University Initiative Needs Assessment

"An important focus of the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), a USAID [United States Agency for International Development]-funded global communication capacity building project, is to expand the role universities and training institutes play in local and regional health communication practice, teaching and research. As a first step, HC3 conducted an assessment to identify current areas of strength and opportunity for growth in social and behavioral change communication (SBCC) education, research and practice, both institutionally and among individual faculty."

In order to carry out this assessment, HC3 contacted university faculty members involved in health communication and behaviour change programmes in 18 countries in Africa and Asia. "A total of 26 responses from 21 universities in 12 countries have been collected to date. [April 2014] Its objective was to identify ways that HC3 could strengthen university contributions to and engagement with the field of SBCC. The assessment asked about: "faculty areas of expertise and time spent on research, teaching and practice; SBCC competencies and skills students gain through coursework; university research activities and priorities; and, faculty engagement in practice/consulting."

To build the assessment, core SBCC competencies (see Section 3, page 10, of the report) were defined using information from associated universities and from competencies and curricula from the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Survey respondents were asked to describe how these competencies and skills were reflected (or not) in existing degree and non-degree curricula, in practicum experiences for students, and in the research and practice activities of faculty. Respondents were also asked to describe which competencies and skills degree and non-degree students acquire as a result of their studies."

Recommendations, due to finding "a clear need to increase university connections to local, regional and international SBCC communities of scholarship and practice," include " six key activities, some of which require Core funding, some of which will require funding from local Missions, and some of which will leverage resources, as available:

1. Provide Core funding annually to cover a stipend and expenses for up to 20 student internships with SBCC programs....

2. Provide Core funding annually for two faculty research innovation grants....

3. Leverage HC3 Regional Springboard resources to

a. Develop, formalize and facilitate a process for matching university faculty and their students with existing or new country projects that provide research and practice opportunities....

b. Support this process through mentoring of faculty and students by HC3 Core team....

4. Leverage HC3 Regional Springboards to broaden faculty and student access to available and new SBCC online courses, teaching aids and materials, current peer-reviewed literature and mentoring/networking opportunities, especially in areas that are currently under-represented in existing curricula such as knowledge management systems, use of mHealth, ICT and social media for SBCC and use of participatory processes to inform SBCC activities.

5. Work with partner organizations such as AfriComNet and the International Communication Association (ICA) to foster national, regional and international academic networks.

a. Support this by encouraging local Missions to regularly fund some faculty and student travel to SBCC-related conferences....

b. Also support this by leveraging resources to publicize national and regional SBCC conferences through the Springboard.

c. Leverage assistance from ICA to support at least one existing communication-related academic organization to host and manage an SBCC conference each year.

6. Develop informational material for local Missions to explain the goals and benefits of the HC3 University Initiatives...."