The Technische Universitt Berlin has announced the launch of its first branch campus in Egypt. It will be the first German university to offer programmes in Egypt that are subject exclusively to German higher education standards and laws in terms of both content and structure.

Located in Gouna on the Red Sea and due to start its academic year in October, the US$48 million campus, a non-profit private-public partnership in collaboration with Orascom Hotels and Development, will focus on providing specialised postgraduate programmes.

Technische Universitt Berlin (TU Berlin), a leading German institution, will offer masters degrees in three areas of technology energy engineering, water engineering and urban development as pilot programmes.

While the emphasis will be on applied technologies for sustainable development and tackling regional challenges such as scarce natural resources, population growth and urbanisation, the programmes will be international in nature and accessible to applicants from around the world.

Each programme will host 30 students a year over four semesters, with professors from TU Berlin teaching all courses in English. Most courses will be held on the El Gouna campus but students in energy engineering and urban development will spend their second semester in Berlin.

According to a report in Daily News Egypt, the university is also considering providing masters courses in management and business, logistics, innovation management and entrepreneurship, and vocational training.

In future, the campus plans to offer PhDs, engage in research, offer continuing education and summer school programmes, and host conferences. The courses at El Gouna will be fully accredited in Germany.

Egypt has 35 universities, 18 of which are public.

According to a report by financial services company Investia, Public and Private Universities in Egypt, the remaining 17 universities are private institutions that are either Egyptian such as the German University in Cairo, which was established in 2003 in partnership with the universities of Ulm and Stuttgart or foreign including American, British, Canadian, Chinese, French, German and Japanese universities.

Egyptian universities have also established a number of international branch campuses. These include a branch of Alexandria University (Tong city) in South Sudan, and a branch of Cairo University in the Sudanese capital Khartoum with faculties in four Sudanese states.

According to the website of the Union of Islamic World Students, Al-Azhar University, which is the worlds leading centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning, is considering establishing branch campuses around the world including in the United States, Bangladesh, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Madagascar, Sudan and Tanzania.

Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a researcher at Cairo’s National Research Centre, cautiously welcomed the launch of the German branch campus, which he sees as a possible way to help Egypt produce the high-level skills needed for national and regional development.

However, as a result of political, economic, social and personal factors, including slow development, low salaries and the relative lack of opportunities for scientific research, most of these skilled, Westernised graduates will emigrate from the country, increasing the brain drain trend, Abdelhamid told University World News.

Egypt suffers a serious brain drain, with 12% of PhD candidates studying abroad not returning home, according to a 2009 study, Estimation of the Economic Impact of Brain Drain on the Labor Expelling Country. These qualified immigrants work in critical fields such as surgery, nuclear engineering, laser science and tissue technology.

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Article source: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120118204522635

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» Navigating Your Next Adventure: Managing Your Income In Retirement: 2 p.m. Thursday. The workshop, hosted by Edward Jones Financial Advisor Rick Lambert, will cover strategies for the money you have at retirement to help get you through retirement. It also will explore how to plan for concerns like inflation, health care expenses, market volatility and other unexpected expenses. A representative from the Social Security Administration, John Sullivan, will be available to answer Social Security questions. Refreshments will be served. The workshop is free, but space is limited. To make a reservation, call Brena at 429-8403. Sanders Beach-Corrine Jones Community Center, 913 South I St. Details: 429-8403 or www.edwardjones.com

» Bridges to Circles Bridges Ally Training: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Two hour session presents an overview of the Bridges to Circles poverty initiative and begins to equip the individual to serve as an ally for an individual moving from poverty to self-sufficiency. Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, 1815 N. Sixth Ave. Details:
429-7296.

» Women and Money Economic Education Workshop: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Second Annual WAM Conference. The conference includes breakout workshops on topics such as organizing your finances, cooking on a budget, making sense of your taxes, investing and car basics. A youth track has been added to this year’s lineup for ages 12 through 18. Workshops under the YES! (Youth Economic Strategies) program will include banking, savings, interviewing, resume writing and youth entrepreneurship. Keynote speaker is New York Times bestselling author Regina Leeds, known as the Zen Organizer. The conference registration fee is $25 per person and includes all workshops, breakfast and lunch. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, 9300 Emerald Coast Parkway W. Details: 850-243-1201.

