Dr. Francis Kofi Andoh-Baidoo, associate professor in the UTRGV Department of Information Systems, has been awarded a fellowship by the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) to travel to Ghana to work with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Business.
Andoh-Baidoo will work on collaborative research with Dr. David Asamoah, of KNUST, to organize seminars and workshops for graduate students and faculty of the School of Business, and the faculty of other, private universities affiliated with KNUST.
The goal of the project is to enhance the knowledge base and research capabilities of both the faculty and doctoral students. The anticipated impact is to increase the quality and productivity of faculty research activities that lead to publication in high-impact journals.
Andoh-Baidoo’s fellowship runs from June 12 to Aug. 11, 2018. He already is working with several graduate students from multiple institutions in Ghana, he said, and he sees multiple benefits from the fellowship that he can apply in the classroom.
“The fellowship will enrich my knowledge on global issues that I can share with the UTRGV community through my teaching,” Andoh-Baidoo said. “I also hope to strengthen research collaboration between the host institution and some of my colleagues who may be interested in collaborating with other faculty and students in Ghana.”
Andoh-Baidoo was one of 55 African-born scholars chosen to travel to Africa to work with higher-education institutions and collaborators in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda to work together on curriculum co-development, research, graduate teaching, training and mentoring activities.
ABOUT THE CARNEGIE AFRICAN DIASPORA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) is a scholarly fellowship program for educational projects at African higher-education institutions. Offered by IIE in collaboration with the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), the program is funded by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY). A total of 335 African Diaspora Fellowships have been awarded for scholars to travel to Africa since the program’s inception in 2013.
CADFP exemplifies CCNY’s enduring commitment to higher education in Africa. IIE manages and administers the program, including applications, project requests and fellowships. USIU-Africa provides strategic direction through the Advisory Council.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.