New SPEA grants to promote collaboration in Russian Federation

By Sandra Bate

“The economic and political transformation of the Russian Federation requires public administrators with an education appropriate for a market-oriented, democratic society,” said Astrid Merget, dean of SPEA. “These new grants will enable SPEA to share capabilities with the Volga Region Academy for Civil Service and the North West Academy of Public Administration as they are transforming both their educational programs and service to governments. “In return, we will strengthen our master of public affairs degree program by better incorporating international and comparative topics into our course work. Additionally, we will expand our own expertise in the delivery of distance and Web-based education,” she said.

The Volga Region Academy is in Saratov and the North West Academy is in St. Petersburg. Both academies are administratively responsible to the president of the Russian Federation.

John Mikesell, graduate program director at SPEA, is the project director for the new grants, which extend for three years and provide total funding of $600,000. The grants are part of the New Independent States College and University Partnerships Program of the U.S. Department of State and are supported with funds from the Freedom Support Act. The goal of the program, Mikesell said, is “to assist U.S. colleges and universities in building lasting and productive partnerships with their counterparts around the globe.” Mikesell said 55 awards were made by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for fiscal year 2001. Since 1982, he added, more than 600 awards have been made across the United States in support of partnerships with educational institutions abroad. “For one school to be awarded two partnerships in the single competition is unusual and gives evidence of SPEA’s faculty expertise and institutional capacity,” Mikesell said.

http://www.indiana.edu/~speaweb/