University of Jordan strategy to improve ranking, address violence

The University of Jordan (UJ) has developed a strategy to improve its international ranking and become a world-renowned institute of higher education.
"Our target is to become among the top 500 universities across the globe by 2013 and among the top 300 by 2018," UJ President Khleif Tarwaneh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.
Tarawneh said that a multi-core strategy was recently developed based on the needs of the current "era" to achieve this goal by improving the quality of education offered at the university. Last year, UJ placed among the top 700 higher education institutions in the QS World University Rankings, but was near the bottom of the list.
The university's ranking can be improved through conducting joint research with well-known world universities. Work has already started on infrastructure upgrades on campus as part of this strategy, Tarawneh said. The plan also entails improving the university's offerings, introducing new programmes and closing those with low demand in the market.
Programmes that will be introduced this academic year include a PhD in linguistics and master's degrees in renewable energy and leadership and international challenges. At the same time, some low-demand programmes were merged with others. Campus violence is also addressed in the new strategy, according to the UJ president.
"We reviewed what has been written about campus violence over the past four years in an attempt to address the issue," Tarawneh said.
The plan to reduce university violence includes preventive measures such as holding student activities outdoors and directing the faculty and administration to have direct dialogue with students about why such incidents take place.
"We will also open a mental health clinic at the university, and have formed a group of campus security specialised in problem solving," Tarawneh explained.
Security personnel will be trained in reporting, he said, and investigative committees will be trained in fact finding. The plan also includes installing more security cameras. Meanwhile, Tarawneh said, in honour of its 50th anniversary, UJ plans to publish a book about its history before the end of this year, among other activities.
UJ was established in 1962 as the first state-run university with a few dozen students and a budget that did not exceed JD50,000. Currently, it has more than 40,000 students, and its 2012 budget stood at JD103 million.