Great
Expectations (Adaptation
from Charles Dickens)
LAU has made phenomenal progress over the past few years. It now stands
at the doorstep of the future, which we know is going to be very
different. As it celebrates its Centennial, it is poised for the next
phase in its evolution into a digitally transformed world of immense
complexity, dazzling pace, mounting uncertainty, prevailing turbulence,
and very different millennial and post-millennial generations. With its
first steps toward its second century taken, LAU faces high stakes and a
daunting mix of prospects and challenges.
Solid Prospects to Build On
Since 2020, LAU has scored strategic gains it can be proud of. Research
output in highly competitive indexed journals has soared and with it our
regional and global ranking as an institution. The crisis years were put
firmly behind us in terms of enrollment, faculty ranks, morale, and
particularly financial stability. Our two medical centers are in great
shape, the New York City branch campus has materialized, our NECHE
accreditation renewal is all but certain, the Pharmaceutical and Medical
Research Center (PMRC) is underway, the Industrial Hub is up and running
and the Sustainability Office is now an integral part of the
university.
By the same token, the Center for Policy Analysis has already started to
bear fruit, the LAU Leadership Program has been successfully carried
out, and the Office of Professional Ethics and Standards is taking
shape. These innovative steps combined carry the promise of changing the
face of LAU and making it an institution with one of the highest
innovation indices and an advanced level of future-proofing. With these
achievements in hand, LAU can set sail into its second century with the
right academic and professional infrastructure that will serve it well
in the “brave new world” still taking shape before our very eyes.
The Journey Onward
LAU has done well preparing itself for the future, which will require a
high appetite for uncertainty absorption. This is true in light of the
achievements mentioned above but particularly so in the area of digital
transformation where it led the country in terms of content development,
delivery methods and digital platforms. The university has provisioned
well for the onward journey and the manifold challenges that will be
encountered along the way. We will now address nine of these challenges:
1- The
Challenge of Keeping a Small College Spirit in a Much-Expanded
Comprehensive University.
This small college spirit has served us well over the years. It has kept
LAU as a caring close-knit institution with an intact moral code,
impeccable integrity, and a strong sense of moral fortitude. This great
quality should be preserved at all costs.
2-
The Challenge of Adequate Resourcing for Research En Route to Becoming
a Major University.
This is a challenge of strategic proportions. It involves both
intramural university resources well beyond the $2.3 million currently
secured to become a fixed percentage of our operating budget. It also
involves breaking the barrier and tapping extramural resources or
external grants. This is a goal we have yet to achieve and much will
depend on our success in this endeavor. The infrastructure is in place,
but a sustained concerted effort needs to be made. It will also take
time before concrete results start showing.
3-
The Challenge of Significantly Growing Graduate Programs and Starting
Doctoral Programs.
One goal that did not gain as much ground over the past years was the
challenge of growing our graduate programs, particularly in terms of
proliferation and enrollment. Graduate students’ numbers are modest,
amounting to about 7 percent of total enrollment. This needs to change
in terms of student numbers and graduate program numbers, particularly
of the interdisciplinary kind. This is so crucial for research, for
ranking, for our brand, and for our standing. Starting doctoral programs
cannot be postponed any further. The recent moves addressed by the
Council of Deans toward starting doctoral programs are steps in the
right direction.
4-
The Challenge of Improving Our Global Ranking to the 250–300 Bracket
and Our Regional Ranking as Close to the Top as Possible.
This is going to be a major requirement we will have to face for our
global footprint to become commensurate with our ambition, research
objectives, and graduate program-targeted profile. Together with this
comes the need for a much-improved regional standing with top ranking, a
powerful network of partnerships and alliances, and hopefully a physical
presence in the region.
This is not going to be an easy task in view of intensifying
competition, the crowded playing field, resource shortages, and the
level of support for some regional universities not available to LAU. A
careful plan will be needed with the active involvement of all
university constituencies at all decision-making levels. Since time is
of the essence in the fast-moving world we live in, few years are
available to us for achieving this goal. It should always be kept in
mind that, for LAU, global footprint and frontline visibility begin with
regional eminence.
