News and Events

• Dr. Susan Ostrander of Tufts University to speak on campus Friday, March 28th

Click to view flyer (PDF file)

 

 

 

 

 

• Noted Author on Leadership Visits Campus (Click the photo to see more)

Larry Spears, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership spoke on the Virginia Tech campus on 8 August 2007.  Spears has addressed audiences throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.  His Blacksburg visit, framed as a seminar-like conversation, was co-sponsored by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Policy & Governance (VTIPG) and the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. Attended by a diverse group of scholars, community leaders and doctoral students, Spears led a lively discussion on the Greenleaf Center’s mission and evolving acceptance of servant leadership in the corporate world, the academy and the nonprofit sector.  Spears has published over 300 articles, essays and book reviews related to leadership. He has also written or edited nine books including:

- Practicing Servant-Leadership (with Michele Lawrence, to be published by Jossey-Bass, Fall 2004)
- The Servant-Leader Within (2003, Paulist Press)
- Servant Leadership (2002 Silver Anniversary edition, Paulist Press)
- Focus on Leadership: Servant-Leadership in the 21st Century (with Michele Lawrence, 2002, John Wiley & Sons)
- The Power of Servant Leadership (1998, Berrett-Koehler)
- Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit and Servant-Leadership (1998, John Wiley & Sons)
- Seeker and Servant (with Anne Fraker, 1996, Jossey-Bass)
- On Becoming a Servant Leader (with Don Frick, 1996, Jossey-Bass), and
- Reflections on Leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf's Theory of Servant-Leadership Influenced Today's Top Management Thinkers (1995, John Wiley & Sons).

VTIPG invites a number of speakers to the VT campus each year; representing a wide-range of backgrounds, these individuals speak both to School of Public and International Affairs graduate students and to the VT community at large. The Institute is proud to welcome speakers of this magnitude to Virginia Tech’s campus, and we are thrilled to be able to help bring this opportunity to the students we serve,” said IPG director Dr. Max Stephenson, Jr.

• Unique Summer Study Abroad Program Allows Virginia Tech Students to Explore Togolese Culture

BLACKSBURG, VA. – 23 August 2007- Six Virginia Tech students had the opportunity this summer to take part in a global education opportunity.  Students spent 2 months in the Republic of TOGO with the non-profit, HELP Africa, through a summer program abroad offered by VT’s School of Public and International Affairs(SPIA) and the Institute for Policy and Governance (IPG).

In its first year, this unique collaboration was able to provide participating students a unique field experience and instruction in a developing African nation.  

From 1 June 2007 through 30 July 2007, students were fully immersed in Togolese culture, music, the French language and the many dimensions of international development.  They met with the Vice President of the University of Lome, and other high-ranking officials in the Togolese Government and enjoyed the very special opportunity of attending cultural ceremonies in Northern Togo with the nation’s President.  Participants studied the challenges of Micro-finance and Micro-enterprise as poverty mitigation strategies. The travel itinerary included visits to Lome, Palime, Djamde, Aneho, Tsevie, Sokode, Notse, Atakpame, Sokode, Kante, Tamberma, Pya, Lama and Kara. Students also helped to plan for a small library and collected data alongside 70 locals on re-integrating retirees (civil and military) into the workforce.

“By striving to understand international development through experiential learning, students become part of the solution for a more just world" said Bini Aleyao, a SPIA PhD student at Virginia Tech and a Togolese national who spearheaded the summer abroad program.  Bini, also the Executive Director and founder of HELP Africa, a non-profit organization committed to empowering women’s self reliance by implementing sustainable development and relief projects in sub-Saharan Africa, said the study program “helped demystify Africa for students by unveiling the beauty, resources and needs that exist in Togo.”  

• Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD).

Veronica Arroyave, PhD Student; and Tracy Cooper and Maral Dilanian, Master's students in the School of Public and International Affairs on October 26, 2006 presented a keynote of findings from a study on "Key Barriers Faced by INGOs in Responding to International and Domestic Disasters" at the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations' (PQMD) Special Session on Emergencies in Kansas City, MO. PQMD and its members, in alliance with related organizations, are dedicated to the development, dissemination and adherence to high standards in the delivery of medical products to under-served people and disaster victims globally (see: www.pqmd.org). The study took place initially as part of the Charity, Philanthropy and Civil Society course in the department of Urban Affairs and Planning and was conducted under the advisement of Dr. Angela M. Eikenberry from the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech.

• BenchMark 3: 2006 Conference on the status of Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies. March 16-19 in Tempe, Arizona.

Hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Leadership & Management at Arizona State University. Roseanne Mirabella of Seton Hall University, perhaps the leading researcher of nonprofit and public management program curricula in the United Sates, presented "University-Based Educational Programs in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropic Studies in the United States: A Ten Year Review and Projections of Future Trends" during which the Virginia Tech program in nonprofit and civil society studies was singled out as a national model for the future. Max Stephenson and Rachel Christensen presented "Mentoring for Doctoral Student Praxis-Centered Learning: Creating a Shared Culture of Intellectual Aspiration" at Bencmark and Russ Cargo led a session on "Preparing Nonprofit Board Leaders." David Moore, a CPAP PhD. student and Project Associate for IGA, also presented a paper at Benchmark entitled "On Teaching Nonprofit Administrative Ethics." Selected papers from the conference will be considered for publication in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. This conference followed on conferences held in 1986 and 1996. Each was designed self-consciously to allow for critical reflection on the evolution of this field of graduate education.

