Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science The University of Duhok
Transcription
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science The University of Duhok
SAR Report Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science University of Duhok (UoD) Kurdistan Region, Iraq Report Preparation Committee 1. Prof. Dr. Nazar M.S. Numan /Dean of Faculty 2. Dr. Arkan Fawzi Saeed /Head of the QA Committee 3. Mr. Auda Ablahad Yunan /QA for the Dept. of Elect and Comp. Eng. 4. Mr Wael Abdulbari Hasan /QA for the Dept. of Water Resources Eng. 5. Mr. Mohammad Alaaddin /QA for the Dept. of Architectural Eng. 6. Mr. Ghanim Hussein Kuja /QA for the Dept. of Civil Engineering. 7. Mrs. Nadine Nazar Qusto /Head of Planning & Follow up & Statistic Dept./Faculty of Eng. & Applied Science. Audit Committee UoD/External 1. Miss Shiler Ahmad /Head of the QA Office in the University 2. Dr. Arkan Fawzi Saeed /Head of the QA Committee in the Faculty 3. Prof. Dr. Abdulla M. Taib /Faculty of Engineering /Univ. of Sulaimaniyah 4. Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saif /College of Computer and Mathematics /University of Mosul CONTENTS • • • • • • • • • BACKGROUND INFORMATION …………………….………………… 4 CRITERION 1. Students ……………………………………………..…. 14 CRITERION 2. Program Educational Objectives …………….. 23 CRITERION 3. Student Outcomes …………………………………. 24 CRITERION 4. Continuous Improvements …………………. 24 CRITERION 5. Curriculum …………………………………………….. 25 CRITERION 6. Faculty …………………………………………………… 45 CRITERION 7. Facilities ……………………………….……………….. 47 CRITERION 8. Institutional Support ………… ………………….. 51 Background Information • The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is a major academic unit of the University of Duhok consisting of three schools namely, Engineering, Planning and Applied Earth Science and Geo-informatics. School of Engineering • The School of Engineering is the oldest and consists of the Civil, Water Resources, Architectural and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. • The School of Engineering (formerly College of Engineering) was established in 1994. • Undergraduate students started enrolling in the academic years 1994/1995 in the Department of Civil Engineering, 1995/1996 in the Department of Water Resources Engineering, 2004/2005 in the Department of Architectural Engineering and 2006/2007 in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. School of Spatial Planning • The School of Planning (formerly the Higher Institute of Planning) is a graduate school that was established in July 2007. • An agreement has been signed with the University of Dortmund, Germany to provide a joint bachelor degree in spatial planning with a stipulation in the agreement that provides for half of the admitted students in this program to be from Iraq Prime. School of Applied Earth Science and Geoinformatics • The School of Applied Earth Science and Geoinformatics is in the establishment phase. The first department of this School was opened in October 2011. Two more departments are slated for the future, namely Dept. of GeoInformatic Science and Dept. of Applied Environmental Science. Graduates and Diplomas Offered • The faculty offers comprehensive programs of bachelor, higher diploma and master degrees in engineering, applied science and integrated planning which are essential for the sustainable development of infrastructure and services in the Kurdistan Region. • Split-Site Ph.D’s have been arranged for a number of the Academic staff Engineering Consulting Bureau and Research Center • The Engineering Consulting Bureau in the faculty has over the years provided engineering consulting services to the public and private sectors in the Kurdistan Region. • The newly established Engineering and Applied Science Research Center (in April 2011) is to undertake multidisciplinary research that can serve the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Vision • Infrastructure, integrated planning and exploitation of natural resources are essential requirements for the development and advancement of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Provision of internationally benchmarked programs for engineering and applied science students together with multidisciplinary research serves the objectives of the development process. Mission Our mission has three strands: • To supply the public and private sectors dealing with infrastructure development in Kurdistan and Iraq with highly qualified and skilled civil, water resources, electrical, computer and architectural engineers with design, research and development capabilities. • Strive to develop and build the capacity of the public sector through the provision of highly qualified and skilled spatial integrated planners. • Supply the public and private sectors dealing with natural resources in Kurdistan and Iraq with highly skilled engineering geologists, petroleum and hydro – geologists, geophysicists, as well as specialists in geo-informatics and applied environmentalists. Programs Delivery Modes • Classes are