This is Reimagining The Future of Higher Education from Studiosity. Your go-to podcast with remarkable education leaders, sharing personal stories from their experience in and around the sector, including reflection and evidence for progress in the sector. With your host, Professor Judyth Sachs, former DVC Learning and Teaching at the University of Sydney, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost Macquarie University and Special Advisor in Higher Education at KPMG and now Chief Academic Officer at Studiosity.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
It gives me great pleasure to introduce Professor Khaled Assaleh, the Vice-Chancellor Academic at Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates. Now, I'm just going to introduce you by name, but I'd like you to tell us, what's your professional story and your personal story as a leader and a learner?
Prof Khaled Assaleh
Okay. Thank you very much, Judyth. And thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to talk to you. I know you've talked to a series of academic leaders, and I'm honoured to be the, as you said, number 50, in this series. I started my engineering career or actually education in, in Jordan. I grew up in the country of Jordan, in the Middle East. And, even before joining university, I was fond of electronics. I used to have a little lab, at my house at the time, and I used to just, you know, you know, get transistors, diodes, resistors from old TV sets, from old radios and so on. This was, in, in the 80s, actually in the late 70s, early 80s. So I knew exactly that I wanted to go, and study electrical engineering. I was fond of electronics, and as you probably know, in, in Jordan, we follow the American model. So there is no electronic engineering, it's called electrical engineering, but it has electronics and other, areas of electrical engineering. So I really enjoyed, that, as a hobby before I even joined the university. So I knew exactly what I wanted at the time. And I joined the university in 1983. University of Jordan. At the time, Jordan had, a few universities, maybe three universities. In contrast with the picture, now it has more than 30 universities, the same country with some growth in population, obviously. So Jordan University is considered the elite university in Jordan, still the number one university. So I was privileged to join the university at the time and start my engineering at the time, because you could not enter electrical engineering directly, you would have to join engineering. And then based on, your GPA in the first year, then you will, you know, declare your, your, your major. And it's competitive at the time. It's still, I think, the same. But at the time electrical engineering was on the top of the list. And if, if you did make it, then you would be studying something else that you probably didn't like. So I was very lucky. And I made it to electrical engineering, and I started the journey of, it's a five year journey. The first year is the general engineering, and then the four years, I did the electrical engineering, as you know, the typical electrical engineering curriculum. And I was, very fond, like I told you, of electronics. So I was just waiting for the very first course in electronics. And at the time, my professors were surprised that, oh, you know, I knew a lot at the time. I mean, relative to, to my colleagues who were introduced to electronics for the first time in their lives. I mean, this is the first time they that hear about p-n junction, diodes, transistors, and so on. And for me, I used to play with these things when I was in high school. So, my, my professors at the time would, you know, very happy that someone is, you know, well tuned with, with what they're talking about at the time. And I could see these things in a better way than my peers at the time. So anyway, I continued, my degree and I, graduated in 1988, and, and I also had a goal at the time that I wanted to go to the U.S.. I wanted to go, join a graduate, program. Even at some time, I, I thought that I would, I would go to the academic path. So, as you know, this would require a PhD. So I went to the US in 1988. At the end of 1988, joined a small program in electronic engineering in, Monmouth University in New Jersey, which is known as Monmouth, was known as Monmouth College at the time. I graduated in 1990, and I kind of shifted, from my, from being fond of electronics to being fond of, software, in a way. So I took a course in digital signal processing at the time with a professor who made it very, very enjoyable. And it was at the time as, as you know, this was like in 1988, 89, you know, the, the, the somehow a new, revolution of digital signal processing and its applications. Also the beginnings of what we call today AI, you know, pattern recognition, machine learning, and so on. And. I, then I shifted my interests from hardware and electronics to this area, and I decided that this is what I want to do in terms of research. So I did my master thesis at the time in, video compression, you know, low bitrate video coding and so on. And I decided to then continue my PhD. I moved to a bigger university, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, at the time, in 1990, I guess this is when I started my PhD with the, full assistantship, research assistantship. I joined at the time a research centre CAIP, C-A-I-P, and I started working on, wavelets that you I don't know if you are in that area, or people in that area know that there was, again, a big, you know, buzzword at the time in wavelets and it was, started by or pioneered by, one very famous, scientist, a lady called Ingrid Daubechies. And she was at, Bell Labs at the time. And I had the honour of meeting her and I got introduced to this area, which, ironically, was very, related to what I did in my master's thesis. It was, low bitrate coding. And essentially, if you translate this in the language of mathematics, that was wavelets, you know, between the language of engineering and the language of mathematics. So I again, I started working in that area with a couple of professors at the time, from who were at MIT and came at Rutgers. I did that for one year until, one of the, I guess the greatest people in the area of speech processing and speech recognition, the late, Jim Flanagan, who