The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, has funded a grant for a Leadership, Management, and Governance program (LMG) for a consortium of three U.S. universities – Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Ohio State Universities – to enhance the capacity of university leaders from across Ethiopia. Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, and State Minister of Education Dr. Samuel Kifle spoke about the important partnership.
Remarking on the importance of our long collaboration in education, Ambassador Jacobson said, “We are investing in education here because it is the key to unlocking the potential of Ethiopia and it is an important demonstration of the friendship between Ethiopia and the United States.
Dr. Samuel echoed this sentiment in his remarks, saying, “The Leadership, Management, and Governance program is very instrumental for the delivery of the university system and also to ensure our graduates get better quality education, and our university system is strengthened.”
The initial round of the LMG program trained 27 higher education administrators from 19 public universities, representing all four generations of Ethiopian public universities, including nine university presidents, 16 vice presidents, and two high ranking officials from the Ministry of Education. The participants attended a workshop in August 2022 in Addis Ababa and then traveled to the United States to visit Texas Tech, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State Universities.
The program provided an opportunity for participants to learn current global trends in higher education leadership, management, and governance issues. They shared their best practices with U.S. institutions and learned from their counterparts in the United States. In addition to the experiences gained in academic affairs, research and innovation, the university leaders learned more about university administration and student services as well as technology management and information systems at the U.S. universities. The participants came back to Ethiopia with the objective of creating models to apply to the Ethiopian higher education environment.
The Embassy granted $502,000 to Texas Tech University, the lead university of this consortium, to develop the capacity of Ethiopian higher education administrators to improve the quality of Ethiopian tertiary education and to enhance American-Ethiopian university partnerships.
The second cohort of LMG will select another 25 public university leaders, who will participate in a similar program in the summer of 2023 in Addis Ababa and the United States. The call for applications will be open in December 2022.
This program is another example of the American people partnering with the people of Ethiopia to improve the quality of education and foster institutional partnership. To learn more about the U.S.-Ethiopia partnership, please visit: U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia (usembassy.gov) and follow U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa | Facebook and @USEmbassyAddis on social media.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia.
