Ranking strategy and student success take centre stage

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QS-MAPLE, the equivalent of the NAFSA and EAIE conferences in the Middle East and Africa, will be held next month in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The 6th QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education) conference will feature the 2016 QS University Rankings Arab Region, an exclusive QS Rankings Masterclass, two exciting QS Squared Debates, and a diverse line-up of top speakers from academia and government from the Middle East and beyond.

With the theme of “student success” the conference will bring together more than 300 delegates, making it the premier higher education forum in the Middle East and Africa region.

<img width="250" height="171" class="floatright" src="https://www.universityworldnews.com/images/articles/20160416154105336_2.jpg" alt="">The mission of QS-MAPLE is “to build world-class universities for Middle Eastern and African communities through global partnership and collaboration”. This conference will be held – in collaboration with United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) – from May 10–12, 2016, in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, and is currently in its sixth year, having been first organised in 2011.

The event comprises a main conference with parallel and plenary sessions, featuring general and specific aspects of international higher education with keynote addresses by leading authorities on higher education, as well as an exhibition where various institutions put their offerings and excellence on display.

<img width="250" height="153" class="floatleft" src="https://www.universityworldnews.com/images/articles/20160416154105336_3.jpg" alt="">One of the keynote addresses will be by Dr Natasha Jankowski who is the associate director of National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in the United States. Speakers from University of South Carolina, Technische Universität München, City University of New York, University of Johannesburg and Nanyang Technological University are also lined up to speak in various sessions.

Some of the participants of the QS-MAPLE have been attending the conference for several years. Yusoff Musa from University of Malaya said: "Networking opportunities with African and Middle Eastern universities has been beneficial." Professor Nelson Ijumba from University of KwaZulu-Natal said the event is "very well managed and there are a lot of active engagements".

Special highlights of the conference are the QS Squared Debate and the QS Rankings Masterclass. The former is an exciting, interactive engagement of the academia for the better understanding of higher education concepts. This year, as a response to overwhelming enthusiasm of past and present delegates, there will be two debates on the following topics: “Entrepreneurship is an Essential Component of All Disciplines in Contemporary Higher Education” and “Universities Should Only Produce Graduates That Employers Want”.

QS Rankings Masterclass

QS Rankings Masterclass, as the name suggests, is a sought-after session conducted by experts from QS Intelligence Unit who elaborate on the criteria against which universities are ranked globally, regionally, by subject and by age. Attending this session is a must for academics in charge of branding and reputation.

Other conference components include QS-MAPLE Creative Awards (for best international education promotional designs in four categories) and the QS Scholarships ceremony. In addition, there will be plenty of opportunities for networking at the QS Hub-Exhibition as well as during conference dinner and lunch receptions.

QS-MAPLE is organised by QS Asia Quacquarelli Symonds on behalf of QS Education Trust. QS Asia is the regional subsidiary of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, which is a global media and research company specialised in higher education. QS’s portfolio includes: World University Rankings, student recruitment events, conferences, publications, online solutions and leading websites.

For more information, please visit www.qsmaple.org

Contact

To learn more about the conference, please contact:
Ashwin Fernandes,
Regional Director
QS Asia, 20 Sin Ming Lane #02-61 Midview City Singapore, 573968
Tel: +65 6457 4822
Email: ashwin@qs.com