty and staff. I tried to submit a proposal for CARWIN grant related to Agribusiness, still with BAPTC operationalization as the main objective, and with the visiting professor as collaborator along with some professor from Cornell university, who agreed to cooperate and collaborate. The proposal submitted to USAID-STRIDE was not granted, since it was less of science and technology, and we had no collaborator from their priority CDI provinces.

Case study 2. Mobility Program/Visiting Professor from Spain

Program: SAT Mobility Exchange Program funded by Erasmus
see separate account in a separate post
https://gracefaithwalk.blogspot.com/2015/10/adventuras-en-espana.html

Original intention: To get some real linkage and memorandum of agreement and not end up just having a memorandum of understanding. The professor originally was willing to invite a professor from BSU to teach course at Oviedo for 1-2 months. He was the only professor I met in Spain who continued to communicate so I pursued the invitation for him to visit BSU. Since it is Huelva, Spain which had the largest area of strawberries, I also invited a professor from University of Huelva.

Result: I coordinated with IRO, and connected IRO to him since I was not already a part of IRO, and then eventually became a part again as focal person. IRO efficiently got all the invites ready, etc. and eventually two visiting professors from Spain came to BSU at their own airfare expense. I know from the BSU strategic planning I participated in that there is a target of the VPAA for one (1) visiting professor in 2017. I would say that was met.
Unfortunately, I only had a few minutes - 30 minutes meeting him in Spain, and at that time, he seemed to be communicating well in English. I assumed he had a good handle of English. Apparently, his English was not enough to communicate effectively with faculty and students.

Lessons Learned: 1) When there is interest from the College and Department, and they really own the hosting, things are much easier and engagement is better maximized; plus the program is vying for level IV accreditation so international linkage is the much needed motivation; 2) A good connect with the administration would help in negotiating for funds for hosting; 3) Pinpointing counterparts from the start and communicating the expectations is important; 4) Going to international higher education forum/expos has its benefits, one never knows what one can get; 5) linking with smaller universities in developed countries may be more feasible as you get more interest. 

Resolved No. 1: Make sure the one you are inviting speaks good English;
Resolved No. 2: Coordinate with IRO and detach yourself.

Benefit to BSU: 1) Exposure/new experience of students and faculty to strawberry farming in Spain; 2) Network : better chances for BSU to be included in Erasmus programs being applied for by Spain universities since there is point of contact already/exchange somehow since I visited there and a professor visited BSU. I am still praying that University of Huelva's inclusion of BSU in the K107 program will prosper and get approved. It is a small university, not really more advanced, but Huelva is where the strawberries are in Spain. Just the exposure for faculty and staff in their strawberry fields will provide new horizons; 3) Greater BSU visibility: Better chances for inclusion of Benguet State University in EU programs, currently Erasmus programs, BSU now included in the participant portal with participant identification code (PIC) number
924936420. 

Sustainability of linkage: there is good potential since the University of Huelva, while it is not a big university, it is located in the strawberry region of Spain.

Case study 3. US Peace Corps Response Volunteer
to be continued