Page 32 - AERC Strategic Plan 2 July2020

THE AERC 2020–2025 STRATEGIC PLAN

The Outputs

This approach would increase the number of collaborative-research and country-
case studies, as well as thematic research papers published in internationally refereed
journals. It would also beef up the AERC e-library and drive development and revision of
curricula for the CMAP, the Collaborative Master in Agricultural Economics (CMAAE) and
the CPP elective courses, as well as emerging thesis research topics.

Outcome 2: Improve the efficiency and inclusivity of the facilities for electives to
meet the changing needs of universities and their students – and to
signal quality.

AERC will remodel the Joint and Specialized Facilities for Electives (JFE and SFSE) to
become more inclusive and efficient while maintaining quality standards by:

» Conducting an annual review of the CMAP, CMAAE, and CPP universities to ensure
that the quality of the teaching core and elective courses are on a par with
global standards;

» Redeveloping an optimal structure of collaborative graduate training that
guarantees efficiency, quality, and inclusivity and supports institutional
development;
» Reassessing university categorization, entry into each category, and facilities for
electives participation based on capacity, strengths, and weaknesses at network
universities;

» Introducing and implementing a university quality-mark programme as a
motivating factor for universities to become active participants in improving
economics departments and schools of economics at undergraduate, graduate,
and PhD levels;

» Conducting a feasibility study for creating a network of universities among the
categories to jointly offer elective courses at a regional or subregional level,
supported by AERC as an alternative to the centralized joint facility for electives;

» Reviewing elective and core-course curricula to keep abreast with new
developments in economics; maintain global standards; and ensure that there is
enough applied and policy content in the courses;

» Implementing blended learning that combines face-to-face teaching with
e-learning in the standardization of delivery for elective courses across all
network universities to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and broaden reach; and

» Leveraging the CPP infrastructure to integrate CMAAE into its catchment, thus
building a pool of highly qualified agricultural economists for policy research
on agricultural transformation; natural resources management; climate change;
and environmentally sustainable areas.

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