Spears School professors travel to help develop a strong faculty base at Kenyan university

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Spears School of Business professor Margaret White assists a faculty/doctoral candidate at the Moi University of Eldoret, Kenya. White and fellow faculty member Gary Frankwick spent two weeks in Kenya last fall, where they instructed more than 15 faculty/doctoral candidates about research ethics and writing scholarly journal articles and dissertations.

For the past several years, Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business has worked to create a unique, doctorate-level partnership with Moi University of Eldoret, Kenya. As part of the latest installment in the collaboration, Spears School professors Gary Frankwick and Margaret White spent two weeks in Kenya last fall, where they instructed more than 15 faculty/doctoral candidates about research ethics and writing scholarly journal articles and dissertations.

This partnership revives the spirit of a series of OSU support efforts and collaborations with Sub-Saharan African schools from the 1940s and 50s. The Spears School launched the current initiative in 2008, when professors Robert Dooley and Federico Aime proposed and developed the OSU/Moi University School of Business and Economics Capability Development Program after a visit to Kenya. Dooley said the purpose of the initiative is to assist in the development of Moi’s research and teaching capabilities and to enhance the educational legitimacy of the university.

Dooley said Moi is the largest university in Kenya with 21 campuses and more than 7,000 students in its school of business and economics alone. Frankwick said enrollment is “going through the roof” and Moi needs faculty to meet the demand.

“We are expecting to more than double the number of fully-qualified faculty at Moi’s business and economics school by late April 2011,” Dooley said. “This shows the significant impact of the Spears School’s program for Kenyan educational and research capabilities in business and economics.”

A group of students from Moi came to OSU in January to spend the semester working on their dissertations. Frankwick said he is excited to spend more time with the students. “It’s really wonderful to work with students so interested in learning,” Frankwick said. “They work like crazy. I’d never been to Africa before, and seeing that culture and getting to know their stories was an excellent experience. I enjoyed everything about the trip, and I look forward to working with the new contingent of students.”

“This partnership is a unique opportunity for the OSU faculty and for the students at Moi University,” White said. “While we were there, I was so impressed with the energy and vitality of Kenya. Though the students were very demanding of our time and energy, both they and their faculty were gracious and generous. We learned a lot about Kenya, its people, and their hopes and dreams. It was one of the most educational experiences I have had in my life.”

Dooley said the next steps in the initiative include sending Spears School professor David Carter to Kenya in March to teach a research seminar and further visits by Dooley and Aime in April and July to instruct research courses and offer further dissertation assistance. For more information about the OSU/Moi partnership or to help support the effort contact robert.dooley@okstate.edu or aime@okstate.edu.