PROJECT: Community
Development Master’s Program Consortium
Faculty members representing Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, and
Architecture, convened under the leadership of Dr. Cornelia Flora, Director
of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) and Dr.
Sue Maes, IAA Director, to work on a Community Development inter-institutional
graduate curriculum. The faculty has:
Confirmed the scope of the community development curriculum by fleshing
out community development tracks;
Self-identified into inter-institutional collaborative teams;
Developed course and track descriptions, learning objectives and competencies;
Identified existing online curricula resources from their institutions that
can be modified for this curriculum;
Agreed upon a timeline for both curriculum development and obtaining collaborative
policy agreements; and,
Identified an advisory board comprised of leaders from across the nation,
with a heavy concentration in the Midwest.
The IAA conducted an online needs assessment survey of community
development professionals and employers in summer 2004. John Phillips, USDA
Tribal College Liaison for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC),
conducted a needs assessment survey among tribal college presidents, administrators,
and land grant faculty and staff at 34 colleges.
The IAA will continue working with the faculty on course development
and begin work with institutional and inter-institutional program implementation
teams. The IAA Online Policy and Practice Survey of participating institutions
will be conducted to collect the information needed to make decisions regarding
inter-institutional program implementation.
