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AIYS Survey
of Research and
Researchers in Yemen
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survey form
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In the last few years AIYS' programs have experienced an
unprecedented growth, as increasing numbers of U.S. students and
scholars are expressing an interest in various facets of Yemeni studies
and in AIYS' fellowship programs and as AIYS' translation and
publication programs have taken on new dimensions. All this was
made possible by much-appreciated program and infrastructure support
from the United States Information Agency and the United States
Department of Education. AIYS is now conducting an evaluation study
that will provide input that can be used to continue to channel the
impetus of the increased interest and of the available funds in the most
productive and cost-efficient way. And because the agencies from
which AIYS receives its funds must themselves comply with the
stipulations of federal legislation that requires evaluation of their
performance and of the results attained by their programs, the
evaluation study will also show that AIYS, by its programs and by its
very existence, delivers real and tangible value for the funds it receives
from federal sources, as well as from private institutions and
individuals.
The study has two separate approaches. One focusses on the
immediate evaluation of AIYS programs and services in Yemen.
Starting in 1995, all persons who have stayed at the AIYS hostel in
Sana'a, who used AIYS services in Sana'a, or who have held AIYS
fellowships since 1992 were given or sent an evaluation questionnaire
and were asked to send the completed form to the U.S. office of AIYS.
The questionnaire covers matters of access, usefulness of the library,
and other practical issues, and also asks for suggestions for
improvement and for further programs and services that might be
offered. The questionnaires are tabulated as they come in and are used
immediately to evaluate ongoing activities, to improve the program, to
expand it where it seems most effective, and to change or eliminate
features that are less productive. Of course not all suggestions made in
these questionnaires, no matter how valuable, can be implemented:
local conditions must be taken into consideration and financial priorities
must be set. But the questionnaires do meet their primary function,
which is to give AIYS a good understanding of how its programs and
administration meet the needs of the people and the purpose they serve.
The second phase of the study, initiated in 1998, is a survey of
researchers and research interests in Yemen over the last twenty years.
Among other things it seeks to measure long-term effectiveness of the
funding for AIYS' various support programs. The long-term survey
questionnaire was sent out to all persons on the AIYS mailing list. It
can be found as an insert to Yemen Update no. 40 (1998), may be requested from the U.S. office, or may be downloaded from this site.
The stress of the federal reporting requirement is on quantifiable data.
The nature and size of AIYS' programs and services as an institution
whose mission is educational and cultural exchange means that the
matters covered in the questionnaires will be quantifiable to a certain
extent, but must of necessity also include a large anecdotal component.
For our own purposes we need both types of information.
In order to provide a maximum amount of quantifiable data,
preparations for the long-term effectiveness report also include an
in-house file search for appropriate information relating to programs
and program administration for the period from AIYS' founding
(1979-present). In so far as it is possible to obtain this data from old
files that were not necessarily designed to provide the degree of detail
now thought desirable, we are endeavoring to collect information that
can give quantifiable overviews of such topics as age, gender, status,
and academic discipline, of all applicants, not just successful fellows;
geographical reach of the program in the US; types of institution
represented, etc. Information collected as part of this study will be
included in AIYS' 20-year report, scheduled for publication in 1999,
and will also be made available through other appropriate channels.
AIYS needs the help of its members, former fellows, and others to
bring the evaluation project to a successful conclusion and to realize the
full value of the study to all concerned. If you are or have been
associated with AIYS and/or have research experience in Yemen we
request your participation in the evaluation study and welcome your
input. If you used AIYS services in Yemen and did not receive the
evaluation questionnaire, request one from the U.S. office (or, if you
are in Yemen, contact the Sana'a office). The research interest survey form may be downloaded from this site.
In addition to the completed formal questionnaires we welcome voluntary comments that may help to give added dimensions
to this study. Tell us what your interest in Yemen is or why your
research or study experience in Yemen was valuable, whatever form
you career path has taken. Would you have done anything differently?
If so, could you have done so at the time, or did the possibility not
exist? Does it now? We would also like to receive CV's and up-to-date
lists of publications dealing with Yemen and Yemeni Studies, as well
as information on course work and of public presentations dealing with
these topics, whether given to professional audiences or to a more
general public.
As you are thinking about such things, consider how you can take an
active part in helping AIYS' programs. We need volunteers, especially
to help with Yemen Update, and with jobs such as compiling the Index
Yemenicus that appears there. For that matter, help with the tabulation
of questionnaires and other tasks of the evaluation study will also be
gratefully received.
Finally, if you are not already an AIYS member, please join. If you
or your students have research interests in Yemen but your institution
is not an AIYS institutional member, do encourage your administration
to sign up. The AIYS Executive Director will gladly supply
supporting information and forms.
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