Center for Policy Studies

International Policy Fellowships

Nadorutca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary (36 1) 327 3863, fax (36 1) 327 3809
MENTOR CRITIQUE FORM

Your thoughtful and honest appraisal will be most helpful. We appreciate your input and will try to implement as many of your ideas as possible. Continue comments on the back if necessary.

The IPF program pairs each Fellow with one or two mentors who are Soros foundations network-affiliated (usually Open Society Institute and Central European University), as well as one ‘external’ mentor who is an expert in the field working outside the Soros foundations network. Mentors should: 1) Work with Fellows to devise a brief policy paper in their field(s) of expertise based on a lengthy research paper written over the course of the fellowship year, 2) Maintain contact with Fellows at least once every six weeks or so by telephone, fax or e-mail to discuss the development of projects, 3) If feasible, meet with Fellows at least once during the fellowship year to discuss the project, 4) Facilitate Fellows’ contact with other relevant experts and participation in appropriate meetings (IPF has discretionary funds to support Fellow attendance at relevant events), 5) Complete brief mid-term and final critique forms supplied by IPF to provide the program with feedback regarding the Fellow’s progress.

 

Your name, position:  ValerySokolov, Vice Speaker, Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region, Russia

 

Name of Fellow you have assisted: Oleg Karmadonov, Russia

 

1. What, in your opinion, have you and your Fellow/program/project gained from your cooperation thus far? 

First of all, we have developedstrong, useful, and helpful collaboration. As from the side of legislative practice in our region, as from the side of enabling the profound and thorough research of the Fellow. The first is shown in several useful suggestions which were made by Oleg Karmadonov in a course of elaborating of the new Law on Basic Principles of Higher Education of the Irkutsk Region. We took many of his points into account during this process. The last is presented as the possibilities which Oleg Karmadonov was provided with to get into contacts with the responsible persons in the Irkutsk Region Administration. By those I mean the officials from the Committee on the Higher Education, the Committee on the Youth Policy, and, besides, the Board of Rectors of Irkutsk Universities. I believe that this project, so far, has benefited many sides, actually.
 
 

2. Do certain areas of this Fellow’s work need improvement? Which areas?

There are no limits of perfection, of course, but so far I can notmakeany serious suggestions which point of the Fellow's work needs an improvement. Everything seems well organized, and being conducted with high quality of research. 
 
 

3. In your opinion, does your Fellow’s project make a significant contribution to the field?

YES, certainly
 
 

4. Would the project be important to other countries in the CEE/fSU region?

YES, I am absolutely sure it would.
 
 

5. Could the proposed policy research make an impact on the policy environment in specific countries or regions? (Policy makers, experts and policy research community)

YES 
 
 

6. Is the timetable for the project realistic?

YES 

7. Could the project benefit a large number of people?

YES 
 
 

8. Does the Fellow show evidence that he/she can think strategically about the relevant project and/or field?

YES 

9. If the Fellow were to re-apply for continued OSI funding for follow-up work associated with the project, would you support continued funding?

YES, and I would be glad to do that.
 
 

10. Are there other appropriate funders that may support the project?

NO
 
 

Recommendations for other potential senior contacts for this Fellow:
N/A

 
 

Additional Comments (Please comment on your Fellow’s work and all aspects of the IPF program using the back of this sheet):

As far as I understood, it is rather important and really needed program running by the Open Society Institute. Many fields of social life in a post-communist countries require thorough attention and the actions aiming on improvement. The same thing with the problems of social policy here. It should be well defined and well accomplished, that is why it should be thoroughly studied first. I guess the benefits of the IPF Program are long-distance and profound ones, and the results seem to be really helpful and useful. As for the improvement of social policy in particular, as for the strengthening of democratic institutions here in general.
 

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