During the COVID-19 pandemic, international exchange and service programs scrambled to adapt while students were newly engaged on topics of global health. Meeting the moment, Goshen College, a liberal arts college in northern Indiana renowned for its study abroad and community-engaged learning programs, and Mennonite Central Committee, a faith-based international relief, development, peace non-profit organization working around the world, came together to pilot a new partnership approach to web-based community-engaged learning. This chapter explores the learnings from this creative and successful pilot of a global public health virtual practicum, demonstrating the potential for mutually beneficial collaboration between higher education community-engaged learning programs and humanitarian organizations to meet the unique needs of diverse students and community-based organizations, while lowering entry costs and reducing barriers of engagement for students.
TopSetting The Stage
In 2020, study abroad and international exchange programs ground to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world and governments, schools, and humanitarian organizations responded to adapt and reduce risk. Universities and students scrambled to change study plans and find alternative strategies for cross-cultural engagement and community engaged learning. Students who may never have considered global public health as a field of study were suddenly engaged in the topic. According to the Association of Schools and Program of Public Health, applications to schools of public health surged by a record 23% between 2019 and 2020 as the profession suddenly felt relevant and important to students’ lives (Warnick, 2021). At the same time, international non-profit humanitarian organizations implementing global health work were struggling to resource projects in underserved communities around the world, with travel of staff difficult, increased health risks, travel restrictions unpredictable, and funding uncertainties.
Responding to this confluence of factors, Goshen College, a liberal arts college in northern Indiana renowned for its study abroad and community-engaged learning programs, and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a faith-based international relief, development, peace non-profit organization working in 47 countries, came together to create a new partnership and pilot a new approach to web-based global community-engaged learning. Together, Goshen College and MCC piloted a nine-month, eight-credit global public health virtual practicum course during the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2020 – June 2021). The course included a diverse cohort of 15 students from seven countries around the world. The cohort included both undergraduate students from Goshen College as well as young adults from around the world whose international exchange and service plans were delayed or canceled due to COVID-19.
Instructors came from both institutions, with MCC’s global health coordinator serving as the lead instructor. A second instructor whose role with MCC focuses on international service opportunities for young adults was primarily responsible to foster team building amongst the cohort, critical self-reflection, and cross-cultural competency.
The cohort met online weekly, gaining knowledge and experience in the foundational competencies of global public health theory and practice, the complexities of implementing real-life health projects, and learning from diverse experiences of each other, their cultures, and their contexts. The course culminated with a hands-on opportunity for the students to test their skills of project design and program evaluation and cross-cultural competency.
Intersectional in its approach, the course included 4 primary modules. The first focused on building a foundational level of global public health knowledge to provide a shared language around topics and to bring students up to the same level of understanding. A second module focused on the tangible skills of public health practice, particularly skills related to participatory project evaluation. A third module connected students directly to local staff implementing health projects around the world to assist with project evaluations. Lastly, the final module tied it all together by applying these skills and learnings to assist with composing a real grant application to fund a public health program related to COVID-19 in Zimbabwe.
This successful pilot effort provides learnings for others considering creative strategies for web-based global community-engagement. The course demonstrated the mutually beneficial opportunity for collaboration between higher education community-engaged learning programs and international relief and development organizations whose values align, using a low-cost virtual format. It provided useful assistance to the humanitarian relief and development efforts of MCC community-based partner organizations, while reducing the level of burden on project staff. Additionally, the course design allowed for local staff around the world to share their knowledge to help students understand the complexities and context-specific considerations needed for successful project design and implementation. By including individuals from around the world interested in taking the course for professional development, it fostered meaningful cross-cultural exposure and experiences for a diverse set of students who otherwise may not have been able to interact or travel internationally. The course met higher-education requirements for rigor, while maintaining high student engagement, academic performance, and satisfaction.