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Dr. Said Elfakhani, DU former Academic Overseer
and Associate Dean of the College of Business at
the American University of Beirut, has visited
DU regularly over the past year or so to assist
in readying the University for the accreditation
process that will take place under the guidance
of the Ministry of Higher Education. Dr. Elfakhani
is the Chairperson of the DU Self-Study Steering
Committee, which is a committee made up of faculty
members and senior DU administrative staff, who
have already been busy producing a report that
basically has analysed all the different parts
of the university, identifying strengths and pinpointing
opportunities for growth.
Dr. Elfakhani originally assisted in designating
heads of ten ‘Task Teams’, who produced
the report under the ‘ROSQA’ method
as advised last year by the MOHE. At the moment
Dr. Elfakhani is busy editing the report, which
will be submitted to the Board of Trustees, who
will subsequently submit it to the MOHE.
Meanwhile, Dr. Elfakhani, who will be going on
a sabbatical research leave for one year, has handed
over his role as Chairperson of the Committee to
Dr. Saouma BouJaoude. Dr. BouJaoude, DU Academic
Overseer, will supervise the writing of a second
report, using a newer and better method of self-assessment
recently introduced by the Ministry, called the ‘ADRI’ method,
one that is based on assessing the institution
in four successive steps: ‘Approach, Deployment,
Results, and Improvement’. The process of
accreditation is extremely important for DU. It
is not only leading it towards becoming a recognized
and accredited institution, both nationally and
internationally, but the process of self-study
itself that leads up to the application for accreditation
helps DU to analyse itself carefully and make improvements
where they are needed. |
