Peace Corps Master's International Program at Colorado State University

Since 1988, Colorado State University and the US Peace Corps have participated in a master’s degree program that integrates on-campus coursework with 27 months of Peace Corps training and service.  CSU has graduated close to 50 students in the Master’s International (MI) programs, which are available in the College of Natural Resources,  the College of Agriculture, the Department of English, and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.  

CSU is proud to pilot a new initiative by Peace Corps in which MI students may request assignment to projects in Ethiopia.  While medical and legal clearance, space availability and timing have an impact on this placement, CSU students are more likely to serve in Ethiopia as a result of this linkage, thus allowing faculty and MI students to personalize the academic program of study.  The relationship builds on the University’s strong multi-disciplinary research in Ethiopia, allows students to begin preparing for the country placement from their first day on campus, and will over time create a sustained relationship between Ethiopia and MI students from the four Colleges. Two MI students from the College of Natural Resources are currently serving in Ethiopia as a result of this initiative, and several more from the Colleges of Natural Resources and Agriculture have made requests. 

This pilot program aims to place at least one Master’s International (MI) student per year.  We envision that the actual placement and work of Volunteers would be part of a larger collaboration, on in which university faculty and post staff will communicate and work together in numerous areas of common interest. At this point, the program is only a pilot for the Peace Corp MI program; however, there is anticipation that future university/country linkages may be developed.

CSU aims to facilitate a strong support system for students in Ethiopia and this will be accomplished via the following mechanisms:

1. Ongoing and consistent dialogue between post staff and university faculty
2. Ongoing communication between the MI student, post staff and university faculty throughout the period of service
3. Development of faculty resources for both MI students and post staff
4. Linking potential recruits with currently serving MI Volunteers

Other information:

Students apply to CSU and the Peace Corps separately. They begin their program by completing the majority of the coursework required for their degree  on campus, then utilize the skills and knowledge they have gained while serving in any of the 77 countries where Peace Corps is located.  Students return to campus after service to submit a Plan B thesis before graduating from CSU with a M.A., M.S., or M.Ag. 

There are currently 26 enrolled MI students, including 4 in the College of Agriculture, 7 in the Warner College of Natural Resources, 7 in Food Science and Human Nutrition, and 8 in the Department of English.  Of these students, 8 are currently serving in the Peace Corps, while remaining 18 are anticipating service.  Current volunteers are working on Community Health in Nicaragua, Vanuatu and Tanzania, teaching English in China, contributing to Forestry management in Mexico and supporting natural resource management and GPS mapping in Ethiopia. CSU is proud of its longstanding relationship with the United States Peace Corps and looks forward to strengthening this productive partnership.

Wondo Genet: A Peace Corp Success Story

By Bob Sturtevant (retired Colorado State Forest Service)

Nancy and I are Peace Corps volunteers at the Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources. This college was established in 1979 by the Swedish Government and was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) over the next 30 years. In 2000, Wondo Genet and a few other neighboring academic institutions became college of the formation of Hawassa University. SIDA terminated their support in 2009, and moved their funding to other needs in Ethiopia.

During our Community Needs Assessment development, we met with the three college department chairs to discuss their ideas for how we could best support the school. One of the areas of greatest need was in development of new partnerships. The college was now almost exclusively funded by the Ethiopian government and this was inadequate to give the level of education that the faculty desired to give the students. To build new collaborative partnerships, we targeted institutions that we had the most familiarity with and who had the greatest potential to make something happen quickly. These were Colorado State University and the United States Forest Service. Both institutions were already active in Ethiopia and our idea was to entice them to include Wondo Genet in their future work. It would be great to say that through a great deal of salesmanship and hard work we made this happen. In truth, all we had to do was invite key individuals to visit Wondo Genet and introduced them to the faculty members. Through their discussions, ideas on collaboration flowed easily and plans were made for follow-up visits.

With Colorado State University the following activities have occurred:

• Colorado State University and Hawassa University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future collaborative efforts.
• Two groups of staff and faculty have come to Wondo Genet to give seminars.
• Preliminary work has started on a joint National Science Foundation grants as well as other grants.
• Plans are being made for joint research work combining masters‟ students from Colorado working with partners from Wondo Genet.
• The two universities are developing a process for affiliate faculty positions.

With the The US Forest Service:

• Held a training session on soil sample preparation and herbaceous plant specimen preservation techniques for 12 professionals from southern Ethiopia
• Hired Wondo Genet personnel to complete work on the soil samples
• Sponsored a trip for the Department Chairs to visit USAID projects in southern Ethiopia.
• Developing a scholarship program for professional resource managers who are working on USAID projects to come to Wondo Genet for the MSc degree.

We believe this is just a beginning of collaboration between these institutions and we plan to continue to work on other ideas after we return to the US.
We weren’t even thinking about an off-campus project when the Lango Kindergarten Project found us! It started with a chance encounter with Gezhagn one morning soon after we arrived at Wondo Genet College of Forestry & Natural Resources. Gezhagn is one of two teachers at Lango Kindergarten & deserves all the credit for the success of our on-going project.

Lango Kindergarten was organized by the local community and is hosted by the Mekane Yesus Church to assist local children in preparation for entering the government school at the 1st grade level. The area that the Lango Kindergarten serves is fairly poor and most of the children who attend the school have very few resources.
When we made our first visit to the school we found 150 children in three rooms sitting on benches with no school supplies. Each room had a small black board and that was the extent of the facilities. The two teachers had not been paid their meager ($12.00/month) salary for several months, yet were continuing to do their best to educate the children. We met with the church elders who act as the school board and discussed the needs for the school. They presented us with their wish list which was quite extensive and covered everything from teacher’ salaries to remodeling a building for classrooms and a library and installing a water line. These items were prioritized and we started looking for funding sources.

In the past few months we have been able to secure funding for the following items:

• 50 desks
• Back salaries for the two teachers
• Current salary for the two teachers with an increase from 200 birr/month to 800 birr/month
• Backpacks with a pen, pencils and 5 exercise books for each child
• 252 subject specific assignment books
• Soccer ball, volleyball and net
• 500 activity books

We have also paid first semester tuition for the two teachers to attend weekend school to gain additional knowledge. Continued funding for their education will allow them to complete their BS degree in three years. Friends in Switzerland sent more than 150 reading books allowing each child to have a book of their own to share with the school and their families. Friends from Fort Collins brought a duffle of teacher guides and supplies when they visited in September. And we secured a shipment of books through the US Embassy to create a small library of text books for the school.

At this point we are ready to tackle some of the larger needs. First is the remodel of a building for classrooms & a library. The classroom remodel estimate totals $9,000. A school in Petersburg, Alaska is currently holding a fundraiser and expects to raise at least a third of the funds. The community will provide a third of the cost through in-kind donations of time and supplies. And we have just received word that our VAST grant for the remaining costs has been approved. Work will begin as soon as we return to site from MSC.

Our next project will be to find funding to construct a water line from a local water source to the school. Currently all water must be hauled from a tap 1 kilometer away. We also plan to build a playground with money raised by two eighth grade students in Zurich. Finally we hope to find a long-term partner for the school. This may become our next project once we complete our Peace Corp service.