Here I share events with you

Project meeting Nuffic project NICHE/KENYA/126 Nairobi Horticulture

During 22 to 24 January constructive talks were held on the BSc and MSc Horticulture curricuclum of the NUFFIC project  NICHE/KENYA/126 and the PhD project herein, with the acting vice chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology replacing Prof Mabel Imbuga, the Dean of the faculty of Agriculture Prof Losenge Turoop, the Department Head Dr Elijah Miinda Ateka, the Chair of the Curriculum Committee Prof Mwangi Githiri, the Nuffic project manager at JKUAT from the Department who is also working at the Directorate of Performance Contracting and Appraisal (DIPCA) of JKUAT Prof John Wesonga, the Attachment Coordinator Prof Alex, Frances Ombwana, Adimo, the general project manager of DCI of Wageningen UR Dr Irene Koomen, the PhD student in the project Rukia Atikiya, and the supervisor of her dissertation in JKUAT Prof Elegwa Mukulu from the Institue of Human Resource Development  of JKUAT. Much has been done already, but there is also still a lot to be done. The purpose of my visit was to review progress and make agreements for follow-up, which look good. Continue reading Project meeting Nuffic project NICHE/KENYA/126 Nairobi Horticulture

Jury of dissertation of Travis Turnbow Toulouse

On November 30, 2012, Travis Turnbow successfully defended his dissertation called ‘Forecasting and Competence Management Maturity: Their Relationship, Measurement, and Practical Implementation. A Study at EADS Airbus’. Competence Management Maturity is a quite new concept, and reflects the quality and integrative nature of competence management systems in organisations. According to the study competence management maturity is related to competence forecasting and competence planning. Continue reading Jury of dissertation of Travis Turnbow Toulouse

PhD course Competence Theory and Research running

The WASS-ICO PhD course on Competence Theory and Research is running. The course shows that competence theory is well developed and that certain competence research is very advanced. Complex research designs and statistical analysis techniques, using detailed competence measurement and differentiated performance assessment, showed relationships between competence and performance at aggregated and desaggregated levels. Of course many of the existing studies are criticised for conceptual unclarity, inconsistent conceptualisations, limited operationalisations, weak designs and restricted analyses. Ways to improve competence theory and research are shared.

Continue reading PhD course Competence Theory and Research running

Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS

On March 2 2012 Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS. Staff members presented their research and education portfolios, and PhD students explained posters of their projects. The session proceeded in an excellent atmosphere, many questions were raised, and various interesting ideas were shared for further activities. ECS thanks both Prof. Kropff and Prof. Brascamp for their interest in the work of the chair group. Continue reading Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS

Dr Suzanne Verdonschot visits ECS

Dr Suzanne Verdonschot, board member of the Netherlands Association of HRD professionals (NVO2) visited ECS on March 2, 2012. The special tasks of Suzanne in the board is to link science with practice. ECS shared its programme with Suzanne, and the conclusion was that there are various opportunities for cooperation, since linking research with practice is also an important feature of the work of ECS. It was agreed that the NVO2 will help ECS in finding good candidates for PhD projects in the field of corporate training and competence development. Vacancies for these and other PhD projects are advertised on the website of ECS: www.ecs.wur.nl. NVO2 will also look into the possibility to link organisations with research of ECS. Finally ECS has stated that we are willing to organise professional meetings to share experience between researchers and practitioners.

Continue reading Dr Suzanne Verdonschot visits ECS

Horticulture curriculum development project Kenya

A Dutch consortium, of which ECS is part, conducts a 4-year project on capacity and curriculum development in the field of horticulture. The project has a strong sector development character. The Kenyan partners are the Practical Training Center in the field of Horticulture (PTC),  the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Department of Horticulture of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). All partners have a strong commitment to innovate and revise existing and develop new education and training programs to serve the production sector. A PhD-project will be included. The PhD-project will be on showing the impact of the new education and training programs on human resources development in the sector, and sector development itself. We are searching for an excellent Kenyan candidate with strong educational research skills who can combine practical work with sound data collection and processing, and scientific writing skills. Continue reading Horticulture curriculum development project Kenya