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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.