Nahyan promises to make UAEU a leader in higher education sector

posted on 04/10/2012: 536 views

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University, has promised to make the UAE University a higher education provider worthy of the UAE name, an essential resource for the country, and a well-recognised performer among the other fine universities of the world.

Addressing the annual convocation for the new academic year yesterday, Sheikh Nahyan said :'Our three basic functions - undergraduate education, graduate programs, and research - direct our attention to at least six elements that we must preserve in our daily activities: First, total commitment to quality, expressed in measurable performance indicators, Second, recruitment and support of excellent faculty, Third, superior preparation of students, with clear learning outcomes and learning assessment protocols, from UGRU through senior year, Fourth, expansion of graduate programs as an important aspect of the University's academic relevance and as an activity that prepares leaders of society, Fifth, development as a major centre for research and innovation, and Sixth, the necessity for building strong community relations and establishing effective communications with society so as to enhance society's support of the university.

'Those six elements represent our path towards making the UAE University a successful full-fledged research University, a University for the 21st Century, a university that serves society and human aspirations, he told the university community.

'Our accomplishments demonstrate that we have been able to achieve the goals and objectives for which we established thorough and realistic plans. Our university, therefore, continues to improve. We are among the top 400 universities in the world. We are also among the top 50 universities who are less than fifty years of age.

'Students worldwide, and indeed many of us, have integrated instant mobile communication devices into our normal behaviour. We must recognise that this new technology provides an opportunity for us to become leaders in developing innovative ways of teaching and learning. Beginning in UGRU and expanding to the rest of the University in subsequent years, each student and faculty member will have an iPad. I am excited about the potential of the iPad to enliven learning, teaching, research, and creativity in a classroom with porous walls.

'This initiative, implemented simultaneously at UAE University, Zayed University, and the Higher Colleges of Technology, launches us on a voyage of discovery in the new world of mobile devices. In higher education, our iPad users will constitute one of the largest populations worldwide. As the iPad initiative boots up, we will be watching closely! We will monitor the results to ensure that our faculty utilise this technology in a variety of innovative ways to enhance learning among our students,' he added. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

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