Creation of a Lebanese Engineering Programs Accreditation Commission LEPAC

1
Creation of a Lebanese Engineering Programs
Accreditation Commission (LEPAC)

• SM_SCM-M003A06-2006
• Tempus MEDA Program
• Dr. Haissam ZIADE
• Project Coordinator

SC I Meeting 11/1/07
2
Outline

• The Steering Committee (Lebanese Partners)
• The Steering Committee (European Partners)
• Background of the Project
• Specific Project Objectives
• Project Outputs
• Activities Phase I (4 Months)
• Activities Phase II (8 Months)
• Project Outcomes
• Project Management

3
The Steering Committee(Lebanese Partners)

• Dr. Ahmad JAMMAL
• Director General of Higher Education - Ministry
  of Higher Education in Lebanon
• Mr. Abdul-Monhem Alameddine
• President Order of Engineers in North-Lebanon
• Mr. Samir DOUMIT
• President Order of Engineers in Beirut
• Dr. Haissam ZIADE
• Faculty of Engineering - Lebanese University
  Project Coordinator
• Dr. Amer HELWANI
• Consultant to the Minister of Higher Education
  Lebanon
• Dr. Mohamad KHALDI
• Faculty of Engineering - University of Balamand
  Lebanon
• Dr. Sobhi ABOU CHAHINE
• Faculty of Engineering Beirut Arab University
  Lebanon
• Dr. Saleh CHEHADE
• Chairman of the School of Engineering - Hariri
  Canadian Academy Lebanon

4
The Steering Committee(European Partners)

• Dr. Guiliano AUGUSTI
• Faculty of Engineering - Universita La Sapienza
  Italy Grant Coordinator
• Mr. Philippe WAUTERS
• European Federation of National Engineering
  Associations FEANI Brussels Grant Holder
• Dr. Michelle GELIN
• Commission des titres d'ingénieurs (CTI)
  France Vice-President of the Technical Committee
• Dr. Dieter Weichert
• Director of the Institute of General Mechanics -
  Aachen University of Technology Germany
  President of the Technical Committee
• Dr. Claudio BORRI
• European Society for Engineering Education
  (SEFI) Brussels and University of Florence -
  Italy
• Dr. Iring WASSER
• German Accreditation Agency for Study Programs
  in Engineering ASIIN - Germany

5
Background of the Project

• Necessity of recognition and accreditation of
  Engineering Programs (EPs) to unify the standards
  of the EPs offered in every country.
• Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the Arab
  Region are relatively new, Jordan was the only
  Arab State that has established a body concerned
  with accreditation.
• The Beirut Conference opened a new era of
  interest in quality assurance among the Higher
  Education community in the Arab States calling
  for the establishment of a Regional mechanism for
  quality assurance and accreditation under the
  auspices of the Association of the Arab
  Universities and calling to Member States of the
  region to establish similar mechanisms at the
  National level.

6
Background of the Project

• In Lebanon, more than 140,000 students are
  enrolled in HEIs distributed over 40 private HEIs
  that are licensed by the Lebanese Council of
  Ministers.
• Lebanon needs to establish a mechanism for
  accrediting and evaluating the HEIs. This
  Lebanese need goes along the same Tempus MEDA
  National Priorities for Lebanon.

7
Background of the Project

• Accreditation system must examine single EPs such
  that it
• Satisfies standard prerequisites on the contents
  of the study program.
• Shows the capacity to produce completely
  qualified students, specifically through the
  definition of a series of cultural, technical and
  professional requirements that are projected over
  the entire work life.
• Provides complete documentation on the means used
  to achieve the training objectives.
• Ensures that the objectives are achieved.

8
Background of the Project

• Accreditation must be done by an Accreditation
  Board that
• Approves detailed guidelines and operating
  procedures for accreditation.
• Oversees all operational arrangements and
  appoints evaluation panels.
• Receives evaluation reports on EPs and determines
  whether accreditation should be granted and on
  what conditions.
• Responds to any complaints concerning the
  accreditation process and to any proposals for
  change.
• Oversees the development and operation of
  accreditation and mutual recognition agreements
  with other countries.
• Fosters the dissemination of developments and
  best practices in engineering education.

9
Background of the Project

• Main Goal
• Creation of an independent Accreditation Board in
  Lebanon to guarantee the quality of EPs.
• How to achieve this objective
• the proposed LEPAC must understand the Worlds
  status quo systems of licensing and accreditation
  of EPs and must produce an appropriate
  legislating accreditation system to be adopted by
  the Lebanese Ministry of Higher Education.

10
Specific Project Objectives

• Main objectives are
• To establish an organizational structure and
  bylaws for the proposed LEPAC
• To establish a draft of accreditation criteria
• To establish a draft of accreditation procedures
• To train Lebanese accreditation specialists
• To be a consultant to the Lebanese Ministry of HE
  and the Orders of Engineers for the equivalency
  of the international Engineering Degrees
• To identify and classify EPs.

11
Project Outputs

• Primary Outputs are
• Assesses pre-university requirements.
• Proofs and accredits the existing or planned EPs.
• Contributes to the evolution of the HEIs taking
  into account
• The need of the National and Regional markets of
  employment,
• The specific National and Regional cultural and
  social aspects of HE,
• The aspects of international experts exchange and
  mobility of engineers, teachers, and researchers.

