Professional Development
Cornell@IFORD offers three main professional development activities to students. The first and most basic activity is advanced English training. IFORD has recognized this need for English training and taken active steps to fill this need. A second activity involves briefings about graduate school and GRE preparation. This activity focuses on the best prospects in each cohort. Much of the briefing is done by participating graduate students. Third, we plan to extend the opportunity of a post-training research assistantship for truly outstanding students. This will give students an opportunity to publish their work, learn new methods, and gain additional professional experience through conference participation.
Conferences
This program provides opportunities for outstanding students to gain additional professional experience through conference participation. These students are encouraged to become members of professional associations and to apply to available funding opportunities. Specific associations include the PAA, the IUSSP, and the Comparative International Education Society (CIES).
Publications
IFORD recognizes a need to increase its visibility in the media and among policy audiences. The Institute can achieve this through regular publication of briefs and commentaries in local newspapers, as well as by positioning itself as a source of background information for news outlets. As the IFORD data core expands, it can invite journalists, local NGOs and policy-makers for occasional briefings to showcase the ways IFORD can address these constituents’ research needs. Some of these briefings also can serve as an opportunity for students to showcase their work and discuss its policy implications. Cornell@IFORD intends to organize these briefings during the next three years and assess their impact.