AURAK Centers on Students

The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) President, Professor Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, held a meeting with faculty and staff to celebrate the objectives achieved from the 2014 – 2018 Strategic Plan and to announce and discuss goals for the forthcoming Plan, 2019 – 2024.

Professor Hassan announced five years of success, citing the addition of four undergraduate programs and one graduate program; a consistent average annual growth in enrollment of 14 percent; the construction of Building G, Building H, the Architecture Studio, and Engineering Workshops; and conversion of the Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Labs. AURAK rated twelfth among 103 UAE affiliated institutions with Scopus, obtained SACSCOC Accreditation and added ABET accreditation to six Engineering programs.

President Hassan envisions AURAK to be just as successful in 2019-2014, emphasizing a Student Centered University by expanding scholarships and student payment options; attracting more international exchange programs; establishing two new schools, the School of Architecture and the School of Applied Sciences; potentially adding fifteen undergraduate and graduate programs; and constructing a new mosque, library, and a new building for the School of Arts and Sciences.

AURAK Provost, Professor Stephen Wilhite, was delighted in the student success focus, "AURAK’s Strategic Plan is focused on the university being a student-centered university, but promoting students' success extends past traditional student interactions in the classroom; it encompasses the entire campus of AURAK, student interactions with faculty outside the classroom, their participation in athletics and the entire range of student co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, their interactions with members of the secretarial staff, the campus security staff, and every member of the university community. Our new strategic plan emphasizes the importance that all of these interactions and activities play in student achievement, moving everyone forward to a brighter future. This is not Professor Hassan's strategic plan; this is not Professor Wilhite's strategic plan; this is AURAK's Strategic Plan."