Christopher Hodges (L) and Richard Hopper (R). Photo credit: Malak Hasan. 

By: Malak Hasan

RAMALLAH, May 8, 2017 (WAFA) – In an effort to improve higher education excellence and cooperation, the ministry of Education and Higher Education and the US Consulate General invited a US expert in accreditation and quality assurance of higher education to share expertise with local universities’ staff.

Christopher Hodges, Public Affairs Officer in the US Consulate General Thursday told WAFA that the purpose of the program is to provide expertise in using accreditation as a tool to achieve academic excellence, better use of resources, higher capacity for strategic planning and innovation.

The expert Richard Hopper is the President of the Kennebec Valley Community College and an education specialist. He worked on accreditation and quality assurance around the world for many years.

“I was asked to give guidance and not to evaluate any university or program, but work on the process Palestine is putting to evaluate its universities and colleges,” he explained.

The program will be conducted over the course of the year in partnership with the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission (AQAC) and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to build the capacity for accreditation and education quality assurance.

The program was launched October 2016 with the US Consulate hosting the first ever US-Palestine Higher Education dialogue in Washington DC. It included a two-week study tour for vice presidents and academics in Palestinian universities to look at issues facing higher education.

The tour focused on several issues such as strengthening the ties between higher education in the West Bank and Gaza and the private sector, use of research and development to innovate and achieve new standards of excellence in educational efforts, develop students’ skills and help universities move from an education model that focuses on memorization to acquisition of skills.

The need for Hopper’s expertise was seen as crucial due to “the important role of accreditation and quality assurance in building the appropriate standards and criteria for Palestinian universities to attract students and build partnerships and to be able to assess and evaluate every aspect of their operations,” said Hodges.  

Hopper’s visit is only the first in a year of accreditation related consultations. A Professor from the US will be posted to the ministry of education for six weeks to focus on accreditation and another study tour will be held to help transition the Palestinian system from programmatic accreditation to accrediting entire colleges and universities.  

Hopper said the process of higher education accreditation in Palestinian universities is very encouraging and an indication of notable progress.

“What is very encouraging here is that the system is already established and it is putting in place all of these mechanisms and all universities have set up quality assurance departments to focus on assessing inputs and outputs. I think things seem to be moving forward.”

Hopper stressed that the political reality and the Israeli occupation are not obstacles to efforts to improve Palestinian education and its quality. “The challenges that Palestinians face are no different that the challenges faced by any other country when it comes to accreditation and quality assurance.”

 He said that so far he thinks that Palestinian universities seem very well connected to each other, which is an important factor in accreditation, a process that relays on peers looking at each university’s work.

“The advantage in Palestine is having a sufficient number of what appears to be strong universities and academics who can look at each other and each institution.”

Hopper will take advantage of his time in Palestine to discuss higher education accreditation, which is the quality assurance mechanism for higher education necessary to help stakeholders understand that the higher education they receive is of a certain quality.

“Accreditation provides information to all stakeholders; students, perspective students, families, employers, and the universities themselves. It looks at the governance structure of universities and colleges, the finances, systems, quality factors of instruction, efficiency and effectiveness measures.”

He explained that the final goal and the outcome of this program is to ensure having a quality assurance system that helps institutions to improve or indicate where they stand in relation to other institutions and the industry as well as meet the expectations of society.

Hopper will be visiting a number of Palestinian universities in Ramallah and Bethlehem among other cities and the visit will last until June 13.

M.H