Advancing Graduate Education in the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dr. Thomas J. Dormody, Dean of the Graduate School, CATIE

Transcription

1 Advancing Graduate Education in the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dr. Thomas J. Dormody, Dean of the Graduate School, CATIE HACU 10 th International Conference San Antonio, TX Plenary Session II, Friday March 1

2 What is CATIE? CATIE brings science, graduate education and innovation together to increase human well-being through integrated management of agriculture and natural resources in rural territories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

3 CATIE s Strength Integration of three functions based on integrated and collaborative approaches Innovation for Development Research Graduate Education CATIE is an International Land-Grant University

4 A Relevant Mission Increase human well-being and reduce rural poverty through education, research and technical cooperation, promoting sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.

5 Innovative Scientific Programs

6 An Inter-American Organization Headquarters: Turrialba, Costa Rica National technical offices: Bolivia El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Dominican Republic Belize Acre, Brazil Mexico Venezuela (upcoming)

7 CATIE s Place in the World of Higher Education

8 A Challenging Strategy CATIE s niche is in the development of system and collaborative approaches and the professionals who can apply these approaches to facilitate innovative and sustainable solutions to the complex challenges facing agriculture and natural resources in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other tropical areas of the world.

9 Climate Smart Territories

10 Innovating graduate education Three main factors framing the advancement of CATIE s Graduate Programs in agriculture and environmental sciences: 2012 independent external evaluation strategic planning process Financial realities of this economic period As a result of these, the CATIE Graduate School is going in new directions with a more entrepreneurial approach to education

11 The Future for Graduate Education at CATIE

12 Diplomas and specializations CATIE is offering or conceptualizing new diplomas and one-year specializations in English and Spanish for current CATIE students. for graduate students from other countries and institutions who want to have some of their studies at CATIE in order to tap into our knowledge base.

13 Diplomas and specializations We ve identified six specializations and 13 diplomas. Some examples: Diploma in Climate-Smart Agriculture in Tropical Regions Diploma in Water, Economics, and Climate Change Diploma in Small Business Development Diploma in Inclusion and Equity Diploma in Planning and Local Governance International Specialization in Tropical Agroforestry

14 Professional Master s Programs Conservation Practice for Biodiversity (new with assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service) Development Practice (one of a network of 26 MacArthur Foundation-funded programs worldwide) International Agribusiness Management (with the INCAE Business School) Sustainable International Tourism (with the University of North Texas) Entrepreneurial business models allow for the development of related diplomas, specializations, and study abroad programs

15 Professional Master s Programs Master s in Green Growth for Human Security: Paradigms, Policies, Technologies and Best Practices Proposed to the Global Green Growth Initiative Consortium members: CATIE, Earth University, INCAE, University of Peace, and InBio Three different diplomas and a capstone field experience combine into the Master s Distance education courses and courses in Costa Rica

16 M.Sc. Programs Degree options Environmental Socioeconomics Integrated Watershed Management Management and Conservation of Tropical Forests and Biodiversity Sustainable Agricultural Systems Tropical Agroforestry

17 Scholarship fundraising strategy Fundraising coordinator Fundraising plan Capacity-building grant Seeking scholarship donors Also seeking donors for endowed teaching chairs and new classrooms

18 Representative research areas Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function in tropical landscapes Climate change Integrated watershed and water resource management Modeling and dynamics of carbon balances in diverse landscapes Socio-economic and policy analysis of natural resources and agricultural production systems Sustainable production systems in tropical agriculture, agroforestry, and forestry Ph.D. Programs

19 Degree options for Ph.D. Programs Jointly with the University of Idaho Jointly with Bangor University in the United Kingdom CATIE program with prestigious cooperating universities In-English with US and European cooperators New in-spanish option with Latin American and Spanish cooperators being developed/discussed

20 The growing role of distance education Need for courses, diplomas, and degree programs Strong partnership between the Graduate School and our training program that is starting to offer technical courses and technical diplomas in a distance format Sharing leadership, personnel, and other resources to serve both academic and technical education needs in distance education

21 South/South concept applied to graduate education CATIE-Africa Focus on Education scholarship program to bring talented African students to CATIE for graduate study Early partners FAO African ambassadors EARTH University African Women in Agricultural Research and Development

22 Thank you! Contact details: Thomas J. Dormody, Dean of the Graduate School, CATIE Tel: