ICEF Middle East Scholarship and Partnership Summit

Dr Fanta Aw, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, USA There are a couple of things that this summit, I think, will really catalyse and, in many ways, will leverage. One is the ability for also the different countries to hear from each other, to hear about what they have in common, and where they are potential differences, but also where they can partner more. So, far example, if you're hearing from one of your colleagues that in the last 2 or 3 years they've really engaged in looking at vocational, they've engaged in looking at community colleges, that may spark a different thinking about: "oh, wait a minute, given what our workforce needs are, and given the skills and knowledge base that our workforce needs, perhaps we need to venture more in the area." And, knowing that one of your sort of compatriots, and one of the neighbouring countries has tried that, gives you now insights into: "if we're to start this without starting all over, what could we learn from them?" So, the exchange of ideas, the opportunities to learn from each other, I think provides incredible opportunities. And then for the universities to be hear and to hear about what are the similarities and the differences among the different regions provides them, I think a more nuanced idea about how they can engage with the region as a whole and understand the ecosystem that this presents. So, from where I sit, there's no substitute for coming here, and there is no substitute for being present and being at the table, because those relationships really do matter, because ultimately, at the end of the day, it's not transactional. It is first and foremost about relationships and relationships of trust.

H.E. Dr. Abdulmoneim Al Hayani, Ministry of Education - Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia It's a wonderful, actually, opportunity to be here, to share the Saudi Vision 20230, actually. And the opportunity that this vision is creating, actually. Not just for Saudis, but for everyone, actually, as, Saudi Vision, actually, is impacting Saudi nationals - human capabilities inside Saudi Arabia. And giving opportunities as well to the international community, actually. To share with us, actually, this vision. Since, as I mentioned, maybe yesterday, that, you know, we have two major programmes. One of them actually is the custodian of the two Holy Mosques scholarship programme, which is focusing on empowering the Saudi citizen to study in the international universities all over the world. And we are blessed, actually, with that programme. It's been running for a long time and now with a new structure, and new focus on the strategies, just fulfilling their goals by receiving those Saudi boys and girls, equipped with all the required skills to be part of the development in the community.

Melissa Gibson, University of Southampton, United Kingdom So, it's important for us to be represented here. It's been really beneficial to us to meet with our existing sponsor partners that we have and further develop those relationships, as well as meet new sponsors, and create those initial conversations that build the longevity of the sponsorship agreements that we're looking to achieve. So, in terms of the university's community, it's really important to us that we have a truly diverse global community within both our student body and our staff. And that is facilitated through the receiving of sponsorship students, because there, historically, has been a tradition of them coming into postgraduate research and taught programmes, and enabling that diversity at that study level, but there is a growing number coming through bachelor's as well. It really helps us to ensure that we have that reflection of society within our institutions as well. What I've been fascinated by, at this particular event, is the opportunity to speak with sponsors that I have not previously or haven't previously been sponsors, such as the ministries of culture in a variety of the GCC countries. And the fact that I've been having conversations about archaeology and fashion, and music, and the cultural aspect that we haven't necessarily seen from the traditional STEM based subjects that we've received students from before. That understanding that, to be a truly global society, we need all elements of culture and expertise to be represented is a really promising sign for what the future holds.

Dr. Fatima Al Mohannadi, Qatar University, Qatar So, actually the goal is to learn from different experiences and the practices, about the scholarship from the region. And also, actually, it's an opportunity to meet international universities. And it is, as well, an opportunity to communicate what are our goals to the universities.

Emily Kirsch, University of California - Los Angeles Extension, USA So the Middle East is a newer region for our institution. We had an English language programme that we unfortunately closed after some time, and that's where we were seeing a lot of students from the Middle East from. So, coming to this event is a way for us to have incredibly targeted meetings with colleagues, not only from scholarship providing organisations, but also from institutions. And a lot of this is kind of starting those conversations, sharing what we offer at UCLA Extension and understanding how it can align with their goals. So. it's kind of an information gathering opportunity. There's nothing better than being in person and making those connections. Connecting one-on-one as humans, right? And hopefully friends that develop into a business partnerships. So, there's nothing that can replace that opportunity to being here face-to-face. I think some partnerships are incredibly apparent right away. You're like, "oh yes you are looking for this, we offer this, let's go!" Other times it's more of that conversation to understand - how can we be a solution for you? How can we be a good partner for you? So, I think some things might take some time to develop, but that's ok. You know, we're in it for the long haul. You know, you're not expecting that quick return in all cases. Sometimes, it's just super smooth and other times it takes additional conversation. And, for me, a partnership is two ways. I know what we offer, so I'me here to share that, because a lot of it is that awareness building. But it's so important to understand their context and what they are looking for in a partnership as well. At UCLA Extension, we welcome any student with their background and their goals into our programmes. And I think kind of at this stage, we're interested in sharing those opportunities to see if it's a good fit. I think what we're offering is more professional short-term certificate programmes. And there are students that that's the perfect fit for. Maybe someone has a degree, or they have some work experience and they're just looking to upskill or reskill. And I'm here to say those options are open for you. And so, the students come first. Well the partners and the students come first. So, if we're that option for them that's going to help them improve their lives and preparation of their staff, or students, then we're happy to welcome them into our programmes.

Dr. Zaid Zabanoot , Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Sultanate of Oman, Washington DC, Oman Well, I think this big number of schools, of universities, who come here to attend from different parts of the world it's very important. So, having a meeting with the universities in Oman, with the schools in Oman, do some collaborations, also understand the scholarship system in Oman and the scholarship system in the GCC in different countries. It's very important, so the universities can prepare themselves. So, how they can work to admit students from the region. So, the universities and the attendees have a lot of questions to ask, and they got the answer from these questions. So, that's the session now with the round table. So, we've got the people who were attending the two sessions in the round table. They asked me many questions about, like for myself, about the Oman Vision 2040, about our scholarship system, about how they collaborate with the universities in Oman, so on. And we worked together on that, and we explained to them the way and we can help them further in that.