Academic and Leadership Institute Staff Key Informant Interview

Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders: Interviews with Academic and Leadership Institute Staff

Introduction

Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship evaluation! The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State engaged Guidehouse to conduct an independent evaluation of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (2014 – 2018). You have been selected for an interview based on your survey responses and your participation in the Fellowship’s Academic and Leadership Institutes (ALI). We are not affiliated with IREX.

The purpose of the evaluation is to review the Fellowship’s effectiveness in meeting its goals and objectives, assess the Fellowship’s impact on Alumni and other stakeholders, and determine areas for improvement and growth. Your interview responses will provide us with vital information on personal experiences with the Fellowship, and insights into how to shape the program moving forward. In this interview we will cover three major categories: Background, Impacts and Outcomes, and Program Coordination. It is anticipated that the interview will take approximately 60 minutes.

Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may opt to withdraw from the interview at any time or choose not to answer select questions. For your awareness:

• Aggregated responses or qualitative insights (without names) from open-ended questions may be included in the final report or publications resulting from the evaluation.

• Qualitative data files will be submitted to ECA at the completion of the evaluation (without names or any contact information).

• The information you provide may be re-analyzed at a later date for a follow-up study or other purpose approved by ECA.

Your contributions are confidential and no individual names will be used in any reports or publications resulting from the evaluation unless the individual provides consent to the Evaluation Team. If you have any questions or concerns about this interview or the evaluation more broadly, please reach out to the Evaluation Team at [email protected].

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

Do you consent to participate in this interview?

☐ I consent to participate in this interview

☐ I do not consent to participate in this interview [note: if selected, the interview will end]

Internal Notes **FOR ECA/EVALUATION TEAM USE ONLY**

Scope: The Academic and Leadership Institute key informant interviews (KII) will use the Academic and Leadership Institute survey data to gather personal anecdotes and stories from key Academic and Leadership Institute staff and representatives.

Structure: The Evaluation Team will identify KIIs by region and individual interest in being interviewed.

KIIs will be conducted in person where feasible. Virtual discussions will be an alternate form of communication if necessary.

Interview Instructions **FOR INTERVIEWER USE ONLY**

• Introduction: The interviewer will read the introduction and ask the key informant the “Consent to Participate” question prior to beginning the interview.

  • If the key informant declines to consent to the interview, the interviewer should thank the participant for their time and end the interview.

• Interview Questions and Style: There are 14 formal interview questions below. Some of these questions have suggested follow-up questions and/or prompts. The interviewer should use their discretion to determine if the follow-up questions are relevant and if the prompts are necessary. Interviewers are encouraged to phrase questions more personally or informally.

• Incorporating Survey Responses: Interviewer will insert information from key informant’s survey responses into the designated interview questions. The interviewer may need to modify these questions if the key informant did not fill out the relevant survey question, the key informant provided more than one answer to the survey question, or the key informant did not respond to the survey.

• Note: If a key informant did not respond to the survey, all questions in the questionnaire below can be made more general to capture an informant’s experience. E.g., rather than “In your survey response, you highlighted the following ways the Fellows had an impact on the local American community…”, the question becomes “Please highlight ways the Fellows had an impact on the local American community.”

