Mahabat Baimyrzaeva

Professor

Photo of Mahabat Baimyrzaeva
Office
Casa Fuente Building 443D
Tel
(831) 647-4134
Email
mbaimyrz@middlebury.edu

Dr. Baimyrzaeva’s focus areas include organizational learning, capacity building, change, and strategic planning using socially innovative and design thinking approaches. In her work Dr. Baimyrzaeva aims to integrate insights from multiple disciplines, including organizational management, cognitive/behavioral sciences, public policy and administration, international law and development. She has designed and taught more than 40 courses on diverse subjects in the context of international development and policy, including organizational leadership/management, social innovations, nation building, policy analysis, and applied research methods and design. 

In addition to teaching, she regularly mentors students during their consultancies with influential local, national, and international organizations. She also authored many peer-reviewed publications about public management reforms. She also regularly delivers presentations, workshops, and trainings in policy analysis, applied research methods, strategic leadership, governance reforms, and culture change to government and nonprofit professionals in Central Asia and in the US. 

Prior to coming to the Institute Dr. Baimyrzaeva worked at various government, nonprofit, academic, and international organizations, including in the capacity of a civil society expert at National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and director of the Bureau of Legal and Social Assistance for Refugees in Kyrgyzstan. She is fluent in English, Russian, and Kyrgyz; speaks basic Turkish, and has basic familiarity with other Turkic languages.

Courses Taught

Course Description

Organizational Development and Leadership

This course offers you a meaningful learning opportunity to understand what it takes for organizations - a group of people with a shared goal – to work together and get things done. This presupposes a good understanding of human motivation and drivers of behavior and how to problem solve and make decisions in complex situations. These also happen to be the highest ranked among the 21stcentury skills. To learn about how organizations operate and how to lead them effectively, we will use readings, exercises, and case studies among other learning methods. In addition, you will engage in analysis, diagnosis, and problem-solving exercises focusing on one organization of your choice.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020 - MIIS, MIIS Second Half of Term, Spring 2021 - MIIS, Fall 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2023 - MIIS, Spring 2024 - MIIS, Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

Do you have a real life project in mind you would want to tackle using a faculty mentor’s help? Do you want to build and/or strengthen your skills and knowledge, ideally by working on a consulting project for an organization of your choice? If yes, the Capstone course is for you. In this course you will be in the driver’s seat working on your project, while the faculty will coach you and provide practical skills and tools to help you effectively articulate, design, and implement your project, and communicate your findings to your client. In addition to individualized feedback sessions, faculty will also guide you to right resources for additional relevant skill and knowledge building.

Please check the prereqs:

- Only open for DPP students in 3rd or 4th semesters who are using the course to fulfill their Practicum requirement.

- Students who are planning to enroll in FMS, DPMI+ or IPSS should not enroll in this course. Contact the instructor if requesting exceptions.

- Students may undertake projects individually or in teams (maximum 3 per team), but team justification must be compelling

Terms Taught

Fall 2020 - MIIS, Spring 2021 - MIIS, Fall 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

While undertaking an approved professional practicum in their field, students will be responsible for completion of an applied project demonstrating your application of degree program learning goals and the project's connection to your professional community of practice. Practicum is a learning opportunity that enables you to demonstrate, integrate, apply, deepen, and reflect on the core competencies of your degree(s). This course is the culmination of your degree and provides you with the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills developed in public policy and administration. Students will propose, design, and implement an applied project for a host organization, client, or research community that covers program-specific thematic and technical competencies. (e.g. learning goals for MPA, IPD and ITED) and apply higher-level reasoning, critical thinking and intercultural competence/JEDI knowledge to analyze findings and develop recommendations. Students in the course will present their project to a professional audience and to the MIIS community. The course involves collaboration with peers, faculty, and industry professionals and critical reflection on interpersonal development, the practicum experience, and the student's professional goals. Students will complete one of the following projects: (1) An applied project benefiting the intern's host organization; (2) a consultancy project for a partner organization; or (3) independent qualitative and/or quantitative research project.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

