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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Ingalls (laura.ingalls@worldlearning.org) in Washington, 1.202.464.6973

SIT Graduate Institute Announces Affiliated Faculty and Practitioners-in-Residence Appointments

BRATTLEBORO, VT (September 9, 2008) -- The SIT Graduate Institute is pleased to announce two new programs that highlight the expertise of scholars and practitioners within the World Learning network.

The designation of Affiliated Faculty is conferred on professionals and scholars who have an established relationship with SIT and provide professional and academic services to our academic programs.  It is also conferred on staff of other World Learning units who are actively involved on an on-going basis in the development and delivery of graduate programs. 
 
Affiliated Faculty Members are offered two-year appointments, during which their bio-data and contact information is made available to SIT faculty and administration as a resource.  Their contributions could include: teaching a class or part of a class, advising students, providing feedback related to student learning, serving on committees, serving as Practitioner-in-Residence, and/or being involved in program or curricular design.
 
The eleven newly appointed Affiliated Faculty members include (scroll down for bios):

• Amy Beth, Director, Academic Resource Exchange, SIT
• Maggie Brown Cassidy, Teacher of French and German, Brattleboro Union High School
• Helen Cornman, International Health Consultant
• Colin Davies, Director of Capacity Building Services, World Learning
• John Fox, Senior Director of Strategic Communications, World Learning
• Rebecca Hovey, Engaged Global Scholar, World Learning
• Azra Kacapor, Director, Children and Youth Programs, World Learning
• Joseph Mwangi, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, World Learning
• Simon Norton, Program Director, Youth Peacebuilding and Leadership Programs, World Learning
• Peter Simpson, Director, Visitor Exchange Program, World Learning
• Preeti Shroff-Mehta, Professor, Johns Hopkins University (former Director, Civil Society, World Learning International Development Programs)

In addition to the above, a number of qualified TESOL Certificate Trainers, selected through a separate qualification process connected to their licensing to offer the SIT TESOL Certificate course, will be appointed as Affiliated Faculty.

Many of those appointed have already made significant contributions to the Graduate Institute through adjunct teaching, student advising, or joint program implementation.  We hope that Affiliated Faculty status will serve to acknowledge their past contributions and build possibilities for future collaboration.
 
The Practitioners-in-Residence program will bring professionals who are doing noteworthy work in the fields that our students study for two-day on-campus visits. The visits will include guest lectures, lunch presentations and networking events that will provide students with the opportunities to connect with highly regarded professionals in their chosen field. 

Practitioners for the Fall semester include staff from the World Learning’s International Development Programs and alumni of the MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management who are in key positions in major organizations.

Practitioners-in-Residence Fall 2008:

Affiliated Faculty Appointments beginning Fall 2008:

Amy Beth, Director, Academic Resource Exchange, SIT
802-258-3355
Since 2004, Amy Beth has served as the Director of The Academic Resource Exchange for SIT Study Abroad and for the SIT Graduate Institute. Her responsibilities include libraries, archives, academic computing and the bookstore. During her tenure, Beth has worked with a group of talented administrators and faculty to innovatively plan, deliver and promote a comprehensive program of information services for the SIT academic community and, more generally, for the World Learning global staff and students spanning 60 countries.

Along the way, Beth has acquired expertise in academic and organizational programming, international literacy, strategic planning, assessment, administrative computing, and broad based methods for delivery in a global setting.

Consistent with the spirit of SIT, Beth has always approached her work with both a strong commitment to teaching and practice, and a passion for active involvement of Libraries in campus community learning.

Previous to joining SIT and World Learning, Beth served as a Co-coordinator/Archivist for the 35 year-old New York City-based international Lesbian Herstory Archives. She was involved with institution planning, fund raising, grant writing, research guidance and collection acquisitions.  She has held positions as a librarian and administrator for academic institutions for more than twenty years in both public and private higher education institutions.  Amy Beth holds a master degree in Library and Information Science from Indiana University and another in Environmental Psychology from the City University of New York, where she is a PhD candidate in the same field. 

Maggie Brown Cassidy, Teacher of French, Brattleboro Union High School
Maggie Cassidy holds a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in French and English as a Second Language from SIT Graduate Institute (formerly School for International Training).   She has taught French since 1972, with an emphasis on speaking proficiency.  Since 1977, she has taught at Brattleboro Union High School in Brattleboro (VT), one of the first schools in the country to organize its curriculum around oral-proficiency standards.

Cassidy has supervised and mentored many pre-service teachers, and since 1999 she has worked part-time at SIT, offering training in teacher inquiry, peer support, mentoring, assessment, and portfolio preparation.  She has trained teachers, mentors of teachers, other professionals, and facilitators for Inquiry Groups in Algeria and Kobe, Japan, as well as Vermont, San Francisco, and Madison, WI.

