The Outcome of the Partnership between

Staffordshire University - UK and Gulf College - Oman

2003 – 2013

Dr. Issa Al BulushiChairman and CEOGulf College, Oman

Sultanate of Oman

Prof. Taki Al AbduwaniDeanGulf College, Oman

November - 2013

The Speaker

1. Prof. Taki has been the Dean of Gulf College since 2004.

2. He is the external reviewer of Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, Reviewer in The Research Council, Oman, he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Oman Quality Network for Higher Education.

3. PhD Degree in Education from University of Reading, UK. His thesis was on assessing the role of the soft component of human capital theory and explains the differences in soft skill endowment in Oman.

4. He was awarded the Honorary Professorship by the International University of Vienna during the Oxford Summit of Leaders which was held during March 2010.

Today's Presentation will cover

1. About Oman

2. History of Gulf College

3. Quality Monitoring by internal and External bodies

4. Affiliation arrangements with Staffordshire University

5. The outcome of the partnership (9 areas), focus

areas for today’s presentation will be• Staff research and consultancy• Industry and community engagement

6. Gulf College new campus

7. Question and answer session

About Oman1. Area:  309,500 Square

Kilometre2. Population:  3.8 Million

2013, of this, • 2.2mn Omanis, and • 1.6mn expatriates

3. Capital: Muscat4. Official language:   Arabic

language (English language spoken widely).

5. Time:   Four hours ahead of  GMT.

6. Currency: RO.1 = US$2.6  (0.385 Baiza = US$ 1)

7. Weather:  Hot and Humid in summer and moderate in winter

8. Population Growth Average:  6.4%

9. Life Expectancy: 72 Years

About OmanCoastline - 1700 kms long

Heritage, castles, valleys,Green mountainsSea turtlesDesertsTraditional and Modern buildings And souqsGood hotels and tourist attractions

History of Gulf College

Establishment of the set-up offering vocational and professional qualifications.

The first MBA programme offered in Oman through a private institution

Managing the first privatised College in GCC (Kingdom of Bahrain)

Approval from Ministry of Higher Education Oman to upgrade the status to a Higher Education College, offering 10 different undergraduate programmes in-addition to the two postgraduate programmes which were already in place.

2003

1997

1996

1990

The partnership has started since then.

New Campus (8000 student capacity)2014

Quality Monitoring by internal and External bodies Quality Monitoring by internal and External bodies

Staffordshire

University, UK

Oman Academic

Accreditation

Authority

Quality

Assuran

ce

Agency

, UK

Ministry

of Higher

Educatio

n, Oman

Internal Review of the System (results in a Quality Audit Portfolio)

External Review of the System (results in a Quality Audit Report)

Gulf College

Source: OAAA

ADRI Model1. Approach

2. Deployment3. Results4. Improvements

Quality ReviewsInternal Review

Semester review - Working Groups - College Board Internal

University

MOHE

OAAA

International Foundation Programme

Honours Degree

Programme

Masters Degree

Programme

Quality Assured SU examiners visitGulf College certificate

Franchise Visits from examiners fromother UK UniversitiesSU certificate

In Progress

Affiliation arrangements with Staffordshire University

Relationship

Business Awards1. BA(Hons) Accounting2. BA(Hons) Business Economics3. BA(Hons) Business Management4. BA(Hons) Finance5. BA(Hons) Marketing Management6. BA(Hons) Travel and Tourism Management

The Awards

Computing Awards7. BSc(Hons) Computer Science8. BSc(Hons) Computing Science9. BSc(Hons) Information Systems10. BSc(Hons) Mobile Computing

Quality is assured by Staffordshire University in accordance with UK Higher Education requirements

1. Access to staff, IT resources, books, e-library2. Same curriculum, assessments (localised)3. Same language, same examination process4. Same rules for awarding qualifications5. Access to personal help

Also checked by the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman and the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority.

Outcome

The Quality

Credit Framework

Level 4120 credits

Level 5120 credits

Level 6120 credits

1. Written Examination2. Practical Test3. Individual Assignment4. Group Assignment5. Case Study6. Project7. Essay8. Individual Presentation9. Group Presentation10. Business Plan11. Portfolio12. Journal13. Viva-Voce

Credit Transfer Level 4

120 credits

Level 5120 credits

Level 6120 credits

OMAN

UK

OMAN

Credit Transfer Level 4

120 credits

Level 5120 credits

Level 6120 credits

OMAN

UK

Other Country

Credit Transfer Level 4

120 credits

Level 5120 credits

Level 6120 credits

OMAN

Other UK University

OMAN

The Outcome (9 Areas)

1. Governance and management2. Student learning by coursework programs3. Student learning by research programs4. Staff research and consultancy5. Industry and community engagement6. Academic support services7. Students and student support services8. Staff and staff support services9. General support services and facilities

Details of the other seven areas can be downloaded from the report

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• The GC research strategy revolves around the cultivation of new knowledge and its dissemination and development of research capability of staff and students.