5-
The Challenge of Expanding Our Links With Industry and Building
Strategic Links Critical for Our Leadership Role in a Knowledge
Economy.
The Fouad Makhzoumi Innovation Center, the PMRC, and the Industrial Hub
are significant milestones on our way to building strategic partnerships
with industry that are so pivotal to both parties. What was
accomplished, however, was only the beginning and much remains to be
done in the future. The LAU campus should become, among other things, a
Research & Development hub, a Center for Innovation, and a haven for
industry and academia to join forces in pursuit of creative solutions in
a broad range of areas. The environment, renewable energy, water
management, pharmaceuticals, food and nutrition, and policy-making are
examples that readily come to mind. Building such partnerships has
always characterized great universities, knowing that it is a long,
arduous, and at times painstaking process. LAU has already started its
journey down that path and our only choice is for it to accelerate in
the future.
6-
The Challenge of Resourcing Our Growth Through Fundraising,
Particularly Capital Campaigns.
In order for LAU to fuel its growth in the directions outlined above, we
need to significantly raise the bar in fundraising locally, regionally,
and particularly globally in the US and Europe. We still have schools
that need to be named, centers and labs as well, endowed chairs to be
created, research funds to be made sustainable through endowments,
sophisticated equipment to be acquired, and buildings to be erected, to
name but a partial list of our pressing needs.
The Capital Campaign currently in the pipeline should take its course
with our US-based fundraising operation making a significant
contribution. Our regional fundraising also needs a shot in the arm
through a relentless effort to reactivate traditional sources that have
suffered in recent years as a result of a non-conclusive political
climate.
7-
The Challenge of Finding Meaningful Ways to Integrate Our Liberal Arts
Curriculum, Particularly Critical Thinking, Into Our Digitized
Curriculum.
This is a huge challenge that holds special significance for our
professional schools. Creative ways will have to be found for us to
continue the transformative nature of an LAU education addressing the
whole individual and affecting character and core values as much as
cognitive faculties and technical knowledge. LAU’s “insignia courses”
will have to continue to be regularly reviewed to ensure they serve the
purpose, and ways for improvement will have to continue to be sought.
The confirmed special appeal of an LAU education that makes it so
coveted by so many depends, in no small measure, on our ability to
produce physicians, engineers, pharmacists and accountants with an
Edu-Cultural horizon that transcends their specialization. This can
happen through familiarity with seminal books, great debates,
intellectual landmarks, current issues and major challenges affecting
the world they live in. Such current issues include, inter-alia, the
implications of open AI, global socio-political trends and SDGs.
8-
The Challenge of Making LAU Increasingly Competitive to Sustainably
Attract Best Faculty and Staff Talent.
We are all proud of the fact that LAU is an employer of choice. This
fact, however, should not be taken for granted. It should be viewed as a
challenge to work constantly in a crisis-ridden environment, a rapidly
changing world and cut-throat competition for talent. The recent
successes we scored together over AY2023-2024 that led to a marked
improvement in our compensation packages are a case in point.
9-
The Challenge of Equitable Treatment of all Members of the LAU Family,
Be They Faculty, Staff, Physicians, or Any Other Category.
Each member of the LAU family should be able to feel protected and cared
for on an equal footing under our policies and egalitarian culture. This
should be part of the legacy that we cherish so deeply and a guiding
principle that informs all that we do. The reward will be ample,
reflecting on all aspects of our work, particularly morale, motivation
and an abiding sense of self-worth.
A Glorious Past, a Vibrant Present, a Promising Future of Leadership
One of the great secrets of LAU is that it knows how to cherish and
celebrate its past while steadily going toward it. Its vibrant present
shaped by the stellar accomplishments of the past ten years has
generated enough momentum for the journey to the future. Our beloved
institution now embarks on this journey with abundant confidence, firm
determination, and strong resolve to turn all challenges into
opportunities.
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