was a department head at Bell Labs and just moved to Rutgers University at the time as a Vice President for research and a professor, also a researcher in the research centre, where I was a research assistant at the time. And I took a course with him at that time in speech processing. Part of it was speech recognition. Obviously, everything I learned in wavelets and, you know, image processing and so on was, two dimensional. This was like one dimensional signals, which is probably easiest to even, deal with. But the area itself, speech recognition was very fascinating, at least to me at that time. And I started working with Professor Flanagan. And, again, this is when I knew that this is the person that I want to work with as my advisor. So, I was lucky to take the course with him and, join his group. In that group also was a younger professor at the time, Professor Richard Malone, who also, was part of the speech recognition effort. And at the time, I started working with both of them as advisor, two advisors. And I ended up, working on, very much, very related area to speech recognition, which is speaker authentication. This is what I did, my research, my PhD research for about three years. And, I ended up with a new technique that was patented at the time, and it was the core of my, PhD dissertation, which, I defended in 1993. I don't know if you want me to continue.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
Yeah. Well, can we just stop there for a moment?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Sure.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
What's it like being an international student in America at that time? And an international student in two different kinds of universities, a small university, and a very large and complex university, as Rutgers is. But then also in, in an area like engine, engineering, the area of engineering that you are focusing on.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, coming from Jordan, a small country in the Middle East. And you're talking about the 80s, you know, the world was very, very different. You know, there was no even, satellite TVs were not there yet. Satellite channels were not there yet. So you were really confined to the area you live in. So the world, at the time to me was, was Jordan. Jordan was like the entire world. And, I didn't really know much about the US except, you know, from movies, TV series at the time, it was, I think Dallas or whatever. So that's that's the image I had about, about the US. So it was, it was a, you know, a very steep, cultural shock. You know, a boy at the time, I was 21, 22 years old who was 100% dependent on on his parents, you know, taking my allowance, you know, never worked, never been independent in that sense. I lived with, my family, a large family, about, nine siblings. We were ten. A big family in Jordan. Yeah. Moving to, to the U.S., and, even to that part of the U.S., you know, the North East, we're almost in the New York area. And actually, I spent the first week in New York with, a friend who hosted us for the first week until we moved to New Jersey, because I had a colleague with me at the time, we were travelling together, which made it relatively easier. But I can't, you know, describe how, big the cultural shock was. You know, it was amazing. I mean, everything was different. Everything around me was different. The culture, the scenery, the even the, you know, the-the-the language. I studied in English, I spoke English, I understood English, but I've never interacted with Americans, you know, because my professors who taught me in Jordan were Jordanians. And when they used to teach, as you might imagine, they would, you know, kind of mix, Arabic with English. And if you were to ask a question, you would ask in Arabic, there's no, there was no issue with that. And even if you spoke, strictly spoken English in the lecture in Jordan, students would look at you like, you know, what are you trying to show off or something? So it wasn't an environment where you strictly spoke in English and also the accent. You know, the American accent is different from the British accent, than the other accents. And in fact my professors came from different backgrounds. And of course, they had the, you know, the Jordanian accents or the Arab accent when they spoke English. So that was another thing that all of a sudden you find yourself surrounded by, you know, different people, different norms, you know, like I said, the, the also life in the dorms, this was the first time for me to live in a dorm. And it was at the time was a co-ed, environment. You know, an Arab boy coming from a Middle Eastern country, all of a sudden, you know, you find yourself in this environment. It was it was, quite different. But, I have to say that I assimilated relatively quickly, you know, got used to it simply because, you know, started my academic life in a way, which is the thing that I did best at the time, you know, studying and going to lectures and I was also, a tutor at the time. From the very first month or so, I was tutoring students, from, in the department of, electronic engineering at the time. So, yes, the, the, the environment was very different. The timing also, I arrived in-in-in-in New York in that, on the 29th of December of 1988. And, and you can imagine I've never also in my life experienced the weather like that. I mean, you know, when, when, when I went to my university in West Long Branch, about one hour drive from New York City, you know, it was like a white blanket. Everything was white, snow and all that. Of course fascinating. But it was, to me, freezing. I mean, I've never seen something like that, you know? So, it was, I should say that it was enjoyable. I had, the full support from, my faculty members, my colleague, my professors, sorry, at the time. I took three graduate courses, and, the also international office at the time was very much prepared to, embrace, international students with some activities and assigning mentors for them. This was at Monmouth University. My mentor was, a colleague at the time from Greece who came from, you know, not very, very different culture than the Middle Eastern culture. So that was very, very helpful. I think the other part of the question was about, you asked about the cultural differences and...
