Prof. Abdullah Eidha Bhahishwan, Director of the Academic Development and Quality Assurance Center at Hadhramout University and a speaker on the medium of the decade at the University scientific centers, the most present in academic life, we met to highlight this center.
We asked him at first:
- Can you tell us about the beginnings of the Academic Development and Quality Assurance Center?
* * Universities are the fundamental pillar of higher education, contributing to building human knowledge, skill, morality, and culture in a way that helps to develop human resources in the various disciplines required by sustainable development plans. Hadhramaut University has worked hard to adopt everything that can achieve performance development and work advancement and interacts with all development requirements in higher education. Recognizing the importance of establishing the University’s Centre for Academic Development and Quality Assurance the president’s resolution was issued on October 6, 2011. It is instrumental in establishing a quality culture, assisting the university in achieving its mission and objectives, emphasizing quality in all University activities, and obtaining academic accreditation. Also, Al-Awn Foundation for Development has been an active partner in supporting the Centre from the first moments of its establishment by providing it with financial support for its activities.
- What are the most visible workstations and their implications for university outcomes?
* * Annual activity plans for the Centre have been prepared and evaluated annually, making it possible for us to improve the quality of programs offered.
During the work of the Centre, with funding from the Aid for Development Foundation a project was organized to evaluate and develop academic programs to keep pace with recent developments in the preparation of program and curriculum specifications for 14 programs in three stages:
- Self-assessment
- Program specification
- Syllabuses
- The program specifications for five of education’s faculties
The internal quality system for Hadramout University has been established and with this achievement, our university becomes the first Yemeni university to undertake this work.
- Could you tell us about the Centre’s relationship with its counterparts locally and internationally?
* * The Centre has relations with many quality centers in some Yemeni universities and has applied for membership in the Association of Quality Assurance Departments of the Association of Arab Universities. We also participated in the Council for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance by visiting Egypt and Malaysia For their experience in quality.
At the end of 2020, we also participated in the workshop of associations of quality assurance departments in Cairo.
- What are the Courses for the University staff members?
* * During this period, from 2012 to 2020, the Centre conducted one hundred eighty-three (183) training courses in various fields of professional development for the teaching and assisting teaching bodies.
- In the Corona pandemic, how did you continue the training process?
* * Under the coronavirus pandemic, which has overshadowed life and disrupted much of the world, the management of the Centre did not find a way to continue the process of communication with the staff members and their assistants however, we communicate through a range of training programs and seminars, conducted by remote communication, via ZOOM. There were many interactions by participating in these events, which reached 29 events.
- What are your plans?
** The Center’s strategic plan for 2019-2023 has been prepared and is working on its implementation.