Malik Watkins to Visit Liberia on Fulbright Award
Dr. Malik Watkins, public service associate at the Vinson Institute, has been accepted as a Fulbright Specialist and will conduct a project in Grbanga, Liberia, July 15–August 15. He will be the first Fulbright Specialist or Scholar to work in Liberia since the country's civil war that began in the early 1990s.
In association with Liberia's Cuttington University, Watkins will implement a 30-day training program for the university's teacher assistants on quantitative research and analysis. Presently, there are only six individuals teaching in Liberia who hold doctoral degrees. Many university-level classes are taught by teacher assistants who have only bachelor's degrees.
Watkins hopes that the program will provide the academic community in Liberia with expanded knowledge of statistical analysis and that teacher assistants will be able to offer better support to instructors, improved service to students, and more extensive training to Liberians on the skills utilized to engage in effective policy analysis.
Watkins will also work closely with officials from the Liberia Ministry of Planning, Cuttington University, and county and local government to establish a service learning project. “Its purpose will be to link government action with development activities to meet the needs of local residents following years of civil conflict,” explained Watkins.
The Vinson Institute has engaged in a number of programs in Liberia since 2007 through its International Center. Several faculty members from the Institute have traveled to Liberia to determine how the Institute's governmental assistance and training expertise can be used to help Liberia in its public administration. A partnership between the Liberia Institute of Public Administration and the International Center led to a visit by Liberian legislators to Athens and Atlanta in November 2008.