Attendees

Key informant ID

Evaluation team attendees

Questions

Interview Questions
Background and Context
1	Could you please confirm the name and location of your Academic and Leadership Institute?
NA	[For Respondents who did not complete survey] Could you please indicate all years that your university hosted Mandela Washington Fellows, and the corresponding tracks for each years? Follow-up: What years have you personally engaged in the Academic and Leadership Institute, in any role?
NA	[For Respondents who did not complete survey] What curriculum components did your Academic and Leadership Institute provide to fellows? [Prompts: academic sessions, experiential learning, community service, cultural experiences, networking, etc.]
2	In your survey response, you noted that your Academic and Leadership role included [details from ALI Staff survey, Questions #2 and 3]. Could you provide additional detail on how you became involved in the Academic and Leadership Institute in this capacity? Follow-up: Has your role evolved since you first became involved with the Academic and Leadership Institute? If so, how?
3	Does your office/department run any other fellowship programs for International students/fellows? Follow-up: What is the focus of this/these other Fellowships? What is the duration of this/these other fellowships (i.e., short term or long-term)? How has your experience with the Mandela Washington Fellowship compared to your experience with other Fellowship programs? E.g.: Experience with communication from the program management (e.g., IREX or other organizations involved) Experience with Fellows Experience with impact on academic/local communities Has the Mandela Washington Fellowship experience contributed to any changes or adaptions from the other fellowship program(s)? If so, how?
4	Are there any program components that make your Institute’s program unique or notable? Prompts: Type of leadership training offered, community service opportunities, cultural exchange opportunities, field trips, special networking opportunities, special events or conferences.
Impact and Outcomes
5	In your survey response, you highlighted the following as the most significant experiences for the Fellows based on your programming: [details from ALI Staff survey, Question #10]. Could you describe in further detail how your programming led Fellows to these experiences? Follow-up questions: Could you describe Fellows successes and challenges when engaging in these experiences? Prompts: Types of courses offered, match between professors and fellows, cultural experiences, non-academic activities such as site visits, logistics
6	Have you personally had any unique or notable experiences, or new opportunities, as a result of this Fellowship? If yes, please describe. Prompts: For example, have you been able to incorporate the skills from your experiences in the Academic and Leadership Institutes into new positions across the university/organization? Have you gained new professional or personal contacts? Follow-up: Have there been any unique or notable experiences or opportunities for the wider office or department? How (if at all) did the Fellowship help build capacity of the department/office? Do you feel you have a better understanding on how to conduct exchange programs as a result of your experience with the Fellowship? Does/did implementing the Fellowship help expand your Institute’s academic portfolio in any way?
7	In your survey response, you highlighted the following as beneficial impacts on the local American community: [details from ALI Staff survey, Questions #11 and 11a]. Could you provide additional details on these beneficial impacts? Follow-up questions: Are there any groups that were more impacted than others? E.g., other students, local businesses, local non-profits, etc.? If so, why?
8	What are some ways, if any, that the Academic and Leadership Institute has affected relationships between the local community (e.g., students, professors, businesses, organizations, the University, residents) and the Fellows?
9	What are some of the lessons that you learned about hosting Fellows? Prompts: Related to programming, to working with IREX, preparing for the Summit, etc..
Program Coordination
10	Each year, IREX and the Department of State update the programming for the Fellowship based on lessons learned and feedback from stakeholders. If you have been involved with the Fellowship for more than one year, what do you feel have been the most critical changes that have led to tangible improvements? Follow-up questions: If you have been involved with the Fellowship for more than one year, can you describe any changes that have not been as positive?
11	In your survey response, you highlighted the following suggestions for improvements or changes to the Fellowship: [details from ALI Staff survey, Questions #27]. Can you describe what experiences, successes, and/or challenges led you to these suggestions? Follow-up question: D0 you have any additional suggestions for improving the external coordination or management (e.g., IREX, Department of State) of the Academic and Leadership Institute portion of the fellowship?
12	Is there anything we have not discussed about your experience with the Mandela Washington Fellowship or Academic Leadership Institute that you would like to share?
13	Is there anyone either from your Institute or the community that you think we should talk to?

OMB Control Number: 1405-XXXX Burden Estimate:  60 minutes Expiration Date: XX-XX-XXXX

PRA Statement Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including time required for searching existing data sources, gathering the necessary documentation, providing the information and/or documents required, and reviewing the final collection.  You do not have to supply this information unless this collection displays a currently valid OMB control number.  If you have comments on the accuracy of this burden estimate and/or recommendations for reducing it, please send them to: [email protected].