While undertaking an approved professional practicum in their field, students will be responsible for completion of an applied project demonstrating your application of degree program learning goals and the project's connection to your professional community of practice. Practicum is a learning opportunity that enables you to demonstrate, integrate, apply, deepen, and reflect on the core competencies of your degree(s). This course is the culmination of your degree and provides you with the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills developed in public policy and administration. Students will propose, design, and implement an applied project for a host organization, client, or research community that covers program-specific thematic and technical competencies. (e.g. learning goals for MPA, IPD and ITED) and apply higher-level reasoning, critical thinking and intercultural competence/JEDI knowledge to analyze findings and develop recommendations. Students in the course will present their project to a professional audience and to the MIIS community. The course involves collaboration with peers, faculty, and industry professionals and critical reflection on interpersonal development, the practicum experience, and the student's professional goals. Students will complete one of the following projects: (1) An applied project benefiting the intern's host organization; (2) a consultancy project for a partner organization; or (3) independent qualitative and/or quantitative research project.

Terms Taught

Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

Organizational Development and Leadership

This course offers you a meaningful learning opportunity to understand what it takes for organizations - a group of people with a shared goal – to work together and get things done. This presupposes a good understanding of human motivation and drivers of behavior and how to problem solve and make decisions in complex situations. These also happen to be the highest ranked among the 21stcentury skills. To learn about how organizations operate and how to lead them effectively, we will use readings, exercises, and case studies among other learning methods. In addition, you will engage in analysis, diagnosis, and problem-solving exercises focusing on one organization of your choice.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS, Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

Public sector has been lagging behind others in innovating its services and the ways it operates, makes, and implements policies. Meanwhile social challenges it is expected to tackle are increasing in scale and complexity. To remain relevant and effective, leading public organizations from around the world have been applying innovative methods with promising outcomes. This course helps students learn and synthesize cutting edge social innovations and methods, and apply them to real life local projects. The innovation skills and knowledge from this course can be applied to other sectors and interventions.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

In this course, student teams will work on a consulting project with actual clients, including local government and nonprofits. This course will provide an opportunity for students to develop and reinforce core skills applicable to a range of different careers, including communicating and managing relationships with peers and clients, team effectiveness, engaging in systematic inquiry, synthesizing information from various sources, ideating, and developing solutions tailored for a given situation. The course helps students apply and integrate insights and tools from organizational development, applied research methods, design thinking, and systems thinking.

Terms Taught

Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

While undertaking an approved professional practicum in their field, students will be responsible for completion of an applied project demonstrating your application of degree program learning goals and the project's connection to your professional community of practice. Practicum is a learning opportunity that enables you to demonstrate, integrate, apply, deepen, and reflect on the core competencies of your degree(s). This course is the culmination of your degree and provides you with the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills developed in public policy and administration. Students will propose, design, and implement an applied project for a host organization, client, or research community that covers program-specific thematic and technical competencies and apply higher-level reasoning, critical thinking and intercultural competence/JEDI knowledge to analyze findings and develop recommendations. Students in the course will present their project to a professional audience and to the MIIS community. The course involves collaboration with peers, faculty, and industry professionals and critical reflection on interpersonal development, the practicum experience, and the student's professional goals. Students will complete one of the following projects: (1) An applied project benefiting the intern's host organization; (2) a consultancy project for a partner organization; or (3) independent qualitative and/or quantitative research project.

Terms Taught

Spring 2025 - MIIS

View in Course Catalog

Course Description

Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

COVID-19 Cross-Disciplinary Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis that has unleashed a vast amount of changes in all aspects of policy, and disrupted industries, organizations, and individuals in previously unimaginable ways. Leaders are tasked with making complex decisions, and societal inequities have intensified differential consequences for individuals and groups around the world. Navigating through implications of a global challenge of this scope is best suited to interdisciplinary perspectives, approaches, and actions. In this online course, students will analyze the current situation from multiple perspectives, engage with others across disciplines, and have the opportunity to mobilize their disciplinary knowledge and skills to address this particular global challenge. MIIS faculty and students can play a pivotal role in addressing these issues through praxis, moving from theory to reflection + action. In this course, students will engage with experts from multiple disciplines to examine how COVID-19 has impacted the economy, environment, education, public health, and much more. Students will critically evaluate the roles that complexity, systemic interactions, and individual perceptions and understandings play in shaping local, regional, and global responses to the pandemic across disciplines with an eye towards social justice and change. The course will provide students with tools to engage with a range of diverse audiences, to address complex problems, and to communicate their findings professionally as preparation for their future careers in a changing world.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020 - MIIS