Prof Judyth Sachs:
Yes. And, and being. I mean, I was an international student, studying in Michigan and, a bit like you, I arrived there and had my first winter, and I'd lived in Queensland. Queensland was subtropical, so the Michigan winter was just awful for me. And living in a dormitory, I'd never lived in a dormitory either with other students. So it was that sort of cultural transition that was really quite challenging. But you've talked about a couple of mentors and, and a couple of your professors. What was it about them that you actually inspired you, but also helped shape you as a leader and a learner?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yeah. About professors, the very first semester, as I mentioned to you, I took three graduate courses, one, one of which was, optical communications with a professor who was actually an adjunct professor. He was a full-time researcher at Bellcore, which was part of Bell Labs or subsidiary of Bell Labs. And, he taught that course at Monmouth. And he was from, Egyptian origins. Dr Ali El-Rifai, who really shaped my life completely. I mean, he knew exactly where I came from because he himself came from Egypt probably 20 years before I did. And he kind of understood the, the, the, the challenges, the psychology, and even the career path and what needs to be done and so on. So he had a huge influence, on me. He was, like, you know, a role model. At the time he was obviously very well established. And, you know, a older person. And he had his family, his children. So he kind of embraced me and my other colleagues who came from Jordan, and, he used to invite us to his house and, you know, spend some time with his family. He even invited us, invited us at the time to his office at at Belcore. And, kind of inspired us at the time that this, this might be the path that you want to do, you want to take. Make sure that, you know, you focus on, your, your, your research and your studies and this will take you further and so on, I guess because he understood the, like I said, the the psychology and the way of thinking of someone who came from that part of the world. So he did have a huge influence on my entire career, because if I, when I, when, every time I look back at what I went through, it was very similar to what he actually did, especially the part, in my career, the part of my career in, in the U.S.. Another person who really, had a great influence and was a great, inspiration was, Professor Harris Drucker at the time, who was, Drucker, who was the, the Department Head, the Department of Electronic Engineering. Again, he was a great mentor. He, pretty much, identified, potential on on on me and my colleague, we were together well most of the time my friend who's now in the U.S. and still works in the U.S., Abdullah. So, Professor Drucker also, was a great mentor, and he led us through, the master's degree, and he was the one who recommended at the time that you must go to Rutgers and you must, you know, join the CAIP research centre and so on. So these, two individuals, what I can think of the very first two professors that, I think, made a very, very significant mark in, in my, my career and the shaping of my career in the U.S..
