Plenary Session One: Models and Challenges of Higher Education
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Alexandria—As part of the proceedings of "University Governance: A Key to Effective Higher Education Reform in Egypt" Conference, several session were held on Tuesday, 27 March 2007, bringing together leading experts from Egypt, the Arab region, and the world to discuss the challenges facing higher education in Egypt.
Experts in higher education from different parts of the world participated in Plenary Session 1 on “Models and Challenges of Higher Education”, namely: Dumitru Oprea from Romania, Edward Simpson from USA, Francois Reshe from France, Justin Thorens, and Klara Sekanina from Switzerland. Participants discussed the experiences of France, USA, Romania, and Switzerland in developing higher education systems. Several examples were given on university governance, for example the Romanian experience, which suffered from limited financial resources following the Soviet Union dissolution. Romania started allocating scholarships directly to students, rather than universities, thus, increasing competitiveness between universities to attract more students, as a result universities increased their scientific and academic efficiency. Attendants also praised the university president election system, applied at both French and Romanian universities. The university president is elected through councils, after presenting a complete election program.
Other issues concerning ranking universities on the international level were also discussed, and how a university should meet the national requirement, without affecting its future vision, while endeavoring to meet with international criteria. The discussion, moderated by Dr. Isamil Seragedlin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, was concluded by a session of questions and answers.