SHARJAH, 18th January, 2023 (WAM) — H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and President of the University of Sharjah (UoS), on Wednesday, chaired the 54th meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees, in his office at the university.
Sheikh Sultan started the meeting by welcoming the new members of the Board of Trustees who joined recently, expressing his confidence that the board would continue to support the progress and development of the university.
Sheikh Sultan extended his thanks and appreciation to those whose membership on the board had expired, pointing to their efforts during their tenure, which contributed to developing the university and strengthening its position at all levels.
The board approved the graduation of the university’s 1,598 students and the university’s budget for the year 2023-2024.
The board approved several new academic programmes, namely the Doctor of Philosophy Programme in Public Health, the Professional Doctorate in Public Health, the Master’s Programme in Entrepreneurship of Media and Digital Innovation in cooperation with Sharjah Media City (Shams), a joint programme with the Spanish University of Barcelona, and the Bachelor’s Programme in the Arabic language for non-native speakers.
The board also approved the establishment of a new college, the “College of Public Policy”, which will offer specialisations in international relations, political science, and public policy to qualify those wishing to work in the government sector and the fields of diplomatic and political relations, and several related disciplines.
The board approved the proposal to establish a “Journal of Sustainable Energy and Energy Systems” to enhance the university’s global ranking and help promote internationally accredited research at the University of Sharjah and the Arab world, in addition to approving the proposal to establish a “Smart Automation and Communication Technologies Research Centre” to lead research and development efforts in the fields of centre speciality.
In its meeting, the board also approved various reports of the specialised committees, including one of the external auditor, the work of the Compliance and Internal Audit Committee, in addition to the mechanisms of job localisation, and many cases of promotion of faculty members to the rank of professor and associate professor.
The board reviewed a report on the Sharjah Oasis for Technology and Innovation, a report on the Sharjah Diabetes Centre, a report on the outstanding performance of the national and international academic accreditation of the university’s programmes, the number of students enrolled in the programmes, the feasibility of the programmes offered, and the recruitment and appointment of academic staff members.
Dr. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah, presented a comprehensive report in which he dealt with everything related to the university’s work during the past period, the achievements it had accomplished, and the future proposals that the university intends to implement.
The university was able to occupy a prominent position among the best universities in the world. It is the fifth in the Arab world, and the first in the UAE, and occupies 68th place in the world in citations in scientific research, according to the Times Higher Education ranking. It is ranked fifth in the international ranking, 72 in the Asian ranking of universities and 89th in the ranking of young universities, and also maintained the first position in the Green Metrics sustainability rating in the UAE.
The goals of the University of Sharjah 2024-2030 strategy include making the university among the top 200 international universities by maintaining the rank of the first university in the country and ensuring that 25 percent of scientists, researchers and academic leaders at the university by the end of 2030 are citizens of the UAE. Its other goals include increasing the training of Emirati researchers, making the university the first institution for research cooperation with the country’s industry, and achieving an integrated digital transformation based on advanced technology. It also means focussing on postgraduate programmes and interdisciplinary research and increasing the number of programmes offered to 180 in response to the needs of industry and society.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Sheikh Sultan honoured Dr. Tariq Sultan bin Khadim and Noura Al Noman, former members of the University of Sharjah Board of Trustees, thanking their efforts during the last period.