Information for D&G Workshop Clients
Overview
The Capstone Workshop in Sustainable Development Practice (the D&G Workshop) enables SIPA to partner with a diverse range of organizations on innovative development projects and approaches.
Through the D&G Workshop, student teams add value to their clients’ current and future programs through focused desk reviews, country-level research and consultations, and practical recommendations. The D&G Workshop encourages multidisciplinary approaches to development challenges. Organized by SIPA’s Development and Governance (D&G) concentration, the D&G Workshop collaborates with other SIPA concentrations, and with other parts of Columbia University including its centers and regional institutes. The D&G Workshop also welcomes opportunities to collaborate with universities and student researchers in the country where the client is located.
D&G Workshop Clients and Projects
D&G Workshop clients include national and local governments, United Nations agencies, corporations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, and others. Past clients have found the workshop extremely valuable, and several have partnered with SIPA over a number of years. Previous D&G Workshop projects have included needs and sector assessments, program evaluations, strategies for expanding existing projects, development of mobile apps, dashboards, tools, case studies, mapping exercises, facilitation of workshops and conferences, and other activities.
Timeline
The D&G Workshop process begins over the summer (June–August), when possible project ideas are discussed with clients. By September, preliminary terms of reference are developed. In late October, teams of students are matched with projects based on their language proficiency, skill sets and interests. Supported by a faculty advisor, each student team starts work by early November on a draft work plan. Depending on the needs of the project and available budget, students can travel to carry out in-country consultations and data-gathering over Columbia's winter and spring holidays (in early January and in mid-March).
| June–August | Clients contact Workshop Director Jenny McGill ([email protected]) to discuss project ideas and develop preliminary terms of reference (PTOR) for a project. |
| September |
PTORs are finalized. |
| October | Students apply to and are matched with projects based on their language proficiency, skill sets, and interests. A faculty advisor is assigned to each student team. |
| November–December | Each student team assigns team roles, holds initial meetings with their faculty advisor and client, conducts initial desk research and expert interviews, and prepares a draft workplan, which is usually sent to the client for review by mid-December. |
| January | If feasible for the client, some members of the student team can travel to the relevant study country for initial meetings, data gathering and site visits during SIPA's winter break (usually in the first half of January). |
| February–March | Each student team conducts further desk research, interviews and other data- gathering, and data analysis, while meeting weekly with their faculty advisor and meeting periodically with the client. Most student teams travel to the relevant study country or countries over SIPA's spring break (in mid- March) for in-person meetings, data gathering and site visits. |
| April–May | Each student team prepares a report (or other deliverables) for the client’s review and presents highlights of their work during a two-day hybrid workshop in late April/early May at SIPA. (On request, the team can make a more detailed presentation to the client at the client’s convenience.) |
Deliverables
Based on their desk and country-level research, each team prepares a report and recommendations (or other deliverables) for review by the client in April. The student teams present highlights of their final reports during a two-day hybrid workshop at SIPA at the end of April. For clients who cannot attend that workshop, other arrangements can be made to present the students’ findings and recommendations to the client and other stakeholders.
Cost-sharing
The only costs associated with the D&G Workshop are the costs of the students' travel, if relevant. SIPA provides a limited budget to cover some of these expenses, and clients are asked to share a portion of the costs.