Research and Innovation Fellowships Quarterly Report (FY 2015)

The quarter saw the final session of the pre-assignment training program, and all seventeen Fellows successfully completed their coursework and assignments. Fellowship disbursements were completed, although several adjustments were necessary due to university financial aid procedures. The Fellows departed for their assignments, with several encountering start-up challenges but ultimately working through the issues. The Global Development Fellows met for a final time, engaging in presentations of their finalized scopes of work and proposed work plans. The session also included a discussion on staying healthy, safe, and secure while working internationally. The program received disappointing news that USAID funding for the project would be reduced in the coming year to 74% of the current year's funding. This led to the cancellation of the proposed RI Fellowship Conference in October. However, the program director, Nicholas Bassey, assured university partners of USAID's ongoing commitment to the program. Efforts continued to engage partner Chevron in securing continuation of funding for the GDF program's second year. Although Chevron's motivating excitement about partnership with UC Berkeley's Master of Development Practice program was complicated by the reduction in funding, the program director remained hopeful. The new commitment by the University of California's President's office will be sufficient to meet UC Berkeley's cost-share obligation for the proposed budget for year two under the agreement with USAID. The program also engaged with the Office of the President of the University of California, with follow-up conversations and an effective lobbying blitz ultimately leading to a successful outcome. The program director, Nicholas Bassey, provided additional background and assured university partners of USAID's ongoing commitment to the program. The Global Development Fellows program has had no interactions with USAID, either in Washington or at the mission level, other than through the RI Fellowship Office. The program continues to be highly appreciative of the support received from the Point of Contact, Laura Ahern, who was reassigned as part of the restructuring. The decision was taken to delay the planned feedback survey of the training, with the Fellows consulting that they would be in a better position to evaluate the helpfulness and effectiveness of the training once they were in the field and had begun their assignments. The two instructors, George Scharffenberger and Kristi Raube, held a discussion on what they felt worked well and what should be changed in the future. Lessons learned from the previous quarterly report were further validated during the last session of the training program. The scoping document aligns students and clients, requiring the GDF students to create a document outlining the details of the work they will do in-country. However, several students had difficulty engaging their hosts during this process, making it a challenging and frustrating process. The program plans to re-work the types of sessions held with the Fellows before going in-country, as the GDF projects are more research-oriented than consulting-oriented. The program also plans to consider including a student consulting panel in next year's GDF training program, as the Fellows would have benefited from more interactions with students who had done similar assignments. The program is in discussion with colleagues at UC Davis about the possibility of holding a post-experience workshop in February of next year to which they would also invite the new Fellows. The final quarter of the first year will see the fruition of all the effort that has gone into planning and preparing for the Fellowship opportunities. Individual calls using Skype are planned with each fellow in mid-July to discuss their experiences and provide feedback. The program will also continue to engage with partner Chevron and the Office of the President of the University of California to secure funding and support for the GDF program's second year.