• The Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies Program is Attracting Superb Students

Rachel Christensen, an EDP doctoral student, was selected recently as the Outstanding Graduate Student in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies for 2005-2006. The award was established by the Graduate School in 2001 to recognize exceptional performance by a graduate student from each college within the university. Rachel was nominated for her contributions to teaching and peer mentoring in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Marcy Schnitzer a doctoral student in the EDP program, was selected earlier this year for a scholarship to allow her to participate in the University of Virginia's prestigious Institute for Environmental Negotiation Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute. She is the first graduate student to participate in the program. (www.virginia.edu/ien/IEN_home.htm)

Veronica Arroyave, a Ph.D. student in EDP, has been accepted to undertake a month long Diploma program in International Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) from the Center for International Health & Cooperation taught at Fordham University in New York. (www.cihc.org/index2.html). The center was founded to promote healing and peace in countries shattered by natural disasters, armed conflicts and ethnic violence. The course recognizes the need for universally accepted basic standard of training for all humanitarian workers. The program draws applicants from around the world and accepts fewer than 1 in 4 of those who apply.

Rachel Christensen, Marcy Schnitzer and Natalia Goldin (CPAP doctoral student) were each selected to receive a Founder's Forum Scholarship to participate in the national Conference of the American Society for Public Administration in late March and early April of this year. Selection for this honor was quite competitive.

• Other Program Kudos

Russ Cargo, IGA co-director, has been elected as incoming President of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) (www.naccouncil.org/). NACC develops guidelines for nonprofit graduate curricula nation-wide and its membership consists of the 40 leading centers for nonprofit study in the U. S. Virginia Tech, via IGA, is a member.

Alnoor Ebrahim, IGA co-director, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the Association for Research on Nonprofit and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).

• Plans for partnering and co-locating with the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise (NCNE)

Plans at our location at our Alexandria campus continue to develop. NCNE's mission: The National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise (NCNE) helps nonprofit organizations make wise economic decisions to efficiently and effectively pursue their social missions. NCNE's extensive network of academic researchers, business leaders, and nonprofit practitioners form the backbone of NCNE's comprehensive program of educational activities and services that address the critical economic and decision-making issues facing the nonprofit sector." We hope to share space and programs beginning in late spring.

• Symposium planned for March 2007 at Virginia Tech - "Democracy in an Age of Networked Governance: Charting the Currents of Change."

Convened by Joyce Rothschild and Max Stephenson. Selected papers from this international conference will be published in The American Behaviorial Scientist.

• IGA will launch an endowed Ph.D. workshop series on April 7.

This series will allow leading scholars to come to Virginia Tech to present their work and to discuss it in depth with our doctoral students in a workshop designed just for them. These half-day sessions should allow thoughtful discussion on important topics related to nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations and civil society. These workshops will occur around the midpoint of each semester and each will be designed to deal with an important theme and to highlight research concerning it. We see these opportunities as part of a broader effort to build a program in nonprofit and civil society studies that is among the finest in the nation.

• Co-sponsor of the Washington Post Award for Excellence in 2004 and 2005

IGA served as a co-sponsor of The Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management. This competitive award is a project of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement (formerly the Washington Council of Agencies); its major sponsor is The Washington Post . The purpose of the program is to seek and promote outstanding nonprofit management to members of the Washington , D.C. area's nonprofit sector. IGA has provided the staff to administer the program for the 2004 and 2005 competitions.

• Co-sponsor of the Foundation Center's International Month

The Foundation Center is a national network of libraries providing accessible information on fundraising and nonprofit management. October 2004 was named International Month by The Foundation Center. IGA served as a sponsor of The Foundation Center of Washington's educational programs. The educational programs focused on fundraising/NGO management in the international arena.

• Northern Virginia Conference on Nonprofit Management

Determining educational needs of the Northern Virginia Nonprofit Community was the role played by an IGA Project Associate in the 2004 Northern Virginia Conference on Nonprofit Management. The successful conference served nearly 200 nonprofit leaders from around the region.

• Community Research and Learning Network (CoRAL)

IGA presented "Building Analytical Capacity through Collaborative Research" at the 2004 Conference on Community Driven Research and Social Change in the National Capital Region. This was a unique opportunity for Washington area colleges and universities to share successes and challenges in their work on service-learning and community-based research.

• InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) in Washington , D.C.

The Institute organized and ran an intensive 2-day workshop on May 12-13, 2004 for the IDB on "Seeking NGO-Donor Partnership for Greater Effectiveness and Accountability." The event brought together about 50 participants from NGOs and donors working in Latin America and the Caribbean . Discussions are now underway to develop a pilot project to enhance organizational learning and accountability in IDB projects with NGOs.

• Research and Service-Learning for Local Nonprofit Organizations

Through the Virginia Tech Center for Service Learning, Professor Ebrahim arranges assignments for students as part of his graduate course on "NGOs in International Development." Students devote 2-4 hours per week (approximately 40 hours per student during the semester) to an "action research" project that links research to public service practice. This service learning experience is then linked to course instruction. To date, students have conducted research with numerous organizations, including:

Smithsonian Institution, Office of Development ( Washington , D.C. )
YMCA Student Programs (Virginia Tech)
Tekoa, Inc. Residential Treatment Facility (Southwest VA)
Valley Interfaith Child Care Center (New River Valley, VA)
Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization (Roanoke, VA)
American Red Cross (Roanoke chapter, VA)
New River Community Action (Radford, VA)
Conflict Resolution Center (Roanoke, VA)
YMCA Civic Connections Program (Virginia Tech)
World Resources Institute (Washington, D.C.)
Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley
Refugee and Immigration Services ( Roanoke , VA )