Noura Al Kaabi chairs Zayed University Council virtual meeting

UAE EDUCATION

ABU DHABI- Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, President of Zayed University, has chaired the second meeting of the University Council, held remotely via videoconferencing and reviewed a number of topics on its agenda.

Initiating the meeting, Al Kaabi greeted all members and praised their sincere commitment to enhance the progress on various academic, research, administrative, and societal levels, and acknowledged their continuous commitment towards the development of the University. She emphasised the scientific and academic progress of the University, which contributes towards the vision of the nation to develop an educational system that supports strategic elements of progression and sustainable development of the UAE.

The council examined the implementation of recommendations from the previous session, approved new policies and committee reports and deliberated on academic and strategic topics ahead of the upcoming 2022-2026 planning cycle.

On academic topics, the council approved the portfolio of Bachelor and Master programmes offered by the University and reviewed recommendations submitted by the Academic Affairs Committee.

The council further adopted policies related to academic management for the 2019-2020 summer semester, reviewed the graduate programmes degrees assessment, the admission policy and appointment of faculty members, and approved several new policies in the administrative and academic fields to effectively operate the University.

Additionally, the council approved the amendment of the tuition policy for two Graduate Studies programs: Master of Legal and Judicial Studies, and Master of Science in Information Technology (Cyber Security).

On the strategic front, the council deliberated on the progress of Zayed University performance against our governance indicators as well as recent global events. The council reviewed the Prime Minister's Office Report on strategy implementation and on the quality of our priority services for 2018-2019, the Ministry of Education's Report on performance-based funding indicators for 2019, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority report on Smart Government Enablers Indices for 2019.

An evaluation was also done on the recently released QS World Rankings 2021 for external perspectives on relevant indicators for the University and reflected on key strategic levers ahead of our 2022-2026 strategic planning cycle.

The council took time to also note observations and reflections on Zayed University’s recent remote learning efforts and reviewed the upcoming virtual graduation ceremony setup and preparations for the Class of 2020.

Finally, the council approved the Audited Financial Statements of 2019 following revisions and endorsement by the Audit Risk and Compliance Committee, ARCC.

The meeting was attended by the University Council members; Sarah Bint Youssef Al-Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, Vice-President of the University Council, Nasser Ismaeil Al Blooshi, Assistant Under-Secretary of Social Welfare at the Ministry of Community Development, Abdulnasser Alshaali, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Shatha AlHashmi, Director of Innovation Strategy Department, Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Government Innovation, Humaid Matar Salim Al Dhaheri, Group Chief Executive Officer - Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, ADNEC, Mariam Saeed Ghobash, Vice Chairperson of Abu Dhabi Investment Company, Saeed Sultan Rashed Al Dhaheri, Business Owner, Emeritus Professor Rob Whelan, Director - Whelan Consulting Pty Ltd. Hassan Al Najjar, Entrepreneur and Founder of InFocus Media - Member of the Council, and along with Mohammed Al Naqi, Director of Implementation and Follow-up at the General Secretariat of the Cabinet.