Master of Public Policy and Leadership at EDU: A Year of Creating Changemakers

Master of Public Policy and Leadership (MPPL) is the first postgraduate programme in Bangladesh which has brilliantly combined leadership and policy studies together. This ambitious program started exactly a year ago in 2019, at East Delta University (EDU), Chattogram. The key objective of the MPPL programme is to develop ethical and effective leaders who can bring planned change while maintaining institutional stability and managerial flexibility.

This one year/36 credit Masters programme, offered under 3 different modes (Taught, Mixed and Research), focuses on bringing professionals under one roof, steering to classes full of interaction, debates and experience sharing. Whether it is the choice of modes, the blended learning approach, convenient class timing, or exceptional faculties from abroad, MPPL is gradually getting popularity among managers, leaders and policy makers.

One of the core strengths of this program is the brilliant pool of faculty members. Dr. Debasish Chakraborty, Dean, School of Business, Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania, USA, says, "I am very impressed with the MPPL curriculum that puts holistic focus on non-profit management to build a deep understanding of both the science and arts of public administration and leadership. I would like to congratulate EDU for undertaking this bold initiative and upon completion of a successful year."

Md. Aminul Islam PhD, Professor, School of Business and Technopreneurship, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia, says, "I loved being part of the MPPL teaching team. The programme is developed with a market based approach and I believe graduates of this program will receive excellent training to efficiently lead organisations in future."

Tasmeem Chowdhury Bonhi, MPPL Program Coordinator, says, "Whether you work for business, government, non-profits or as an entrepreneur, professionals are daily working on policies that address public problems. MPPL is the hub of policy discourse at EDU, the aim is to provide our students with application-based knowledge on current issues in the policy management sphere."

Mohammad Lutfur Rahman, Deputy Manager, Midas Safety, a CUET alumni and an MPPL student, shared, "What attracted me to the MPPL program is its interdisciplinary character. Working at a managerial level, I could relate to the wide range of course contents and implement my learning at work."

Leading the program is Mohammad Rokibul Kabir PhD, Associate Dean, School of Business Administration. He says, "The recent pandemic has catalyzed the process of digitalization at a meteoric speed. Decision-making process involves predicting the future and a understanding of how the subsequent law and the policy-making process will affect the business. Relevant acumen will give the professionals a competitive edge in the industry. MPPL program is what will help our future leaders attain that edge!"

MPPL programme was conceived by Sayeed Al Noman, MPhil, University of Oxford, Founder Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees. He says, "Uniqueness of this programme is its progressiveness. Even before the Corona crisis hit the world, this program has been utilizing blended learning (a combination of physical and online classes). Public Policy has been profoundly altered by the current digital transformation and our curriculum has efficiently captured the impact on public policy, resource efficiency, social interactions and security. I urge you to have a look into this programme."

This practice of Blended Learning, continuing since the beginning of the program, has a great impact on EDU. During this pandemic situation, EDU was able to continue their academic activities through online classes from the very first day of this lockdown. To ensure the smooth participation of faculties and students in online classes, everyone is given free SIM and 30 GB of mobile data per month by EDU authority. To break the Digital divide, EDU launched a project called eGift, a concept conceived by Sayeed Al Noman in collaboration with Grameenphone. The impact of this initiative is immense and visible across the student community of Bangladesh.

***

IUB holds first-ever online orientation workshop for the faculty members

Being one of the pioneers of online teaching, Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) organized the first-ever Online Orientation Workshop for its faculty members very recently. More than 500 full-time and adjunct faculty members took part in the Workshop where the theme was, 'Learning and Teaching Online'. The event was inaugurated by Prof. Milan Pagon, Vice Chancellor (Acting), IUB.

This two-day workshop was initiated by the Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) in collaboration with the Center for Pedagogy and Central Information Technology Services (CITS) at IUB. The initiative was very unique in its kind; by using the state-of-the-art facilities and technical equipment, which were made available to IUB classrooms, this workshop successfully accommodated the new normal situation sprouted due to Covid-19 pandemic.The workshop covered numerous objectives including technical and connectivity aspects, pedagogy of online teaching, context and reality of online teaching, delivery and code of conduct, and online assessment. An extensive question-answer session followed each of the discussions with the active participation by the distinguished participants. The resource persons were all IUB personnel, Prof. Sarwar Uddin Ahmed and Obydullah Al Marjuk from IQAC, Prof. Imtiaz A Hussain from Center for Pedagogy and Syed Mahfuz Ahmed and his team from CITS.

Earlier Prof. Milan Pagon discussed the challenges and opportunities of higher education in the new normal settings by inspiring and motivating the faculty members and Prof. Sarwar Uddin Ahmed welcomed the participants. The workshop unveiled a new horizon of opportunities in learning and teaching, if realized, IUB can be a path-breaking institution at the advent of online teaching in the higher education sector in Bangladesh.