Program Development
From a first conversation to a cohort on the ground — and who owns what along the way.
What to expect
Most programs take two to four terms to build
That is not slowness, it is sequencing. Curriculum committees meet on their own calendar, faculty need to see the ground before they teach it, and recruitment works best when families have two semesters to plan around the cost. Here is the whole path, with nothing hidden between the stages.
01
Week 0
Discovery call
Thirty minutes on your department, your students, and what you want the term to accomplish. No proposal yet — we are working out whether Ghana is the right answer.
Led by — Nkabom + faculty lead
02
Weeks 1–3
Academic scoping
We take your learning outcomes and draft a site-to-outcome map: which communities, which hosts, which field exercises, and what each one is meant to teach.
Led by — Nkabom academic team
03
Term before launch
The Groundwork
Your faculty lead travels the draft itinerary in country. Nothing sharpens a program faster than the person teaching it having already stood in the room.
Led by — Faculty lead
04
Weeks 4–10
Curriculum approval
We assemble the packet your curriculum committee needs — contact hours, assessment plan, site justifications, host credentials — and revise until it clears.
Led by — Faculty lead, supported by Nkabom
05
Weeks 6–12
Budget and pricing
A line-item budget covering lodging, ground transport, meals, site fees, in-country staffing and contingency. Per-student pricing follows from the budget, not the other way round.
Led by — Nkabom finance
06
One to two terms out
Recruitment and launch
Information-session materials, parent packets, payment plans and rolling enrolment support until the cohort is filled and cleared to travel.
Led by — Shared
07
Two weeks after return
Debrief and iterate
A structured debrief with faculty and students, plus a written report of what worked and what we are changing. Most partners run their second cohort larger than their first.
Led by — Shared
One caveat
Not every department should run a Ghana program.
If the outcomes you need do not actually require being in country, we will tell you on the discovery call rather than three terms and a budget later. A program that exists because it looks good in a catalogue tends to run once.
Stage one is a phone call
Thirty minutes, no proposal, no pricing. Just your outcomes and an honest answer about whether we can serve them.