On Wednesday October 2, 2013, the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) hosted 30 institutions working in the communications, information technology, media, engineering and agriculture fields, within the framework of the “Working Together” initiative organized by the Quality Assurance and Institutional Effectiveness office along with the Faculties of Sciences, Engineering, and Food and Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with the Career Services Office, in order to assess the engineering and IT programs in the University.

The Director of the Career Services Office, Mr. Khalil Abboud, inaugurated the workshop and spoke of the mission of the Office. Then, he explained: “We are organizing a series of extensive workshops all along the year to pave the way for fresh graduates to master the way of drafting their CV, developing their communication skills, establishing public relations and apply advice given during job interviews, as well as building their skills to meet the expectations of employers.”

Then, the Pro-Rector for Quality Assurance and Teaching and Learning Affairs, Dr. Georges Yahchouchi explained that “The Office invited 40 companies to participate in this constructive dialogue aiming to find the most appropriate means to increase the match between academic and professional requirements…The following documentary shows how the University thrives to provide the best teaching and learning experience for its students, which led to achieving the EVALAG accreditation for 5 years and to classifying the University among the leading universities in terms of performance and quality by the World Bank…” He stressed that “Success cannot be achieved through exerting personal efforts only, as the economy today has shifted from the competition concept to the fruitful cooperation concept. We consider that a permanent partnership with these companies, the active economic players, supports us to reach our goals in improving the educational experience of students as well as the capacity of graduates…”

Afterwards, a documentary about USEK was shown, which was followed by presentations by the Dean of the Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Lara Hanna Wakim, the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Dr. Badih Baz, and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, about their respective Faculty, its programs, specializations, degrees, etc.

The President of the Order of Engineers in Lebanon, Eng. Elie Bseibes thanked the organizers of this workshop and noted: “This is the first event of this kind in Lebanon given the fact that it adopts the concept of activating communication between the University and the needs of labor market in order to promote and develop higher education in the quest for academic and scientific excellence and to raise the level of the engineering profession in Lebanon to the highest levels…” He praised the role and efforts of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, which is in the never ending journey of developing its programs.

Finally, Dr. Yahchouchi presented an honorary shield to Eng. Bseibes on behalf of the University President Fr. Dr. Hady Mahfouz; and then working sessions were held to assess the IT and engineering programs in the University.