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Jordan Date & Time: Wed.,  May.  14,  2008 1:44:34 AM

This article is from The Chronicle of Higher Education

Monday, August 27, 2001 

Jordanian University Plans to Create a Distance­Learning Institution 

By DANIEL DEL CASTILLO 

Jordan's Hashemite University has announced that it will establish a new distance­learning university, to be called the Arab American University for DistanceLearning. It's scheduled to begin operating by November 2002.

Hashemite University's president, Anwar Battikhi, said at a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman, that the new distance­learning university would have satellite branches in other Arab countries, such as Yemen and Kuwait. 

Initially the university will be based on the Hashemite University campus, in Zarqa, but plans call for it to move to a permanent site in Amman. Hashemite University is one of five state­run universities in the kingdom. Established by royal decree in 1991, it currently has approximately 7,000 students. 

According to press accounts, Mr. Battikhi said that $20­million would be invested in the university during the first four years of operation, with half of the money coming from a private Kuwaiti firm and the other half from Hashemite University. "The AAUDL will target Arabs at home and living abroad, providing specializations of interest to the Arab and Islamic world," he said. "It is also expected that no less than 5,000 to 10,000students will join the university in the first year." 

The new university's academic concentration will be in the high­techsector. "The AAUDL will mostly offer information­technology specializations, such as computer science, software engineering, and computer information systems, in addition to courses in accounting and business," he said. He said the university would also offer advanced degrees in finance, banking, and administration. Collaborative arrangements with American and Canadian universities were also reportedly being discussed. 

The announcement of a new distance­learning university in Jordan follows a review and reassessment of the kingdom's bylaws regarding the legality of such institutions. Earlier this month the Secretariat General of the Higher Education Council distributed draft copies of revised bylaws on distance­learning programs. 

The Jordan Times, which obtained copies of the revised bylaws, said they place heavy emphasis on "e­technology," the Internet, videoconferencing, and other high­tech methods of delivery. 

The reassessment of distance­learning bylaws is said to be related to efforts to halt popular correspondence courses operated within Jordan by other Arab countries, notably Sudan. According to the higher­education council's secretary general, Omar Shdeifat, the standards of those correspondence course are egregiously low, and new Jordanian distance­learning alternatives can offer solutions.

Last Updated on 10/25/2002 08:49 AM