Prof Judyth Sachs:
Now, you also worked in industry and you worked in very complex organisations, such as the, Motorola.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yes.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
And, and also Rockwell Semiconductor Systems. When you think about that experience in the corporate world, have you been able to translate that experience into your life in universities?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yeah. Absolutely. I think, I this is one thing that, I mentioned about Professor Ali El-Rifai, who at the time, gave me a great advice and, it made so much sense. He said, don't go to academia right away. You're coming from a part of the world where there is not much industry, you know, if you ever go back to the Middle East, especially at that time. So, he was the one who, made it very clear to me that I should start my career with industry and probably end it. But I didn't even know that I was going to go to academia when I started my, career with industry. So, the my, my story with Motorola at the time is quite interesting because, I never planned to join Motorola. I was in New Jersey and there was no presence of Motorola in New Jersey. My ultimate goal was to join Bell Labs. This is where, you know, the ultimate honour was to work for Bell Labs and so on, where I did actually part of my training when I did my master's degree, I was at Bellcore, like, you know, subsidiary of the lab. So, it was, I think it was, the right decision for me to join industry as opposed to academia. And the way it came about is that there was a consortium, at Rutgers, for speech recognition and speaker recognition, where, it was, organised by the Department of Defence, where they invited top researchers, to be at Rutgers University and to convene there for, I believe it was 5 or 6 weeks and, physically be there. Everyone was assigned a workstation. At the time, SUN workstation was the most powerful computers. And, there where everyone was working on their algorithms for speech recognition, and they were supposed to, report on their findings, you know, discuss the, everybody's like, different techniques at the time. So I was very fortunate to be the representative of Rutgers University. I was obviously the youngest person at the time. I was still doing my PhD, in the very final phases. This was like in 1993. So I met this person who was from Motorola at the time, and we started talking and he was kind of, you know, interested in the things that I do and so on. And it just, you know, sparked like this, like he after that, he, you know, emailed me and said, well, are you interested in a job at Motorola? And, I mean, where is Motorola? He said Arizona. I said Arizona, I don't want to go back to the desert. I came from the desert, you know, because all my life was in the Northeast and, you know, the the scenery, the vegetation, everything is different, you know, but, you know, it just worked out. And he said, well, why don't you just come over for interview? They arranged for the interview and so on. And it was just, you know, based on this, one month exposure when we hung out to, around together and I went to them and, you know, to the interview, I liked what I saw. As you might imagine, at the time, Motorola was the leader of, you know, the, the wireless communications specifically at the time, the pager, pagers were the largest communication wireless communication tool before the, the, cell phone, cellular phones took over and plus many other things that Motorola was making. You know, Motorola was a huge company at the time. I think with more than 150,000 employees around the world. So I joined, this research group which was working on, again, speech recognition, speaker recognition, mainly for defence related applications, command and control and so on. So it was, it was a very enjoyable, part of my life. Yes. I had to, somehow again, adjust, you know, to the, completely different weather, actually, similar to the weather of the UAE, except for humidity. So, Arizona, Phoenix area. I was in Scottsdale in particular. Very nice area. But then of course, when summer time comes, you know, the, the extreme heat comes with it. But, overall the place was very nice. And I stayed there for three years. Very enjoyable. I had a nice career with the nice group, of people, ended up with, you know, number of patents that I, I developed there and then and another opportunity came with, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems. And again, at that time, I said, no, I'm happy where I am. I just got used to the place. So, when, when a friend of mine contacted me to go and visit, so, unfortunately, when I saw Southern California, it was very difficult to say, okay, you know that I don't like this place because it was beautiful, as you might imagine, Southern California, Orange County. So again, when I visited there and I visited Rockwell Semiconductor Systems at the time, and Rockwell was a huge, glamorous company, as you know, but this particular sector was, for semiconductors. And again, the biggest, product at the time was, modems. If you remember, when every, every PC had the Rockwell modem and then they had the other products that are related to that central site models and so on. And one project that I was assigned is to, again, automate certain things with, speech recognition and speaker recognition, mainly command and control again. But then shortly after that, the company started making the, chipset for, cellular phones. And that was actually the, the biggest supplier of Samsung at the time. So the very first, I remember the very first speech recognition, it was mainly for, name dialling and and digit dialling at the time, you know, with by speech. Very primitive compared to today's technologies, Siri and so on. But, I had the privilege of having the very first product in, cellular phones that does speech recognition at the time. So.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