taught on campus in English language using international literature and textbooks in the different specialties. The classes include lectures, practical applications in the labs, tutorials, seminars, group discussions, as well as field visits to construction and other infrastructure sites. The bachelor degree lasts four years including summer training outside the campus in the end of the third year of the study. There are no online courses offered in the faculty at present. Faculty’s SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS • Incoming students are among the best that have graduated from high school. • Good and young academic staff with lots of potential. • Experienced senior academic staff. • Comparatively good and modern working spaces • Free text books are distributed to students in addition to a faculty specialized library and departmental libraries. • Support from the University of Duhok and the Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan Region. • Freedom of speech. • Free education ? Faculty’s SWOT Analysis WEAKNESSES • Predominance of teacher centered learning that emphasizes content rather than learning outcomes. • Lack of emphasis on the practical, design and problem solving aspects in teaching. • Rote and memory education inherited from school continues into university with the inevitable result of lack of critical thinking and self confidence amongst students. • Lack of emphasis on the development of English language capabilities including scientific writing amongst students. WEAKNESSES Continued • Mediocre to poor level of English language amongst some members of the academic staff. • Lack of some essential equipment for teaching in laboratories. • Lack of equipment for research. • Lack of emphasis on work values and ethics. • Lack of training for the administrative staff. • Sanitation and cleanliness questionable together with dusty laboratories and some staff rooms. • Gardens and green areas not well developed. Faculty’s SWOT Analysis OPPORTUNITIES • Scholarships for students abroad will strengthen the academic staff. • Possibilities for short academic visits abroad provided by Ministry of Higher Education, the European Erasmus Mundus Program and other international organizations. • Possibilities for sabbatical leave abroad to do research. • Possibility for enhanced collaborative research work with other Kurdistan universities through the new M.Sc. program strategy of the MHE. OPPORTUNITIES Continued • Possibility for recruiting foreign staff (promised). • Equipments will be supplied especially that is necessary for teaching purposes. • Central library of the UoD will soon be constructed. • Provision of electronic library is possible. • The Iraq virtual library is functional. • The quality assurance program currently implemented by the MHE of the KRG provides an opportunity and a beginning towards improving quality of provision of higher education and planning towards gaining accreditation. Faculty’s SWOT Analysis THREATS • Continuation of the old ways of teacher centered learning. • The continuation of the weak level of English language and scientific writing amongst the students and some of the academic staff. • Slackness in transforming students from their school days methods of rote and memory education to critical thinking and independent thought, together with design and problem solving capabilities. • Continuation of the content based programs instead of the modern learning outcome based programs and assessment. • Slackness in the development of communicative skills amongst the students. • Delays in equipping the laboratories. Strategic Planning 1. Students teaching and learning 1.1 Curriculum development. 1.2 Pedagogic upgrading, e-learning and blended learning. 1.3 Provision of the networking infrastructure and other teaching equipment and software. 1.4 The addition of two new departments to the School of Applied Earth Science and Geo-informatics. These departments will offer bachelor degrees in Geo-informatics science and applied environmental science. Also explore the feasibility of starting a department of Mechanical Engineering within the School of Engineering. 1.5 Capacity building for the faculty, engineers and technicians. Strategic Planning Continued 1.6 Upgrading the faculty and departmental libraries. 1.7 Consolidation of the tutorial and student advice program. 1.8 Development and upgrading the teaching and learning environment for the students together with consistent review of on campus safety. 1.9 Upgrading the teaching and research laboratories. 1.10Expanding green areas, a new student union building with sports facilities. 1.11 Expanding the graduate studies in master degrees and the split-site PhD’s Strategic Planning 2.Research Continued 2.1 Consolidation of the faculty’s Research Center by more facilities and logistics. 2.2 Convening more research teams according to the changing demand. 2.3 Emphasis on research of applied nature which tackles local problems and issues. 2.4 Emphasis on quality of research work and publication in international journals. 