Eastern Iowa Community College District/Vasavi College of Engineering

This partnership seeks to develop a model of educational infrastructure to establish pilot community colleges throughout south India. The partnership is addressing the growing need for workers to have expanded skills and knowledge to meet the demands of the workplace. Project activities will include two workshops in India, which will focus on exploring and defining what a community college is and develop local implementation plans. Other activities include site visits by Indian education representatives to U.S. community colleges, and assistance in establishing a South Indian Association of Community Colleges. During the beginning phase of the partnership, activities have focused on planning and organizing the the first workshop, which was held in May of 2002 in Hyderabad, India. Twenty participants representing ten educational institutions participated in this highly interactive workshop. By the end of the workshop the ten institutions had each developed a mission statement, identified strategic priorities, and developed goals and action steps for implementing a community college.

University of Arkansas/Yarmouk University

This partnership seeks to employ a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) approach to assess the potential for tourism in northern Jordan, the feasibility of a heritage center in Irbid, and the potential for sustainable microenterprise development through tourism in two small communities near the heritage sites of Umm Qais and Umm al Jimal. Project activities also will include the development of certificate programs in CRM, tourism and community development for local administrators, and the creation of a graduate internship program in CRM, tourism, public administration, and marketing. The partners hope to create a critical mass of people committed to sustainable development through tourism centered around northern Jordan’s archaeology and heritage. Partnership activities have included assigning specific tasks to each partnership member, which will cover work on infrastructure inventory, site assessment, market analysis, study of tourism infrastructure, microenterprise training, and development of plans for the Heritage Center in Irbid City. Partners met in Jordan in May 2002 to develop the planning for two potential touristways in northern Jordan and to meet with village and town leaders along those ways.

Michigan State University/Institute of Forestry

Michigan State University/Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University This partnership seeks to develop a master of science (M.Sc.) degree program in forestry at the Institute of Forestry (IOF), Tribhuvan University. Activities of the partnership will include: • Building faculty expertise in natural resources and social science through visits to Michigan State University and professional development workshops held at IOF. • Enhancing and improving the curriculum of the M.Sc. in forestry. • Establishing research programs for IOF students. • Strengthening IOF library and Internet resources. Partners will disseminate the results by presenting them at conferences and in journals and reports, and by organizing a concluding workshop on forestry education in Nepal for educators, business leaders, government representatives, and forest user groups. Graduates of the new degree program will be equipped to serve as future leaders in the areas of environmental protection, resource management, participatory decision making, and economic development. During the initial phase of the project, partners assessed IOF’s library holdings and collaborated on proposal development to support the long-term sustainability of the Master’s program.

Calvin College/Birzeit University ~ Special Initiative

Calvin College and Birzeit University are participating in a project to develop an environmentally sound plan of the Wadi al-Far’a basin’s water supply for sustained use by the Pales-tinian population of the West Bank. A study of the hydrogeology and political ecology of the Wadi al-Far’a watershed will create a plan to improve, maintain, and sustain the water supply. The Wadi al-Far’a is the largest traditional water source still available to the Palestinian population of the West Bank, and the project aims to develop a socially equitable plan for its use. Partners held a five-week team session July 18 through August 24, 2001, including site visits in Jordan, to study tributaries and land-use patterns, and conducted full partnership meetings in Ramallah. Palestinian partners are gathering field data in the Wadi al-Far’a for all sectors of the project. The partners have developed a preliminary report on their findings, and they continue to process new data. They also have greatly expanded sectoral reports and have created a number of new GIS maps. Another five-week team session for new field data gathering and report writing will take place in July–August 2002. The project has received significant contributions from the Ministry of Planning (use of expertise and computer equipment for GIS, graphic and database development), Ministry of Culture (use of meeting space and resources for the archaelogical sector of the project), and the Palestinian Water Authority (lab processing of water samples). A project web site has been developed to facilitate information flow and to post partnership reports and photos.

Georgia State University Research Foundation/An-Najah National University ~
Special Initiative

The partnership between Georgia State University’s (GSU’s) Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and An-Najah National University seeks to build an institutional relationship in support of public policy reform in the West Bank and Gaza. The partnership’s activities address the creation of public policy analysis that can support anticipated public sector reforms in the Palestinian territories, thus encouraging a more democratic and responsive system of governance. Partners will accomplish this through academic development, applied research, and outreach and training. An important activity has been the review and recommendations for curriculum of An-Najah’s master’s degree program in economic policy management by senior GSU faculty. Since travel restrictions have prevented direct faculty exchanges between the partners, the partnership organized a “virtual seminar” at GSU on “Strengthening Fiscal Policy Analysis in Palestine.” In addition, the partners have posted research papers, presentation slides, and streaming audio of seminar presentations on the Internet and have sent CD-ROM copies of the materials to An-Najah. Faculty members at An-Najah will use the materials for internal capacity development and to prepare for future outreach activities (technical assistance, training programs, and workshops). The partners are planning to further build on these activities and expect to translate key training materials into Arabic.

