Dear friends at CIE –

I am pleased to share a quick update about myself – Since leaving CIE, I have been working at the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan where I serve as the American Center Director. Currently, my responsibilities include overseeing the work of four American Spaces in Turkmenistan. I manage grants, engage in research, and help obtain innovative educational technologies and Makerspace equipment to enhance our library collection.

In spring of 2006, Hatsue began working for KRI International which has a contract from JICA to implement a literacy program in Afghanistan. Starting in April, Hatsue was in Kabul for several months and thereafter will spend about half her time in Kabul and half in Japan. Her assignment is to develop a database to monitor the progress of the literacy program. She will be working to develop the local capacity to collect and manage data generated by the various literacy classes.

Mukul Acharya is currently working in academic affairs at Kean University. He provides leadership and support of Kean’s accreditation and assessment. Institutional accreditation has been his major focus for a year and will continue to be a significant priority for another year and a half as Kean is currently undergoing its self-study, a requirement for renewal of its accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

After leaving CIE, Elias returned to Domasi College of Education where we resumed his role as Principle. Domasi is the largest Teachers’ Training College in Malawi which trains teachers at both Diploma and Degree.

I am presently teaching EAP/ESL at Qatar University (QU) and this is my sixth year here.  I have also been active in organizing the annual international ELT conference here at QU for several years. My department reminds me very much of the culture at CIE due to its innovative nature as well as the cultural diversity of the faculty. 

Upon leaving CIE Ken returned to his post as a lecturer in Education Policy, Planning and Leadership at Chancellor College, University of Malawi.  In 2005 he enrolled in the University of Witwatersrand in Republic of South Africa and pursued his PhD focusing on Educational Policy and Planning. Upon return to Chancellor College, he was subsequently appointed Director of the newly established E-Learning Centre at the University.

Upon graduating from CIE, Maxwell returned to his position as a Senior Planning Officer in the Ministry of Education. In 2006, he became the Managing Director of Max Development Consultants, which provided services in program planning, participatory M&E, and training development.  In 2010 he took on the voluntary role of Country Director for the Chiyembekezo Trust.

When I returned home, I worked at Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) for 10 years as a Chief Curriculum Specialist and Director of Curriculum Development. The leadership, policy and planning skills and knowledge that I acquired from UMass have to date made all the difference in my new roles.

Dr, Chulu served as Dean of Education at the University Malawi, Chancellor College from 2013 to 2014, as Deputy Dean of Education from 2011 to 2012, and as Head of Educational Foundations Department at the same college from 2007 to 2010. He is currently a lecturer in psychometrics in the Education Foundation Department where he teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in measurement and evaluation, research methods and statistics, monitoring and evaluation and item response theory.

After graduating from CIE, I returned to Chancellor College in Malawi in the Faculty of Education where I am now an Associate Professor. Since returning I have served as Head of Department, Dean of Faculty and University Senator.