Education Collaborative Strategy 2013

The following document summarizes the main challenges identified by the 2012 board for 2013. We expect these bullets will help the 2013 board when framing their agenda for the year.

The document structure is:

1. Mission and Vision
2. Why education at SIPA
3. Gaps to address within SIPA
4. Gaps to address within the Columbia community

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Mission and Vision

The Education Collaborative at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs is a community of students and professors united by a common belief that education is fundamental to international and public affairs. We aim to highlight the importance of education for human development and develop a platform for collaboration between SIPA, Columbia, and New York City to build on our diversity of experiences and interests in education.

In order to increase the importance and relevance of education issues at SIPA and build greater connections with the Columbia education community, we propose the following strategy.

Why education at SIPA?

SIPA students bridge the cultural divide between teachers, bureaucrats, and outside stakeholders

• SIPA students could bring together several points of views, particularly to facilitate the intersection of politics, policy and management.
• SIPA balances different perspectives in education in order to be able to identify what works and what does not work in education.

Gaps to Address Within SIPA

Issue 1: SIPA needs to identify a niche in education

• There are education courses that SIPA could, and should, offer given its comparative advantage. SIPA has expertise in quantitative and management courses, and retains a more public focus than the Business School. Any SIPA courses in education should address these facets, so as not to duplicate existing offerings
• Example 1: International education at TC is focused on qualitative methods. SIPA could offer a quantitative course on international topics.
• Example 2: SIPA’s courses should offer students the ability to bridge the gap between strategic processes and ground-level work.

Issue 1: How Education Collaborative should respond

• Education Collaborative can demonstrate SIPA’s comparative advantage through strategic meetings with administration officials responsible for curriculum (e.g. Concentration and Specialization Directors, SIPA Deans, etc).
• Education Collaborative can demonstrate that there is demand for an education course via surveys, event attendance, listservs, etc.

Issue 2: Education needs to occupy a larger presence in the academic sphere at SIPA

• Education currently has no academic ‘home’ at SIPA, and therefore is not cohesively or officially represented in either curricula or student communities. 
• The education field does not currently have a faculty representative or advocate, as many other fields do in their Concentration and Specialization Directors.
• Existing SIPA courses could better use examples from the education field to illustrate public management challenges , for example by using education-focused cases in class discussion and assignments.
• SIPA currently lacks a cornerstone education management course. This class could demonstrate how to tie together business strategies and implementation in the field.

Issue 2: How Education Collaborative should respond

• Education Collaborative should include Concentration representatives on its Board
• Education Collaborative should find an administrative education advocate
• Education Collaborative could introduce an initiative to have students write education case studies to be used in future courses
• Education Collaborative should gather evidence of student demand and faculty support for a new education management course to be developed at SIPA

Gaps to Address Within the Columbia Community

Issue 3: SIPA students need more information about and access to education classes offered at other schools

• Currently information regarding education courses is dispersed across the various Schools at Columbia, and cross-registration procedures are complex and differ by school.

Issue 3: How Education Collaborative should respond

• Education Colllaborative currently operates its flagship Course Listing, a Wiki which brings together information regarding courses at different schools. This project should be maintained and updated throughout upcoming semesters. Future Boards should expand on the syllabi and student review functions of the Listing, and publicize the Listing’s existence within SIPA and outside it.
• Education Collaborative should also provide SIPA students with more information regarding cross-registration procedures at each School, in conjunction with the Course Listing entries.
• Education Collaborative could advocate for improved course cross-registration procedures, that allow SIPA to reserve seats for its students in popular education courses offered by other schools

Issue 4: SIPA students interested in education need to connect with similar groups at other schools within Columbia

• Many of SIPA’s graduate schools have education-focused student groups, but most of these groups operate in a vacuum. This limits students’ likelihood of attending interesting events offered by other groups, networking, and learning more about their interest area within education.

Issue 4: How Education Collaborative should respond

• Education Collaborative could help institutionalize more inter-school communication through cross-promotion and sponsorship of events and meetings with other student group boards.
• Education Collaborative could take a leadership role in improving cross-school publicity efforts for events and initiatives.