» The Basics of Selling on eBay: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday . Learn the essentials of selling on eBay from a professional with experience. Our education specialist, trained by eBay, will teach you (via PowerPoint presentation) how to avoid costly mistakes as a new eBay seller. Prior exposure to eBay and an email address are required. Cost: $60. Small Business Development Center at the University of West Florida, 401 E. Chase St., Suite 100. Details: 595-0063 or visit www.sbdc.uwf.edu

Article source: http://www.pnj.com/article/20120122/BUSINESS/201220315/Business-calendar-Jan-22-through-Feb-11?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

INTERVIEW: Education is investment in future generations

javaid laghari chairman, hec

Tanveer Ahmed is Daily Times’ Senior Reporter

avaid Laghari is a dedicated and hard-working professional with a keen sense of tackling problems related to education arising at every level. Bagging degrees is not his only joy, as with heading the Higher Education Commission he strives to see a literate society..

My association with HEC has been very challenging! It is an excellent organisation but we have not still arrived at a level where we can classify ourselves as per world standards. The biggest challenge that we have at the HEC is to improve the quality of higher education both in public and private universities”

Daily Times: From where did you receive your education?
Javaid Laghari: I got my Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from Sindh University, Masters from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and Ph D from State University of New York at Buffalo, USA.

DT: Tell us about your professional career.
JL: I always loved research and so decided to do my Ph D. Subsequently, I joined SUNY and became a professor and director of Space Power Institute as well as director of Graduate Studies. I have worn four hats in my professional career, first as professor and director of Space Power Institute at SUNY (1980-1995), and then in 1995, I established SZABIST at the request of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and became its first president and made it into a world-class institute. During my association with BB, I accompanied her to a lot of lecturing trips around the world. In the course of time, she got me associated with a lot of party matters and made me deputy coordinator of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Policy Planning Committee and also put me in-charge of the Manifesto Committee. I was also made chairman of the Power and Energy Committee of the PPP, and wrote the party policy for energy and power. In 2006, BB awarded me the ticket for technocrat seat of the Senate from Sindh, where I remained Senator from 2006 to 2009. After she passed away, I resigned from the Senate because I was asked to serve as HEC chairman in 2009.

DT: Tell us about the research work you have done in your career?
JL: While in the USA, I have published over 140 research papers and presented over 100 papers at conferences around the world. We used to get funding for research from a large number of agencies in the USA. My publishing pattern continues in Pakistan, though I now mostly write for newspapers and magazines.

DT: How did you get associated with late BB?
JL: It was in 1995 during the second tenure of BB as prime minister when she contacted me and wanted me to come to Pakistan to establish SZABIST named after her father. On her call, I returned back from USA. We first got a charter from the Sindh government, and the first campus was established in Karachi. This later grew to four campuses in Islamabad, Larkana and Dubai, the first campus of any Pakistani university at a foreign destination.

DT: How was your experience while working with BB?
JL: It was learning and an enlightening experience as long as BB was alive, who was my mentor and leader. As she thought there were a lot of things that I could also contribute to the party and to Pakistan, she awarded me the Senate ticket as well. I carry her leadership lessons to the present day through my articles and speeches. I, as a member of the Senate, served on the Senate Standing Committees on Water and Power; Information Technology; and Information and Broadcasting in which I also carried forth her vision. I was the only Ph D in the parliament at that time, and therefore it was an excellent educational experience for me as well as for other parliamentarians.

DT: How do you see your association with HEC?
JL: My association with HEC has been very challenging! It is an excellent organisation but we have not still arrived at a level where we can classify ourselves as per world standards. The biggest challenge that we have at the HEC is to improve the quality of higher education both in public and private universities. The second challenge is of limited funding. We have one of the lowest accessibility to higher education, as low as eight percent, whereas the developed countries are as high as 30 to 40 percent. Even in South Asia we are on the lower side. The third challenge is of relevancy of research and teaching to our social and economic need. We do enough research at Pakistan universities and would like to link it with the economic development. We are embarking upon a programme to commercialise research and are trying to build the first-ever Technology Parks in Pakistan. We are also working on an innovation policy where researchers would be encouraged to innovate and create a spirit of entrepreneurship in Pakistan. I think it’s a long haul, and as a first step, we have started establishing offices of research, innovation and commercialisation at our universities. This year we have established 10 offices in the leading universities, 10 more will be established next year and same number the following years.

DT: How do you see the future of higher education in the country?
JL: I see a bright future for higher education in Pakistan, because if you look at comparable economies that focused on higher education sector such as Malaysia, Turkey and India, and in the past South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand, these are the countries that have focused on knowledgeable economies.

These countries have created knowledgeable workers and only through knowledgeable economy is the country able to prosper and increase the gross domestic product (GDP). Any country that has focused on expanding on higher education and research and has created knowledge capital and equity are the countries that have actually moved forward and turned into developed countries from developing ones. There are different challenges, first to create knowledgeable workers by focusing on research and innovation, and then to encourage entrepreneurship and finally to interact with industry. We are working on all these aspects, like expansion of research, its relevancy to entrepreneurship, and reaching out to the industry, both nationally and globally.

