By Laura Donnelly-Smith
Gelsomina Que Candia, chief of institutional evaluation at the University of Yucatan in Mexico and a consultant to the governor of Yucatan, was pleasantly surprised by what she found when she arrived on GW’s campus in mid-May, just after commencement.
“The university here thinks about the student from an integral perspective—not just classes, but also the facilities, the gymnasium, the library,” Ms. Que Candia said.
Her classmate Ricardo Estrada, a diplomatic employee at the Honduran Embassy here in Washington, was impressed with GW’s computer facilities and technical support. “I am not surprised about the technological support for education, but I really admire it,” he said.
Ms. Que Candia and Mr. Estrada were on campus for a two-week intensive seminar in political management developed especially for Latin American students who are already working professionals in fields like education, government and nonprofit organizations. The seminar is the first component of a new graduate certificate program in political management and strategic governance, taught through GW’s Graduate School of Political Management. The certificate program, which is taught primarily online and entirely in Spanish, is part of GSPM International, a branch of GSPM that focuses on educating Latin American leaders in their home countries. It is the first GW graduate program to be delivered in a language other than English.
“GSPM has been dealing with Latin America through cooperative programs for 12 years, and we always try to focus on local situations and local leaders,” said Luis Matos, director of the program and associate professor of political management. “We created this distance learning alternative for international leaders as an opportunity to provide them with access to GW’s respected faculty and academic offerings.”
Twenty-five students are enrolled in the first class of the new certificate program, and after they complete the on-campus seminar segment, they will return to their home countries and jobs while continuing to study online. The program covers topics such as building trust among constituents, communicating effectively and mobilizing support for change. Students said they appreciate the opportunity to get a GW education in Spanish and without having to leave their jobs.
“I have been a practitioner of politics for many years but have mainly practical experience,” explained Fernando Gavilanes, an adviser to the minister of foreign affairs in his home country of Ecuador. “I wanted a program that would improve my theoretical framework and improve the quality of my work, without having to abandon what I’m doing at home.”
Roberto Abdul, a student from Venezuela, chose to come to GW because of the Spanish-language certificate program’s unusual focus.
“There are lots of public policy and administration programs, but nothing like the political management training for campaigns and governance in this program,” he said.
Most of the students spoke in Spanish with Dr. Matos translating, but Mr. Abdul spoke English—a skill he’s polished in his role as executive director of Súmate (Spanish for “join up”), a Venezuelan nonprofit association with 30,000 volunteer members who work to build citizen participation in democracy. He plans to use the skills he gains in the certificate program to improve his organization’s effectiveness. Súmate is advocating for more transparency in the Venezuelan government, which has been led by President Hugo Chavez for 12 years.
“The framework of knowledge we can get here will help us have a different approach to how we do everything in our positions,” Mr. Abdul said.
The new Spanish-language online certificate program is not GW’s first foray into educating Latin American students in their home countries. GSPM International also runs a 10-year-old political management and governance program in Latin America, which is funded by a grant from the Corporación Andina de Fomento (Andean Development Bank) and facilitated in cooperation with a network of South American universities. That program, which has educated approximately 8,000 local leaders since its launch, brings GW professors to host countries for weekend-long seminars several times each year, with the remaining teaching being conducted by local university professors who can focus on a region’s specific needs and political challenges. The new certificate program has a similar focus on local needs.
For example, Ms. Que Candia explained that her university is undergoing structural reform with the goal of improving the university’s relationship with the surrounding community. She hopes that GSPM’s certificate program will give her the tools to help facilitate these changes.
“The University of Yucatan belongs to a network of universities in Mexico, and our region has a lot of natural resources but is very poor,” she said. “Political management will help us establish programs to alleviate this.”
Mr. Gavilanes’ plans for his certificate extend beyond his position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He started a leadership school in his home community and hopes to use the skills he learns at GW to improve his programming with local leaders.
Each GW student will be responsible for designing a capstone project or practicum at the end of the certificate program, Dr. Matos said. The capstone assignment will require students to apply what they have learned to a specific issue in their country, community or corporation. “They will work as close to reality as possible,” he said.
And though it lasted a short two weeks, the Latin American students’ on-campus experience made them part of the Colonial family.
“The professors here have so much knowledge and they are still warm to their students,” Ms. Que Candia said. “I really appreciate that kind of environment.”