NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COLLEGES OF EDUCATION (NCCE) AND NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (NIPSS) EDUCATION VISIT TO GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Visits George Mason University - September 15, 2014
On September 15, 2014, George Mason University hosted and facilitated a discussion between eleven council members of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) on a study tour of “post-secondary colleges in the United States.” Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former governor of Anambra State and Chairman of NCCE led the delegation to Mason. The other members of the delegation are: Kadiri Yunusa, Kano FCE Deputy Provost; Bukar Aisha Yakubu, Kontagora FCE Deputy Provost; Pongri Johnson Haniel, College of Education Acting Provost; Mohammed Madu Potiskum FCE Provost; Ezoem Nwanze Ignatius, Asaba FCE Provost; Odediran Nathaniel Olaitan, Kontagora FCE Provost; Uko Patrick Joseph, Afaha-NSIT FCE Provost; Bassey Ubong, Agbor FCE Acting Provost; and Olusanya Sijibomi, Adeyemi FCE Provost.
National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) delegates visit George Mason University – June 2015
On the request of the Nigeria Embassy DC, on June 1st, 2015, Mason hosted delegates of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, 37th Senior Executive Course “Repositioning Nigeria’s Education System for Global Competitiveness.” The NIPSS delegates to the United States were one of the six groups visiting six different countries in Europe, North America, and Asia to learn about the best national educational practices. The theme of the NIPSS global education study is “Repositioning Nigeria’s Education System for Global Competitiveness.” The specific issues explored by the various teams include:
a) The education system and global competitiveness.
b) Linkages between the educational system, industry, and government.
c) Regulatory frameworks in place to ensure quality assurance at all levels.
d) Education sector financing: Issues, challenges, and strategies.
e) The role of civil society, faith-based organizations, communities, and parent/teacher associations.
f) The contributions of the educational system to science, technology, and innovations.
The Dean of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (SCAR) organized meetings at the Arlington and Fairfax campuses for the NIPPS delegation’s meeting with the SCAR team, the Office of GMU Global Strategy, and the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).
SCAR, Arlington
13 NIPSS delegates, a representative of the Nigeria Embassy, and six representatives of SCAR attended the meeting. The Dean of SCAR, Prof. Avruch started the meeting by explaining the origin and background of SCAR and GMU in general (attached). He highlighted how SCAR was founded to fill a gap and address a particular world problem with regard to peace and conflict studies. The Dean also mentioned the contributions of SCAR’s African Alumni doing great jobs in their various home countries such as Ghana and Tanzania. Prof Lyons also talked about his work in the Horn of Africa and other countries in the West African sub-region. There were also contributions from African students at SCAR about how the program at SCAR has enabled them to understand the dynamics of conflict in their respective countries. In general, the discussion at SCAR focused on the issues of interest to the delegates with reference to the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
The discussions at SCAR were of interest to the NIPSS delegates, Nigeria has been witnessing deteriorating violence in recent times. The specific comments and questions from the participants include: How can Nigerian universities benefit from SCAR’s experience? How are large public universities in the US-funded? What are the enrollment patterns? And others. The longtime relationship and the ongoing collaboration between SCAR and some Nigerian universities and other institutions were highlighted as a testimony that the country’s education system is already benefiting from SCAR’s experience and support. The other questions from the participants were also addressed.
Tour of GMU’s One Stop Student Registration Office, Fairfax
Prior to the commencement of the afternoon meeting with the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), and the Office of the Global Strategy; Rita Rowand, Program Manager for Global Relations and Protocol gave the participants a brief overview of Mason and also took the participants to a tour of Mason’s “One Stop registration office.” According to Rita, in most countries, fresh student registration is often characterized by moving from one office to the other to obtain or sign documents. However, Mason has overcome that challenge by making the services available in one place to address new student’s enrollment concerns. Services such as financial aid, course registrations, class sign-ups, and other services are in one place. The GMU’s model of the “One Stop Registration Office” is interesting to the delegates. The NIPSS participants also had some interactive sessions with the staff of the office.
CEHD, Fairfax
The education experts at CEDH: Prof. Beverly Shaklee, Prof. Scott Bauer, and Prof. IIham Nasser facilitated the meeting. The discussion started with a presentation by Prof. Shaklee titled, “Education in the United States.” The presentation explored issues such as Compulsory education in the US, College and University system, Business, and Industry influences in Education, Technology and Education, the US Department of Education, Teachers' education, and policies such as “No child is left behind” and Individual with Disability Act (IDEA). The presentation stimulated discussion and comments from the NIPPS participants. The participants also asked interesting questions, particularly with regard to financing and maintaining standards at all levels of education. They were fascinated by the standards, benchmarks, and quality assurance mechanisms at GMU and the US education system in general. They were also fascinated to learn that there are no public or national examination bodies in the US, but private. Unlike in Nigeria where national examination bodies exist.
Prof. Simmons concludes the section by explaining GMU’s global education strategy. He highlighted the GMU campus in the free economic zone in Korea as an example. The participants asked interesting questions about the Korean model. The session concluded with an appreciation remark from the head of the NIPSS delegation; Jonathan Juma, he also presented a plaque to GMU.
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