The Higher Education Review

Education is changing from bricks to clicks with every passing day. The incorporation of technology into the sector of education has brought about revolutionary changes to the society as a whole. After the advent of online education, there has been development in the sense of collaboration among students from different nationalities and the growth of positive competitive attitude. Nowadays, it is agility that is mostly required for any student to keep up with the world that calls for international exposure and learning from countries that have created a stature of their own.

UAE is among the GCC countries that have not only created an economy of its own, the city of Sharjah has been recognized by the UNESCO as the cultural capital of the Arab World. Skyline University College (SUC) was established in 1990 in Sharjah, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, a member of the UAE Supreme Council and the Ruler of Sharjah. H.H has always supported SUC in its pursuit to offer quality education.His Highness has a great vision for education and has invested more than $1.3 Bn in establishing several institutions in the University City of Sharjah, UAE.

SUC has a School of Business offering undergraduate& graduate degrees in Business Administration and a School of Information Technology offering undergraduate degree programs which are fully-approved and accredited by the Ministry of Education (MOE), UAE. Among all the educational institutions in Sharjah, Skyline University College stands out because of various aspects. Apart from being the only probate organization there, it also has Indians among its promoters and Mr. Kamal Puri is one of them. The Higher Education Review magazine engaged in a conversation with him to know more about the institution and the value it is adding to the education as a whole.

Tell us about the inception story of Skyline University College and how it grew to be one of the distinguished institutions in Sharjah.
Mr. Puri remembers “Beginning my career in training for the airline sector in Kuwait and after Kuwait was invaded in 1990, I was invited to Sharjah for providing training to the employee of Sharjah airport, in the aviation sector”. Skyline gradually passed through four stages in its evolution from an institute to a university. We started with certificates, switched over to diplomas followed by associate degrees and then bachelors and master’s degree.

We started with two room set up close to airport to a 40 acre campus in the University City of Sharjah, UAE. SUC has a well-equipped campus, which caters for its diverse student body needs including sports facilities. SUC provides additional learning opportunities and resources by way of a well-equipped library having a wide range of databases such as ProQuest, E-book Central, EBSCO and IGI Global, IEEE Computer Science Digital Library, SCOPUS and Online Learning Resources such as IGI and Springer Nature. In addition, SUC enables students to learn from various activities, which give them opportunities to apply

their knowledge, skills and competencies by organizing and conducting co-curricular and extra-curricular events.

We started with two room set up close to airport to a 40 acre campus in the University City of Sharjah, UAE. SUC has a well-equipped campus, which caters for its diverse student body needs including sports facilities. SUC provides additional learning opportunities and resources by way of a well-equipped library having a wide range of databases such as ProQuest, E-book Central, EBSCO and IGI Global, IEEE Computer Science Digital Library, SCOPUS and Online Learning Resources such as IGI and Springer Nature. In addition, SUC enables students to learn from various activities, which give them opportunities to apply their knowledge, skills and competencies by organizing and conducting co-curricular and extra-curricular events.

What according to you is the vision and mission statement of the college and in what ways do theyaffect the personality of students?
We aim at becoming a globally renowned institution by emphasizing creativity and innovation with focuson collaboration and interchange among various diversities, cultures and different nationalities. SUC prepares its students to meet the challenges of the new century by acquiring relevant knowledge, skills and values appropriate for the market demands of UAE and the region. The primary idea here is to build a knowledge based economy. It is important for students from different nationalities to adopt this kind of environment while pursuing education. Students while perusing their higher education at SUC learn to adapt and get to know about different cultures and how to collaborate and work with them. This kind of exposure supports in building better social skills. SUC has over 16,000 alumni from 65 different nationalities.

The communication skills are further reinforced by the Toastmasters club activities to strengthen the communication skills, leadership skills and soft skills for the progressive career development of the students. SUC also has an active Corporate Affairs Office (CAO) that engages industry to share their experiences with students in the form of guest lectures, industry visits and CEO lectures. The CAO assists students in their internship and job placements. SUC understands the importance of community engagement through its Community Service activities, which provides opportunities for students and employees to participate and contribute towards the welfare of the needy segments of the community.

How does Skyline University College set itself apart in education? How does it adapt to the changing needs of the system?
SUC has a Teaching effectiveness committee which focuses on improving learning and teaching to facilitate students in preparing them for the required skills, values and competencies suitable to the industry demands through its diverse academic faculty with PhD. Apart from delivering a holistic education in the areas of specialization, SUC prepares its students with additional skills and competencies through its Professional Skills Development Program at all levels starting from freshman to the senior levels so as to hone student skills in communication, analysis and leadership. Since inception, the institution has bettered itself in every possible way. SUC is actively pursuing benchmarking activities with Universities under EUMMAS (European Marketing and Management Association).

SUC also has a Research and Innovation department, which facilitates research activities among faculty, enables them to use their research knowledge to teach in classes and promotes research culture in the institution. In this pursuit, SUC faculty members have publications in Q1 to Q4 Scopus indexed journals. To, further enhance Research culture, SUC encourages collaborative Research with International Universities and Researchers. In order to internationalize the programs, SUC is in the process of acquiring AACSB and ABET accreditation for equalizing the programs to the international standards so that the students will have opportunities for mobility between local and international universities. SUC has achieved an overall 4 star QS star rating with a 5 star QS rating on Teaching and 4 Star on Academic Development.

Skyline has extended its reach to the continent of Africa, specifically Nigeria, five years ago with establishment of university in state of Kano, Nigeria - Skyline University Nigeria, offering courses in both Arts and Sciences, through the Schools of Art, Management and Social Sciences (SAMSS), School of Science and Information Technology (SSIT), School of Basic Medical Sciences (SBMS) and School of Law (SOL) and approved & licensed by National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigeria. Keeping with the recent trends in the market, the institute has also started offering professional certificate courses for working professionals in various fields such as digital marketing, banking, finance, IT, travel and tourism and several others.

The launch of these courses has added to the overall essence of the institution as it is now capable of understanding the exact requirements of aspirants all across the world. We concentrate a lot on the aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship and have established dedicated centres for ideas to grow with all the support and guidance required.

What are the various scholarship opportunities that students can be facilitated with at Skyline University College?
We do offer a wide range of scholarships and sponsorships to students willing to seek admission inSkyline University College. At SUC, we believe that students with financial constraints also have equal right to choose the quality
academic programs. Therefore, we reach out to motivated and deserving students who have limited financial resources by offering sponsorship and scholarship funds to enable them for continuing education and make their dreams come true. In fact, Skyline University has become one of the known universities in UAE that offer various scholarships and sponsorships for students. SUC has launched new initiatives, scholarships and sponsorships likeYouth Empowerment, Girls and Young Women Sponsorship, Sports Sponsorship, Talent based Sponsorship.Skyline also offers Scholarships through MOU’s to various schools, corporates, government organisations, consulates, social clubs on merit and need basis that enable students from various nationalities to pursue their higher education.

Also, we have collaborations with various universities across the world and our students can opt to go to any of these countries and pursue further education on our recommendation.With the changing needs of the education sector, we change our course subject and structure annually and will continue to do so in the times to come.