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Professor Stuart Gordon (CON.8.02)

This course is compulsory on the MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies. This course is not available as an outside option.

This unit is a core half unit course for the MSc IDHE. Students work on a consultancy report in Autumn and Winter Terms.

Students will gain practical experience of dealing with current policy issues and best practice in the fields of humanitarian assistance or international development by working on a live consultancy project for a real client. The consultancies are based around an experiential learning format. Students receive guidance through a structured supervision process and with support from a staff coach.

Students are allocated to consultancy teams usually comprising between three and six people. Students can express preferences for particular clients but may not be allocated to one of these. The roster of clients and projects changes every year.

The consultancy project begins in Autumn Term (AT) with client reports due in the Winter Term (WT). The client report and final presentation form part of the assessment.

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and interaction with coaches driven by student needs. Consultancy groups are expected to meet most weeks throughout AT and WT and group members generally commit around 30 days of their time to the course. During AT there will be a minimum of 4 lectures, 2 Zoom based problem-solving workshops and sessions devoted to student inception report presentations. There will be three scheduled Zoom problem-solving workshops in the WT.

Autumn Term

• Weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5: 2-hour Skills lectures

• Week 6: Reading Week

• Weeks 7 & 8: Zoom based problem-solving workshops

• Weeks 9, 10 and 11: Inception report presentations

Winter Term

• Weeks  1, 3 & 7: Zoom based problem-solving workshops

Students will contribute to the Group inception report and presentation (in the AT) and will be given verbal feedback for each of these.

• John Rowley and Frances Rubin, 'Effective Consultancies in Development and Humanitarian and Humanitarian Programmes' (Oxfam: Oxford: 2006);
• Michael Bamberger, Jim Rugh and Linda Mabry, 'Real World Evaluation: working Under Budget, Time, Data and Political Constraints' (Sage: London, 2012);
• Michael Quinn Patton, 'Utilization Focused Evaluation' 4th Edition (Sage: London, 2008);
• Michael Edwards and Alan Fowler, 'NGO Management' (Earthscan: Oxford, 2002);
• Eric James 'Managing Humanitarian Relief: An Operational Guide for NGOs' (Practical Action Publishing: Rugby, 2008)

Project (70%, 8000 words), reflective learning report (10%) and group presentation (20%) in the WT.

An alternative assessment pathway is available in situations where groups are dissolved or individual students are removed from groups usually, but not exclusively, for disciplinary, client related or personal reasons.  The suitability of this pathway is determined by the Programme Director and Head of Department. The department may also require or request individual students who have performed extremely well or are suspected not to have contributed fully to demonstrate contributions through a portfolio of assessed work.

Students produce two reflective learning reports in the form of two individual diaries. Individual performance is assessed through a peer review exercise and the coach’s own assessment of individual contributions.

Final client presentations take place in weeks 9, 10 and 11 of WT and are scheduled by the students in consultation with academic staff and the client. Students should be aware that presentations to clients may have to take place in the week after the end of WT, and students should plan accordingly and be available to participate if required. Participation in the final presentation is mandatory to complete the course requirements.