FaCulty Development Day Number Four

On Wednesday, 27 April, Bethlehem University held the fourth Faculty Development Day. This time not only faculty members attended, but the administrative staff were encouraged to participate as well. Presentations were made on the inputs and outputs of the educational process.

Andreas Merli, Project Coordinator for the Masters Program in International Cooperation and Development (MICAD), spoke about the role of Bethlehem University in the field of research. A Center will be established for Advanced Studies and Research in International Cooperation and Development, and it will involve Bethlehem, An-Najah, and Birzeit universities, and Pavia and Sienna in Italy. The Center will be one of seven in the Mediterranean area. The European Union and the Conference of the Catholic Church in Italy will provide funding for the Center.

Philip Daoud, Webmaster, spoke about the Bethlehem University Academic Portal, the new website that will provide all sorts of academic information, whereby faculty and students can access their records on-line such as class lists and grades.

Dr. Walid Mustafa, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, gave a report on the meetings he attended in Cairo, Egypt, with the Deans of Art Faculties of the Union of Arab Universities. The meetings had addressed problems that hinder the development of art faculties in Arab countries, and had come up with key recommendations in the following areas:
a) To encourage debate, criticism, and analytical thinking among university students, and to stay away from rote-learning.
b) To encourage links between societal needs and the faculties of arts.
c) To rely on modern technology in teaching, such as computers and internet.

Dr. Aziz Khalil, Chairman of the Department of English, presented the final report. He spoke about faculty meetings that had studied the poor academic performance of school students.