MSU’s Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN), Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), and Office for Education Abroad are pleased to announce the selected teams for the second cohort of the COIL Faculty Fellows Program-Africa.

Sponsored by AAP, this program is an opportunity for higher-ed teaching faculty (i.e., faculty or academic staff with teaching appointments) from any discipline to explore the theory and practice of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) through global partnerships connecting institutions within the AAP Consortium.

Approximately 45 highly esteemed teaching faculty expressed interest in partaking in our fellowship program and once again, the selection committee decided to select seven teams (rather than six as initially planned) given the quality of all team applications received. We welcome these teams who will be joining our program as our second cohort of fellows, and we look forward to collaborating with them in 2024-2025!

We also wish to extend sincere thanks to each one of the applicants and those who helped share this opportunity within their networks; we applaud your willingness and efforts in engaging students in global learning and helping advance internationalization through COIL. Stay tuned to GYAN's COIL webpage for future events or new Calls for Fellows.

Below you can learn more about the seven teams (ordered alphabetically) and their preliminary ideas:

Team 1

• Antoinette Tessmer, Broad College of Business (Finance Dept.), Michigan State University.

• Jade Verbeek, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (Dept. of Marketing Management), University of Pretoria (South Africa).

Foster students' cross-cultural thinking and interdisciplinary perspectives to address and effectively support the communication of global issues, such as sustainable investing. 

Team 2

• Christina Dokter, College of Osteopathic Medicine (Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology), Michigan State University.

• Ngozi Chioma Okoronkwo, Faculty of Agriculture (Dept. of Food Science and Technology), University of Nigeria Nsukka (Nigeria).

Allow students to learn about and experience how scientists can build effective team collaboration in geographically dispersed, multicultural, and inter-disciplinary domains.

Team 3

• Daniel Uyeh, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources & College of Engineering (Dept. of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering), Michigan State University.

• Ifeoma Quinette Anugwa, Faculty of Agriculture (Dept. of Agricultural Extension), University of Nigeria Nsukka (Nigeria).

Provide an opportunity for students in the Global North and Global South to collaborate in co-creating content for digital extension services and location-specific outreach strategies. 

Team 4

• Ilce Gabriela Medina Meza, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources & College of Engineering (Dept. of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering), Michigan State University.

• Oluchukwu Margaret Mary Nwadi, Faculty of Agriculture (Dept. of Food Science and Technology), University of Nigeria Nsukka (Nigeria).

Bring their students together to gain insights into the current usage, products, and advancements in food science and technology related to pulses and cereals in their respective countries.

Team 5

• Thomas Rimer, Broad College of Business (Finance Dept.), Michigan State University.

• Chukwudi Kingsley Onyeachu, Institute of Social Policy, University of Nigeria Nsukka (Nigeria)

Offer their students an opportunity to gain a new perspective on social policy issues, how finance/business relates to these issues, and how to develop the critical questions that may lead to their solutions.

Team 6

• Trixie G. Smith, College of Arts and Letters (Dept. of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures), Michigan State University.

• Folake Ruth Aluko, Faculty of Education (Unit for Distance Education), University of Pretoria (South Africa).

Invite their students to not only consider existing philosophies of education and theoretical frameworks for both teaching and research, but to apply these various philosophies and theories to their own research and teaching practices.

Team 7

• Vaughn W. M. Watson, College of Education (Dept. Teacher Education), Michigan State University.

• Everlyn Oluoch-Suleh, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Dept. of Languages and Literature), United States International University-Africa (Kenya).

Help students acquire critical thinking skills and innovative technology skills through shared implementation of curriculum design and teaching practices involving affirming approaches to writing and English education.

Speaking closely to sustainability efforts of our fellowship program, we are pleased to welcome to our program two new COIL Campus Coordinators, who have been appointed by their AAP focal point at their respective institutions. As part of serving in this role, they will have the opportunity to learn more about COIL and how to best support faculty at their institutions who may want to implement COIL in the future. We look forward to working with them throughout this fellowship program and beyond!

• Margaret Funke Omidire, Full Professor in the Dept. of Educational Psychology & Director at the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment at University of Pretoria (South Africa).
• Peter Kigwilu, Director, Quality Assurance and Accreditation Liaison Officer at United States International University - Africa (Kenya).