Higher Education Consultancy for Action Against Hunger’s WASH Master’s Program in Jordan At Action Contre la Faim France

1. Background

Action Against Hunger (ACF) is a leading humanitarian agency working to combat hunger, malnutrition and its determinants in over 45 countries worldwide. 10 years into the Syrian crisis, Jordan remains host to 1.36 million Syrian refugees (83% of whom live among host communities), in addition to over 90,000 refugees largely from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan.

Working in Jordan since 2013, ACF has focused its response on WASH, Food Security and Livelihoods, and MHPSS programming for refugees and vulnerable Jordanians, both in camps and host communities. ACF’s 2020-25 country strategy aims to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable people to socio-economic and environmental challenges in Jordan with an emphasis on rural and peri-urban women and youth. As of 2022, ACF has operations across Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, Zarqa and Madaba with over 70 staff.

The Humanitarian WASH Master of Science Program is an innovative master’s program implemented by German Jordanian University (GJU) and ACF with primary funding from UNICEF and BHA. The main objective of the project is to establish a jointly designed, locally-based, and humanitarian-focused WASH Master program to promote efficient, localized and sustainable WaSH programming in the MENA region. The Master’s program has been operational since February 2021, with the first cohort of students expected to graduate in December 2022. A second cohort of students has started the program as of February 2022.

2. Purpose of the Consultancy

Based in Amman with regular travel to GJU’s Madaba campus, the purpose of this consultancy is to provide a comprehensive course review of the WASH Master’s program, updating the structure of course content, and contact hours under the direction of GJU’s Academic and Administrative Coordinators. This process is expected to secure an increase in student recruitment and adaptation of the course toward online delivery in order to secure its sustainable financial performance moving forward.

The WASH Masters course structure and content has been based on the identification of key competencies required in the humanitarian WASH sector. This has resulted in the development of a two year, full time program requiring the completion of a number of compulsory and elective courses. The course review consultancy is intended to ensure the ongoing integrity of courses designed with a focus on structural changes to course delivery and timing to enable online teaching, lower contact hours, and the potential delivery of a complementary professional diploma program consisting of core WASH master courses. These changes are intended to ensure the WASH Master’s program is able to better meet the needs of its target audience – new graduates and early career professionals in the Middle East Region – and ensure the sustainability of the program moving forward.

Classification of relevant Courses :

Compulsory Requirements (20 credit hours)

• HWaSH 711 Humanitarian System and Concepts
• HWaSH 721 Technical Essentials: Water and Sanitation
• HWaSH 722 Technical Essentials: Behaviour Change in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices
• HWaSH731 Humanitarian WASH Project Cycle Management 1
• HWaSH732 Humanitarian WASH Project Cycle Management 2
• HWaSH741 Human Resources, Logistics, Security of Humanitarian WASH Programs

Elective Requirements ( 4 credit hours)

• HWaSH733 Budgeting, reporting, communication and partnership management essentials
• HWaSH734 Budgeting, reporting, communication and partnership management lab
• HWaSH751 Simulation exercise
• HWaSH 735 Advance cash based programming (no material yet developed)
• HWaSH 736 Disaster risk management (no material yet developed)
• ERE 742 Sustainability
• ERE 752 Water, energy and environment management
• ERE 743 Environmental biotechnology and bioenergy
• ERE 751 Advanced water and wastewater treatment
• ERE 752 Waster, energy and environment management
• ERE 734 Techno Economical Feasibility
• HWaSH 791 Special topics in Humanitarian WASH

Internship (3 credit hours)

• HWaSH 761 Internship

Master’s Thesis (9 credit hours)

• HWaSH 779 A Master Thesis
• HWaSH 779 B Master Thesis
• HWaSH 779 C Master Thesis
• HWaSH 779 D Master Thesis

In terms of course structures required by the Jordanian higher education system, the following applies:

Master: 3 semesters minimum, 60 students maximum, 36 credits, Bachelors as pre-requisite study

Higher Diploma: 3 semesters minimum, 100 students maximum, 24 credits, Bachelors as pre-requisite study

Professional Diploma: Flexible time to complete and student capacity based on the approval of Ministry of Higher Education, 12 credits, Bachelors or two years of community collegeas pre-requisite study

3. Specific Tasks

The consultant is expected to complete the following tasks over the course and duration of the consultancy:

1. Attend a briefing for the consultancy with the ACF Deputy Country Director Programs, GJU Administrative and Academic Coordinators and other staff identified and agreed in advance
2. Ensure systematic documentation and organisation of all developed WASH Masters course materials
3. Review the course structure and content of all HWaSH compulsory and elective courses (excluding those with no material developed for them yet), making recommendations to minimise duplication, reduce contact hours, adapt for online course delivery, and to propose a new time table/schedule based on the aforementioned modifications.
4. Present on findings to be validated by a panel including the GJU Academic and Administrative Coordinators, ACF Deputy Country Director Programs, and ACF’s Regional WASH Technical Advisors
5. Once recommendations are validated, under the guidance of GJU’s academic and administrative coordinators, develop updated course materials and pedagogical content reflecting changes for selected courses for the WASH Master Program
6. Make a recommendation for the structure and delivery of a complementary professional diploma consisting of WASH Master courses
7. Ensure all changes in the WASH Master’s program and professional diploma are summarised in a dossier for submission to the Ministry of Higher Education. The specific requirements will be provided by GJU
8. Timeline and Key Deliverables

The consultant is expected to work up to 29 working days between October – December 2022 and submit the following deliverables:

1. A folder containing all collated course materials, organised by course and module
2. A report detailing recommendations for HWaSH course adaptations to minimise duplication of content across courses, reduce contact hours expected, and adapt courses for online delivery, and to propose a new time table/schedule based on the aforementioned modifications.
3. Present on findings to be validated by a panel including the GJU Academic and Administrative Coordinators, ACF Deputy Country Director Programs, and ACF’s Regional WASH Technical Advisors
4. Complete course materials for all course reflected agreed adaptations. This includes updated course outlines.
5. Development of documents required for submission to GJU leadership and the Ministry of Higher Education detailing changes made to the course, for the purpose of maintaining current accreditation.

Tasks:

• Briefing with GJU and ACF (0.5 day)
• Desk review of course materials and relevant documents including the organization of collated course materials (3 days)
• Report development (8 days)
• Presentation of findings (0.5 day)
• Final report addressing feedback (2 days)
• Update to course materials (12 days)
• Develop professional diploma structure (1 day)
• Dossier for submission to Ministry of Higher Education (2 days)

Total working days expected: 29 daysThe consultant or consultancy firm is expected work remotely and in person through a field deployment to complete their assignment. This includes regular travel to GJU’s Madaba campus.

Profile of the Consultant:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in WASH, Education, Social Science or another other subject relevant
• At least 7 years of professional experience in WASH in the humanitarian and development sector
• Significant experience in designing curriculum and teaching-learning materials related to WASH topics
• Understanding of the higher education system. Experience in the Jordanian higher education system is considered an advantage
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to dialogue with diverse stakeholders
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.