By Cat Holmes
University of Georgia
A partnership is underway between the University of Georgia and
the Tunisian Republic to assist with Tunisia’s higher education
reform. So far, it’s working smoothly.
The venture is the brainchild of Takoi Hamrita, an electrical
engineer in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences. True to her profession, she has taken a systems
approach to what easily could have been a narrowly-focused
project.
Hamrita began in 2003 with a $300,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs. Instead of using the grant to address just one aspect
of higher education in Tunisia, she decided to look at the
whole picture to determine where the money could best be put to
use.
“I have tried to follow a holistic, integral approach with this
partnership,” Hamrita said. “I wanted to build a strong
connection with Tunisia’s higher education system and to engage
as many entities at UGA as possible to maximize the chances for
a sustainable, long-term relationship.
Visits between interested parties from both countries have been
critical.
Most recently, a group of 30 Tunisian university professors
visited UGA for training in e-learning and higher education
management.
“
“We shared how UGA works, from student affairs to public
service and outreach,” Hamrita said. “But telling them how we
do things here is only a starting point. A lot of work must be
done at many different levels to effect change in Tunisia.”
Hamrita grew up in Tunisia and has lived in the U.S. since she
graduated from high school. Living in and receiving an
education in both countries has helped her work with both sides
of the partnership.
“I understand both realities because I am embedded in both
communities,” she said.
Natural goals for Americans can present social, economic or
political barriers for Tunisians, so care has been taken not to
impose U.S. standards.
“It is important to work within the system and to understand
its parameters,” she said.
The Tunisian Ambassador to the U.S., Hatem Atallah, put these
concerns into a larger context when he spoke at UGA in April.
“The [Middle East] must have and retain ownership of reform
programs because the process must be based on the reality of
each country, and the capacity and the pace of each country to
absorb change and adapt to new situations as they occur,” he
said.
“Before the Tunisian professors left UGA, we identified
together priority areas for them to work on once they were
back,” Hamrita said. One of these priorities was to promote
public service and outreach programs.
Public service and outreach is a concept most Americans take
for granted. “We are accustomed to reaping the benefits of the
latest research and development,” Hamrita said. However, the
idea is not widespread in Tunisia.
“As a citizen of UGA, I have had the opportunity to participate
in numerous workshops and faculty development programs like the
Lilly Fellowship,” Hamrita said. “There is a culture here of
investing in faculty to develop their leadership skills. I
wouldn’t be able to direct this partnership in the way that I
have without it and it is this very culture that I would like
to see develop in Tunisia.”
Hamrita will travel to Tunisia at the end of June to meet with
the Tunisian minister of higher education and other university
officials. She will follow up on the public service and
outreach initiative and discuss future plans.
“We’re trying to make things happen at the national level,”
Hamrita said. “Our pilot must impress a wide circle and engage
leaders from the beginning. To make public service and
outreach, for example, part of the culture of Tunisia, everyone
must buy into it.”
