Blog by Nina Kelsey, Associate Professor of Public Policy and International Affairs; Program Director, MA ISTP, GW Elliott School of International Affairs
I came into GWALA feeling overwhelmed. I was very interested in the program and what I might learn from it; but also concerned that what I really needed as a leader were things as simple as strategies for getting my inbox in order, avoiding distractions, or not letting meetings run long.
I also started the GWALA process without a very clear idea of what I wanted to do for my “project”. But by the end of the course, I was at the point where it was obvious: I currently direct the MA in International Science and Technology Policy, and I wanted to create an MS version of the degree.
The degree has some obvious selling points for us. Many of our students already straddle the line between STEM and international affairs, so a version of the degree that allows them to leverage that to the max has some obvious appeal. In addition, we think it’s likely to attract international students that consider an MS a more prestigious degree (plus, properly formulated MS degrees give foreign students access to better work visa arrangements after graduation). An MS degree in ISTP also leverages GWU’s overall strengths and mission; we can ground the program in Elliott’s resources but draw on GW’s wide range of programs in everything from law to engineering to public health, offering our students unique ways to create interdisciplinary concentrations with strong STEM grounding.
And finally, possibly most importantly – no new resources. The new version of the degree can be run using the same infrastructure as the existing MA. We’ll only need more resources if the degree is successful enough to significantly boost our cohort sizes. That would be a good problem to have.
About a week ago, the new program took its first big step, with the program directors at ESIA voting to allow it to move forward. Next, it goes to our Dean’s Council, where it will hopefully be approved again, and then we’re off to the races.
In a lot of ways, this project has been surprisingly easy to do. Ironically, we’re helped to some extent by our own challenges. Our program has been running a bit understaffed since the pandemic, but that means a smaller and more tightly-knit faculty to bring together around it. ESIA’s enrollments have been suffering like most of academia, but that just means that we’re all motivated to make something work if it offers a potential new attraction to prospective students.
That means that in some ways I haven’t felt like I’ve had to apply some of the more dramatic lessons we’ve tackled in GWALA. For instance, there haven’t – so far, at least – been any fights about the process requiring a particularly deft hand at conflict resolution (though I will say that the unit on difficult conversations came in handy at a separate point when I needed to replace a course instructor, something that felt extremely daunting but actually went quite smoothly in practice).
I think what’s been most helpful for this particular effort has been discussions we’ve had on general problem solving less from a conflict resolution perspectives and more from a managing through complexity perspective – particularly lessons around things like gathering information. One thing I didn’t expect when I started out was how many people it made sense to talk to, and how helpful those talks have been. My natural inclination tends to be to try to do things on my own or within our existing program, but this project benefited from early conversations with, for instance, our graduate admissions and graduate advising staff, who were able to suggest possibilities I hadn’t considered and flag potential issues. It’s something that’s blindingly obvious in retrospect, but wasn’t initially on my radar.
Another thing I didn’t expect was learning the value of a good reflective debrief. I’ve found myself on multiple occasions since we talked in GWALA about this idea, sitting down to write up my thoughts on what has gone well or poorly about anything from an effort like this MS proposal to a particular class I taught that didn’t feel like it was firing on all cylinders.
And I think honestly that that’s my biggest takeaway. There are plenty of lessons I’m sure I’ll deploy at points in my career; but what GWALA has me thinking about right now is how I need to build time for reflections and debrief (even if I’m only debriefing myself); have open-ended conversations with sources of feedback and ideas I might not otherwise think to talk to; and take a moment to simply get bored occasionally. It has been a hectic year (or decade!) and being able to slow down is, in fact, the leadership skill I need most in this environment (along with soliciting a solid range of opinions).