Professor Azmi Mahafza
It is indeed an honor and a great privilege and source of pride to have been selected to lead Jordan’s oldest and largest university as its thirteen President. This pride is coupled with a great sense of responsibility at this juncture in time when The University of Jordan is celebrating its Golden Jubilee amid ever-growing global challenges to higher education. Over the past 50 years, the University has made great strides in becoming Jordan’s leading and most comprehensive university that has provided successive generations with solid education, and that has contributed fundamentally to the making of modern Jordan. Much has been accomplished, and much is currently being done. There remains, however, much more to be done and ample space for improvement. The challenges of the times and the needs of a knowledge-based society, makes it imperative that the University charts new strategies for meeting the challenges and gaining global recognition.
Under my administration, the University’s vision, mission, and goals will undergo serious reviews and revisions. Priorities will be reassessed, and performance indicators and intended learning outcomes will be reviewed regularly. The University will embark on a new era of global distinction and achievement by transforming into a university with international stature that adopts and maintains the highest research, educational, administrative and service standards and procedures.
Excellence in education has been and will remain a priority for the University. There is a need, however, to streamline academic programs in a manner that guarantees continued excellence while simultaneously meeting the demands of the rapidly-changing domestic, regional and global job markets. The University will continue adapting to the internationally accepted best practices and its faculty members will be encouraged to adopt blended-learning approaches. It will also vigorously seek to prepare its students for entrepreneurial careers by spreading the culture of entrepreneurship through integrating entrepreneurship education into curricula campus-wide.
The University will focus on developing research capacity to meet domestic, regional, and global challenges. Providing a conducive research environment that promotes world-class scholarly activities is a high priority. The University’s quest for global recognition necessitates establishing and nurturing Centers of Excellence that maintain a balance of basic and applied research, and that promote industry-oriented applied research and commercialization of research and development. Encouraging and supporting Business Incubators on- and off-campus will be high on the University’s agenda, and faculty members will be encouraged to get involved and take initiatives in this regard.
The University’s administrative workforce will also be the focus of our attention. Their contributions to the successful transformation into an international research university will be invaluable. The workforce will be continuously brought up-to-date with good and efficient work practices through appropriate human resource development and management courses, workshops and training sessions.
The University will also focus on transforming its students, faculty and staff into global citizens capable of engaging not only each other but also people and cultures all over the world. We will seek to enhance campus diversity and further internationalize the student and faculty bodies. We envision the University to literally be an intellectual and cultural melting pot that reflects positively on the values, lives and careers of those affiliated with it. Students and faculty alike will be encouraged to contribute to University policy-making rather than just be on the receiving end.
With the University’s internationalization initiatives, the dedication and hard work of its academic and administrative staff, and the excellence and creativity of its students, the University will continue to lead the society and to be Jordan’s laboratory for innovation and cradle of science and culture, and will pursue initiatives that will propel it towards joining the league of world-renowned universities in the not-so-distant future.