Pulte Institute for Global Development

Goals

1. Build research excellence in poverty and inequality and establish our presence in key policy fora. The Pulte Institute has identified five new domains of thematic focus where Notre Dame has an opportunity, through the Pulte Institute, to expand its level of investment: Sustainability; Humanitarianism; Effective States & Development; Business & Development; and Global Health.

Objectives

Current Investments

1. Continue to develop an external grant portfolio for the University of Notre Dame with federal agencies, foundations, and corporate partners, which builds on issues of poverty and inequality.
2. Continue to work with the Keough School’s Global Policy Initiative on campus and in Washington, D.C., to build stronger competency and experience on development policy within the Keough School that connects to the Pulte Institute’s five new domains of thematic focus.
3. Recruit research faculty with policy and practice experience to build the foundation of work on our domains of thematic focus.

Potential New Areas of Investment

1. The Pulte Institute External Advisory Board of committed board members who will actively advise and support the Pulte Institute leadership in charting the future direction and mission of the Pulte Institute.

2. The Pulte Institute Faculty Fellows Program to connect Notre Dame faculty with each other, in order to develop research that contributes to issues of poverty and inequality and further develops the Pulte Institute’s five domains of thematic focus.

3. Visiting Associates Fund for scholars and practitioners from leading think tanks and development organizations to collaborate with Notre Dame faculty on policy or practice-relevant research, by spending one semester on campus or making periodic visits.

4. Global Pathways Podcast Series and Enhanced Online Learning Platform with engaging interviews from visiting policy leaders, global development professionals from the field, Notre Dame faculty, and other key experts on current, hot-button topics related to our domains of thematic focus.

5. Applied Research Grants Program to support the next generation of policy-relevant research reports, journal or magazine articles, opinion columns, blogs, and the like by Notre Dame graduate students, faculty, and researchers.

6. Annual Award to leading public figures or organizations in recognition of their distinguished work on critical global development policy issues related to poverty and inequality.

7. Research Faculty with Policy Expertise in the select thematic fields chosen as priorities for the Keough School.

2. Build curricular specialization in development practice and offer experiential learning for leadership and professional placement.

Objectives

Current Investments

1. Teach courses that require applied development experience and that further the Keough School’s goal to be a world-class institution in development studies. The Pulte Institute will create and lead successful courses by building upon our years of applied work in program evaluation, leadership training, and applied innovation.

2. Create unique opportunities for faculty and students to engage on the front lines of field-based development programs.

3. Increase the attractiveness of the University to public and private funders seeking first-rate training for leaders from developing countries.

Potential New Areas of Investment 

1. Create and launch the Pulte Institute Summer Institute(s) in Development Practice, designed to complement the existing Keough School curricula by introducing students to the tools, approaches, and skills necessary to be successful international development professionals.

2. Expand course offerings on campus and build collaboration with the Keough School’s Integration Lab (i-Lab) to offer a diverse array of unique learning experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students with external partners.

3. Create and launch a Case Study Writing Program on development and policy-oriented cases to support the Keough School’s Master of Global Affairs (MGA) program and undergraduate supplemental major in sustainable development.

4. Create and launch a Center for Teaching and Research on Social Entrepreneurship with a fully-funded teaching faculty and Pulte Institute Associate Director post.

5. Create and launch an Undergraduate Student Leaders Program on campus in partnership with Catholic Relief Services to form a campus-wide community of students committed to advancing global poverty and inequality issues and learning.

6. Secure funding for undergraduate and graduate student fellowships worldwide.

7. Students will be placed with a diverse array of partner institutions, as well as at the Pulte Institute. This could also include postgraduate fellows conducting research related to issues of poverty and inequality.

2. Build and manage an extensive network of global partnerships to take Notre Dame research to the front lines of development policy and practice.

Objectives

Current Investments

1. Support fellow institutes and centers at Notre Dame in “Going Global” per President Jenkins’ University-wide mandate, and connect them to the front lines of development policy and practice.

2. Establish the Pulte Institute, within Notre Dame, as a leading institute, committed to building and managing critical institutional partnerships on behalf of faculty and units with global interests.

3. Offer a suite of services to faculty within the Keough School, as well as across the University, to facilitate their engagement on the Pulte Institute’s five new domains of thematic focus through managed institutionalized partnerships across the globe. Engagement with the Pulte Institute can include project design; program development; grant writing; and project management and evaluation.

Potential New Areas of Investment

1. Continue to build world-class partnerships with domestic and international NGOs, think tanks, corporations, and other organizations that can offer unique research opportunities, internships, and career opportunities for faculty and students.

2. Continue to grow the Corporate Impact Program that resides within the Pulte Institute to help connect faculty research and education to collaborate with the private sector.

3. This may include new project development and innovation, measuring the impact of overseas corporate responsibility endeavors, providing business analytics and strategy, and helping companies acquire and retain talent.

4. Offer our well-established grant management services and systems as a means of increasing proposal flow from University units and lowering management costs for grants received.

5. Proposal Development: Continue to assist and counsel centers and individual faculty members to develop large-scale external grant proposals.

6. Fund a full-time business and development staff position to work with teams at the Pulte Institute on pre-positioning for funding proposals, proposal coordination, and proposal writing.

7. Continue to provide deep expertise in rigorously evaluating the impact of global development efforts.

Learn more about the Pulte Institute for Global Development by visiting pulte.nd.edu