Helen Cornman, International Health Consultant
Helen Cornman is an International Health Consultant specializing in HIV/AIDS. Helen is a former staff member of World Learning as both the HIV/AIDS Specialist and Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation. Helen brings extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation and developing HIV/AIDS programs and policies for several prominent international NGOs as well as the Office of Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) at USAID, World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization and the United Nations.  She has co-authored a study sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the International Center for Research on Women, assessing the effectiveness of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at engaging civil society in its decision-making. Helen also authored a paper on engaging local NGOs in HIV/AIDS.  She has served as a technical reviewer for 8 rounds of USAID HIV/AIDS sponsored grants for Pact. She also served as an editor for a manual on PEPFAR monitoring and evaluation tools for Pact. Cornman has a solid understanding of Monitoring & Evaluation and the importance of taking a multi-sectoral approach to AIDS programming, including key links between the health and education sectors. She also has a good understanding of issues of stigma, discrimination and denial surrounding the AIDS epidemic and knowledge of good practices in the area of leadership and advocacy on HIV/AIDS; a solid understanding of how the epidemic impacts communities, families, teachers, students and especially orphans and vulnerable children; and knowledge of best practices in designing and implementing care and support programs.

Helen Cornman holds a bachelor degree of Social Work from the Rutgers University and a master degree of Social Work focused on community organizing, management and planning from the Boston University.

Colin Davies, Director of Capacity Building Services, World Learning
202-223-4291  ext. 7336
Colin Davies has worked for World Learning for 15 years. In his position as Director of Capacity Building Services he overseas a dozen State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) projects in the area of training, educational exchange, and institutional strengthening. For these projects he is involved in all aspects of project management – proposal development and budgeting, staff hiring and training, office set-up, establishment of procedures, day-to-day management, project monitoring, and reporting (financial and narrative). Davies currently supervises a staff in Washington, D.C. of 25, and an overseas staff of 60 in seven World Learning field offices. He has participated in online courses with SIT Graduate Institute each year in a video conference on the Management of International Education and Exchange programs. Colin also hosts a weekly radio show, and has given presentations at many educational conferences. Just recently Davies held a series of workshops in Bhutan, at the request of SIT Study Abroad and the Royal University, on the topic of US Higher Education.

Davies holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Modern History from Oxford University, England.

John Fox, Senior Director of Strategic Communications, World Learning
802-258-3593
John Fox is Senior Director of Strategic Communications for World Learning/SIT and an anthropologist and writer with experience ranging across disciplines and sectors, from academia to journalism and advertising. After receiving his B.A. from Boston University and M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University, Fox conducted field research in Latin America and held teaching positions at both of his alma maters. As the Director of Adventure Learning at Classroom Connect, a leading internet learning company, he produced and led award-winning educational expeditions on six continents that were joined online by K-12 students across the US and in 120 countries. In 2008, he published a book based on these expeditions entitled Around the World with a Million Kids: Adventures of an Online Explorer.

Fox has worked as a copywriter at Fallon Worldwide/Interactive, a global advertising agency, where he developed brand strategy and campaigns for BMW, United Airlines, Smithsonian Institution and other clients. Prior to joining World Learning/SIT, he served as Director of Communications for the Orton Family Foundation, a Vermont-based non-profit promoting innovation in sustainable community development. He has published his writing and research in Smithsonian Magazine, Salon, Outside Magazine, Current Anthropology and other publications and is a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio.

Rebecca Hovey, Engaged Global Scholar, World Learning
802-258-3288
Rebecca Hovey holds a PhD in city and regional planning from Cornell University and an M.A. in education from San Francisco State University. Dr. Hovey brings an interdisciplinary background in philosophy, anthropology, and political economy to her work in international studies. From her early work in Freirean approaches to community-based development to her more recent analyses of critical pedagogy in study abroad, she believes that education is key to the dream of a just and equitable world.

Until Feb of 2008, Dr. Hovey served as Dean of SIT Study Abroad at World Learning for more than eight years. During her tenure, she provided academic and administrative direction for SIT Study Abroad and supervised the work of area studies directors for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. She continues her research in international education as World Learning’s first Globally Engaged Scholar.

Azra Kacapor, Director, Children and Youth Programs, World Learning
202-408-5420 ext. 6144
Azra Kacapor Nurkic is the Director for Children and Youth Programs at World Learning headquarters based in Washington, D.C. and is responsible for overall strategic and operational leadership of the child and youth program portfolio of World Learning. Azra holds a master degree in education and is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology of Education at University of Pecs, Hungary (exp. graduation January 2009). For more then a decade Azra has been working in the field of protection, prevention and reintegration of vulnerable children and women living in especially difficult circumstances. She lived and worked with marginalized groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, throughout Middle East and Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America designing and implementing psychosocial and alternative education programs, anti-trafficking interventions and victim protection strategies. Throughout her career, she developed models and implemented child protection and education trainings for NGO staff and studied the needs and resiliency factors of at risk children and youth. Azra is an experienced training designer, facilitator and evaluator specializing in interactive and experiential training approaches. She is a certified Achieve Global Zenger-Miller facilitator and trainer (2000). Prior to joining World Learning, Azra worked with World Vision for over nine years in various roles providing strategic leadership and technical expertise in Children in Crisis programming. Azra is the recipient of distinguished academic awards and is an author of numerous articles in professional journals and a presenter at conferences.

