HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

Funds will be used primarily for the recruitment, selection, salaries, and benefits of 10 U.S. university professors who will help the UNAN and the UCA implement the project, and to contract a U.S. institution to manage the project. A 6-month screening and selection process conducted by Nicaraguan and A.I.D. officials will be followed to find qualified U.S. professors. Each university will receive five professors and will assign a counterpart to the U.S. professors. The U.S. professors will provide instruction for a total of 2,000 students, will supervise 100 thesis and student monographs, and will train 100 Nicaraguan professors. They will also set up a system for identifying manpower needs in relation to various priority areas of development and will develop courses and curricula to address these requirements. Specific activities to be completed by the U.S. faculty at the UCA will include the following: (1) development of 10 university research extension projects to serve as a linkage between the universities and the communities; (2) assistance to university representatives in establishing an evaluation system to assess the university"s performance in meeting teaching, research, and science objectives; and (3) 10 research projects will be carried out in conjunction with the U.S. professors. Beneficiaries of the entire project will include the students receiving education, the Nicaraguan professors receiving training, and the near-by communities which will receive university outreach services.