12
Activities Phase I (4 Months)
During this phase the skills and the knowledge of
the Lebanese partners will be built-up in the
field. The Directorate of HE will formally
request from all Lebanese universities with
licensed EPs and Industries to nominate members
to be trained as Accreditation Specialists by
European experts in accreditation.
13
Activities Phase I (4 Months)

• Month 1 The SC will hold its 1st meeting in
  Beirut (1 day event) to discuss and define the
  detail timetable and the objectives of the
  project. In addition, Six European experts will
  present EPs Accreditation related issues at the
  1st Seminar (held in Beirut and planned for a
  3-day event).
• Month 2 Six European experts will present EPs
  Accreditation related issues at the 2nd Seminar
  (held in Beirut for a 3-day event). After Seminar
  II, the SC will organize a 1-day roundtable
  meeting for the exchange of ideas on the topics
  brought up in the Seminars.

14
Activities Phase I (4 Months)

• Month 3 The European partners will organize
  visits to Europe (3 days in France and 2 days in
  Germany) for 8 selected Lebanese Experts for the
  exchange of information and experiences
• Month 4 A 2nd SC meeting will be held in France
  for 1 day to create the Technical Committee (TC)
  and to assign its tasks and duties to achieve the
  project's objectives. The TC will be chaired by a
  President (Dr. Weichert) and a Vice-President
  (Dr. Gelin). The TC will be responsible for
  preparing all the necessary documents for the
  legislation procedure. All the TC meetings shall
  be held in Beirut on a regular basis.

15
Activities Phase II (8 Months)
During this phase, planning for the frame,
functions, and the accreditation criteria and
procedures of the LEPAC by the TC will be in
progress.

• Month 5 The 1st TC meeting (1-day event held in
  Beirut) distribute detail tasks onto its members
  and create an execution plan to meet the
  project's objectives. The Grant coordinator, two
  European partners (as the President and
  Vice-President of the TC), and the Lebanese
  partners are de-facto members of the TC.

16
Activities Phase II (8 Months)

• Month 7 The 2nd TC meeting (1-day event held in
  Beirut) discuss the project's progress and follow
  up on the partners recommendations and to submit
  a mid-project progress report to the SC.
• Month 8 The 3rd SC meeting (1-day event held in
  Belgium) discuss the TC mid-project progress
  report and provide the TC with the final comments
  and recommendations.

17
Activities Phase II (8 Months)

• Month 9 The 3rd TC meeting (1-day event held in
  Beirut) discuss the project's progress and follow
  up on the partners recommendations. In this
  meeting the TC should prepare to present the
  projects outcome to the final general meeting to
  be held in Beirut.
• Month 11 The TC shall present to the SC the
  final refined and tuned plan of the LEPAC. The
  meeting shall wrap-up and the final approval by
  SC shall be granted to the plan for the
  legislation procedure. This general meeting is a
  2-day event that will be held in Beirut. At this
  meeting all SC and TC members will be present.

18
Project Outcome

• Seminar I Six European experts will present
  Engineering Programs Accreditation related issues
  at the first Seminar (held in Beirut and planned
  for a 3-day event) that will cover the following
  topics
• Administrative Structures
• Functioning Committees
• Accreditation Procedures
• Financial Issues
• Case Studies

19
Project Outcome

• Seminar II Six European experts will present
  Engineering Programs Accreditation related issues
  at the second Seminar (held in Beirut and planned
  for a 3-day event) that will cover the following
  topics
• Engineering Education Standards
• Accreditation Criteria
• Assessment and Quality Assurance
• Engineering Education Trends in Europe
• Case Studies

20
Project Management

• Grant Holder (GH) and Applicant
• Financial management and bookkeeping of the
  project - represented by FEANI.
• Grant Coordinator (GC)
• Liaison between the GH, SC, and TC - carried out
  by Prof. AUGUSTI.
• Steering Committee (SC)
• SC is to manage the project and to approve the
  final outputs. It is chaired by Dr. JAMMAL as
  President The Ministry will provide LEPAC with
  the political and logistical umbrellas.
• ASIIN, CTI, and UNIFI
• will participate in the SC and cooperate with
  other partners to help Lebanese in conducting
  accreditations and developing the necessary
  procedures and standards and will bring support
  for the LEPAC seminars, meetings, and training
  visits.

21
Project Management

• Order of Engineers and Architects Tripoli and
  Beirut, Lebanon
• will collect and discuss different aspects of
  accreditation methodology, in order to cooperate
  in the definition of criteria for an
  accreditation system in the professional
  perspective.
• Dr. KHALDI, Dr. ABU CHAHINE, and Dr. CHEHADE
• will exemplify the licensed engineering programs
  offered at the private universities and will be
  primarily contributing to the final
  documentations.
• Project Coordinator (PC)
• The PC, carried out by Dr. ZIADE, will chair SC
  meetings in the absence of its President. The PC
  oversees the progress of the TC, coordinates
  between TC members, and provides logistics to TC
  meetings.

22
Project Management

• Technical Committee (TC)
• President (Dr. WEICHERT) and Vice-President
  (Dr. GELIN). The Directorate of Higher Education
  will formally request from all Lebanese
  Universities and Industries to nominate TC
  members. SC will nominate 8 TC members that will
  be trained as Accreditation Specialists by the
  European Partners.