Annual Report 2010 | 2011 - Columbia Global Centers

Outreach
International Education Events and Speaking Engagements
The Center seeks to raise awareness about the Global Centers model and about projects underway in Amman by
participating in development and education-related events in the region and internationally. Professor Safwan Masri
has been invited to speak and participate in numerous conferences and forums during the academic year.
Highlights include:
• Middle East Leadership Academy Workshop (Dead Sea – March 16, 2011)
• 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum, session on “Higher Education Reform in the Arab World” (Washington
D.C. – April 12-14, 2011)
• Abraaj Capital Forum, panel session on “What needs to change in the Arab World? How do we do it?”
(Istanbul – September 15-16, 2011)
• World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Arab World,
panel session on “Tackling the Risk of Water Scarcity” (Dead Sea – October 22, 2011)
Director Co-Convenes Session on Higher Education Reform
in the Arab World at 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum
The Center’s Director, Professor Safwan Masri, was invited to participate in and co-convene a
session on “Higher Education Reform in the Arab World” at the 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum
held in Washington D.C. on April 12-14, 2011. The working group brought together educators,
specialists and public sector officials from the U.S. and the Middle East to review the current state
of higher education in the Arab World, consider best practices, and discuss specific measures and
areas of collaboration that will advance the ability of educational institutions to meet the many
challenges before them.
The working group focused on addressing questions such as: How are different actors in the diverse
landscape of Arab higher education today advancing or impeding the goals of reform? To what
degree do regional partnerships and cooperation offer opportunities to overcome local obstacles
in specific areas? And, where has important progress been made and what policy responses and
initiatives should be encouraged to improve the ability of Arab educational institutions to meet
the challenges of this transformational period?
The main topics for discussion focused on three components. First, governance and accountability,
which considered experiences to date and the obstacles to further progress in expanding governance
and accountability objectives for higher education in the Arab region. Second, quality of teaching
and learning including the experience to date with public, private, for profit, branch institutions, and
foreign partnerships in the region, their impact on equity and the ability to achieve high standards
of teaching and learning. Finally, linkages between educational outcomes and labor markets, which
tackled what steps can be taken in the short and medium term to better align policy development
in the area of higher education with investment in programs that promote better labor market and
societal outcomes.
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