Dubai - Arab Today
An American delegation represented by a group of higher education institutes in the U.S. visited United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) as part of their planned tour to visit all Arabian Gulf countries to explore the basis of higher education in the Gulf area, study the issues and trends of the higher education strategy, and the services offered to the students. Prof. Mohamed Yousif Baniyas, UAEU Provost and Chief Academic Officer met with the delegation with the attendance of Dr. Abdulrahman Al Shayeb, Dean of Students, along with a group of administrative leaders. The Provost welcomed the delegation on this important visit, and conveyed the gratitude of H.E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chancellor of UAEU to the American delegation for visiting UAE in general and UAEU in particular. Also, he explained in his speech the social and educational services that are being offered to students, and the academic and scientific recognition that UAEU has gained under the unlimited support of the wise leadership of the UAE education sector.The Provost added that, “UAEU in a short time have covered many scientific and human majors, and have obtained many worldwide academic credits as a result of its distinguished international staff, which led to UAEU achieving the first rank in the diversity of its teaching staff. The number of international students is approximately 15% of the total number of students which is almost 14,000 students.” The delegation watched a documentary video that illustrated UAEU’s developments from the beginning when it was an idea and vision of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (May his soul rest in peace), until the transition to the new campus with a total number of 60,000 graduates. Dr. Abdulrahman Al Shayeb presented a detailed presentation about the University’s colleges and departments along with the services that Student Affairs offers to the students from students housing to cafeterias and co-op societies, in addition to other activities like students clubs and students participations in local and international events, stressing that all these services offered were free, and that the aim of receiving all these international delegations was to exchange experiences in order to elevate the level of services provided to students and to strengthen the collaboration between all categories in the community. The delegation was taken on a tour of Al Ain city by the Student Affairs Unit and enjoyed the folkloric performances presented by Al Ain school students.