Higher Education for Development (HED)

Paving the Path for Workforce Development and

Entrepreneurship through International Higher Education

Partnerships

Marilyn CraneHED Senior Program Specialist

April 23, 2012AACC Annual Convention

1. About HED2. Higher Education: An Engine for Development 3. Current Broader Middle East and North Africa

Region Partnerships with U.S. Community Colleges

4. Get Connected with HED

Agenda

Paving the Path for Workforce Development and Entrepreneurship through International Higher

Education Partnerships

• Dr. Bryan Albrecht, President, Gateway Technical College

• Dr. Judy Hogan, Dean of Business, Middlesex Community College

• Dr. Jack Bermingham, President, Highline Community College

Today’s Session and Panelists

• HED Mission: supporting partnerships between U.S. and host country higher education institutions to address local and national development challenges.

• Founded by six higher education presidential associations1 in 1992. Formerly known as “Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development” (ALO).

• Funded as a nonprofit by USAID/EGAT, USAID Bilateral Missions, and the U.S. State Department.

About HED

*HED was founded by the American Council on Education, American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

HED is supported through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the American Council on Education. 

HED operates with the advice and counsel of the six major higher education associations: American Council on EducationAmerican Association of Community CollegesAmerican Association of State Colleges and UniversitiesAssociation of American UniversitiesAssociation of Public and Land-grant UniversitiesNational Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

Reproduced with permission from the organizations

Host-Country Higher

Education Institution

Host-Country Higher

Education Institution

Partnerships Forged

Human and Institutional Capacity Developed

U.S. Higher

Education Institution

U.S. Higher

Education Institution

Host-Country Led

• HED’s activities are foreign policy-driven. – Recent foreign assistance funding reveals U.S. government’s support for higher education.– HED supports the development priorities and reforms from the U.S.

Department of State and USAID.

• International higher education partnerships yield results and show “soft diplomacy” can influence tough global development issues.– Workforce Development– Business Development and Entrepreneurship– Climate Change – Food Security

(USAID Education Strategy: www.usaid.gov/our_work/education_and_universities)

Higher Education: An Engine for Development

Current BMENA-U.S. CC Partnerships

BMENA–U.S. Community College Small Grants Initiative (4)

Egypt1. Mataria Technical College/Highline Community College

Leveraging Community College Workforce Development Expertise: Creating Educational Pathways to High Skills Employment at Mataria Technical College

Jordan 2. Al-Huson University College/Al-Balqa Applied University/Red Rocks

Community College Expanding Jordan’s Green Collar Workforce: An International Partnership to Establish an Associate Degree Program in Solar Energy Technology

3. Al Quds College/ Eastern Iowa Community College District/Muscatine Community College Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship

Morocco4. Ecole Supérieure de Technologie Oujda/Gateway Technical College

Automotive Diagnostics Training Partnership

Current BMENA- U.S. CC Partnerships

BMENA - U.S. Community College Entrepreneurship Partnerships (6)

Bahrain 1. Bahrain Polytechnic /Central Community College (Neb.) Bahrain

Entrepreneurship ProjectJordan2. Al Quds College/Washtenaw Community College (Mich.)/William

Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Community College Entrepreneurship: Integration to Incubation

Morocco 3. Ecole Normale Supérieure de l’Enseignement Technique de

Rabat/Ecole Normale Supérieure de l’Enseignement Technique/Middlesex Community College (Mass.)/Bristol Community College (Mass.) Linkages for Entrepreneurship Achievement Project (LEAP)

4. Ecole Supérieure de Technologie, Oujda/Université Mohammed I Oujda/ Gateway Technical College (Wisc.) Collegiate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Strategies

Current BMENA- U.S. CC Partnerships

BMENA - U.S. Community College Entrepreneurship Proposal Development Grants (6) (continued)

Lebanon5. Al-Kafaàt Europa School of Technology /Nassau Community

College (N.Y.)/Monroe Community College (N.Y.)/North Country Community College (N.Y.)/Onondaga Community College (N.Y.)/ SUNY Community College Consortium

Yemen6. Sana’a Community College/Eastern Iowa Community College

District/Tulsa Community College (Okla.) Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship

• The focus on local workforce development and capacity building translates to community and global development.

• Traditional and online courses are being created and translated in marketing, small-business management, and finance.

• U.S. community colleges are uniquely positioned to support curriculum and career development that give people skills to work in today’s environment. – Solar Energy and Transportation

• The BMENA-U.S. Community College partnerships give “community” a role in higher education partnership development.– Local advisory boards included industry, private sector, public sector in

addition to trained faculty.

Workforce Development/Entrepreneurship

Paraguay: Women’s Leadership Program in Agriculture (2012) Application Deadline: June 5, 2012

Armenia: Women’s Leadership Program (2012) Application Deadline: June 25, 2012

Rwanda: Women’s Leadership Program in Agriculture (2012) Application Deadline: June 20, 2012

Rwanda: Women’s Leadership Program in Education (2012) Application Deadline: July 9, 2012

RFA Watch: South Sudan: Women’s Leadership Program (2012)RFA Watch: Colombia-U.S. Human Rights Law School Partnership (2012)RFA Watch: Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon (2012) 

Current Request for Applications (RFA)

• Consider WHO on your staff can write a response to the HED RFA.

– Consider skill sets that include grant writing experience, technical expertise,

commitment, etc.

• Allow enough TIME to study criteria in the RFA, write and edit your application.

• Register for and ASK questions during the RFA-related information session.

• Link partnership goals with RFA/USAID goals (and/or the U.S. Department of State goals)

and the strategic objectives of the USAID Mission in the host country.

• Consider what will constitute “success” or “sustainability” in concrete development terms.

• Clearly demonstrate mutuality and reciprocity at the human and institutional level.

Tips for Responding to an HED RFA

1. Host-country partners involvement/participation: a) in the critical process of determining performance objectives. b) in the selection of the U.S. partner institution.

2. Emphasis on host-country human and institutional capacity:

a) improving the host country work environment - attract academics back to their home countries after studying abroad for advanced degrees.

b) objectives clearly focus on providing results that build capacity.

3. U.S. institutional commitment and engagement:a) genuine support for and commitment to – at the highest levels of the

institution – the partnership relationship.b) sincere cultural sensitivity & awareness of technological constraints on the

part of the participating partners.

4. Long-term mutual benefit and desire for continued professional and institutional relationships and networks.

Keys to Sustainable Higher Education Partnerships

•HED Website (Request for Applications-RFAs)•e-Alerts•e-Newsletter •News Releases•Social Media Networks

–Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hedprogram

Get Connected with HED

(visit www.hedprogram.org)