US Embassy Policy Specialist Program

Embassy Policy Specialists Grant Recipients 2005-2006

Name: Rebecca Katz
Title: Associate Professor
Department: Criminology
Institution: Morehead State University
Country Visited: US Consulate in Vladivostok, Russia
Project Area: Crime and Corruption
Project Abstract: Dr. Katz will continue her on-going research in crime and corruption in Vladivostok, Russia. She will develop and conduct open-ended qualitative and quantitative interviews with incarcerated offenders involved in bribery, smuggling, drug and/or human trafficking, ordinary citizens, and public officials with regard to their knowledge of and participation in the same types of offenses. This database will be utilized for theory building, as well as the provision of a variety of probable solutions to the problem of crime and corruption that may help in decreasing crime and victimization across Russia as well as other parts of the former Soviet Union.

Name: Beth Kolko
Title: Associate Professor
Department: Technical Communication
Institution: University of Washington
Country Visited: US Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Project Area: Media
Project Abstract: Dr. Kolko will examine the gaps between media policy as articulated in official legislation and policy as experienced by those working in the media sector. She plans to pursue this angle via interviews with a wide variety of news producers and consumers. Dr. Kolko will also examine the effects of websites, often hosted outside of Uzbekistan, on journalism as a whole in Uzbekistan. In addition, she will focus on the principles of media convergence as they are emerging in Uzbekistan, incorporating commercial and regulatory overlap that occurs among media producers and distributors such as newspapers, television, radio, and Internet.

Name: Nancy Scannell
Title: Associate Professor
Department: Business Administration
Institution: University of Illinois at Springfield
Country Visited: US Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan
Project Area: Economic Diversity
Project Abstract: Dr. Scannell will conduct research on the financial sector, specifically the banking industry. She will examine the status of privatization of Azerbaijani banks and will assess the extent to which banks diversify in order to reduce risk within their own organizations. Her research has the goal of emphasizing the industry’s role in the overall economic diversification of the country.

Name: Joseph Stetar
Title: Professor
Department: Educational Leadership Management and Policy
Institution: Seton Hall University
Country Visited: US Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Project Area: Academic Honesty
Project Abstract: Dr. Stetar has researched academic corruption in Ukraine, and will use the opportunity as a natural extension of his research in Ukraine, providing a synergy of work done to-date. He will use his network of Kyrgyz colleagues to examine the Kyrgyzstan higher education system.