MEDAWEL Final Conference - 12-13th Oct. 2014

The end of the Tempus MEDAWEL Project (2013-2015) was marked by a Final Conference in Amman, Jordan, on the 12-13th October, 2015. Ms Aoife Ni Neill and Dr. Michael Byrne, represented UCC at the Conference which was held in the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) in Amman. Aoife opened the proceedings with a presentation on the process and outcomes of the Quality Review of Student Services in UCC which was undertaken in 2014. Michael followed with his presentation on 'UCC Student Health Department: Shaping Student Health & Wellbeing Services in a 21st Century University'. These presentations were very well received by the participants at the Conference who mainly hailed from Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt along with partner institutions of Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Alicante. The UCC presentations were followed by the appearance of HRH Princess Sumaya Al Hassan after whom the university in Amman is named. Princess Sumaya takes an active role in the day-to-day management of PSUT and is dedicated to reinforcing the university's commitment to excellence in education. (Photo shows (L to R) Dr. Michael Byrne, Director, Student Health and Wellbeing, HRH Princess Sumaya Al Hassan and Aoife Ni Neill, QPU)

MEDAWEL Delegation Visit to UCC invitation

The Director of the Quality Promotion Unit, Ms Fiona Crozier, would like to cordially invite you to the following event:

MEDAWEL

'Consolidation of Student Affairs and Services in Institutions from the Southern Neighbouring Area, with Special Focus on Welfare and Grievance Services'

The MEDAWEL project aims to develop more welfare-oriented services (e.g. Student Counselling, Ombudsman, Multifaith Chaplaincy etc.) for the students in the MEDA region countries (Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine).

MEDAWEL provides Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Southern Neighbouring Area (SNA) with a holistic approach to student services (SS) for increased student wellbeing and applicable service offers via targeted planning and development on institutional, national and regional levels, in line with national goals and regional Tempus priorities. Specifically:

- sustainably strengthen capacities in 8 SNA HEIs for SS implementation and development via training actions and service development, widening service offer and implementing strategic thinking by end 2015;

- create a platform for dialogue via national roundtables and a network for SS to exchange good practice, identify needs and weaknesses and develop action plans;

- give a voice to the student populous to ensure the applicability of offered services via student surveys, develop a transparent culture of dialogue and teamwork for SS issues. MEDAWEL works in this context to improve service offer, increase regional dialogue and student's institutional involvement. The  project commences with a benchmarking exercise to identify relative strengths and offers capacity building training actions. In parallel, MEDAWEL provokes  stakeholder interaction via roundtables, a dedicated network and regional dissemination actions and events. A specific strand of MEDAWEL is dedicated to students, promoting their involvement in decision making and needs analysis from a national student survey. Lastly, participating HEIs select services from a 'menu' and implement two services before project end.

Major outputs:
benchmarking analysis guide, training modules, stakeholder mapping, heightened national focus including action plans, increased student involvement, service menu and creation of services. This is underpinned by a 'watch' on quality, comprehensive dissemination on national and regional scale, and active involvement of diverse stakeholders.

Partner Institutions:

• Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Jordan (Co-ordinator)

• Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan;

• University of Beni-Suef, Egypt;

• University of Kafrelsheikh, Egypt;

• Modern University for Business and Science, Lebanon;

• Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom;

• An-Najah National University, Palestine;

• Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine;

• University of Alicante, Spain;

• University College Cork, Ireland;

• Lebanese University, Lebanon.

The MEDAWEL Delegation from universities (*) in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine will be visiting UCC from the 5^th-7^th June (inclusive). The group’s visit will form part of the activity scheduled under the Tempus IV project – MEDAWEL - Consolidation of Student Affairs and Services in Institutions from the Southern Neighbouring Area, with Special Focus on Welfare and Grievance Services'.This project is aimed at strengthening academic and administrative services for students in the above partner universities. The purpose of the study visit is to gain an overview of the best practices in place in UCC in relation to these services.

 (*) the universities represented are: the Modern University of Business and Science, Lebanon; Lebanese University, Lebanon; Beni Suef University, Egypt; An-Najjah University, Palestine; Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine; Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan; Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Jordan.