His Excellency Zaki Nusseibeh, Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University and Cultural Adviser to the President of the UAE today offered his greetings to the UAEU's Convocation. This annual assembly to mark the beginning of the new academic year draws together faculty members, staff, and students both in person and online. The Chancellor used his address to explain to the assembly that the UAEU's goals are aligned to the UAE's priorities for the next fifty years. His main message was that these goals can only be achieved through teamwork as a collegial community and external partnership and collaboration.

He commenced his message by saying, “The UAEU is a family of fine minds and talents, and I am proud to serve as your figure head, and to guide, encourage, and congratulate you in your endeavours. You come together to meet with each other today, in an act that symbolises the collective nature of a university. Each of you play a distinct and vital role in the life of our community, and every individual both serves and benefits the others around them. I am glad to see you all. Your presence gives me a profound sense of energy and purpose. It excites me to know that once more we are ready to begin an academic year together. I am motivated by the knowledge that once more, your enterprise, commitment, and creativity will bring about another year of success and achievement. I look forward to the prospect of learning about how you continue to build the value of this great university that I am fortunate to represent.”

The Chancellor then outlined the purpose of the Convocation. He said, “Our meeting together early in the academic year is important for three reasons. One, it allows us to take stock of our context, to review major changes to the university’s environment that affect us all. Two, it gives the opportunity to remind ourselves of the UAEU’s agenda, direction, and goals. Three, our gathering reminds us that as a university we are a collegiate family, diverse in nationality, expertise, and ambitions but unified in our commitment to student learning, to innovation and research, to continuous improvement and above all, to effective service to the nation.”

The Chancellor reminded the Convocation of the detail of the UAE’s Ten Principles for the Next Fifty and announced changes that the UAE Government has made to the law governing Federal Higher Education Institutions so that they are more agile and effective in their service to the nation. He then went on to described in detail the projects that the UAEU has created to fulfill its goals in practice.

He said, “For the UAE, this year is a year of looking forward to the nation’s next fifty years. This moment is the context for the UAEU’s operation. Our wise leadership has given us Ten Principles that we should use as guidance and direction for our efforts. Each of these principles speak to the purposes of a university. A university exists to serve its society by developing human capacity, generating knowledge, innovation, and research, and acting as a symbol of unity in diversity. As we see in our own diversity today, we thrive from our internationalism, and we seek to build further international partnerships through our teaching, learning, and research. In the university our community of scholars, students, and staff cultivate the skills and motivations to treat each other with respect and interest, and to respond to our world in an open-minded, tolerant, and creative manner.”

He continued, “These Ten Principles are already reflected in the UAEU’s purpose in providing leadership and innovation in higher education, research, and community service to assure the sustainability of the UAE’s future. Our research collaborations, our innovations, our stimulating environment for entrepreneurship, and our employable graduates should have significant impact on society and grow the UAE’s competitive capacity. For its part, the Government has provided the Federal Institutions of Higher Education with a new practical operating environment that enables our swift response to the Ten Principles. The UAEU now has legal status as an independent institution and the scope to define and deliver its own financial, administrative, and academic affairs. This means that the UAEU can mature as a financially sustainable, administratively efficient, and academically rigorous institution, with greater agility in the way it seeks to meet national priorities.”

The Chancellor went on to explain the responsibility and accountability of the Board of Trustees. He said, “Our new status enables the UAEU to innovate and remain relevant in an era of continuous rapid change. It places emphasis on an enabling environment that is regulated by targeted and scrutinised performance measures. This new independence – coupled with greater responsibility and accountability – means that we are better positioned to achieve organisational excellence, academic rigour, and a reputation of significant competitiveness. It is an operational context that is fit for purpose, namely UAEU’s delivery of the Ten Principles for the next fifty years.”

The Chancellor then set out the strategic plan that the UAEU has designed in alignment with the Ten Principles and detailed its individual goals under the themes of student employability, innovation and impact, benefit to the community, foster partnerships, student service and experience, organisational effectiveness, and institutional agility. In conclusion he reminded the Convocation of the message he had given at the start. He said, “Together we are a collegiate family. The UAEU community is made up of colleagues. Our collegiality – our ability to respect, serve and benefit from each other – is a fundamental prerequisite for our success. Our readiness to cooperate and work together will enable us to realise the formidable tasks that lie ahead. I wish you all the best of success and joy this year.”

Following the Chancellor's address the Convocation received a presentation on a series of transformations that the UAEU will pursue to accelerate its production of patents, the power of its interdisciplinary capacity, and its expertise in human capital development. The presentation was made by Dr Mohsen Sherif, Professor of Water Resources in the College of Engineering and UAEU's Director of Research and Sponsored Projects, Dr Ali Al Ghafli Professor of International Relations and Comparative Politics in the Department of Government and Society and Vice Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Dr Rashed Al Zahmy, Professor of Workforce Education and Development in Department of Leadership and Organizational Agility in the College of Business and Economics.

The Convocation ended with a ceremony to offer gratitude in recognition of the service of UAEU’s retiring faculty members.