Future Generations University (formerly Future Generations Graduate School) is a

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graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

headquartered in

Franklin, West Virginia Franklin is a town in and the county seat of Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 486 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Franklin was established in 1794 and named for Francis Evick, an early settler. Hi ...

. It offers one degree program, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Applied Community Development. Future Generations grew out of Future Generations, a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that began in the early 1990s in response to a

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

sponsored review of community-based initiatives worldwide.

History

In 1992, James P. Grant, then executive director of

, asked Daniel C. Taylor, co-founder of The Mountain Institute, and his father Carl E. Taylor, founding chair of the Department of International Health at the

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private university, private research university primarily based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded as the Johns Hopkins ...

, to investigate why there was no correlation between the amount of money that UNICEF invested in sustainable development projects and the output that the projects achieved. The main issue that UNICEF faced was that they had many successful projects in specific communities, but fell short when they attempted to scale them up.Future Generations & Future Generations Graduate School. (2012). Two Decades of Global Impact: 1992-2012. Franklin, WV: Author. The Taylors founded an NGO called Future Generations in November 1992 to address the questions of how to scale up local successes and how to sustain these successes using primarily local resources. They called the approach that they developed

SEED-SCALE SEED-SCALE (abbreviation for: ''Self Evaluation for Effective Decision-making – Systems for Communities to Adapt Learning and Expand'') describes a comprehensive theory of social change sometimes also categorized as social development theory. S ...

(Self Evaluation with Essential Data - Selecting Communities As Learning Examples). SEED-SCALE had three phases: (1) identifying a successful local project for social development; (2) transforming it into a community-based Action Learning Centre; and (3) a systematic process of facilitating community-to-community extension. SEED-SCALE fieldwork began in Tibet's Qomolangma National Nature Preserve. By 2012, Future Generations was working in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 2003, Future Generations Graduate School was formed to engage the global network of communities that Future Generations, the NGO, had become. The school would offer an applied master's degree for mid-career community development practitioners who work directly with communities, organizations, and governments worldwide.

Academics

The institution offers only one degree, a

in Applied Community Development. It also offers certificates and diplomas. Future Generations University is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control * Educational institutions established in 2003 Private universities and colleges in West Virginia 2003 establishments in West Virginia Franklin, West Virginia Education in Pendleton County, West Virginia Online universities and colleges Community development organizations Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission Distance education institutions based in the United States