Heidar Malki, PhD, associate dean of academic affairs and professor of engineering technology in the College of Technology, has been selected for a 2016-2017 Fulbright International Education Administrator Seminar award to France. He will participate in a group seminar designed to familiarize U.S. higher education administrators with France's higher education and research system. The 2-week visit includes Paris, two other regions in France, and Germany. Dr. Malki's interest is in sharing his wealth of administrative experiences, eventually integrating new ideas into College of Technology programs, and developing working relationships that will foster future collaboration. "While the diversity of the French student body at the higher education level is very similar to that of U.S. institutions, some academic differences exist in the programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels," said Malki.
With the knowledge and experience gained from this program, Malki plans to share lessons learned and best practices through seminars for UH faculty and students with the hope of spurring conversation at state, national, and international conferences and other venues. Since Texas is viewed as an influential leader in overall U.S. education, Dr. Malki predicts that outreach efforts to establish learning abroad program opportunities between our students and those in technology programs in France will be broadly received. "There is great potential to increase our learning abroad programs among technology and engineering students at UH," said Dr. Malki. "This is a pressing need and my participation in the Fulbright Scholar program will pave a way for establishing new learning abroad programs for technology and engineering majors."