Thirty students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will travel to 18 countries this summer to complete International Public Service Projects as part of the school’s Master of Public Service (MPS) degree program.
The students partner with government and non-governmental organizations, such as Winrock International, Heifer International, U.S. Department of State, and Habitat for Humanity, to complete projects related to economic development, education, public health, and women’s empowerment, among other causes.
“The International Public Service Project is a major component of the Clinton School curriculum,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School. “Our students take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it in the field, immersing themselves in communities all around the world.”
Four students will be completing projects in three first-time countries for the Clinton School – the United Arab Emirates, Mozambique, and Austria. This brings the total number to 78 nations where students have completed international projects since the school opened in 2005.
The International Public Service Project is one of three public service projects that make up a significant portion of the MPS degree. Students also complete a team-based project in Arkansas in their first year and a final individual project that culminates their degree.
Projects and host organizations are selected collaboratively by Clinton School students and faculty.
2016 International Public Service Projects:
Khalid Ahmadzai – Heifer International (New Delhi, India) – Ahmadzai will conduct a final project evaluation for two of Heifer International’s projects in the Bihar and Rajasthan states of India. He will conduct on-site surveys using social network analysis to measure Heifer International’s impact on the development of social capital in the respective projects.
Kristen Alexander – Sarus (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) – Alexander will assist Sarus in transitioning the management staff in Cambodia from foreigners to locals. She will conduct primary and secondary research to create a guide of best practices and recommendations for this process.
Nora Bouzihay – U.S. Department of State (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) – Bouzihay will be working closely with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs on projects concerning women’s empowerment in Dubai. She will work closely with diplomats of UAE on various topics by doing extensive research in the field.
Stacy Cox – Heifer International (New Delhi, India) – Cox will conduct an evaluation of two of Heifer International’s projects in India. Her work will consist of performing a social network analysis to determine if Heifer’s interventions have contributed to the development of social capital.
Abigail Craig – Community and Family Services International (Manila, Philippines) – Craig will research and formulate a child protection policy.
Xochitl Delgado Solorzano – Junior Achievement in Africa (Accra, Ghana) – Delgado Solorzano will evaluate the initial implementation of the Cha-Ching program. She will make recommendations on ways to improve the implementation of the program and strategies for expanding the program into additional schools.
Sarah Fowlkes – Winrock International (Kathmandu, Nepal and Dhaka, Bangladesh) – Fowlkes will conduct a mid-term impact assessment of Winrock International’s implementation of USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer program. She will use focus groups and surveys to determine recommendations for improving the project and success stories and help develop an evaluation tool and guidance for partner organizations.
Zachary Glembin – Designing for Social Innovation and Leadership (Bangkok, Thailand) – Glembin will conduct research to develop funding models and revenue streams that will give program applicants from the Least Developed Countries equal access and opportunity to participate in DSIL’s global leadership certificate program, further enabling those participants to become change agents in their communities.
Thurman Green – Marin Barleti University (Tirana, Albania) – Green will provide recommendations on further developing tourism in Tirana’s The Block district. He will facilitate discussions with locals, business owners, public officials and planners to determine effective methods to preserve the historic significance of The Block as a tool for economic development and tourism.
Zachary Hale – U.S. Department of State (Vienna, Austria) – Hale will be working with the Public Affairs office of the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, which coordinates between the State Department, the United Nations, and other international bodies.
Mary Henthorn – New Horizons (Nampula, Mozambique) – Henthorn will work in conjunction with University of Arkansas Fayetteville faculty and honors students to address issues with computer systems used by Novos Horizontes (New Horizons), a commercial poultry operation outside of Nampula, Mozambique.
Claire Hodgson – Designing Social Innovation and Leadership (Bangkok, Thailand) – Hodgson will conduct market research for the startup alternative education executive program. She will produce a market research and analysis report, which will be used to guide the organization’s strategic marketing.
Salil Joshi – Bedrocan BV (Groningen, The Netherlands) – Joshi will evaluate the production and medical prescribing practices of medicinal cannabis to inform health policy and medical practices. Additionally, Joshi will profile medicinal cannabis patients and the physicians prescribing medicinal cannabis as well as provide a comprehensive understanding of the medicinal cannabis atmosphere in certain European regions.
Emily Kearns – Amherstburg Freedom Museum (Ontario, Canada) – Kearns will collect data on museum volunteers in order to make recommendations for improving volunteer recruitment and retention at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum.
