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Assefa Beyene Bassa
Assefa Beyene Bassa

Niagara University awarded grant to host Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Ethiopia

by jmaloni
Tue, Aug 28th 2012 07:00 am

Niagara University has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence grant to host a visiting foreign professor for the fall 2012 semester. Assefa Beyene Bassa, a Ph.D. candidate at Andhra University in India and a lecturer at Dilla University in Ethiopia, will work closely with several sectors on Niagara's campus, especially its College of Education.

The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program brings visiting scholars and professionals from abroad to lecture at U.S. colleges and universities for one semester or one academic year. In addition to teaching courses, scholars give campus-wide and community lectures, help initiate international programs and contribute to curriculum development.

Bassa is Niagara University's first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence.

"We are thrilled to have the chance to learn from Mr. Bassa, and we are confident that this will lay the groundwork for additional opportunities to internationalize our teaching, scholarship and service," said the Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., NU president. "This initiative directly relates to Niagara's strategic plan, which identifies the creation of global and international learning opportunities as an important facet of our liberal arts-based education."

Bassa has served as a lecturer in Dilla University's department of educational leadership and management since September 2007. In addition to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he has participated as a member of the university's strategic planning and faculty level practicum coordinating committees, a faculty level research and publication team member, affirmative action coordinator, and has prepared course modules in the area of educational leadership. Bassa also authored a published research in 2011 titled "Managerial Practices in District Education Offices: The Case of SNNPR, Ethiopia" (ISBN: 978-3-639-35177-4). Most recently, he participated in a committee of four faculty members who developed a document on the restructuring of the academic and related affairs at Dilla University.

Tariku Barasso, president of Dilla University, calls Bassa "a team player (who is) able to work independently and (is) one of our faculty members who (fully) understand their duties and responsibilities."

Bassa is currently a Ph.D. research scholar and candidate at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India. His dissertation research (in progress) focuses on the management of higher education institutions, and its implications on quality assurance in Ethiopia's public universities.

At Niagara, Bassa will co-teach an undergraduate course in education, co-lead and take part in a standing committee of the College of Education, lecture in selected courses within all four of NU's colleges, and work to enhance NU's Ph.D. program in educational leadership, including the development of a new course titled international leadership and policy issues in education. He will also participate in service learning field experiences at local urban schools, community organizations and nearby universities.

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