AFRO-NETS> infoDev Call for Applications

[Rebecca Riccio <rriccio@usa.healthnet.org>]

infoDev Call for Applications
-----------------------------

The Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program for Wireless Communications 
Curriculum Development

infoDev and Motorola University (MU) are pleased to announce that 
they are accepting applications for the Visiting Scholars Fellowship 
Program.

This Fellowship program seeks to address the shortage of communica-
tion professionals in emerging economies. The program is divided into 
two phases:

Phase I - Design and Development will have a university curriculum 
manager from an emerging economy work with MU to develop a generic 
university-level educational curriculum focused on communications and 
IP-based networks technologies. During the four-month visit, the 
Scholar will also update and improve his/her existing home university 
curriculum and core materials to achieve state-of-the-art technology 
training.

Phase II - Dissemination and Awareness will provide shorter-term fel-
lowships to two selected developing country university curricula man-
agers to also work with MU to adapt and customize the generic cur-
riculum and test the material and curriculum in the classroom.

Goals and Objectives

The objectives of the Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program are to:
- establish new and strengthen existing university-level educational 
curricula focused on communications technologies and Internet Proto-
col-based (IP-based) networks; and
- create a "Virtual Curriculum Managers Network" (explained below).

The ultimate intent is to bridge the gap between existing technolo-
gies in the Scholar's countries and state-of-the-art technologies in 
communications and IP-based, networks curriculum. The Visiting 
Scholar will be provided with state-of-the-art training and knowl-
edge, and in turn will be expected to provide better education to en-
gineering students in their universities.

Program Structure

To meet these goals, MU will host Visiting Scholars from emerging 
economies at the Motorola corporate headquarters in Schaumburg, Illi-
nois, located outside of Chicago. The Program will be structured in 
two phases, with one Phase I Scholar visiting for a period of four 
months, starting after July 1, 2000, and two Phase II Scholars visit-
ing later for approximately two months each. The Phase I Visiting 
Scholar is planned as a four month in-residence Fellowship. Due to 
the difficulty in coordinating the Scholar's teaching schedule with 
the start of the Program, an option may be available to structure 
Phase I in two 2-month segments rather than one 4-month residency. 
Phase I: Design and Development - During this phase, one Visiting 
Scholar will structure and develop a generic curriculum, and then a 
customized one for their university. First, the Scholar will work 
with technical education and training professionals and Motorola 
staff to develop a generic university-level educational curriculum 
focused on wireless communications and IP network technologies. The 
Scholar's efforts will be coordinated with ongoing MU efforts in cur-
riculum development. Working under the supervision of education and 
training specialists provided through MU's College of Technology, the 
Scholar will design a high-level curriculum, develop individual 
course modules, and update existing materials. When necessary, the 
Scholar will create new educational materials where none exist to 
round out the generic curriculum.

The Scholar should plan, if possible, to initiate the effort by util-
izing existing materials brought from their university. Materials and 
resources, both knowledge and human, will also be made available 
through MU and Motorola. In addition, material from the World Bank 
will be made available to be incorporated into the Program design as 
appropriate, including the "infoDev Regulatory Handbook" which is un-
der development.

The generic curriculum will then be customized to create a new cur-
riculum for their technical training program in the home country uni-
versity. This will involve preparing a customized curriculum and 
course materials that fill the gap between existing technologies in 
the Scholar's country and cutting edge technologies in communications 
and IP-based networks curriculum.

The Scholar, working together with the infoDev webmaster, will also 
work to establish a Virtual Curriculum Managers Network, to link to-
gether curriculum managers (involved in wireless communications and 
IP network technologies) into an electronic virtual network to share 
knowledge and best practice in the development and deployment of such 
curricula.

Output from this Phase I will consist of:

(i) both a generic and a customized curriculum focused on communica-
tions and IP-based networks technologies,

(ii) both generic and customized specific course content, including 
materials, lecture notes, texts, reading lists, syllabi, etc., and

(iii) the initial activities related to the Virtual Curriculum Manag-
ers Network, to include selecting the material for the webpage, de-
veloping a listserve of curriculum manager, etc.

Phase II: Dissemination and Awareness - Building on the work of Phase 
I, two shorter-term Fellowships (approximately two months in resi-
dence) will be made available to selected university curricula manag-
ers from emerging economies. Similar to Phase I, the Phase II Visit-
ing Scholars will work with MU to adapt and customize the generic 
curriculum from Phase I. When they return to their country, they will 
test the customized material and curriculum in the classroom.

infoDev and MU will make the newly developed generic curriculum from 
Phase I widely available through the Internet. The Visiting Scholars 
website, to be created and maintained by the Visiting Scholar and in-
foDev, will reside on the infoDev website. The infoDev Webmasters 
will provide assistance in making the content available widely on the 
Internet. Curriculum and course materials also will be distributed by 
infoDev through the infoDev Symposium, annual meetings, conferences, 
etc. The Phase II Scholars will also be responsible for advancing the 
Virtual Curriculum Managers Network.

Phase II should produce:

(i) customized curricula focused on communications and IP-based net-
works technologies for the Phase II Visiting Scholars' home country 
universities,

(ii) customized course content including materials, lecture notes, 
texts, reading lists, syllabi, etc., and

(iii) an Internet web presence and updated content to advance the 
Virtual Curriculum Managers Network, available to curriculum managers 
for training of engineers worldwide.