DT: How do you look at more spending on education in the present tough economic situation?
JL: We need to understand that education is not an expenditure, instead an investment in our future generations. If we look at the percentage of GDP on education, out of 195 countries in the world, there are only six countries that spend less than Pakistan, which is spending only 1.7 percent of GDP on education. So we see that education for political governments is not a priority. Unless we focus on investing on education for our youths in creating a future generation of knowledgeable workers, we cannot achieve economic prosperity. Through investment in education, we create a viable middle class, which gives the nation purchasing power, and the economy moves upward in the form of collection of revenues which are spent on development projects needed in the country. So it is a complete cycle of prosperity.

DT: How do you feel being a boss?
JL: I never believe in bosses because the definition of a leader is to build teams and consensus. We don’t have a dictatorial system and I don’t adopt that culture. I work with consensus building and training of staff and management to build capacities, so we all can collectively handle challenges. This way a new generation of leaders is also developed.

DT: How do you spend your leisure time?
JL: I like travelling, driving, listening to music, watching movies and reading. These days, I am reading leadership and motivational books. I am also writing my fourth book on leadership.

DT: Are you satisfied with where you are now today?
JL: A person is never satisfied. We always try to do the right things and continue to improve it. I am a workaholic and work doesn’t end for me because I think I am creative, and with creativity, one can only expand on what you are doing, and it is challenging! I like challenges in life, otherwise life is not exciting. We need to continue to learn and grow, and leave the world a better place! ***

Home |
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Article source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C01%5C22%5Cstory_22-1-2012_pg15_1

BoardSource, a national group committed to building excellent nonprofit boards, recently surveyed nearly 2,000 nonprofit leaders across the United States for its Nonprofit Governance Index. The report identified fundraising, which many social enterprises depend on for survival, as one of the top priorities for board involvement. Yet, 84 percent of those surveyed gave their organizations’ board a grade of “C” or lower for its actual performance with fundraising. The report also found that boards typically underperform when it comes to strategy and community relations – two other key factors for thriving in the social sector.

It’s an alarming wake-up call: The very groups that day-to-day leaders of social enterprises depend on for guidance are struggling with their most basic responsibilities.

Newton believes this problem can be fixed. Last week her consortium launched its inaugural Board Development Academy, which will guide 30 new and prospective nonprofit board members through an eight-week training course. In the fall, she hopes to start a second version of the academy that works exclusively with existing board teams. “The most important role of board members is to ask questions, and we’re going to teach them that,” Newton says.

In the Triangle, the N.C. Center for Nonprofits in Raleigh explores effective board leadership in its “Principles Practices for Nonprofit Excellence” handbook and also provides training during its annual conference. Says Trisha Lester, the center’s vice president: “The best way to create a good board is not to just pick your friends and neighbors but to look for people with the range of skills that you really need.”

Duke’s Fuqua School of Business is hard at work on developing those skills. Through the Fuqua on Board program, Duke MBA students and local alumni serve as nonvoting board members of Durham-area nonprofits for a full academic year. Participants are paired with mentors who, as seasoned board members, help them navigate the ins and outs of nonprofit governance. Meanwhile, students provide the nonprofits they serve with fresh insights and energy. It’s a virtuous cycle that has attracted many organizations, including the Alcohol/Drug Council of North Carolina, the Durham Literacy Center and the Eno River Association.

When board members come to their jobs with the right preparation, their impact can be powerful. Jane McIntyre was a board member of the United Way of Central Carolinas, which serves the Charlotte region, before becoming its executive director in summer 2009. One of an unwieldy 67 members during her time on the board, McIntyre oversaw a reorganization in conjunction with independent review teams that reduced the board’s size to 24 people – what BoardSource’s research deems very close to the ideal board size of 15 to 22 members.

Spread too thin by a multitude of programs and facing a funding crunch, United Way revamped its approach to funding local agencies with a board that was suddenly far more centered on strategy. “You have to narrow your focus to be effective and you have to avoid mission creep,” McIntyre says. “A strong board can really help with that.”

It can also make a measurable difference on the bottom line. To bolster fundraising, the United Way’s board members became very involved in the current campaign, recruiting professional fundraisers as volunteers and, for the first time, hosting thank-you events at their homes to begin building personal relationships with donors.

The outcome: After three straight years of declining campaign totals, United Way of Central Carolinas has reached the current campaign’s goal of $20.5 million – an increase of $850,000 over last year and a promising sign of things to come.

It’s a prime example of what engaged, well-trained boards can do – and should inspire others around the state to take their own board performance, and subsequent organizational impact, to new levels.

Article source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/22/1793783/get-the-most-from-your-board-of.html