September, 2011‐May, 2012

The Palestinian Faculty development Program (PFDP) is pleased to announce a series of monthly
Roundtables on key issues in higher education for members of the faculty and administration of Palestine’s major universities. The Roundtables will occur each month from September, 2011 through May, 2012. Each will involve a review and discussion of international best practices in critical areas of interest identified by PFDP alumni and higher education leaders in Palestine. International experts and specialists from Palestinian universities will collaborate to adapt international best practices to the Palestinian context. Central European University, Northwestern University, Portland State University have already agreed to participate as co‐sponsors).

Goals

The National Roundtables series has four major goals:

• To stimulate broad national discussion on critical topics in higher education—leavened by the presence of international experts (many of whom will already be in Palestine) to provide insight into international best practices;
• To balance concept and practice by requiring participants to develop a specific plan or project that will apply international best practice to the Palestinian context;
• To provide systematic exposure of potential leaders and managers of Palestinian universities to
  core topics that will enable them to understand basic functions and programs that are important for the development of a new generation of higher education leaders and managers in Palestine’s universities; and
• To create a national community of faculty members and key administrators committed to sustaining active dialog, collaboration and actions to improve the overall climate and performance of Palestine’s universities

University Teams

PFDP invites each university president to select 8 faculty or staff participants for each Roundtable. We
encourage these university teams to include up to two members who serve in a leadership capacity (vice president, dean, department chair or program director) and at least three faculty members or staff who have participated in a PFDP program. Other team members may include—at the president’s discretion— faculty or staff who have a special interest in the specific topic of a Roundtable or individuals who have leadership potential and need to expand their professional horizons. The composition of teams may differ from session to session.

Topics, Schedule and Venues

PFDP will schedule one National Roundtable each month from September, 2011 to May, 2012. The schedule will rotate between Friday‐Saturday and Saturday‐Sunday to accommodate different weekend schedules. The schedule is as follows:

2011
September 23‐24: The History and Development of World Higher Education Systems (Ramallah)
October 22‐23: Principles and Methods of Project Evaluation (Bethlehem)
November 18‐19: Strategic Planning (Jericho)
December 3‐4: Distance Learning and Quality Assurance (Ramallah)

2012
January 13‐14: Community Engagement and University Development (Ramallah)
February 11‐12: The University Teacher as Reflective Practitioner (Ramallah)
March 16‐17: Developing and managing Education Programs (Ramallah)
April 21‐22: Community Engagement (Ramallah)
May 18‐19: Leadership Development in Higher Education (Ramallah)