2.5 Provision of an environment for fruitful collaboration with researchers from partner universities in the US and other Western European countries. 2.6 Holding local and international conferences in the faculty’s fields of specialties. 2.7 Explorative research and development Strategic Planning Continued 3. Interaction with society 3.1 Expanding the services of the Engineering Consulting Bureau of the faculty. 3.2 Continuous education for engineers, planners and applied scientists in the private and public sectors. 3.3 Following up alumni contacts to understand the professional developments and gauge the job market place. Quality Assurance Program • The Faculty has since the beginning of the academic year 2010/2011 implemented a stringent quality assurance program based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region. • The program deals with the student’s proficiency in English language, development of their critical thinking, communication and computer skills within the first year’s curriculum. • Auditing of the courses performance is carried out through external assessments (including examination papers) and student’s feedback. • Field trips to construction and other infrastructure sites are planned and discussed together with the summer training of the undergraduate students in the end of their third year. • TOEFL test for postgraduate admission. • Split-Site PhD programs CRITERION 1: STUDENTS Student’s Admission • The graduates of the baccalaureate examination are distributed by a central authority within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region into the different universities and faculties in the region. • Students from the central and southern areas of Iraq, particularly those who are internally displaced refugees from those areas due to security issues. • The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is high on the list of preferences of the students. This implies that the incoming students are comparatively among the best and would be within the top 10% of the newly admitted students to the University. • There are currently 685 (59% males and 41% females) undergraduate students and 44 postgraduate students In the faculty. Students Advice and Tutorship Program • During their study, students in each department are divided into groups of five to six students and each group is allocated a tutor from the department to follow up their performance and provide advice to them as appropriate. • Each student is also allocated a supervisor to follow his or her third year summer training requirement. • The Dean of the faculty and heads of schools and departments hold meetings with student’s representatives and students to discuss issues of their study in the departments. Evaluation of Student’s Performance • The student’s performance is assessed based on Mid-term examinations, quizzes, and final examinations • Homework assignments • Project reports (written and oral presentations) • Laboratory performance and reports Student’s feedback • Student’s feedback is an intrinsic constituent of the quality assurance system. A few of the faculty were voluntarily asking the students to give them their feedback in previous years. However, with the application of the quality assurance system from the academic year 2010/2011 this practice became mandatory, regulated and documented through the quality assurance system. • The mandatory student feedback has already played a significant role in improving the performance of faculty (despite some sensitivity on their part in the outset). Student’s Accommodation and Grants • Students from outside the City of Duhok are accommodated in free-of-charge. • Students also obtain a small sum of financial assistance that partly covers their living expenses. CRITERION 2. Program Educational Objectives Alignment of the faculty mission statement with educational objectives • The above described mission statement of the faculty heralds the following educational objectives in the different schools and departments in the faculty: 1. Graduate highly qualified civil, water resources, architectural, electrical and computer engineers, planners and applied earth scientists who are capable of reasoning and independent critical thinking, and are on par in their skills with internationally recognized standards. 2. Carry out applied research that is viable for development, and disseminate it through continuing education. 