Performance Evaluation in Higher Education by Return on Investments Approach

The Middle East and North African or MENA countries are very keen about restructuring in the field of education. The countries otherwise are not known for the overall industrial development and growth. The huge populations of youth and high unemployment in the MENA countries have made it essential to go for overall industrial development. However, considering the fact that the industry and education of any economy should go hand in hand, it has become unavoidable to stress the higher educational development in the MENA countries. The educational institutions that provide business education (popularly known as B-Schools) in the country will have to work with high productivity, inputs wise. This will enable the economy to bridge the industry-academic gap. However, for this, the realistic approach should be the priority to evaluate the B-Schools' productivity. The investments made in B-Schools are always high (infrastructural and financial), so Return on Investments becomes significant, not only financially but also approach wise. The same approach is discussed in this chapter with proper analysis.

Promotion of Research Culture in Sur University

The chapter provides a concerted framework in which SUC has achieved its mission on promoting research culture among faculty members and students. The chapter provides the chronological portrayal of a SUC developed effective strategic plan with different components, how it has been successfully executed, and how it has achieved the defined results of promoting research culture. Notwithstanding the explanation about the promotion of research culture, the chapter portrays the development and execution of different research aspects through an Approach, Deployment, Results, and Improvement (ADRI) approach. The chapter also discusses the learning from the case for the readers to imbibe and implement.

M-Learning

From the perspective of improving e-learning, the free access and user friendliness of User Generated Content (UGC) tools, such as social media, embedded onto mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, make them attractive to be adopted by students and professors in many institutions around the world. This chapter presents the results of an exploratory study on the use of smart phones and social media, identifying differences among countries, focusing on the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). The objective is to facilitate the understanding of the rapidly evolving and expanding technology of smart phones and social media and explore its potential for m-learning purposes. Results show that social media and mobile devices can be effectively combined in a promising way to enable m-learning.

Ethics in Higher Education

Institutions of higher education have a major role to play in preparing the younger generation for a propitious future. Apart from imparting quality education, they need to instill high ethical values and practices amongst the student fraternity. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the various facets of education and the role of ethics in the field of higher education. An attempt has been made to emphasize and highlight the perspective on the importance of ethics in higher education through a review of literature. A small primary study was also conducted involving the faculty of a few universities in India as respondents. The respondents were administered a questionnaire on “Ethics in Higher Education” to gauge a link between the theory and practice.

Networking International Student Collaboration and Experiential Exercise Projects

This chapter analyzes and reflects on an experiential exercise from the points of view of instructor and students attending University Center of Economic and Managerial Sciences at University of Guadalajara and participating in the “X-Culture International Student Collaboration Project” as a professional, inter-personal, and inter-institutional networking platform.

Linking Education to Creating a Knowledge Society

Due to the continued high price of oil and gas, the oil-rich State of Qatar has used its large budget surpluses in the last decade to finance human capacity development, including research, higher education, and the reshaping of its K-12 educational system. This chapter argues that the recent substantial educational reforms in the State of Qatar are closely intertwined with planned future economic transformation (diversification). Although Qatar possesses the world's third largest reserves of natural gas, this resource is ultimately finite and over-reliance on one major economic driver (hydrocarbons) for the bulk of GDP creates boom and bust cycles that have shaped Gulf politics and social development since the 1970s. This chapter examines Qatar's educational efforts to build a knowledge economy to transition away from a resource-rich export-based hydrocarbon economy towards economic activities linked to patents, research, trademarked technologies, skills, and knowledge products.

Some Keys for Success in Higher Education

The purpose of this chapter is to examine what the key issues that have contributed to situate several Israeli universities in high positions in the world ranking of universities are. Tertiary education is characterized in Israel by a dual education system, both from an internal (university-colleges) and from an educational perspective, with the arrival of foreign students. The keys to explain the success of universities in Israel are: (1) the coexistence of a dual system; (2) the intensive use of technology and informal-formal learning; (3) the early-childhood education; (4) the implementation of a very strict selection process; (5) the creation of a system based on efficient public expenditure on education; (6) the increasing role of women in education; and (7) the constant improvement of teachers. After having analyzed the Arab-Israeli and the ultra-Orthodox problems, the authors conclude with an outlook for the future.

Student Feedback Process in Enhancement of Quality of Higher Education

The purpose of this chapter is to increase knowledge of using student feedback in the quality management of higher education. While the literature includes plenty of theories and discussion on the nature of quality, student feedback, and higher education, very few studies have approached student feedback utilization in terms of two parallel processes: universities' and students' processes. However, there is a clear need for such approaches, since university is the service provider and students are the customers. Understanding both sides and both processes gives a new and relevant perspective to this phenomenon. This chapter contributes to the literature by proposing a conceptual process model of using student feedback in the quality enhancement of higher education. The model illustrates two parallel combined processes and their actions: universities' processes and students' processes. The method and model development of this chapter is based on an extensive literature analysis.

Higher Education in MENA through Global Lenses

The Higher Education sector has witnessed heightened interest in global rankings and rating systems, particularly since the 1990s, due to increased internationalisation. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the main rankings systems of world universities, and to respectively analyse the performance of Arab universities in the MENA region. The region's performance in global rankings clearly highlights the need for increasing commitment to research by MENA universities and academic authorities. It also illustrates regional disparities among different countries and institutions, as a result of increasing investment and awareness of international competitiveness. Further development for the region's universities would benefit from understanding the overall scenario presented by global rankings and from using such rankings and other policy tools to drive institutional and national development.

Towards a Paradigm Shift in Higher Education in the MENA Region

Higher education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has not been able to deliver the needed knowledge and technology transfer to generate productivity and innovation in this part of the world (Arab Economic and Social Summit, 2009; Thomson and Reuters, 2007). Youth unemployment in the MENA region remains the highest in the world, with the Middle East rating 21% and North Africa rating 25%, out of whom one-third are university graduates (World Bank, 2013). The chapter aims to address issues pertaining to the need to shift perspective in higher education in the MENA region, in the light of its growing importance as a developing entity with natural and human resources. The chapter identifies the role of higher education, in policies and practice, in addressing the needs of the region and transforming its resources, human and physical, to further its economic development.