Johns Hopkins University/Al-Quds University ~ Special Initiative

This partnership is responding to the need for public health training in the West Bank and Gaza. Collaboration between the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Hygiene and Public Health and Al-Quds University (AQU) will help provide qualified managers for the region in reproductive health, maternal and child health, and nutrition. The project will improve health services management and administration through curriculum development, skill enhancement, operational research, and practical training. Partners have upgraded existing information technology (IT) capability at two of AQU’s campuses (Gaza and AL-Beireh); these upgrades included the purchase of four computers and three printers, the establishment of a local network at Al-Beireh campus, and the installation of a wireless Internet connection at Gaza. The partners have formed an ad-hoc committee to review the health services management curriculum at AQU. The first meeting of the committee, held in January 2002, reviewed the health services management track courses and suggested key textbooks. Partners also have identified two operational research topics based on Palestinian needs, including genetic disorders related to consanguineous marriage, and injuries. These research topics will help develop and promote ongoing communication and collaboration between JHU and AQU.

Purdue University/Islamic University of Gaza ~ Special Initiative

The partnership between Purdue University and the Islamic University of Gaza (IU/IUG) addresses the water resource management needs of the region by establishing a formal master of science (M.S.) program in water resource management at IU/IUG. This program will be jointly administered with the other two partner institutions in the region (Bethlehem University and An-Najah University). The program is unique in that it links the other partners universities to the Palestinian Water Authority such that student M.S. thesis research will focus on solving real-world problems encountered by the PWA. The program will provide needed expertise and training on optimal water use and management, educational support, technical assistance, outreach, and consultancy services. The partnership’s long-term goal is to establish a formal Center for Water Resources Management in the West Bank and Gaza. Partners involved in the project met for three days in Amman, Jordan, in March 2002 and have finished developing a set of core competencies and core courses that will be built into the master’s curriculum. The Amman meeting also focused on the development of a research agenda and initiated conversations about the outreach dimension of the program. The partners will launch the M.S. curriculum on a pilot basis at IU/IUG beginning in September 2002 and will offer the program at the other partners institutions the following year, possibly using distance education technologies.

University of Georgia School of Law/Birzeit University ~ Special Initiative

The partnership between the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law and Birzeit University is assisting in the development of the Palestinian legal system through capacity-building in legal and policy areas, including water resource law, commercial law, intellectual property law, and alternative dispute resolution. The partners are providing legal training workshops intended to build the analytical and legislative capacity of policy makers and professionals-in-training to effectively address social, economic, political, and environmental priorities. The workshops also will promote a collaborative dialogue between U.S. and Palestinian scholars on issues related to substantive law, the legislative and adjudicatory processes, and legal education. The partners conducted the first week-long workshop on commercial law in August 2001 at UGA, and eight law school faculty members from Birzeit University, Al-Azhar University, An-Najah University, and Al-Quds University participated. The second workshop, which will focus on intellectual property law, will take place in Amman, Jordan, in fall 2002. A significant result of the planning and ongoing dialogue between partners on this second workshop is a paper developed by a UGA faculty member on intellectual property law in developing countries. UGA has designed a project web page and bulletin board to facilitate communications between partners and post project-related publications and materials.

University of Maryland Eastern Shore/Palestine Polytechnic University ~ Special Initiative

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU), Al-Azhar University, and the Islamic University of Gaza are working jointly to increase the applied information technology (AIT) knowledge of science faculty involved in the management and improvement of existing scarce water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The partners are focusing on human capacity building through research and AIT transfer using the following methods: (1) geographic information systems (GIS); (2) water sampling and analysis technologies designed to monitor water quality due to runoff and leaching; (3) remote sensing; (4) techniques designed to reduce contamination of water resources; and (5) visits to wastewater treatment facilities. One faculty member from PPU spent two weeks at UMES in August 2001 and participated in GIS technology and water quality training, as well as visits to water treatment facilities in the Washington, D.C. area. U.S. partners have purchased four laptop computers for their Palestinian colleagues and installed training software, prepared lysimeters, and computerized runoff water and subsurface collectors for water quality training activities. Future plans include a month-long training workshop for six Palestinian participants in summer 2002, focusing on modern techniques for water quality improvement using GIS and remote sensing.

University of Oklahoma/Bethlehem University ~ Special Initiative

This partnership’s long-term goal is to support the development of a groundwater wing within Bethlehem University’s Water and Soils Environmental Research Unit. The project’s short-term activities are centering on modeling the Eastern Basin of the West Bank’s mountain aquifer, whose sustainable yield is critical to Palestinian plans to augment indigenous water supplies for the West Bank. The University of Oklahoma (UO) will provide guidance to Palestinian counterparts in the development of (1) essential input parameters needed to model the aquifer; (2) relevant shallow-aquifer data; (3) data on transmissivity in bedrock; (4) computer modeling and mapping; and (5) groundwater quality studies and innovative treatment possibilities. Faculty members from Bethlehem University received training at UO during two workshops held in July and August 2001. The workshop contents included demonstrations of a UO-developed hydrologic model; discussion of another model, MODFLOW, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey; and discussion of applying resistance tomography to imaging perched aquifers. Participants in the first workshop also visited a wastewater treatment plant and drinking water facility in Norman, Oklahoma. Future activities will include short-course MODFLOW training in the U.S.