The Academic Bridge Programme, of Qatar Foundation, has hosted a delegation of seven visitors from the Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi.

The visit allowed educational leaders at the two institutions to share information and to learn from one another.

The delegation from the Petroleum Institute was led by Ahmed al-Shoaibi, the dean of Academic Affairs. The delegation was hosted by Miles Lovelace, director of the Academic Bridge Programme.

The Petroleum Institute provides a world-class engineering education and does research in areas of significance to the energy industry. It includes the Advanced University Placement programme (AUP) that helps students develop the knowledge, study skills and work habits.

The Academic Bridge Programme (ABP) has a similar, though more broad mission, to help prepare high school graduates for success at English-language universities, most especially the universities in Education City. Both the ABP and The Petroleum Institute were founded in 2001.

The ABP and the AUP programme enroll about 300 students a year.

Among the issues discussed were admissions, recruitment, assessment, key performance indicators, student services, academic advising, learning support, data collection, the use of technology and curriculum. Mark Newmark, the assistant director of Academic Affairs at the Academic Bridge Programme, explained that “the Academic Bridge Programme and the Advanced University Placement programme of the Petroleum Institute seem to have many of the same challenges. We can improve the educational experiences of our students by learning how to best address those challenges.”

Moza Buainain, assistant director of student affairs, explained: “This visit gave us the opportunity to learn about other, somewhat similar, educational programmes in the region.

I also discussed with Enaam al-Hunaini, the academic adviser in the Advanced University Placement programme, the Petroleum Institute, ways of using student services and activities to motivate students to learn and to develop their creativity and leadership skills and to reduce absenteeism.”

In the past year, the Academic Bridge Programme has hosted similar delegations from the Qatar Aeronautical Institute and from the education ministry of France.