World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn (left) and MSU International Studies and Programs Dean John K. Hudzik celebrate commencement on May 5, 2000. Wolfensohn received an honorary doctorate of humane letters and addressed graduating seniors at the afternoon convocation ceremony. In his remarks, he acknowledged that "MSU is one of the great international universities and it, as an institution, and you, as its graduates, have a uniquely global perspective and have a legacy of reaching out to the world." He asked graduates to be mindful of the "responsibilities we all have as citizens of this world to listen, learn and lead in including everyone and all nations in the promise of this new age."

In late June 2000, several MSU faculty members and administrators met with World Bank representatives in Washington, D.C. Led by MSU President Peter McPherson, the delegation included representatives from the President's Office, International Studies and Programs, and the Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Education. The World Bank counterparts represented thematic areas of rural development, agriculture and food policy, and education, and most specialize in Africa region issues.

The meeting was held at the invitation of World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, who visited the MSU campus in May to speak at a commencement ceremony and receive an honorary degree. The purposes of the meeting were to explore ways to promote greater long-term institutional collaborations between the World Bank and U.S. land-grant universities and their host-country colleagues; to explore ways to leverage better the institutional expertise and influence of U.S. land-grant universities and the expertise and relations of the World Bank in support of international development; and to share with World Bank leadership information about MSU research and outreach activities in Africa and elsewhere that are closely related to World Bank projects and priorities.

The conversation included discussion of World Bank policies related to hiring tendencies of loan recipients, administrative budget reductions at the bank and limitations on staff resources, the impact of information technology on the delivery of services, decentralization of bank operations, the shift of funding from project to program lending, time limits on loans, and the shift to contributor-established trust funds.

Current success of long-term MSU development collaborations was discussed by three faculty project directors at the meeting. In Guinea, the long-term collaboration between MSU, the Guinea Ministry of Education, and a small team of African consultants has been crucial to the successful formulation and nationwide replication of a program promoting professional development of Guinean primary school teachers and teacher-designed school improvement projects. Directed by Professor John Schwille, Department of Teacher Education, the program was made possible by a bank-supported institutional technical assistance contract. The 20-year project supporting food security in Mali was also discussed. Codirected by Professors John Staatz and Michael Weber, Department of Agricultural Economics, this collaboration has transformed and decentralized market information systems and promoted broader decentralization of government services. These two programs are representative of how MSU's work directly complements the World Bank's development efforts. Similar long-term development collaborations have marked MSU's involvement elsewhere in Africa and across the globe.

Funding practices for such long-term projects require creative approaches. A number of approaches were discussed, including having bank staff and U.S. university faculty prepare joint funding proposals; coordinating efforts in the U.S. university community to influence the U.S. Congress and other policymaking bodies to increase or target funding for important development priorities; and exploring possibilities of more extensive consortial arrangements that would include funding from the World Bank and usaid, as well as other donors and the recipient country.