CCQ launches International Learning and Civic Engagement Symposium

Community College of Qatar (CCQ) has held the inaugural edition of the annual International Learning and Civic Engagement Symposium on its Lusail campus.The event highlighted high-impact learning and civic engagement practices in higher education institutions and how these promote student success. Well-known local and international speakers were invited to the event to share their experiences and knowledge on the importance of learning and engagement programmes to the student, the college and the nation. CCQ president Dr Ibrahim al-Naimi said they were delighted to host the annual event. CCQ hoped this opportunity would help share best practices and serve as a catalyst to establish more learning engagement programmes in Qatar and beyond, it was observed. “We look forward to making this an annual event where faculty and staff from universities across the Mena region and around the world congregate to share their learning and civic engagement activities and best practices in their institutions,” he added. CCQ recently established the Centre for Learning and Civic Engagement (CLCE), whose mission is to enhance student learning through a variety of engagement initiatives and programmes such as Learning Communities, Honours, International Studies and Service Learning. The role of the CLCE is to promote and sustain learning engagement, encourage collaboration among students, faculty and the community, as well as to enhance teaching and learning, leading to student excellence.Dr Maha al-Hendawi, director, Core Curriculum Programme at Qatar University, said the programme is “very important and helps produce significant graduates with substantial abilities”.Dr Michael Reimer, professor of history at the American University of Cairo, said his participation in this symposium was related to the Honours programme, which aimed to offer a more challenging and rewarding academic experience for CCQ’s most scholastically driven students. These students were awarded at the end of the symposium.