Arjola Limani – Heifer International (Pichinaki and Cajamarca, Peru) – Limani will contribute to a final evaluation project focused on identifying the role of gender in two coffee projects, one in Pichinaki, Peru and one in Cajamarca, Peru. She will develop data collection processes and create measures to assess program experience.
Piper Meeks – Fundación Arte del Mundo (Baños, Ecuador) – Meeks will establish an evidence-based curriculum of yoga classes intended to increase the self-confidence of youth at Fundación Arte del Mundo. She will implement the curriculum and evaluate its effectiveness in order to ensure that the curriculum is achieving its goals.
Alexandre Meldem – Fundación Arte del Mundo (Baños, Ecuador) – Meldem will develop tools to enhance and strengthen the volunteer tourism program currently operated by Fundacion Arte del Mundo. He will also design an evaluation tool to assess the impact of his project.
Shem Ngwira – Heifer International (Noida City, India) – Ngwira will conduct a mid-term evaluation of the Community Agro-Veterinary Entrepreneurs (CAVE) training model. Ngwira will make recommendations for future implementation of the CAVE training by collecting and analyzing feedback from project beneficiaries, trainers, and recipients of the services provided by project beneficiaries.
Hunter Owen – New Horizons (Nampula, Mozambique) – Owen will create an evaluation tool to measure the service-learning opportunities available to undergraduate students through a partnership between the University of Arkansas and New Horizons Mozambique. In addition to this, he will assess the needs of the host organization as they relate to the student’s experiences.
Beau Papan – Computer Shiksha (Gurgaon, India) – Papan will work to develop a digital marketing strategy for Computer Shiksha. He will also use a variety of methods to help build corporate partnerships and spark increased organizational visibility.
Rob Pillow – Heifer International (Lilongwe, Malawi) – Pillow will develop a tool to measure the indirect economic effects of Heifer International’s project in Malawi. This tool will be used to collect data on indirect beneficiaries in country and the data will be analyzed to determine the economic multiplier of Heifer’s intervention.
Keith Preciados – Heifer International (Makati City, Philippines) – Preciados will conduct a midterm evaluation of the Community Agro-Vet Entrepreneur (CAVE) program, which trains community beneficiaries in agricultural and veterinary services as a means of livelihood. He will conduct primary research with stakeholders, analyze data, and report findings and recommendations to Heifer International.
Yvonne Quek – Awamaki (Ollantaytambo, Peru) – Quek will evaluate the social impact of Awamaki on the surrounding community. She will use the Social Return of Investment approach to measure the social value generated by Awamaki.
Heather Rossi – Building Tomorrow (Kampala, Uganda) – Rossi will develop a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) implementation plan. The program plan will serve as a model for implementing WASH programming in all Building Tomorrow schools and the communities that surround.
Merrill Schmidt – Habitat for Humanity Argentina (Santa Fe province, Argentina) – Schmidt will evaluate the impact of Habitat for Humanity Argentina’s Neighborhood Development program in the Santa Fe province. She will gather input about the program and information about its outcomes from participants using in-person surveys.
Marsha Scullark – Center for Health Equity Training, Research, and Evaluation (Liverpool, Australia) – Scullark will create an evaluation plan to analyze the impact and results of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement for Australia. She will collect data by conducting interviews and reviewing previous research to assess HIA’s ability to improve TPP provisions.
Jeremiah Sniffin – Marin Barleti University (Tirana, Albania) – Sniffin will be working with the University Marin Barleti’s Urban Planning Initiative to create a contact database of other Urban Planning teams from all over the world. The goal is to foster mutual information-sharing relationships between these organizations and the University’s Planning Initiative.
Demas Soliman – Heifer International (Tacloban City, Philippines) – Soliman will evaluate Heifer’s Community Agro-Vet Entrepreneurship (CAVE) program, which was implemented in the Philippines by Heifer International in 2013.
Will Van Laningham – Fundación Arte del Mundo (Baños, Ecuador) – Van Laningham will develop the curriculum for a workshop that will work with the English teachers of the Baños region to strengthen their command of the language and help develop techniques for English instruction that will be most effective in that particular region. He will also implement the workshop in Baños over the summer and provide a curriculum for Fundación Arte del Mundo to use in the future.
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