3. Contribute through its graduates towards technology transfer. • Each of the departments has the autonomy to implement the above general educational objectives in accordance with the specific demands of its specialty in the job market and the variations with time that may occur to the market and societal demands. Formulating the student educational objectives The quality assurance system which is in place at the faculty requires that each of the given courses in all of the departments has to have its course objective. Each of the departments updates its educational objectives taking into consideration the faculty educational objectives and orients them according to its specialty. Measurement of the achievement of the educational objectives • Measurement of the achievement of the educational objectives has thus far been scanty. It was done only through some of the alumni and their employers. • However, a systematic measure of the achievement of educational objectives has only been started in the academic year 2010/2011 through the quality assurance system. There were positive reports from the external reviewers in this respect. The system needs to be enhanced further by invigorating the internal assessment by the faculty and students as well as departmental committees. CRITERION 3. Student Outcomes • The faculty utilized the quality assurance system to have the three basic ingredients of course outcomes in the different departments, namely: Knowledge, application and communication. However, it is felt that there is room for improvement with regards to the application part by providing more training equipment and laboratory enhancement, and also there is more work that needs to be done with the communication especially in scientific writing. • These shortcomings are going to be the first priority not only in the faculty but also in the university and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan starting in the academic year 2011/2012.c CRITERION 4. Continuous Improvement • The quality assurance process in the faculty provided the platform to review all the curricula in the faculty schools and departments. There was more emphasis during the academic year on field visits to construction and infrastructure sites. • The laboratories of the civil, water resources and the applied earth science departments will be improved during the academic year 2011/2012. There will be a continuation of the program of staff development in the faculty and the university through the implementation of the quality assurance guidelines, as well as additional requirements for enhanced faculty competency that the Faculty Board deems necessary with respect to pedagogy and research. First Engineering Education Conference in Kurdistan • The Faculty held the First Engineering Education Conference to be held in University of Duhok under the title Engineering is the Future 17-19 April 2012. The aim of this conference was to share ideas in engineering pedagogic methods together with the development and implementation of engineering curricula. • The attendants were engineering practitioners and academics from Kurdistan Region and other Iraqi universities as well as invited speakers from western universities (USA, Japan and Malaysia). CRITERION 5. Curriculum • It was noticed that the old curricula were based on content rather than on learning outcome. • The curriculum revision process was carried out in two stages, the first by the ECE Dept. in 2009/2010. The second stage was carried out in the academic year 2010/2011 by the School of Engineering for the departments of civil, water resources and architectural engineering in collaboration with the heads and faculty of the mentioned departments. • The new curricula will be applied in progression • The faculty adopts the recommendations s of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan regarding the emphasis on scientific debate, development of student’s critical thinking and improving the level of English language proficiency especially in the first year of study. CRITERION 6. Faculty • There are currently 126 faculty 111 of them are on permanent employment the rest • are on contracts (Table 1). • Junior faculty can use one of four types of scholarships to continue their study to the • PhD level or do a postdoctoral program abroad. These are: • 1. Iraqi Government grants. • 2. Kurdistan Regional Government grants. • 3. The European Erasmus Mundus Program • 4. Leaves-on-pay granted by the University of Duhok • There is currently 20 faculty from the different departments studying for their PhD’s • as in Table 1 . CRITERION 7. Facilities Space • The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has five modern buildings within the University of Duhok main campus, these are the buildings for: 1. The Deanery and the departments of civil and water resources engineering, also housing the faculty’s library and the Engineering Consulting Bureau. 2. The departments of architectural and electrical and computer engineering. 3. Laboratories for the departments of civil and water resources engineering. 4. The schools of planning and applied earth science and geo-informatics, as well as the Engineering and Applied Science Research Center • 5. The new building (final stages of construction) for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Deanery The Engineering Consulting Bureau List of Accomplished Consultancies 1. Consultancy for the Town of Zakho Water Project. 2. Consultancy for the City of Duhok Water Project 3. Design for the replenishment of the Duhok Dam Lake with water from the Tigris River. 4. Design of the Sihaila Water Project. 