Matthew R. Wawrzynski, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)

Dr. Matthew Wawrzynski is a higher education professional with more than 30 years of experience working at colleges and universities across the United States. He has over 15 years of international experience, primarily in South Africa at Nelson Mandela University where he consulted on developing institutional outcomes for cocurricular learning and works with a team of graduate students and South Africa partners to explore student engagement and student learning outcomes in culturally relevant contexts. As a professor in MSU’s Department of Educational Administration he teaches courses at the graduate level (master’s and doctoral) in college and university administration, research and assessment, and student learning and development. He coordinates the certificate for teaching and learning in postsecondary education, which is designed to provide pedagogical and curriculum professional development knowledge. With $300,000 in grant funding, he directs the National Peer Educator Survey, an initiative of the Health and Wellness Division of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, to explore student leadership development of college and university peer educators. As a Co-PI of a $ 5 million grant with the Ministry of Education and the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy University (ADAU) Foundation he developed a master’s program in higher education management at ADAU. He has over 250 scholarly publications and presentations on student learning outcomes including at institutions in China, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Singapore, India, and South Africa.

Angela Manjichi, PhD (Project Manager & MEL Lead)

Dr. Angela Manjichi is an interdisciplinary scholar with over 15 years of experience working in research and development programs in higher education and agriculture development in Mozambique. She is a faculty member at Instituto Superior Politécnico de Manica. She worked as the Deputy Director-General for Research and Academics, and as the Director of the Business Incubator Center. Throughout her work with youth and rural communities in Mozambique, Angela developed an interest in interdisciplinary and participatory approaches to teaching, research, and development. Her research and development interests are in community engagement and innovation systems in agriculture, focusing on sustainable intensification, knowledge management, gender, and social justice in Sub Saharan agricultural and food systems.

Ivan Collinson, PhD (Chief of Party)

Dr. Ivan Collinson is an educational specialist, with more than 20 years of experience working at every level of education, mostly at higher education and also at the government level, as former national director for exams, certification and equivalences (Ministry of Education and Human Development). He has served on the boards of Eduardo Mondlane University, Pedagogical University, Lúrio University, National Council for Higher Education, and National Council for Scholarships, and served as a Ministry spokesman and in several management roles at the universities mentioned (advisor, registrar, and social services director). He is currently the deputy-registrar at EMU in the office that initially proposed the creation of the student center, which will host the Career Center as part of its regular activities. He is also a pro bono lecturer and an experienced trainer in leadership and public policy. His fields of interest are educational efficiency, development, and poverty. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education, a bachelor’s degree in Theology, post-graduate degrees in Business and Administration and Higher Education Studies and Development, and his doctoral research is on the determinants of educational efficiency through the analysis of national exams performance results.