Forum Looks at Ways to Boost AUC Image as Leading Education Provider

BY NAHLA EL GENDY

AUC administrators and faculty have established a forum to work out the main objectives of a five-year strategic plan to put the university on the path to becoming a leading education provider in the region.

The plan would support strong research to provide the university with a competitive advantage, develop a sustainable model to support research and innovation, enhance AUC research productivity, and boost international visibility.

“We have a few crucial questions to answer, [and] one of them is how AUC can enhance a research productivity culture and the visibility of its research, creative work and innovation” said Ehab Abdel Rahman, associate provost for research, during the “Discovery, Development, and Dissemination: Strengthening Research Networks, Cooperation, and Dissemination” forum on March 3.

He added that researchers at AUC might not be aware of the work their colleagues in other departments of the university are undertaking, and stressed that research and education are “inseparable”.

“We don’t know much about the impact of the research on our teaching and our community as a whole,” Abdel Rahman said.

The forum, consisting of Abdel Rahman, Holger Albrecht, assistant professor of Political Science, Rania Siam, professor of Biology, Nizar Becheikh, assistant professor of Strategy and Innovation Management and Dina Adly, the director of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) also looked at ways the strategic plan can guide decisions about allocation of resources and the size, scope and focus of a capital campaign designed to highlight the university’s centennial anniversary in 2019.

“We need to differentiate between the objectives and the tactics of research; once we agree on the objectives, we use the tactics to help us achieve these objectives,” Bacheikh said.

Some students have told The Caravan that research – and proper facilities to allow such endeavors – is a fundamental aspect of an academic institution’s appeal.

“AUC’s ranking can be improved by raising research projects in all departments, however, it seems to me that some departments are getting more funding than others,” Massoma Kadhem, a History and Anthropolgy senior, said.

“There are so many [research facilities] at AUC that aren’t well-advertised to the students, especially the undergrads,” says Kadhem.

But the Kadhem criticized the low priority given to research in some departments and said that for a “supposedly” top ranking university in the region, AUC’s lack of such initiatives, was for lack of a better word, disappointing.

“The students don’t know that research exists because the classes are so superficial,” she said.

Abdel Rahman agrees with Kadhem that undergrad research as a component of the liberal arts curriculum needs to be enhanced.

Both Albrecht and Chemistry Professor Adham Ramadan believe that one way to boost the research component is to design a more flexible scholastic system that will allow faculty sufficient time to engage in such projects.

While Siam urged students to approach their instructors and ask to engage in research, one student at the forum suggested that incentives be given to encourage engagement in such initiatives.