Stipends

PHASE I: The monthly stipend will be US$ 5,000, providing a total 
stipend of US$ 20,000 for the four months residence of the Visiting 
Scholar. Economy roundtrip airfare and insurance for the time of the 
fellowship will also be covered. Modest additional funds will be 
available for training outside MU, and for travel connected with the 
Visiting Scholarship. Office space, equipment, etc. will be provided 
by MU while the Scholar is in residence.

PHASE II: The monthly stipend for each scholar will be $5,000 provid-
ing a total stipend of US$ 10,000 for the two months per Visiting 
Scholar. Economy roundtrip airfare and insurance will be covered. Of-
fice space, equipment, etc. will be provided by MU while the Scholar 
is in residence.

Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be used to select the scholars from among 
the applicants:
- Ability of the candidate to develop a strong, generic curriculum 
focused on communications technologies and Internet Protocol-based 
(IP-based) networks, and to modify such a curriculum to meet the 
needs of their university and country. Qualifications will include 
teaching and curriculum development experience as well as expertise 
in the technology;
- Commitment of the candidate's home institution to adopt and utilize 
an improved curriculum (demonstrated in letters of support, willing-
ness to equip facilities for students, etc.);
- Improvement in training of students in the candidate's institution 
likely to result from the improved curriculum (innovation, critique 
of the current curriculum, etc.);
- Need (priority will be given to universities in low-income coun-
tries, or to universities that face special difficulties funding for-
eign training for staff.)
- Importance of the training to be provided via the new curriculum to 
social and economic development in the candidate's country and region 
(numbers of students likely to be trained, rank and importance of the 
institution in preparing engineers and technical staff for his/her 
country, likely career paths of graduates, rate of introduction of 
wireless technology, etc.).

Qualifications

There is only one application process for both Phases of the Program.

Candidates must have responsibility for development and maintenance 
of an education curriculum in a technical or engineering university 
or other accredited training and education institute in an emerging-
economy country. The Candidates also must have authority to modify 
and put into practice a new education curriculum. In addition, the 
Candidate must be available to manage the Virtual Curriculum Managers 
Network during the Fellowship. Candidates must have strong English 
language skills. Phase I Scholars must be available to live in resi-
dence in Schaumburg for a period of four months, starting after early 
July 2000.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vita and a typed Statement of 
Purpose, (500-700 words). The Statement of Purpose will describe the 
applicants:

(i) aims in creating an communications and IP-network based curricu-
lum for their home country's university,

(ii) why they feel that participation in the Visiting Scholars Fel-
lowship Program will help them achieve these objectives, and

(iii) what the applicant feels they can contribute to the Visiting 
Scholars Fellowship Program.

The applicant should include letters of support from their home uni-
versity, and web sites or other materials that describe the univer-
sity and its curriculum. The applicant should also arrange that three 
reference letters be sent to infoDev from individuals who can testify 
to the applicants professional qualifications, institutional role in 
the university, and likelihood to succeed in the creation/reform of 
the curriculum.

Deadline for applications is May 31, 2000.

Please send the completed application form via email to
<infodev@worldbank.org>

Alternatively, you may send it via regular mail on diskette to:

Information for Development Program (infoDev)
Attn: Visiting Scholars Fellowship
The World Bank F5P-156 
1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433, USA

Candidate Selection Process

The applications will be distributed to a panel of three reviewers: 
one representative from infoDev, one representative from Motorola, 
and one independent reviewer. The three top-rated candidates for the 
Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program will be contacted for phone in-
terviews. Each candidate will receive votes based the ranking given 
by the panel member: the top candidate receives three points, 2nd 
candidate receives two points, and 3rd candidate receives one point. 
The candidate receiving the most points will be offered the Phases I 
Visiting Scholar Fellowship. The 2nd and 3rd candidates will be of-
fered the two Phase II Visiting Scholar Fellowships. It is expected 
that candidates will be notified of Fellowship awards by the end of 
June (see calendar below).

If, after this process, three suitable candidates have not been iden-
tified, a new call for applications may be issued.

Resources

Curriculum design and course content will be made available by MU, 
including course materials, lecture notes, texts, reading lists, syl-
labi, etc. Some of this material contains intellectual property that 
is confidential and will not be available for further distribution; 
any such limitations on a specific document will be specified by Mo-
torola to the Scholar. It is planned that an infoDev representative 
and a MU staff member will visit Scholars after the training to re-
view progress in the curriculum development/reform and to learn ways 
of continuing and expanding the Program.

Guest Lecturing

In cooperation with several local universities in the Chicago area, 
Visiting Scholars may be able to offer guest teaching assignments to 
enhance the Scholarship Program. Universities that Motorola has rela-
tionships with include: (i) Roosevelt University, School of Science 
and Technology, (ii) Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of 
Electrical and Computer Engineering, and (iii) University of Illi-
nois's (Chicago) Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer 
Science.

The Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program for Wireless Communications 
Curriculum Development

Tentative Timetable

April 12: infoDev officially announces the Motorola Visiting Scholars 
Fellowship Program. Applications to the Program being accepted by in-
foDev.

May 31: Deadline for Applications to the Program (6:00 PM EST).

June 16: Completion of preliminary round of evaluations by the Selec-
tion Committee. Start of the phone interview stage of evaluation 
process.

June 23: Completion of final round of evaluations by the Selection 
Committee. Award letters issued jointly by infoDev and Motorola.

July 1: Deadline for acceptance for Visiting Scholar Program.

After July 1: Phase I of the Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program 
will commence.

Phase II will commence immediately after the close of Phase I.

--
forwarded by:
Rebecca Riccio
mailto:rriccio@usa.healthnet.org

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