Tag Archives: USAID

SWEEP: SJSU, CISCO and USAID show committement to social work project

San José State University’s College of Applied Sciences and Arts Dean Charles C. Bullock and Associate Dean Alice Hines both participated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding, though they were in different countries and time zones.

Dean Bullock was present at the signing of the agreement in Hanoi between San José State University, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Cisco Systems that outlined the ways in which the partners will work together to meet the objectives of the Social Work Education Enhancement Program. The SWEEP project is funded with a grant from USAID that allows SJSU to work with eight Vietnamese university partners to enhance social work education at the universities to produce job-ready social workers for Viet Nam.

The signing ceremony took place Nov. 13, at 9 a.m. in Hanoi, with participants present via telepresence from San Jose, Charlotte, North Carolina (where Cisco is headquartered) and Ho Chi Minh City. SJSU Mohammad Qayoumi and USAID Mission Director Joakim Parker both signed the MOU that had earlier been signed by CISCO in the United States. Administrators from the partner universities participated in person in Hanoi and via telepresence from Ho Chi Minh City. Hines joined in from the Cisco offices in San Jose, where it was 6 p.m. on Nov. 12.

Hines called it “an excellent illustration of how technology can be instrumental in bringing people together across cultural (and temporal) boundaries.”

 

View more photos at the USAID flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/usaid_vietnam/sets/72157637622002363/)page.

SWEEP starts year with international visitors

The Social Work Education Enhancement Program started the year off with a week-long visit from five Vietnamese partner universities for the Leadership Academy in September. San Jose Staté University is the lead for the SWEEP project, an international consortium of five Vietnamese universities, two government agencies and private sector partner Cisco Systems, Inc. The program funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to strengthen the capacity of Viet Nam’s higher education social work programs to deliver quality education and prepare, job-ready social workers.

The program objectives are to:

  • Develop systems to strengthen higher education management and administration,
  • Devise processes to enhance faculty development opportunities and programs
  • Develop and employ relevant curriculum adaptable to Viet Nam’s changing knowledge and needs.

 

From Sept. 22-28, representatives from National University of Vietnam at Hanoi’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University of Education, University of Labor and Social Affairs at Hanoi, Hue University and National University of Vietnam at HMC’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities attended the Leadership Academy.

The visitors were welcomed by SJSU President Mohammad Qayoumi and College of Applied Sciences and Arts Dean Charles Bullock, as well as SWEEP directors Alice Hines and Ed Cohen. The guests spent the week in conference meetings at SJSU and visiting some places off campus as well. They attended meetings at Cisco, Vietnamese American Professionals Associations and the County of Santa Clara Mental Health Department. They finished off the visit by watching a Spartan football game at Spartan stadium.

During the three-year grant period, SWEEP will develop and implement undergraduate social work policies and practices, curricula, regional educational centers, technology networks, and faculty development and leadership programs.

The SWEEP team includes:

Alice Hines, College of Applied Sciences and Arts associate dean, principal investigator

Ed Cohen, associate professor of Social Work, co-principal investigator

Soma Sen, associate professor of Social Work, faculty development lead

Meekyung Han, associate professor of Social Work, curriculum development lead

Laurie Drabble, professor of Social Work. management and administration lead

Tuan Tran, SWEEP Viet Nam project coordinator

Hoa Nguyen, SWEEP Viet Nam project assistant

Quyen Grant, SWEEP SJSU project assistant

Patrick Thanh Ngo, Veronica Cavillo, Cindy Nguyen and Diana Nguyen – student assistants