Center to Bridge the Digital Divide

2 August 2007

Annie Maclachlan
School of Public Affairs
Denver, Colorado

Dear Ms Maclachlan,

This letter is a summary of the tasks accomplished by Mr. Inayet Hadi during his
independent study summer (May – August 2007) with the Afghan eQuality Alliances
implemented by Washington State University here in Afghanistan. The Afghan eQuality
Alliances is a multi-faceted initiative with the goal of “equal access to quality education
and e-education resources.” To achieve this goal, one of the activities of the eQuality
Alliances is the formation of a 21st Century Leadership Alliance represented by partners
from India, Japan and the U.S. The alliance decided to help Kabul University establish an
Institute for Public Policy and Administration. The initial activity of the Institute is the
development and delivery of a Masters in Public Policy and Administration which was
rolled out in February 2007.

It was during this time that Mr. Hadi proposed that he work with us as an Afghan
eQuality Alliances fellow. We outlined five tasks to be accomplished by Mr. Hadi during
his independent study summer with the Afghan eQuality Alliances. These 5 tasks and
what were accomplished are summarized below:

1. Research public administration reference materials for three courses (Public

Administration: Theory and Practice; Public Policy Formulation: Planning and
Analysis; Human Resources Management in the Public Sector). Mr.Hadi
uploaded these materials on the e-Learning site at http://angel.uwc.ac.za.

2. Localize course materials for visiting professor. The visiting professor who
taught the two courses while Mr. Hadi was in Kabul was an Afghan who already
knew the context. Dr. Azizi taught Public Economics in June and Public Finance
and Budgeting in July. Instead, Mr. Hadi localized the School of Public
Administration Handbook and the thesis option guidelines for use by the Institute
of Public Policy and Administration.

3. Provide one-on-one mentoring to graduate students. Mr. Hadi provided one-on-

one mentoring to almost all of 26 graduate students on the importance of keeping
the public in mind when formulating or implementing policies. Mr. Hadi was
 instrumental in assisting the Afghan students with use of APA in-text citation,
creating a list of reference when writing a research papers.

4. Conduct small group discussions with graduate students. During his summer
fellowship, the one-on-one mentoring was more important for the graduate
students than small group discussions. Because all of the students were working
professionals, it was difficult to gather them as a group.

5. Invite professionals working in the public administration sector to discuss relevant

topics in public administration with graduate students. The tight schedule of
working professionals who made up the masters degree cohort did not make this a
feasible option. During the one-on-one discussions, Mr. Hadi was able to discuss
development challenges in Afghanistan and how public institutions could address
these topics.

In addition to participation in the regularly scheduled classes, Mr. Hadi had the
opportunity to attend various meetings with Afghan eQuality Alliances programs staff,
including meetings at the Ministry of Higher Education on quality assurance and student
information systems, Kabul Medical University on curriculum revision, and USAID
Afghanistan on higher education projects in Afghanistan.

The independent study summer program was beneficial for Mr. Hadi. In particular, the
Masters students appreciated the interaction with a fellow masters student. The Afghan
eQuality Alliances staff enjoyed their association with him. And, I am thankful for his
generous spirit. I am sure that as he returns to graduate school, he will have more time to
reflect on his experience and understand fully what he has learned from this summer
experience.

Best regards,

Maria Beebe
Chief of Party, Afghan eQuality Alliances
WSU Extension Center to Bridge the Digital Divide
Chancellor’s Wing
Kabul University