UAE, ABU DHABI - Health & Education
Vice President, Zayed University
Bio
Prof. Reyadh Almehaideb obtained his PhD in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford University, US, in 1989. He joined the UAE University as a faculty member in the College of Engineering, where he was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and to professor in 2005. He served at various capacities as chair of the chemical and petroleum engineering department, Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Associate Dean, and from 2006-2013 as the Dean of the College of Engineering. He is a member of editorial board for the energy journal published by OPEC, and has reviewed articles for various technical journals published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Elsevier’s Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, and others.
The most important measure of any higher education institute is quality, and we achieve that through the accreditation process that we have in place for all of our programs. This is one of our first priorities as the youngest federal university, having been established in 1998. Zayed University has completed the process of international accreditation and recognition from US-based bodies for the majority of its academic programs. This process started in 2008 with the institutional accreditation by the Middle State Commission for Higher Education (MSCHE), one of the regional accreditation boards in the US. Then the process of program-based accreditation started with our College of Business programs obtaining AACSB accreditation in 2012. The College of Education programs achieved NCATE accreditation the same year and was the first college to achieve that outside of the US. Thereafter, two of our college of IT programs completed the ABET accreditation in 2014, and our College of Arts and Creative Enterprises obtained substantial equivalency from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) in 2015. The College of Communications obtained accreditation with ACEJMC, the accrediting body for colleges of communication and mass media in the US in 2015. At the national level, Zayed University is completing the accreditation process with the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), the national accreditor of all higher education institutes in the UAE. CAA Institutional accreditation was obtained in 2015, and by end of 2017 we expect to have all our programs accredited having completed all the site visits in 2016. Part of our vision for the future of Zayed University is to reshape the portfolio of our programs into a more comprehensive university with a greater array of majors. Within this outlook, we will develop more STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) majors, to serve the needs of the country. This comprehensive approach will allow Zayed University to develop new majors in the engineering, physical sciences, social sciences, the arts, and others. In the next five years we are also looking to increase the R&D outcomes of the university by 50-100% with more emphasis on R&D that is relevant to the country, and with a continued emphasis on innovation and the development of entrepreneurship skills within both the academic programs and research.
Generally, our programs align well with the job market and in certain areas where we can adjust enrolment to meet job market needs, we will do this by providing new options. The largest area in the job market is business with around 30% of the jobs, and this is matched by the Business College attracting 25-30% of the university’s students, mainly in the areas of accounting, finance, human resources, and marketing. The second largest area is engineering and technology with a 25% share of the job market. We are introducing engineering alongside the already existing information technology majors to cater to this segment of the job market. Beyond these two broad areas, other segments such as science, communication, and law occupy anywhere from 4—8% of the job market. To differentiate Zayed University graduates in all disciplines, we are refocusing on what people refer to as “new millennium skills“ in all our programs. People classify these skills differently, but they usually cover critical thinking, interpersonal skills such as communication, ethical conduct, group work, and lifelong learning and knowledge of contemporary issues and latest technologies. Developing and imparting these skills to all graduates and complementing these with the disciplinary skills and knowledge provides our graduates a distinctive place in the job market. We appreciate that the requirements of the job market change over time and the graduates’ skills are meant to be reshaped once they enter it, so at Zayed University we try to foster well-qualified individuals with well-rounded contemporary skills that allow them to adapt and acquire new skills relevant to the job requirements.
At Zayed University we have our general entrepreneurship education, which is part of the core program to all students. Apart from that, each discipline has its own approach to entrepreneurship. For example, students in the College of Business are required to develop case studies and create a business plan for their capstone, students in the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises couple their senior design project with a business plan, and so on. As an institution, we have cooperation agreements with a number of incubators and groups outside of campus, because they provide the spaces for entrepreneurs to grow and the mentorship to help them in this endeavor. Furthermore, each Spring, we have a business carnival on campus where around 120 companies mostly owned by alumni exhibit and market their products, while some are owned by current students who study and work. This platform inspires others to become entrepreneurs especially as we also have booths for the regulatory and funding agencies for small and medium enterprises. Our alumni survey shows that around 11% of our graduates work in the private sector, but we are making every effort possible to increase this percentage with support from the community.
The smart learning project entails taking advantage of all the apps and educational tools across our courses to organize internal workshops and connect people with different approaches and techniques. In total, around half of our faculty members have been engaged actively in this program and the ratio increases with time. As you may know, we have our digital course-hosting environment, which we have been using for over 10 years, and have recently launched a virtual learning website called the Zayed University Virtual Bridge. This site caters to continuous development beyond the classrooms for both our current and future students. Our English foundation program has developed its own learning app, which allows students to improve their English anywhere and learn at their own pace. We also have plans to launch a similar app for the Arabic language. This project has also supported faculty research on better learning pedagogy, on understanding trends in technology applied to education, and has helped change the environment for teaching and learning.
We are aiming to become a more comprehensive university, having all of our programs accredited nationally and internationally, to achieve better research outcomes, and to improve our standing in the international rankings. We see Zayed University becoming a more established academic institution with accreditation and results that can help the wider needs of society, offering research solutions across a range of fields from IT to humanities. We see Zayed University as a contributor to the country’s knowledge and to the world’s, and most importantly as an academic institution with high-quality academic programs that can develop the future leaders of the country. Many of our students care deeply for their society and the environment, and they excel in projects involving leadership and a volunteering spirit. We are confident and hopeful on their future role in transforming our nation.
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UAE, UAE, ABU DHABI - Economy
Interview
Chairperson, Canadian Business Council Abu Dhabi (CBCAD)