So if I can just interrupt, what brought you back to Jordan and back into academic life when clearly you were being extraordinarily successful? The really interesting work.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yeah, yeah. Actually, I didn't go back to Jordan. I came back to the UAE, the United Arab Emirates, where I am now, which is not far. It's only a three hour flight from Jordan, and it's very similar in terms of culture and so on. I think what brought me back is that, now I look back at it and maybe it doesn't, it's not so convincing for so many people. But, you know, when, when, I at the time when I came back, I had, my children, the first three of my children. I have five children, by the way. Couldn't get away from the big family syndrome, but still 50% of my father's production. So, when my children, you know, reached the school age, I just couldn't take it that my children didn't speak Arabic, you know? And it was very, very difficult, to, because, you know, everything, that surrounds you. Obviously, they go to school in English and they deal with everybody in English. They even at home, we had to speak with them in English because they did not know Arabic. So that was one reason, it wasn't the strongest reason. But, you know, I visited the UAE, in 2001, I believe, end of 2001, December 2001. And I had a friend, I mean, I visited for a conference, at the American University of Dubai. And, I had a friend who at the time I knew he lived in the UAE, happened to be the Chancellor of the University of Sharjah, who was my professor, actually in Jordan. So I just gave him a call and said, Professor Islam, I am in Dubai and I would like to come and visit you. He said by all means. So he was the Chancellor of one of the, bigger universities at the time. That's still a big university, University of Sharjah. So, and he told me, what are you still doing in the U.S.? You've been there for 13, 14 years. Isn't it time for you to come back to your roots or whatever? And, just, you know, I said, well, and, you know, just said, okay, well, that's just a remark. But that somehow kept resonating in my head. And when I went back to the U.S., I started thinking about, you know, okay, maybe it's time to go back to the Middle East and, you know, continue my career there. And this is when I started searching for an opportunity. But like I said in the beginning, there wasn't jobs in industry that, you know, required a PhD. You would be, you know, super overqualified, for the kind of jobs that industry needs in this part of the world, at the time. So I then shifted to search for academic jobs. And this is when I, you know, applied for a couple of universities and, I was at the time invited by the American University of Sharjah, where I started my academic career in 2002. And it was extremely rewarding. Like you said earlier, like the industrial experience was very much, relevant, in, in, in, in the teaching and in the mentoring and in the learning that my students, enjoyed at the time simply because, I think you come up with a completely different perspective, you know, with the, at the time, it was ten years of in industry, in high tech, in R&D, in developing products and so on. So, that was, I think very, very useful, in the courses that I taught. I taught the core of the research that I used to do in signal processing signals and systems, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, and so on. So, yes, it was very, very much relevant. And, I mean, this is not bragging or anything, but students, used to kind of fight to get their graduation projects with me because I, I could only take three groups, and I always, you know, I was very privileged to take the best students because they would compete based on, you know, their GPA and so on. And the best students ended up working with me. I supervised maybe more than 50 groups in, in, about ten years and more than, about more than, 40 or 50 master's thesis as well. And they're all...
Prof Judyth Sachs:
What sort of teacher were you? Clearly, clearly your students loved you so...
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Well, look, I, when I explain things, I always explain it, especially, you know, in electrical engineering in general, you don't see what you're learning, right? I mean, it's not tangible. You're talking about electricity. You're talking about currents. You're even talking about signals. You're talking about waves. So, I, I think I have a unique way of, making the students see these things. You know, like when I taught, the, the graduate course in, signal processing, part of the course was about wavelets, and it's quite abstract. You know, it's a very mathematical concept, but having used these, having developed products based on wavelets and sub-band coding and so on, I had a very, I would say, special way of conveying this information to students and making analogies and animations and so on. So this is the kind of teacher I was. In terms of conveying information I think I have this, you know, ability to do that. But at the same time, I wasn't very much liked when it came to grading. You know, students always, branded me as a tough professor. You know, you just, you know, very, very limited A's or whatever. But at the end of the time, I always had full sections, you know, and I really enjoyed teaching. I taught for about, about maybe 15, 16 years. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to teach, in this role that I'm holding now. I tried one time, about two and a half years ago when I was also in this position, and it was very, very challenging in the sense that you, you can't really give the time that you want to give to the students simply because of meetings, because of travel, because of other commitments. So I wish I could have the time to teach a course, at least one course, the way I used to do before.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
So when you think of yourself as a teacher and an educator, what's, what's important to you in that role?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
