I am Selima Ben Mrad, Ph.D., a marketing professor at Nova Southeastern University’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. I am Chair of Assurance of Learning (AOL) at HCBE and work as an AACSB Assurance of Learning facilitator. I have also been designated as a Fullbright specialist in assurance of learning and have been actively collaborating with the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB) to help them achieve AACSB accreditation.
I visited MSB twice as a Fullbright Specialist and AOL expert. Each visit was rewarding. I am very excited to continue collaborating with them in the future. I am incredibly grateful to MSB for providing me with a fulfilling experience as a Fullbright specialist. During my time there, I worked closely with Dean Dr. Leila Triki, Dr. Mediha Ferjani (Accreditation Manager), and Dr. Mehdi Zahaf (Academic Planning Unit Director) on a range of projects, including AACSB report writing, MSB governance, AOL timelines, AOL course mapping, documentation development for task forces, and the AOL process. I must express my appreciation to the MSB faculty for their exceptional quality and collegiality, which is genuinely on par with the standards of American universities. Their dedication and active involvement in student improvement are truly commendable.
During my initial visit in April, I conducted two workshops with the faculty to help them understand AACSB standard 5 and the complex language used in accreditation. These workshops covered creating rubrics, explaining course mapping, and discussing the differences between direct and indirect measures. We also explored competencies, Bloom’s taxonomy, and the importance of engagement in the learning process.
During our second visit from Oct. 15-31, we focused on refining AOL competencies by adopting a more faculty-driven approach. We meticulously reviewed and enhanced the competencies and conducted workshops with faculty members to finalize rubrics for one undergraduate program (UPM) and two graduate programs (MBM and EMBA). The faculty members transitioned from using holistic rubrics to analytic rubrics, which made the competencies more precise and measurable. I also emphasized the importance of distinguishing between direct and indirect measures, as emphasized in the AACSB 2020 standards.
Moreover, I worked with the administration to improve AOL governance by creating AOL and curriculum committees, stressing the importance of integrating both entities and considering AOL’s significant role in the curriculum. We also revised the AACSB report, its narrative, and the process changes, highlighting the changing culture at MSB with a greater emphasis on faculty participation.
My main goal is to establish a more mature and systematic process that involves all faculty members. I am pleased to report that MSB has completed one loop and is closing another one. Faculty members have fully owned the process, with 80% actively participating in workshops, contributing to rubric development, and engaging in task forces. They now understand the terminology comprehensively and are actively invested in the AOL process.
Posted 11/26/23
Two Lower School teachers recently attended a weeklong institute at Teachers College Columbia University in New York City. They participated in professional development workshops focused on supporting small group work in reading and writing. Additionally, members of our administrative team presented at the FCIS convention, emphasizing the identification of core competencies to drive experiential learning.
Students from our Upper School Medical Fellowship program recently took part in a lab at the NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, where they gained hands-on experience in suturing techniques using pig’s feet.
Rapid intensification of hurricanes is a big challenge for forecasting – models cannot reliably predict rapid intensification even within 24 hours. The recent well-publicized cases include Hurricane Maria 2017 and Dora 2023 wreaked havoc in Puerto Rico and caused catastrophic fires in Maui. Nearly 75% of major hurricanes go through the phase of rapid intensification.
