Ajman University of Science & Technology (AUST) has participated in the third conference on “Arab Universities: Challenges and Prospects,” held in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt.

The three-day event was organized by the Arab Organization for Administrative Development, part of the League of Arab States, in cooperation with Oman College for Science & Technology. The conference was attended by Prof. Saleh Hashem, Secretary-General of the Association of Arab Universities, and participants included the heads of a number of Arab universities in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Libya.

Dr. Basheer Shehadah, AUST’s Vice President for Follow-up and Development, representing the University, gave a presentation entitled “The Basics of Comprehensive Evaluation at AUST,” in which he outlined the University’s experience in the evaluation of courses, its relation to the tutoring and performance of faculty members, and the comprehensive evaluation of academic programs. Dr. Shehadah explained that the high quality of learning outcomes has become a necessity, being demanded by learners and their families, observers, and society in general. This factor is creating a new culture that makes all parties in the educational process - from faculty members to students and extra-curriculum activity supervisors - partners in its success.

Dr. Shehadah added that accreditation mechanisms for different academic programs are not uniform but are determined by the specialization of each program. He added that if development in academic programs as the result of the evaluation process is to be ensured, evaluation should be continual and involve monitoring and follow-up which requires a responsible office manned by qualified, full-time, staff.

The conference concluded with the making of a number of important recommendations relating mainly to the support of scientific research and the maintenance of quality in higher education.

We accept Guest Posts