5. Design of the Chamchamal Water Project. 6. Auditing of the design of the Convention Center in the UoD 7. Auditing of the designs of Block Flats Buildings including Avrocity. 8. Different soil investigations. 9. Design of multistory commerce building in Zakho 10. Auditing the building of the Professional Training Center in Zakho 11. Auditing the steel structure for the Zakho Stadium. Ongoing Consultancies 1. Auditing the implementation of the Duhok Dam Lake replenishment. 2. Consultancy for the Duhok Dam 3. Design of the Cultural Center of Koya University Offices • Every two members of the faculty share an office which is 10m2. Technicians and teaching assistants (demonstrators), and graduate students have offices within the department buildings or in the laboratories. The new building will create space that enables having a separate office for each of the faculty. Classrooms • The faculty has a total of 29 classrooms that can take up to 40 students, together with a drawing hall. There are also two seminar halls that take 60 and 80 people consecutively, and three other large lecture halls in the building of the School of Planning with a seating capacity of over 80. Almost all the classrooms have data show facilities. Computers and internet • The faculty has a computer and internet unit with three technicians to maintain the computer and internet services for the different departments. There is a central computer and internet pool that can take 25 people. There are also separate computer labs in each of the departments. Internet facility is available but it needs to be enhanced. Library • The faculty has a main library with over 11000 engineering and applied science books from international publishers. Together with 3500 e-books. Two branches of the library exit in the Dept. of Architectural Engineering and the School of Planning. • A separate section of the library provides yearly lending of textbooks of the different courses to the undergraduate students. • The library has very few journals. However, the students and faculty can make use of the Iraqi Virtual Library that is provided online. • • • • Workshop and Store The faculty has a workshop that oversees the proper operation of the different facilities. Three technicians are employed including the operator of the stand-by electric generator. The faculty store is run by one employee. Laboratories The faculty has 41 teaching and research laboratories. Following is a list of the labs. CRITERION 8. Institutional Support • The University of Duhok is a public university that is funded by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The Institutional Summary • • • • • • • The University of Duhok President of the university: Dr. Asmat M. Khalid The Structure of the University of Duhok (UoD) The University of Duhok has Eight Faculties embracing 12 schools and 42 scientific departments. Each of the faculties has a research center and a professional consulting bureau. The UoD has a total of 11000 students and 900 faculty members as well as 2400 administrative staff. The University has one major campus near the Malta Village and two other campuses for the Faculty of Medical Sciences near the Azadi Hospital and the Faculty of Basic Education in Aqra City (90 km from Duhok). • • • • History of the Institution The University of Duhok (UoD) was established in 1992 by the Kurdish Regional Parliament in the aftermath of the Kurdish uprising after the second Gulf War. The main objective of the UoD was to fulfill the needs of Higher Education in the Duhok Governorate and the Kurdistan Region. The Faculty of Medical Science (College of Medicine ) and the Faculty of Agriculture (College of Agriculture) were the first to open. This was followed by the faculties of Engineering and Arts in 1994 and the other faculties were opened later. Student Body • Students are mainly from the Duhok Governorate and the other governorates of Kurdistan. • A sizable number of students also come from the other governorates of Iraq, mainly from Nineveh and Baghdad. • The student body is Kurdish in the majority; nevertheless it actually reflects the whole ethnic and religious spectrum of the Iraqi society. Administrative Heads • • • • • • • • • • Prof. Dr. Nazar M.S. Numan Dean Mr. Sami Mamlouk Giliana Assistant Dean Prof. Dr. Ahmad K Al-Sulaivany Head School of Engineering Dr. Mohammad Jalal Noori Head School of Planning Dr. Jalal Hasan Javsheen Head School of Applied Earth Science and Geoinformatics Dr. Dr. Bahzad M. Ali Noori Head Dept. of Civil Engineering Dr. Jawhar Rasheed Mohammad Head of Dept. of Water Resources Engineering Dr. Bayez K. Al-Sulaivany Head of Dept. Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. Layla Rasool Head of Dept. Architectural Engineering Dr. Sherzad Al-Khalifa Director Engineering and Applied Science Research Center Other Supporting Units • • • • • • • • • Student’s Registry Unit Scientific and Postgraduate Affairs Library Laboratory Supply Unit Personnel Office Accountant’s Office Planning and Follow-up Workshop Sports Manager Thank You