Malaya University Delegation Visits Ajman University
Vice Presidents and Deans of Ajman University of Science & Technology (AUST) have hosted a delegation from the University of Malaya in Malaysia. Subjects under discussion included areas of future cooperation between the two institutions, and accreditation procedures in Malaysia and the UAE. Dr. Basheer Shehadeh, AUST Vice President for Follow Up and Development, after introducing the history of AUST and the programs it offers, said that the UAE is an open education hub with higher education institutions in government, private and free zones. He stressed that each of the UAE's 64 institutions that are accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research have gone through a long process progressing from licensure to accreditation, and finally re-accreditation. He stated that the Commission for Academic Accreditation has played a vital role in quality control of programs offered, and the bringing in of evaluators and assessors from the UK and US is a professional practice that has ensured effectiveness.
Prof. Gauth Jasmon, Vice Chancellor of the University of Malaya, expressed the willingness of his university to cooperate with AUST in the exchange of students and visiting professors, training programs and scholarships, and research collaboration. Dr. Ahmed Ankit, AUST Vice President for External Relations and Cultural Affairs, welcomed these ideas and suggested that the two institutions focus on fields of common interest such as business, engineering, information technology, Islamic studies, pharmacy, dentistry and water engineering. Prof. Zain Al Abideen Rizk, Dean of the Institute of Environment, Water and Energy (IEWE) at AUST, introduced the Institute and invited the University of Malaya to participate in a symposium that the Institute will be holding in May 2010 on "Water Harvesting: from Traditional Practices to State-of-the-Art Technologies." Topics under discussion will be water consumption in GCC countries and elsewhere, the privatization of the water sector, and surface water harvesting techniques. The speakers will be from Asia, Europe, GCC countries, and the US.
At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to begin cooperation in the second semester of the current academic year by organizing visiting professor exchanges, and visits by students from the colleges of Engineering and Business Administration. The delegation's program was concluded by a tour of the AUST Ajman campus and a luncheon banquet.