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Course Description

Organizational Development & Leadership
This course offers you a meaningful learning opportunity to understand what it takes for organizations - a group of people with a shared goal – to work together and get things done. This presupposes a good understanding of human motivation and drivers of behavior and how to problem solve and make decisions in complex situations. These also happen to be the highest ranked among the 21stcentury skills. To learn about how organizations operate and how to lead them effectively, we will use readings, exercises, and case studies among other learning methods. In addition, you will engage in analysis, diagnosis, and problem-solving exercises focusing on one organization of your choice. (Open to Juniors and Seniors only) The dates of this course are JANUARY 31 through MAY 20. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. (Pass/Fail)

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, MIIS courses in College Term

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Course Description

This course offers you a meaningful learning opportunity to understand what it takes for organizations - a group of people with a shared goal – to work together and get things done to achieve sustainability goals. This presupposes a good understanding of human motivation and drivers of behavior and how to problem solve and make decisions in complex situations. These also happen to be the highest ranked among the 21st century skills. To learn about how organizations operate and how to lead them effectively, we will use readings, exercises, and case studies focused on sustainability initiatives among other learning methods. In addition, you will engage in analysis, diagnosis, and problem-solving exercises focusing on one organization of your choice.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024 - MIIS, MIIS OL First Half of Term

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Areas of Interest

I am fascinated by how we learn – especially by how each of us filters and perceives information differently depending on our pre-existing ideas and assumptions. They color what we see and how we interpret the world. That is why instead of just introducing new content, I first try to help the learners – be they my students or clients – to uncover their deeply-seated ideas and assumptions, subject them to critical review, and, when necessary and possible, replace them with a more accurate view of reality. I encourage such deeper learning though uniquely designed sessions that help them actively reflect on their thought patterns and experiences.

Programs

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development
  • MA in Public Administration & International Management Graduate Certificate, University of Hawaii College of Business Administration
  • BA in International Law, International University of Kyrgyzstan

Professor Baimyrzaeva has been teaching at the Institute since 2007.

Publications

Journals

  • Baimyrzaeva, M. Ethics and Behavior Change: A Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective. A chapter published in 2021 in Citizenship and Ethics, Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Baimyrzaeva, M. and Taylor, C. Future of Work: Implications for Public Sector Practitioners, Leaders, and Educators. Published in 2020 in International Journal of Public Leadership
  • Baimyrzaeva, Mahabat, “Public Administration in Kyrgyzstan.”  Published in 2018 in Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration edited by Ali Farzamand, Springer.
  • Baimyrzaeva, Mahabat, Beginners’ Guide for Applied Research: What Is It, and Why and How to Do It? Published in 2018 by the Institute of Public Policy and Administration, University of Central Asia.
  • “The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions in Improving Citizen Participation in Governance,” International Journal of Public Administration, 2014, volume 15, issue 2, pp. 77-90
  • “Policy Analysis as a Profession in Government: Who Does What and How?” Occasional Paper No 2, November 2013, University of Central Asia (in English and Russian)
  • Institutional Reforms in the Public Sector: What did we Learn, published in 2012 by Emerald Publishing.
  • “Kyrgyzstan’s Public Sector Reforms: 1991 – 2010,” International Journal of Public Administration, 2011, volume 34, issue 9, pp. 555-566
  • “Analysis of Public Administration Reforms in Kyrgyzstan in Light of Its Recent Governance Crises,” International Public Management Review, 2011, Volume 12, issue 1. pp. 22-46
  • “Corruption and Legitimacy Problems in Post-Communist States” (a book review), Public Administration Review, 2007, May/June, pp. 592-594
  • “Institutional Reforms in Kyrgyzstan,” Central Asian Studies Review, 2005, volume 4, issue 1, pp. 29-35

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