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Aiming global competitiveness

BEING the fourth clause in the Charter of Sultan Qaboos University, internationalisation is an issue that SQU aims to strengthen in order to raise its profile and promote international collaboration. The setting up of the Office of External Cooperation in 2002 was SQU’s first step in that direction. Her Highness Dr Muna bint Fahd Al Said, assistant vice-chancellor for external cooperation, speaks about the progress that SQU has made and its plans for the future in terms of internationalisation of the university.

What are the factors that make international collaboration essential for SQU? What advantages do they bring in to the institution?

Dr Muna: Internationalisation in its basic sense means putting SQU in the international map. The university vigorously pursues collaboration with a variety of institutions in order to promote and strengthen teaching and research and also to enrich the experiences of its staff and students. It is very important to establish and maintain relations with prestigious international educational institutions around the world. For SQU, much of this collaboration takes the form of international cooperation at various levels. Internationalisation allows exposure to our students by means of different academics and cultural exchange programmes. This enables our academic staff to move across borders. They are able to teach in foreign universities and the staffs from foreign universities are able to come to SQU. The research collaboration with foreign institutions forms common ground of connectivity.

Over the last few years, the Office of External Cooperation has taken big steps to strengthen and improve its strategies and efficiency. It has successfully achieved and created new communication channels to work hand in hand with other bodies at SQU administration and colleges to accomplish its mission. Several memoranda of understanding, letters of authorisation and letters of understanding with reputed universities have been signed to enrich research and relevant programmes such as students exchange and internship.

How far has SQU advanced in terms of collaborative research with other universities?

Dr Muna: Actually, a large amount of research is carried out in our university. Our academic community involves a lot of prominent researchers who deserve more international acclaim and recognition. The only way we could help them to reach across the continents is internationalisation. Excellent researchers in SQU can combine with likeminded people across the world. Exchange of academicians helps them in interacting with likeminded foreign scientists working in the same area.

At present SQU has research collaboration with quite a number of universities in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia.

How much importance is given to exchange of academics and students?

Dr Muna: By way of academic exchange with foreign institutions, our teaching community can be exposed to different teaching methods. They get the opportunity to get acquainted with new teaching and research methods that are followed in other countries. Student exchange has more significance. As our students go to a foreign university, they get exposed to a totally different culture that helps them to improve their personalities. Once they are exposed to a different academic system that would play an important role in their decision on what they want to be later on in their lives.

The doors of SQU are open to accommodate foreign students who reach SQU under student exchange programmes. SQU needs to arrange better accommodation facilities, better food, and good transportation and tuition facilities for foreign students coming here. We are looking forward to having our own building exclusively to accommodate the foreign students.

When it comes to internationalisation of a university, its global ranking is also important. Does SQU have any plans to improve its position in the international university ranking systems?

Dr Muna: We have started looking at university ranking with due seriousness. SQU has actually formed a committee to look into the matter for which I have been appointed as the head. At present, we are concentrating of Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. Our current position in the list is 2,747 out of 15,000 universities worldwide. What we are expecting is to move our rank up. It needs dissemination of information through the website of the university.

For this we have to better establish our web pages with more research content. The information published in our website has to be properly uploaded and regularly updated. The content and presentation are equally important in this sense. Our web masters have to take more attention to proper updating of data. Once our website becomes more accessible to the web world, it will move our rank up. We hope to have dedicated web masters in all of our colleges.

In a long term we really hope to get a better rank in the Academic Ranking of World Universities that lists the top 500 world universities. We are also planning to take a lead role to open up a ranking system for universities in the GCC countries and the Arab world. May be SQU could be the initiator of this idea.

In this region, I am sure that SQU is among the top. If a ranking system is evolved for the region, it would boost the morale of SQU community to equip them to perform better to grab a better position in worldwide, a kind of confidence building measure.