DOHA: The President of Qatar University (QU) Dr Omar Al Ansari announced that the university is embarking on a new phase of academic planning that achieves more of the students' aspirations as well as current and future labour market needs.
In his speech during the Annual Opening Convocation for the academic year 2023 - 2024, Dr Al Ansari said that hopes the academic planning will result in educational opportunities that fulfil more students’ aspirations in bachelor's and postgraduate studies and will be more compatible with the labour market and current and future needs.
He noted that the nature of the programmes offered by the university, their numbers, and the number of students in them need a reflective view from various university sectors so that the needs of the labour market, research priorities, student numbers, and educational and research outcomes are within a set of standards that help provide quality programs that are compatible with the aspirations of the university and society and are comparable to the best international programmes.
Dr Al Ansari addressed the importance of education in the university's mission, indicating that teaching and learning are the cornerstones. He said that the teaching and learning process is the first and most important goal, to which QU has provided several resources and given a lot of attention, pointing out that the university has made clear efforts while working on the strategic plan in the previous session to develop the teaching and learning process, noting the progress achieved in this regard and stressing the need for more work to develop teaching methods, course content, and study plans to reach the axes of excellence approved by the university.
In his speech, the QU president addressed the university's medical and health sector and indicated that the idea of establishing an umbrella under which medical and health specializations come together was a successful attempt to provide integration between these specializations and use the university's resources in a better way, as well as to improve the opportunities of these colleges and specializations in creating a close and sustainable relationship with stakeholders and other partners in the health and medical sector at the state level.
He also stressed that the integration contributed to enhancing the positive impact of the sector in the field of public health, in addition to the ability to create a qualitative partnership that enables students to complete clinical education in hospitals and medical and health institutions, whether public or private, in addition to the ability of colleges to understand and respond to the research and scientific requirements of these sectors.
The QU president stressed the importance of concerted efforts towards greater integration between the health and medical sectors and the rest of the university's sectors.
Regarding the scientific research sector, he stressed that this sector took long strides and made apparent progress during the past few years, saying that there is an apparent effort to work on setting the university's research priorities in line with Qatar National Vision 2023 and Qatar's development axes during the upcoming phase.
The QU president stressed the importance of all university research projects and programmes during the next stage being closely related to the needs of the labour market in the country so that this research has a greater impact on the local community. He pointed out the need for the university to begin establishing a system that enables it to measure the impact of its research so that it can direct this research to maximize its impact.
In a related context, he pointed out the relationship between the academic and research sides at the university and the importance of that relationship being based on integration to increase their power and effectiveness.
In his speech, Dr Al Ansari stressed that community development is one of the basic elements of the university's mission, and its achievement is linked to the university's strength in education and scientific research.
He added that in recent years, the importance of consolidating the culture of leadership and innovation has clearly emerged as essential elements within the university's mission and goals and that QU must not try at any time to separate its core work as an educational and research institution from what it provides in terms of community services or participation in development.
His speech also dealt with the student experience, stressing that it was and still is one of the main axes that the university cares about and for which it provides many resources to provide an integrated experience that enables the student to learn and acquire knowledge and skills that are compatible with the requirements of the labour market.
He added that QU offers an educational model in which the student affairs sector is a true partner with the rest of the sectors in the educational process, stressing the importance of continuing to develop the programs offered to university students so that these programs include different categories of students, whether those in need of additional support or those who excel and have skills.
He stressed the need to develop a stimulating environment for all students and provide resources and capabilities that help raise motivation and excellence, which will have a positive impact on the students' success and enhance their belief in the ability to excel and develop their personal skills.
The QU Annual Opening Convocation included honouring distinguished faculty members, staff, and graduates in multiple award categories. The recipients of the Distinguished Media Contribution Award for the current year were also honoured, as well as the recipients of the Young Alumnus of the Year Award 2023.