AUS
Campus
Report
The Internal Newsletter of the AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH
Issue 45, March 6, 2004
U.S. accreditation team to visit campus:
Advancing toward full accreditation
From March 14 through 17, AUS will host
the evaluation team from the Middle
States Commission on Higher Education
(MSCHE), the U.S. organization
administering the university’s
accreditation. This visit constitutes an
advanced step toward the full
accreditation of the university.
More than 70 faculty, staff and
students contributed to the selfstudy report.
Ann Baenninger will accompany the team.
The visit is the culmination of a process
that began in 2001 when AUS filed for,
and was later granted, the accreditationeligible status by Middle States. Shortly
after that, AUS earnestly sought to
achieve full accreditation, a process that
required the university to submit a selfstudy report to Middle States. Drs. Amer
Moustafa, Associate Dean of the School of
Architecture and Design, and Sallie
Sheppard, Assistant to the Chancellor for
Planning and Evaluation, co-chaired the
self-study steering committee that
produced the report.
Underscoring the significance of this visit,
Chancellor Winfred Thompson
characterized the accreditation team visit
as "a watershed event for AUS." He
added, "If we successfully complete the
Middle States accreditation process, that
achievement will …symbolically mark the
end of our pioneer stage of development."
More than 70 faculty, staff and students
contributed to the self-study report, making
it a remarkable community effort. The
comprehensive report, which was
submitted to Middle States in December
2003, is a detailed self-assessment of
AUS that covers all aspects of the
Led by Dr. Richard Kneedler, the sevenmember accreditation team comprises
notable university faculty and senior
college administrators from the United
States. The visit is intended as a peerreview, on-site evaluation based on the
self-study report and a set of
characteristics and standards of
excellence developed by Middle States.
The team will meet with various university
constituencies, including faculty and
students. AUS MSCHE liaison Dr. Mary
The Middle States Commission
is a leading U.S. organization in
accrediting higher education
institutions.
university, including student admissions,
support services, faculty issues,
educational offerings, resource allocation,
institutional planning and renewal.
Copies of the Self-Study Report are
available at the Chancellor’s Office
The Middle States Commission is a
leading U.S. organization in accrediting
higher education institutions. It promotes
excellence and improvements through a
rigorous peer-review process against the
highest educational standards. Institutions
that have been reviewed (and accredited)
by Middle States include such
distinguished universities as American
University, Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown
and the University of Pennsylvania.
Inside
MSA workshop
Page 2 - SA&D student projects honored
All AUS students, faculty and staff are requested to attend a special MSA
workshop which will be held on March 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall A in the Main
Building. Conducted by Drs. Sallie Sheppard and Amer Moustafa, the co-chairs of
the self-study, the workshop will provide AUS students, faculty and staff
information on the visit of the MSA accreditation team, its itinerary, questions to
expect from the team members, and a refresher on the self-study.
Page 2 - Third programming contest held
Page 3 - Adonis enthralls audience
Page 3 - German students visit AUS
Page 4 - DCC road safety campaign
Campus
Campus
Report
Issue 45, March 6, 2004 page 2
SA&D Student Projects Honored
placed second in the interior design
category for their work on the Arriyadh
Housing Project.
Two other students received IFEX
recognition for worked unrelated to the
Arriyadh competition. Fifth-year
architecture students Banah Mazin
Mustafa and Amin Al-Saden received two
nominations each for architecture and
furniture design concepts. More than 100
students from four universities in the UAE
took part in the IFEX competition.
Work from the first interdisciplinary
projects of final year architecture, interior
design and multimedia design students
was recently honored in two awards
ceremonies.
The projects were completed for the
"Design Competition for Saudi Houses:
Affordability and Sustainability"
sponsored by the Arriyadh Development
Authority. The architecture students
created estate plans and designed the
houses, the interior design students
developed the houses’ interiors, and the
multimedia students created a web page
to promote the housing development.
According to Assistant Professor of
Architecture Dr. Gisela Loehlein, although
the students were initially skeptical about
working with students in other disciplines,
"They came to love the project and
produced some excellent work."
Five AUS students won prizes in the
anonymous Arriyadh competition.
Second prize winners were Ahmed Al
Harty (multimedia design), Abdulla AlShamsi (architecture) and Hiba Trabulsi
(interior design). Third prize winners
were and Salem Al Qassimi (multimedia
design) and Loubna Al Zalek
(architecture). Special mention went to
Farah Najeeb Al-Humaidhi (interior
design), Mariam Al Nakhi (multimedia
design), Amin Al Saden (architecture),
Dareen Al Sarraj (multimedia design),
Aisha Hassan (multimedia design),
Banah Mustafa (architecture) and
Azadeh Zaferani (architecture).
