The results of the MAOL 10 Year Impact Study are in.
The study allowed DAI the wonderful opportunity to talk at length with alumni, current students, partner university staff and DAI staff across Africa and Asia. They discussed all aspects of the program including faculty, residencies, curricular content and program structure. The responses were overwhelmingly positive in every respect. Here’s the top three:
- Students agreed that the faculty are not only quality facilitators in the classrooms, but also model the values being taught.
- Students were very positive about the quality and impact of the curriculum. Many became animated as they talked about how this or that particular course transformed their thinking and their lives.
- Students believed strongly that the program effectively shaped their character. For example, the idea of servant leadership was commonly cited as a transformative concept, impacting how they treated others. The Spiritual Formation course was also commonly mentioned as having a deep impact on students’ spiritual lives.
The study also revealed opportunities for DAI to improve the quality of the MAOL program in its next decade of operation.
- Students are in need of more intensive coaching and support during the thesis stage to ensure they experience the joy of graduation.
- We need to more actively assist university partners in the recruitment process to ensure adequate numbers of well-qualified students (Christians with at least 5 years of leadership experience).
- The structure for sharing MAOL costs between DAI, university partners and students needs to be reevaluated in each country to ensure affordability for all and sustainability for the future.
DAI staff will want great discernment as we seek to meet the needs of future students in our next decade of operation. Please pray for us as we creatively navigate the opportunities that lie ahead.
Thank you for supporting the MAOL program in 2014 as we were celebrating 10 years of community transformation through MAOL students.
