EAF Executive Committee Meeting Minutes September 2008

Minutes of the Executive Committee (EC) of EAF held on September 13 2008 at 11:00 AM at the home of Wogayehu and Sisay Asefa in Kalamazoo , Michigan .

Present: Executive Committee: Teshome Wagaw (Chair), Sisay Asefa, Asrat Tessema, Wongelawit Teferra and Assefa Mehretu.

Guests : David Wiley, Director of the African Studies Center , MSU, and Chris Root, Department of History, MSU.

1. Minutes of the meeting of the EC held on May 3, 2008 at 11:00 AM at the home of Doree and Assefa Mehretu in Okemos were presented. Moved by Sisay and seconded by Asrat, the minutes were approved as presented.

2. Agenda : The agenda for the meeting was moved by Sisay, seconded by Asrat and endorsed without a vote.

3. Reports:

Chairperson Wagaw welcomed David and Chris to the meeting to share their perspectives on higher education in Ethiopia . He also reported on correspondence he had with Professor Tsige, Acting President of AAU, and Professor Tirusew, Dean of Education. Teshome mentioned the plan by AAU Faculty of Education for a conference in mid-May 2009 to hold a conference on Ethiopian Higher Education. He indicated that the organizers expect participants from EAF. Sisay indicated that the next International Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies is tentatively scheduled to take place in n Ethiopia in November 2009. He suggested that there might be a panel on higher education.

4.  Items from #3 for Decision

None.

5. Discussion on Ethiopian Plans to Accelerate Graduate Education

a. Teshome Wagaw, who attended the Akaki workshop on Graduate Education shared his perspectives on the plan and what transpired at the meeting. He said that he was very enthusiastic about the plan. He observed that there about 20 to 30 U.S. professors in attendance. He observed that the preparation for the PhD program was uneven and that some details have not been worked out.

b. Sisay Asefa, who also attended the workshop in Akaki indicated that units like the College of Development Studies Economics seem to have a well developed if not ambitious programs. Sisay said that they need short term help in course support in Addis or online. A follow-up in helping fine-tune the planning document might also be needed. Sisay indicated that there is a lot of work that remains to be done.

c. David Wiley, who also attended the workshop, expressed his pleasure in being back to Ethiopia . He said that the plan to accelerate PhD education was an ambitious plan. He indicated that there was a significant Swedish offer to fund the program provided that the Ethiopian government matched it with significant financial commitment. David indicated that there seems to be an intentionality to focus on priority program like agriculture. He thought AAU participation in the workshop was good. David said that there are many areas in which help can be organized from MSU including networking with Ethiopian Diaspora communities, use our experience in library resources for graduate studies, and mobilize MSU Africanists and Ethiopianist in the social sciences and humanities (Grover Hudson). He saw some downsides including why the workshop was held in Akaki which was not well-suited from the viewpoint of transport and logistics. David also indicated that he met AAU educational leaders including Professor Tsige, Acting AAU President, Dr. Mulugets Fisseha, Dean of the new college on Development Studies, Dr. Tegegne Gebre Egziabher, Professor of Geography, Dr. Muluneh Woldetsadik, Chair of Geogrpahy.

d. Asrat had been involved in a project to help the School of Business to develop an undergraduate and graduate degree in Finance. That project has been completed and Asrat has submitted his recommendations. The plan for the PhD in economics seems to mimic a European model in which the students would take a few graduate courses followed by a dissertation. There is a possibility of using online courses. Asrat pointed out that they are admitting too many students, with budget constraints and inadequate preparation, standards may suffer. Because of budget constraints, funds per capita are declining.

e. General: The plan is to train 5000 PhD graduates in 10 years. There is also mention that 70 percent of students should be in science and 30 percent in social science. David also mentioned interest by a sociology professor (Hirut) who interested in gender issues and wanted to come to a U.S. university. David said that he is exploring with MSU units.

6. The Formation of the Michigan Panel on Ethiopian Graduate Education

It was suggested that for now we should keep the interest group within EAF while exploring other viable models to include other interested individuals and groups. It was also indicated that there is an informal Michigan Group and David Wiley will outline a structure for that group.

7. Types of Collaborative Activities with AAU

Three areas were suggested: (1) organizing and participating in higher education symposia, (2) helping with macro perspectives on the entire philosophy and design for PhD education as currently envisaged, and (3) helping with specific departments that need help with specific curricular matters including teaching courses, and advising graduate students.

8. Resource Implications

Item tabled.

9. EAF Board Meeting

An EAF Board meeting should be scheduled for late October 2008 in East Lansing .

10. Next EAF Meeting

An EAF meeting was not scheduled.

11 Adjournment.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:00 PM. Chairperson Teshome thanked the hosts Mimi and Sisay for their wonderful hospitality and sumptuous feast.