Approximately 1,000 students from 50
countries participated in the competition.
At the recent IFEX 2004 Design Awards
in Abu Dhabi, Al Zalek placed first in the
architecture category and Al-Humaidhi,
Third AUS Programming contest held
Thirty four students took part in the
keenly contested Third AUS
Programming Contest, held February 2526. The contestants were required to
solve eight programming problems.
Forum Parmar won top honors at the
event, receiving the gold medal for his
performance. Ali Kashani and Hamed
Seifoddini received the silver and bronze
medals respectively. Both Forum and Ali are from the computer engineering program
and solved all eight problems. Hamed belongs to the computer science program and
solved seven problems.
Junior medals were presented to the top three programmers from the 14 participating
junior contestants. Mohamad Qureshi from computer engineering won the gold
medal, while Sultan Al-Mazrooei and Saheb Sahno, both from computer science,
received the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The top nine contestants at the competition will form three teams to represent AUS in the
Fourth National Programming Contest to be held at the university March 24-25.
SBM Students Meet
International
Business Leaders
Adonis enthralls
audience at AUS
lecture
Renowned Arab poet, critic and scholar
Dr. Ali Ahmed Said, better known as
Adonis, gave a lecture entitled "Toward a
New Arab Culture," on February 28 in
the Main Building.
In his lecture, Adonis stressed the need
for new critical thinking and language to
develop a progressive and innovative
new Arab culture. "The creation of a new
Arabic culture should be based on a new
vision that would develop our creative
critical approaches to read and explain
the culture," he said.
Adonis, who was recently awarded the
Sultan Al Owais Award for Cultural and
Scientific Achievement, is a household
name throughout the Arab world. His
doctoral thesis on Al Thabit wa-almutahawwil in 1972 is considered a
breakthrough in Arab studies.
Adonis was educated at Damascus
University and St. Joseph University in
Twenty-six students from the School of
Business and Management (SBM) saw
the business world in action during the
school’s eighth study trip to some of the
world’s most well-known multinational
companies.
Report
Issue 45, March 6, 2004 page 3
Faculty
Achievements
Beirut, from where he obtained his
Doctorat’ d’Etat in 1973. He has taught
at a number of universities around the
world, including Damascus University,
Lebanese University and the Sorbonne
(Paris III) among others.
German university students co-operate with
AUS students on design project
Organized by Carol Houser, SBM
Director of Community Relations, the
January trip to Miami and Orlando,
Florida, included seminars at IBM,
Motorola, Royal Caribbean Cruise lines,
FedEx, Deloitte and Touche, Disney
Headquarters, Caterpillar Latin America
Headquarters and General Motors Latin
America Middle East Headquarters.
"What a great opportunity! This trip gave
us the chance to apply theories we
learned in the classroom to real life
situations" said Mohammed El-Deeb, a
finance student.
Besides the serious aspects of the trip,
the students enjoyed a visit to the Ringling
Brothers Circus, Miami’s South Beach,
Universal Studios and Disney World.
As a follow-up to the Florida trip, the
SBM students will visit local branches of
these companies to learn more about
their Middle Eastern operations.
Three Architecture faculty members
participated in the first Conference on
Sustainable Architecture and Urban
Development held by Cairo University
February 24-26. Dr. Nadia Alhasani
presented the paper "Is Sustainability
a Sustainable Option?" Dr. Ahmed
Mokhtar delivered the paper
"Appreciating Sustainability through
Building Science Education." Mr.
Florian Techel presented the paper
"Aesthetical Aspects of Sustainability."
Mr. Eirik Heintz (Foundations and
Architecture) will present the paper
"Arabian Sand Castles: Reinventing
Dubai for the Tourist" at the
Association of Collegiate Schools of
Architecture national conference to be
held March 18-21 in Miami, Florida.
Dr. Nada Mourtada-Sabbah (Political
Studies and International Relations)
has been invited to be a visiting
professor during summer term 2004 at
the University of Paris, where she was
a visiting professor in summer 2003.
Thirty students from two German
universities are working with AUS
architecture students on a design to
develop Sharjah’s Al Khan peninsula.
The largest student delegation from a
foreign university to ever visit AUS, the
group comprises students and
accompanying faculty members from the
architecture schools of the Technical
University in Berlin and the
Brandenburg Technical University in
Cottbus.
