GSPM Blog

Dr. Chuck Cushman, Acting Executive Director at GSPM, recently wrote an article on the school's programs in Latin America for the Continuing Higher Education Review, an annual publication by Harvard University.

Cooperative Education in the Andean Countries: A Case Study of International Education Efforts

Since 2001, the Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at The George Washington University (GW) has managed a cooperative education program with a network of nine respected universities in South America. This “governance and political management” program serves working professionals in the civil service, political party offices, advocacy groups, non-governmental organizations, labor unions, business leaders, and the press, not unlike working professionals described in UPCEA’s 2009 publication, The New Face of Higher Education: Lifelong Learning Trends. GSPM faculty travel to the region to lead weekend workshops to educate these working professionals in the tools, skills, and strategic management of communication, organization, and advocacy—an education not otherwise available in the region. Over 7,000 students have graduated from the GSPM program since its launch.

International programs advance GW’s goal of being a global university, but they are difficult to design, launch, and maintain. GSPM’s innovation was to create the program with a sponsor in the region and to provide faculty to teach in programs offered, administered, and accredited in the regional nations. This cooperative-education model allows GSPM to...

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