Joseph Mwangi, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, World Learning
202-408-5420 ext. 6116
Joseph Mwangi is World Learning’s International Development Program’s Design, Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist.  He is highly experienced in working in multi-sectoral projects in challenging and sensitive political and cultural environments.  Joseph has held high level positions of both Acting Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party on USAID projects overseas, and has also worked within USAID as a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for USAID/REDSO/ESA in Kenya, where he provided leadership and technical assistance for development of planning documents including strategic plans, results frameworks/performance management plans in more than 15 countries throughout Africa.

Prior to joining World Learning, Mwangi taught a course in Monitoring and Evaluation for graduate students at the University of Botswana in 2004. He also taught statistics for data analysis for graduate students at the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1990.
A permanent resident in the US, Joseph is a native Kenyan and speaks the local dialects of Kiswahili and Kikuyu.  Joseph has a Master degree in Development Studies from the University of Free State, S. Africa. 

Simon Norton, Program Director, Youth Peacebuilding and Leadership Programs, World Learning
802-258-3335
Simon holds a B.A. in International Studies from SIT Graduate Institute (formerly School for International Training) and a M.Ed. in Global Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Since 2001, he has served as the Program Director of S.I.T.’s Youth Peacebuilding and Leadership Programs and the Vermont Governor’s Institute on Current Issues and Youth Activism.  Simon has 15 years of international youth program directing and teaching experience, and has worked with high school age students from over 120 countries and all 50 U.S. states.  His areas of teaching expertise include global issues, leadership, teambuilding, peacebuilding, civics and politics, and he will be involved in delivering the new SIT Youth Program Concentration starting in the spring of 2009.

Peter Simpson, Director, Visitor Exchange Program, World Learning
202-898-950 ext. 7133
Peter C. Simpson, PhD, is the Director of the World Learning Visitor Exchange Program.  He heads a staff of 28 engaged in implementing professional and student exchange programs for about 750 participants each yearsponsored by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Office of International Visitors and Citizen Exchanges Division.  Dr. Simpson began his career in Public Diplomacy in 1986 at Delphi International, Inc. as a Program Officer designing exchanges for visitors from over 110 countries funded through the Department of State (DOS) and the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.  Later on, as a manager at Delphi, he administered DOS grants for the International Visitor Leadership Program, Citizen Exchanges Division projects, and the EFL Fellow Program in Eastern/Central Europe, Russia, and the NIS, as well as multi-year USAID development projects in Poland and the Balkans. 

Prior to joining Delphi, Dr. Simpson pursued an academic career teaching language and cross-cultural courses at the primary, secondary, and university levels.  At Cornell University and at the Westphalian University in Bielefeld, Germany, he was an instructor, primarily in German literature.  In Munich, Germany, he taught English as a foreign language in public and private schools.  He also has been active as a translator.  He holds a PhD from Cornell, a M.A. from Princeton, and a BA from Wesleyan University in Germanic Studies.

Dr. Simpson recently joined the Board of Directors of the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV), a leading NGO in the field of Citizen Diplomacy.  He has been a member of NCIV since 1986 and served as chair of its National Meeting in 2005. 

Preeti Shroff-Mehta, Professor, Johns Hopkins University (former Director, Civil Society, World Learning International Development Programs)
As of this year, Preeti Shroff-Mehta was the director for Civil Society and Social Change Programs at World Learning headquarters based in Washington, D.C. She coordinated global projects in areas of civil society advocacy and action, public sector governance reform, anti-trafficking, conflict transformation, religious harmony and community reconciliation, women’s cross-regional action networks, HIV/ AIDS and indigenous knowledge innovations. She has twenty years of leadership and management experience in international development research and teaching, civil society governance and capacity building, development project management and NGO training in South Asia, Europe and North America. She has lived and worked with indigenous communities in India and Canada. She has received academic training and numerous awards in international development from the leading graduate institutions in India, England and the United States. Dr. Shroff-Mehta has managed projects sponsored by USAID and the US State department, the World Bank, Ford Foundation, USA; Ontario Ministry for Community Economic Development, Canada; OXFAM, England; Social and Health Ministry, Government of Finland; Misereor, Germany, UNICEF, India and Government of India.

She has been teaching graduate level courses at the SIT Graduate Institute since 2006. She is currently an adjunct faculty at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and has taught graduate courses in International Development and Education at the University of Maryland at College Park, U.S.A. Dr. Shroff-Mehta is currently working with the World Bank on Citizen Participation in Accountable Governance projects.