Seven teams, each including students
from all three schools, are participating
in a design charette in which students
propose their development strategies for
the peninsula. During their stay at AUS,
the German students are also traveling
extensively throughout the UAE.
Organized by Assistant Professor of
Architecture Florian Techel, this visit is
the latest step toward developing
academic ties between AUS and
prominent German universities.
Previous collaborative activities have
included an exhibition of contemporary
German architecture, lectures, field trips
and research projects.
Dr. Larry Woods (International
Relations) will present the findings of
research he and Dr. Nada MourtadaSabbah conducted on "Public
Opinion Polls, International Affairs and
Foreign Policy Issues in the UAE" at
the International Studies Association
Convention to be held in Montreal
March 17-20.
Dr. Mohamed Zayani (English) gave
a talk on media and the Arab public
opinion during an Institut Français des
Relations Internationales (IFRI)
symposium in Paris on January 30.
Campus
Report
Issue 45, March 6, 2004 page 4
60 Seconds with
Mona El-Mousfy
Stop, look and listen!
DCC holds road safety week
The AUS Day Care Center (DCC)
recently held a special road safety week
for its children. The aim of the week-long
campaign was to teach children about
various aspects of traffic and road
safety, as well as to stress the
importance of this issue to parents.
Assistant Professor in
Interior Design, School of
Architecture & Design
Home: Beirut, Lebanon.
Family: One child and two stepchildren.
What do you enjoy most about working
at AUS? The challenge.
What was your first job? Cashier at the
Georgia Tech University cafeteria.
What is your best advice for success in
the workplace? Openness and focus,
patience and determination.
I couldn’t do my job without: Being
particularly sensitive and excited about
space, light and material, and happy to
transmit that emotion to others.
Where is your favorite place to dine?
Sushi restaurants.
What’s your ideal holiday spot? Spain.
What’s the best place to visit in your
home country? “The Cedars”
With what famous person, living or dead,
would you most like to have dinner?
Eileen Gray, an interior designer I admire.
What are your hobbies? Walking.
Last book read: The Earth and the
Contemplation of Will by Gaston Bachelard.
Last movie watched: Light and Silence.
Favorite pastime in the UAE: Swimming.
If you could go back in time, what period
would you choose and why? ? Early 20th
century to take part in the incredible sociocultural transformation Modernity brought
about.
If you were in the position to improve
one thing at AUS, what would it be?
Create more covered and convivial outdoor
spaces and a convivial interior space for
informal faculty get-togethers.
"60 Seconds" is designed to foster a greater
sense of community among the university's
employees. Each issue will feature a
randomly selected faculty or staff member.
Next time, it could be you!
The safety awareness program was
created by DCC teachers and included
road-safety songs, stories, and related
art activities such as making of stop
signs and pedestrian crossings. The
program also included many practical
lessons and activities to teach the
correct way to cross roads, walk around
campus, and use bicycle helmets.
Throughout the week, children were
encouraged to "stop, look and listen,"
making sure that they always followed
the correct procedure before crossing
the road.
The week concluded with a
demonstration by the children on how to
cross the road safely. Mr. Ibrahim
Shehady, Director of the Physical Plant
and Campus Safety Officer, presented
the children with participation
certificates. Parents present at the
demonstration also received safety
handouts. The program proved to be a
great success, and it is hoped that it will
become an annual event at the center.
Upcoming
events
1• MSA Workshop to be held on
March 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Lecture
Hall A in the Main Building.
2• Lecture by American architecture
professor Michael Hughes, entitled
"Think, Draw, Build… Experiments
in Making Architecture." The lecture
will be held at 5:00 p.m. on
Monday, March 8, in AD1-102 in
SA&D.
3• The annual AUS Career Fair will be
held at the Sports Complex on
March 16.
4• 4th UAE National Programming
Contest on March 24-25.
5• The AUS Textbook Fair will be held
on March 31-April 1 in the Main
Building.
Athletes participate
in International
Friendship
Tournament
More than 40 AUS student-athletes
participated in the first International
Friendship Tournament for Universities
February 8-16 in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. The women’s volleyball and basketball
teams and the men’s basketball, soccer and table tennis teams were among 1,000
students from five universities competing in the tournament, which was hosted by the
Arab Academy for Science Technology and Marine Transport.
"The main objective of the event was friendship, so there were no declared winners.
Everybody won in the sense that all of the athletes had a very rich experience during
their stay in Egypt," said Munketh Taha, Assistant to the Dean of Students.
Campus Report is published by the Media and Printing Department, Office of Public Affairs.
To submit news or to make inquiries, please contact
Farid Alvie (ext. 2210, [email protected]).