• The vision for GC is to become a leading research centre in the Sultanate of Oman through the following objectives:

1. To establish research grounds and to enhance

the students' analytical skills and provide spin-off initiative ideas to conduct research on incentive basis.

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2. To provide opportunities for the entrepreneurs through cultivation of knowledge and creating links between the higher education providers and the industries.

3. To improve the research capability of the faculty and the students of the college to match international standards

4. To achieve the percentage set for each level of the academic jobs as per the college academic ranking policy. This is summarised below:

1. Professor 5%2. Reader 10%3. Principal Lecturer 15%4. Lecturer 30%5. Assistant Lecturer 40%

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5. To create an environment that inspires and enables innovative research and scholarship.

6. To disseminate research findings effectively through publications, faculty exchanges, workshops, seminars and conferences locally and internationally.

7. To ensure that the outputs of research conducted at the college benefits the society and the economy through effective knowledge transfer and appropriate management of intellectual property

8. To develop viable portfolios of activities from research like project consultancy and project management.

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Focus Areas Active participation by staff and students in research

activities such as workshops and seminars; conduct of surveys and undertaking research projects and publications in refereed journals.

1. Conduct regular Research workshops (research methodology, research proposals and research publications) to help the researcher to analyse local problems in a scientific way and contribute to creative thinking and innovativeness.

2. Joint publications by faculty, students and the industry.

3. Enhancement of college’s research and enterprise activities.

4. Developing soft skills of the students and their employability.

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 Implementation1.  Establishment of the Centre for Research,

Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CRIE)2. Appointment of the Deputy Dean for Academic

and Research3. Appointment of three Research Coordinators (one

for each faculty)4. Annual implementation plan based on the

approved research strategy5. Awareness campaigns to enlighten the local

community of the research activities in the college. 6. Strengthen the employment opportunities of the

students focusing on employability and soft skills

Industry and Community Engagement

Each faculty produces annual activity calendar to enhance relationship with Industry, Community, Employers, Professions, Alumni and Other Education Providers, this include activities such as:-

1.Participation in local and international events focused on humanitarian, health and environment aspects

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Industry and Community Engagement

2. Support various Government programmes like Blood Donation, H1N1 Campaign, beach cleaning programme and others which are beneficial for the people of Oman and its community.

3. Organise and sponsor various sports, craft and hobbies

4. Offer free training and seminars on Career Development for its students and to the general public

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Industry and Community Engagement

5. Facilitates the processing of applications of its graduates to industries and companies both for training and employment.

6. Employer survey to assess employers’ needs.

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External Audit Report Outcomes

1. Prior to the audit visit, the panel invited submissions from the public about the quality of GC’s activities.

2. Audit visit took place over 10-13 April 2011

3. During the audit the panel spoke with over 90 people including representatives of the governing authorities, staff, students, and external stakeholdersSo

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Audit Panel Members1. Prof. Debbie Clayton (Panel Chairperson) Clayton International Education Consulting Service Brisbane, Australia

2. Dr. Ahmed Al Bulushi Caledonian College of Engineering, Muscat, Oman

3. Dr. Ammar Al Ojaili Salalah College of Technology, Salalah, Oman

4. Dr. Elizabeth Stanley Higher Education Consultant, Colorado, USA

5. Prof. Gus Pennington Independent Consultant, UK

6. Tess Goodliffe (Executive Officer) Oman Academic Accreditation Authority

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Audit Outcome

1. Commendations – 42. Affirmations – 103. Recommendations – 24

For details you can visit :

http://www.oac.gov.om/Review/GC%20Audit%20Report%20final.pdf.

Commendations 1. Developing an affiliation agreement

with SU which underpins Quality Assurance of the UG programmes offered

2. Robust moderation of assessment to ensure consistency of standards in UG programmes

3. Flexibility in timetabling, opening hours, payment schedules & responsiveness to students

4. Developing and implementing an effective staff induction programme

10 affirmations & 24 recommendations can be accessed from the audit report –

www.oaaa.gov.om

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Gulf College New

Campus

1. Land : 24000 square metres2. 4 floors3. Building area : 72000 square

metres 4. 8000 students capacity

References1. www.gulfcollege.edu.om2. www.omantourism.gov.om3. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/

oman.htm4. www.oaaa.gov.om5. http://www.oac.gov.om/Review/GC

%20Audit%20Report%20final.pdf

Question and Answer Session

1. Any further clarification needed from today’s presentation

2. How can we work together to overcome the future challenges

3. How can we work together towards • sharing the good practices• benchmarking • peer observations (different partners of SU)• cultural activities and student exchange• joint research

ThanksProf. Taki Al Abduwani

taki1966@omantel.net.om

www.gulfcollege.edu.om