Valuing the local within the global: A discourse analysis of professional development in a U.S.-Kurdish transnational university partnership

In an effort to support higher education in developing countries, partnerships between U.S. and international universities have surged, raising questions concerning the social equity of such linkages. Using a New Literacy Studies approach to discourse analysis, online transcripts from one such university partnership were analyzed to determine how language was used to negotiate a more equitable partnership through the adaptation of the social context of professional development activities. Discourse analysis of three relevant linguistic markers in the data suggests that cultural perspectives on professional development influenced the language choices made by university partners, reshaping the power structure toward greater social equity, and aiding in the completion of joint professional development goals. Findings underscore the importance of drawing on local knowledges in planning for and conducting transnational university partnerships.

Measurements of a Silicon Photonic ROADM (Project Report CIAN2-3-Y3)

A multi-university partnership led by UCSD collaborated with Sandia National Labs in an NSF-funded silicon photonics multi-project wafer (MPW) project. This is a report of the ROADM +VOA (reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer + variable optical attenuator) device made using silicon photonics, including passive and doped silicon waveguides and metalization.

The African Immigrant Dementia Education Project: A Community-University Partnership

The African Immigrant Dementia Education project is a community-university partnership with the goal of developing a culturally tailored dementia education program with African immigrants in Minnesota. In collaboration with our community partner (African Career, Education & Resource, Inc.), a project advisory board that features professionals and family members from the African immigrant community was assembled and its first meeting was held in February 2021. Preliminary discussions about content, mode of delivery and cultural considerations of an eventual dementia education intervention have begun. This presentation will offer details on the process of working with an advisory board and community partner to identify and culturally tailor an evidenced-based dementia education curriculum for a unique cultural group. Also, we will present challenges encountered during this process and offer suggestions and strategies to promote successful researcher-community partnerships.

Strengthening the national health information system through a capacity-building and mentorship partnership (CBMP) programme: a health system and university partnership initiative in Ethiopia

Background A strong health information system (HIS) is one of the essential building blocks for a resilient health system. The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Ethiopia is working on different initiatives to strengthen the national HIS. Among these is the Capacity-Building and Mentorship Partnership (CBMP) Programme in collaboration with public universities in Ethiopia since November 2017. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes and share experiences of the country in working with universities to strengthen the national HIS. Methods The study employed a mixed-methods approach that included 247 health organizations (health offices and facilities) of CBMP-implementing woredas (districts) and 23 key informant interviews. The programme focused on capacity-building and mentoring facilities and woreda health offices. The status of HIS was measured using a connected woreda checklist before and after the intervention. The checklist consists of items related to HIS infrastructure, data quality and administrative use. The organizations were classified as emerging, candidate or model based on the score. The findings were triangulated with qualitative data collected through key informant interviews. Results The results showed that the overall score of the HIS implementation was 46.3 before and 74.2 after implementation of the programme. The proportion of model organizations increased from 1.2% before to 31.8% after the programme implementation. The health system–university partnership has provided an opportunity for higher education institutions to understand the health system and tune their curricula to address real-world challenges. The partnership brought opportunities to conduct and produce local- and national-level evidence to improve the HIS. Weak ownership, poor responsiveness and poor perceptions of the programme were mentioned as major challenges in programme implementation. Conclusion The overall HIS has shown substantial progress in CBMP implementation woredas. A number of facilities became models in a short period of time after the implementation of the programme. The health system–university partnership was found to be a promising approach to improve the national HIS and to share the on-the-ground experiences with the university academicians. However, weak ownership and poor responsiveness to feedback were the major challenges identified as needing more attention in future programme implementation.

Attempting to Address Conditions of Poverty through an Inclusive Economic Approach in Alberta

This article responds to the call to alter current economic and social systems in light of COVID-19 by documenting initial efforts by a community-university partnership to build an inclusive economy. First, the effects of neoliberalism and oil ex- traction are examined to highlight the inequality that existed in Alberta long before the pandemic began. The paper then outlines four key areas of change: employment and training; social procurement and community benefits agreements; living wages; and basic income. It concludes with some initial learnings that may have resonance for others attempting to stimulate economic practices that distribute wealth more equitably. RÉSUMÉ Cet article répond à un désir de modifier les systèmes économiques et sociaux actuels en conséquence du COVID-19. Il le fait en décrivant des efforts préliminaires de la part d’un partenariat communauté/université pour établir une économie qui soit plus inclusive. L’article examine d’abord les conséquences du néolibéralisme et de l’extraction du pétrole afin de souligner les inégalités qui existaient déjà en Alberta bien avant le début de la pandémie. L’article présente ensuite quatre domaines clés qu’on aurait besoin de modifier : l’emploi et la formation; les ententes sur l’approvisionnement social et sur les avantages communautaires; le salaire de subsistance; et le revenu de base. L’article conclut en faisant des ob- servations préliminaires qui pourrait inspirer d’autres individus tentant d’encourager des pratiques économiques orientées vers une distribution plus équitable de la richesse.

Exploring Veteran Teachers' Collaborative Action Research Experiences Through a School-University Partnership: "Old Dogs" Try New Tricks

This article shares insights from the experiences of three high school practitioners and two university faculty who participated in a school-university-based action research program as a voluntary part of the teachers’ professional development. The three high school practitioners conducted action research projects around questions that stemmed from and were relevant to their own teaching practice. As part of the action research program, the practitioners were paired with university faculty to support the research. Building on practitioner inquiry traditions and critical case study methodologies, this study used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of practitioner action research processes. Drawing on in-person meeting notes and reflective memos, four key ideas emerged: Infrastructure, We are all Partners in Education, Engaging Pathway for Experienced Teachers, and Challenges. Insights gained from this inquiry will have implications for professional practices in the areas of school-university partnership, professional development, and action research process.