I think it's very important to relate to the students, to the generation that you are teaching. One of the biggest mistakes that, I think, we, the faculty members do sometimes is that we want to teach students the same way we were taught. And I think this is the, the biggest mistake anyone can, can, can make simply because you are speaking to a different generation. Everything has changed. The way of learning has changed. The, the resources have changed. You're no longer the only source of information, as you know, our professors used to be when we just, you know, take notes and the only thing is, the only reference of you is your professor and so on. I think, we are being, now transformed into facilitators, you know, mentors. Information is there, students have access to information, sometimes more than us. With everything that's going around us and, you know, with the generative AI and this revolution that is, you know, happening, started, as, you know, about a year and a half ago or something. And, the access to information is enormous. And I think this is where, professors, need to adjust, and to get out of this mode of, you know, PowerPoint presentations and being the ones who are speaking most of the time, thinking of themselves that they are the, the centre of, of the, learning process. I think this has to change. And if anyone who is not convinced with this will find out that they're getting somehow outdated and they won't even grab the attention of students anymore. You know, the-the-the engagement, you know, the attention span is getting very, very short for this, Gen Z and even the earlier generation as well. So, I think this is where we educators have to, continue to learn, you know, not to think that. Okay, I know it all. I am the, master of my domain, and I know exactly this material, and this is the way it should be taught. I think that mindset must change for us to, you know, maximise, if you will, the this knowledge transfer. Okay. Being facilitators more than the, you know, the the the spoon feeding that was happening, especially in this part of the world.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
So when you think of your, your job and your, your colleagues, your, your, your colleagues who are educators and researchers. What are the challenges that you're all facing at the moment? Because, I mean, no, no, university at the moment can really say, yes, we're having a really good time. There, there are multiple challenges at all sorts of levels.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Yes. I think from the faculty point of view, I'm sure that, you know, this is happening, across all universities. The research productivity has changed. You know, the good old days. I'm not sure. Good, but the old days when a faculty member or professor worked on a journal article for a year or so and submitted that journal article, waited for a year or whatever. I mean, these days have gone, you know, now we are in a collaborative world. You have people working with so many different, research groups, around the world, and you find, majority of faculty members who are very, very productive, you know, they end up publishing a good number of articles that sometimes you would say it's impossible for someone to be publishing, you know, 10 journal articles, or 20 or whatever in a year. But if you think about it in the collaborative mode that we live in, you know, that's the, that's the norm. And this is where everything is shifting too. So if someone sticks to the old again, I mean to the old norms and okay, I will only do research this way, the old way I used to do it and so on. They will find themselves lagging. And this is a great challenge. I mean, these people will not, in general will not be renewed in terms of their contracts or tenure. They will not get tenured and so on. So this is one challenge in research. But, I think majority of faculty are coping with this and learning how to do that. The other challenge, as I mentioned earlier, is in, in the student learning. I mean, we, we no longer, like I said, the masters of our domain. And the only thing that you know is the, the discipline that you teach or the, the topic that you teach you, you would have to cope with new learning and teaching, methodologies. You would have to maybe even understand a little bit more psychology of the these rapidly changing things around you with this generation that we are teaching, universities, as you know, one of the biggest, you know, topics that are being discussed now, whether universities are sustainable in the same mode they operate with, whether this, higher education system is going to be disrupted, with, again, with all these resources that are being available and these, you know, MOOCs and, and, and, and, you know, upskilling tools that are there, do I need a degree or not? This is what this generation is thinking about. Should I join a university for, for four years? And at the end of that, I would be learning. Yeah, I would be learning something that might become obsolete, you know, because with curricula that, have to go through accreditation and different accreditation agencies and bodies and so on, you don't necessarily have, you know, the liberty to change these curricula at this very rapid pace that the job market is experiencing. So this, this is a challenge for universities, to, to keep these generations interested in joining universities. So these universities have to redefine themselves, quickly enough, much, much, much more rapidly than the accreditation standards. Right. Accreditation standards do not necessarily change very fast. So, this is why I guess most universities are investing in, if you will, co-curricular, tools, for upskilling students and for providing students with, skills that wouldn't necessarily, be, available right away in the courses that, that are taught due to, but again, the relative rigidity of accreditation requirements and standards. So in my university, for example, we have adopted Coursera. And Studiosity is another one. But Coursera, for example, is provides a huge number of courses and certificate programs for students in things that are related to what they're studying. But it's a lot more advanced and coming from the corporate world as well. So these are being taught by, you know, middle managers, in different, corporations, you know, different areas, like, you know, in Google and Meta, so on and IBM, and other, other, also other providers, in addition to the soft skills and communication skills, employability skills. So these, I think this is a challenge for all universities, how to, cope with all these rapid changes that are happening with, with technology and with the requirements of the job market. You want to, to graduate someone who is relevant to the job market, you know, who would, have the right, if you will, tools and skills to join and be desirable by these companies.
