Page 5 - Freshmen Welcome Newsletter

5

Interview with ADU Chancellor

Prof. Ghassan Aouad

important value for Generation Z, in my view. I did some research when I was in the UK on equality and diversity;
research has shown that companies become more productive when they have a diverse team, whether it’s in a
project or at an organizational level. So, having diversity would create better opportunities for everybody.

7. A lot of parents and students are worried about how employable graduates will be. How has ADU
ensured that its graduates are ready for the job market and have a competitive edge?

Of course, you educate people to make them employable. We have graduate attributes for every single graduate
of the university to ensure they have it all covered. As I have mentioned before too, your technical degree is your
passport. Now that I have my passport, I can travel, but what about the visa? the visa is the
skillst you have that make you employable. When you go for a job interview, take my word for this one: charisma
is very important. If you have personality, charisma, and energy, they will say this is the person who will make a
difference in the company. For example, the big four companies like De Lloyd, PwC, Anderson Young, and KPMG
sometimes recruit students who don’t have business or accounting backgrounds. They may recruit somebody
who comes from a psychology, economics, or any other discipline background. They don’t have any knowledge
about accounting or finance, but they recruit them because they discovered that they have leadership, negotiation,
and analytical skills.

They have emotional intelligence; they have research, communication, and presentation skills. These companies
believe the technical elements of the job can be taught, and then they train them. You can see they turned them
from technologists into chartered accountants, but they have benefited from their skills, which was their selling
point.

This is why at ADU, I focus a lot on these skills, as we need to produce graduates who are confident, capable,
and eligible. They must have emotional intelligence, charisma, and personality because the marketplace is very
competitive. Moreover, this would make you distinct and unique. These extra skills will help you stand out in job
interviews. However, I noticed in one of the interviews I conducted that one candidate began interviewing us, the
panel, instead of us interviewing him. While this might work sometimes, it cannot work in general, and you need
to understand that it’s about striking the right balance during job interviews. I am
sure you will become employed with valuable skills. Of course, not everybody will be employable, so there is also
the opportunity to set up your own business. So, if you have an entrepreneurial mindset, definitely go for it. I
mean, I don’t understand when somebody says I am staying at home and doing nothing, especially these days
when you can do anything at home and sell online, for example.

8. What strategic objectives and goals has ADU established for the future, and how do these goals
match with the shifting higher education landscape?

We have Vision 2027 as part of the strategic plan of the university, and we have national priorities in the UAE. But
our focus, at least in terms of research and the rest, is to make sure that we’re providing practical solutions to
existing problems using graduates who are fit for the marketplace, mainly in the UAE and beyond.

The future, of course, I love this word because you can use sciences and techniques related to futurology, future
studies, foresights, and scenarios to plan the future. It’s very difficult to predict the future, but we can plan for it.
I can see some growth in the university, which would definitely improve the ranking. We will see a greater variety
of academic programs, and I hope we will target more Ph.D. programs. Our links to the industry will also be
strengthened over the next two years. At the end of the day, everything we are doing is just to provide a good
learning experience. The student experience will always be the number one priority for any strategic plan. If the
students are not happy, then it’s not worth it. They are the most important elements of the university.

Abu Dhabi University | ADU Freshman Guide 23-24