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An approach to Institution - Wide Sustainable Engagement with the Industry to Democratize Knowledge and Experiences to Understand and Respond to the Needs of Community and Society
Engagement with Industry Local Environment Institutional Mission
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An approach to Institution - Wide Sustainable Engagement with the Industry to Democratize Knowledge and Experiences to Understand and Respond to the Needs of Community and Society
A consultative process to set a strategic direction for a HEI to engage with the industry resulted in an approach that recognizes industry as a provider of opportunity for graduates from HEI to integrate their skills and knowledge and respond to the needs of the community and society in alignment with the organizational objectives. This approach required institution-wide sustained engagement with the industry. For this purpose a forum with captains from industry and senior members from the HEI was created. The forum provides opportunities for HEI to learn from the industry and connect with the community. Industry is well informed about the developments in the HE sector and better positioned to serve the community in its line of activities. Thus the HEI and the industry foster democratization of knowledge for mutual benefits and for a common and larger objective of the society and community.
The Higher Education sector in the Sultanate of Oman is relatively young yet vibrant. Ever since the present ruler His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said ascended the throne in 1970, the HE sector has been witnessing rapid development. HEIs are required to be autonomous, self-reliant, and globally competitive. Recent developments in national and regional economies, growth in the industry, and new opportunity areas have also added greater responsibilities for the HEIs to address the needs and aspirations of the local population, the Arab region, and the world at large. For this purpose, it becomes important for HEIs to set a stage for collaboration to draw knowledge, primarily from the local and regional environment. While preserving the benefits of transnational education, HEIs will have to steer clear of undue influences from the foreign universities and their curriculum, identify mechanisms to obtain inputs from the industry, refine the curriculum with local sensitivities/needs, and establish sustainable long term engagement with the community through the industry. The issue becomes more challenging with limited industry activities and greater focus on oil and related sectors.
The Middle East College of Information Technology (MECIT) is a HEI in the Sultanate of Oman established in 2002 (more details are available at www.mecit.edu.om). From the early years, MECIT organized activities with a general objective of establishing linkages with the industry. In all these efforts, the relationship was often restricted to specific activities and companies. However, creation of AFIRM (Advisory Forum for Industry Relations at MECIT) in August, 2008 introduced a new direction to engagement with the industry with a larger objective of understanding and responding to the needs of the society through the industry. Furthermore, a two-way learning process with an institution-wide participation has emerged, resulting in democratization of knowledge with common goals for the larger society.
Main objectives are:
To understand and respond to the needs of the society and community through industry;
To establish a sustainable relationship between the HEI and the industry;
To provide opportunities for institution-wide engagement with the industry;
To progress beyond consultation to participation and two way knowledge sharing;
To consolidate the strengths of HEI and the industry, and work on projects for the community; and
To partner and recognize industry as an institution of knowledge and make effective use of the growth and development in various industrial sectors for the betterment of HEIs.
In many ways, industry is well-connected with the community and is successful in bringing about changes to lifestyle, set aspirations, and infuse values and culture in the society. It is a two-way process that links the society and the industry; the former looking forward to the latter to make a positive change to various segments of the society and the latter leveraging the needs and expectations of the society with a futuristic perspective. Thus to a large extent industry captures and reflects the society and its needs. While industry forms a transformation hub - turning the knowledge and skills of young graduates from HEIs for the meaningful benefit of the society well in line with its stated memorandum of objectives and association, HEIs prepare young graduates with a larger objective of making a difference to the community and society at large. Thus HEIs and the industry have a common agenda in addressing the needs of the society.
A consultative process between MECIT and captains from the industry in the Sultanate of Oman brought to light commonalities in certain objectives and needs. There was common understanding that the engagement should involve various segments of the institution with a larger purpose of learning from each other in order to understand and respond to the needs of the society. An approach that was constructed with sustainability and engagement as the guiding principles was adopted in bringing MECIT and the industry closer. In the first year, the focus was to demonstrate sustainability of the forum with participation and interaction at various levels. The second year of operations witnessed greater collaboration with students and staff joining together in some of the initiatives aimed to serve the community at large.
With MECIT revisiting its vision and mission, industry engagement and support shifted to a strategic level from a functional level. All these developments defined a new direction for the partnership- democratisation of knowledge. This involved, HEI sharing details about the developments in HE sector, new initiatives from the government, quality assurance agencies and other stakeholders, and the industry informing the HEI about the global trends in commerce, industry, and trade. This helped the HEI to examine various key sections such as teaching and learning, academic structures and curriculum, and other attributes that are expected in a graduate to address the changing needs of the society. In all our efforts to make AFIRM echo the needs of the community and society no additional cost was involved. Infrastructure available with industry captains in their place of work and other resources at MECIT were effectively used. Willingness from captains from the industry to engage in AFIRM, availability of senior staff at MECIT to work together on various projects aimed for the society at large, and above all an institution-wide participation (including students and staff) have all contributed to a strong and fruitful engagement between industry and MECIT and enabled both to understand the community.
An institution - wide engagement involving staff and students, with the industry
Harnessing the potential of HEI and the industry for projects from the industry
Staff have opportunities to understand and utilize expertise from the industry
Industry has opportunities to understand the developments in the Higher Education sector
Industry captains with rich experience provide easy networking options for students and staff
Students gain early experience about a work environment
Restricted role of industry as advisors to subjects and programmes is removed
Academic staff are better equipped to balance the needs of the industry and the larger objectives of higher education, well in line with institutional vision and mission
Opportunity for HEI to continuously evaluate curriculum and carry out refinement
Institution-wide participative culture
Democratization of knowledge transcending advisory and consultancy roles
An approach to partnership with the industry with emphasis on sustainability and engagement
Activities that bring together the strength of the industry and HEI in an effort to work for the community
Synchronizing internal resources and external expertise beyond the conventional terms of association without large financial implications
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