‘Outstanding faculty, unique learning ecosystem make studying at HBKU College of Public Policy interesting’
THE outstanding faculty members and unique learning ecosystem among sister colleges at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) as well as other Qatar Foundation (QF) entities are among the reasons that make College of Public Policy (CPP) an interesting place to study, Dr Leslie Pal, CCP dean has highlighted.
As HBKU concluded its annual Graduate Studies Open House on Monday, Dr Pal said, “CPP is a terrific place to study for several reasons. First, we have outstanding faculty who are both inspiring teachers and leading researchers. Students who study with us are getting the best instruction in the field. Second, the learning opportunities among our sister colleges at HBKU, as well as other entities and partners throughout Qatar Foundation and Education City, are simply extraordinary. The learning ecosystem here is unique, not just in the region but the world.”
Talking about the accomplishments of CPP over the past year, Dr Pal outlined responding to the pandemic, converting their courses into an online format and finishing the academic year in May without compromising the quality of their teaching as key milestones for the college.
He said, “Moving into the summer, we didn’t know what the fall term would hold, and whether we would still be online (as we are). I’m nevertheless pleased to report that we had a surge of applications to the Master of Public Policy programme (MPP) and accepted 20 exceptional students from Qatar and abroad.
“On the research side, I’m very proud of the CPP faculty for their successful application for a Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) Rapid Response Call grant. They worked over the summer on a project entitled “COVID-19 Policy Tracker MENA Government Responses to the Crisis” (www.menatracker.org). We’ve also launched two research programmes, one on sustainability and governance (PROGRESS – directed by Dr Andreas Rechkemmer), the other on social policy and evaluation (PROSPER – directed by Dr Anis Ben Brik).”
Dr Pal said their first cohort of students are now working in their teams with organisational partners and developing their research projects and research proposals which cover the environmental energy field and migrant labour markets.
He added that the college continues to develop a roster of organisational partners to provide research opportunities for their students.
“From there, our PROGRESS and PROSPER programmes reach out to entities within Education
City, QF, the local community and international partners in order to develop medium and long-term research plans. I’m confident that both will be on a firm footing and contributing to QF’s mission on sustainability and social progress and wellbeing. We also hope that our COVID-19 Policy Tracker project will be a platform for other trackers, with PROGRESS and PROSPER using the methodology to provide evidence-based analysis of regional policy developments,” he said.
This past summer, CPP offered a course on leadership and crisis management.
Dean Pal said the courses in policy analysis and design, economics, global political economy and public management will continue to grapple with the lessons and challenges of the pandemic, while data from the Policy Tracker project will be incorporated into their teaching and will provide students an excellent overview of the range of policy tools and how different governments package them differently.
He said, “Our faculty are all tireless researchers and developing multiple projects through our research programmes, grant applications and their own research activities. Half the students in our first-year cohort have been involved in one way or another in various projects over the past year.
“Several had internships with local partners. We also expect further opportunities to arise following our memorandum of understanding with the Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority, which has close connections to the country’s ministries and think tanks.”