"So this, this is a challenge for universities, to, to keep these generations interested in joining universities. So these universities have to redefine themselves, quickly enough, much, much, much more rapidly than the accreditation standards."
Prof Judyth Sachs:
If you could change one thing to enhance the student experience, they have to ensure that they graduated feeling that they've, they've learned something. What would it be? What would you, what would you do? What would you change?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
I think one of the things that are relevant to this question is the interdisciplinary learning. I think students would have to, maybe or universities, if you will, would have to get out of this, focussed disciplinary approach. Students need to learn, skills that are relevant to the job market, like I said. And they would have to, for example, soft skills, general education components, liberal arts and so on would have to be integrated within the discipline in a way that, shapes the students, not only personality, but also their approach of, you know, in general, problem solving, dealing with peers and so on. As you know, this is in the heart of American education, where you have the general education component, which we follow. But the way, most universities do it, the it's looked at as a separate set of courses. And in my part of the world, students, for example, in professional degrees, like, you know, in engineering or even in medicine or, dentistry, whatever. They look at these courses that they are, they're just required courses. I need to take this course, you know, just for because it's required. I think what needs to, to change, in the mentality and the mindset of students and professors alike that, these courses, as important as the, courses within the discipline, and they need to be integrated with the curriculum, not, to be thought of as, okay, something on the side I just finish a course on, for example, on, language, whatever the languages or heritage or culture or innovation or, I need to apply what I'm learning. I need to somehow as, as a, as a student and as as an educator, I need to make this link so that I benefit from this course in the discipline that I'm studying. So that's, I think, one, one thing that would, I think, be a game changer if we were to embrace the general education component and somehow, immerse it in the curriculum.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
My last question is what advice would you give to the current group of students that are in your university?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
One advice that I gave is to all students, especially, you know, we're going to have our, orientation program for the new students soon. And this is what I say all the time is to live the, campus life. You are not here to simply come and take your lectures and leave. You know, you are here to live the, you know, the entire, co-curricular and extracurricular life. Get involved in, student clubs, culture clubs, language clubs and so on. Be a frequent visitor to the sports centre. Try to get yourself, involved in the different, co-curricular or extracurricular programs that the university offer. Try to, make the best out of these four years. This is the most enjoyable time, any human being has, and it sticks with one for the rest of their life. So this is the, the, the, the advice that they give to students. Because in our part of the world, sometimes this is overlooked. Students, they just want to come take the lectures and go home. And, the one of the things that I always stress is to, you know, focus, as much as you focus on your studies, also focus on, you know, taking advantage of all what the university offers as co-curricular programs. It helps in the mental well-being. It helps in shaping, the character and the personality that you will have by the end of the time of, of, of the end of the study time that you have at the university.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
Actually, I'm going to sneak in one last question. What advice would you give to your younger self?
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Well. I would probably. I mean that's, that's too, it might not be politically correct, but, I had a chance to join a university before I left the U.S., I got an offer from a very good university in California, and I turned it down and I moved to, the UAE. I'm not regretting moving to the UAE, but I would have advised my young self is to take that opportunity. I would, you know, prefer to have taken that opportunity, at least for some time. So I would get the best of the, industrial experience in the U.S., academic experience in the U.S., and then after that I'd move back to the region. So maybe that's one advice that I would have given to myself at the time.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
Look, I have enjoyed our 52 minute conversation.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Likewise.
Prof Judyth Sachs:
I hope that you've enjoyed it as well. And thank you for both telling it, telling your story, but also your insights of being an international student and that sort of transition from working in the corporate world into universities and your real commitment to students. So thank you for that. And, I'll let you get back to the rest of your day.
Prof Khaled Assaleh:
Thank you very much, Judyth. I really enjoyed the conversation. Thank you so much.
Visit Studiosity.com/studentsfirst for the next Students First Symposium. An open forum for faculty, staff and academics to candidly discuss and progress the issues that matter most in higher education.
