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AUT Gains Full University Status |
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In its
session held on Thursday December
13, the Higher Education Council
approved the recommendation of the
Technical Committee for Higher
Education to grant AUT the full
university status. AUT had in the
past been recommended by the
Technical Committee four times but
changes of ministers of higher
education made the process start
over again.
By
being granted this status, AUT has
proven it is worthy of the trust of
the higher education academic
community.
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Tourism: The 2020 Perspective at AUT |
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The future of world tourism and the
perspective of 2020 were the topics of a
presentation organized by AUT on
December 14, 2007 within the scope of
the E-MBA program in Tourism Management
offered in collaboration with Institut
Universitaire Kurt Bosch in
Switzerland.
The speaker was world-class tourism
economist, UN and EU consultant and head
of the Masters studies in Tourism
Economics at Universite de Toulouse, Dr
Francois Vellas. The audience was
composed of industry specialists
including five-star hotel senior staff,
federation heads, tour operators and
other tourism sector representatives in
addition to the students enrolled in the
E-MBA.
Dr Vellas showed the results of
statistics made by the UNWTO and
discussed the most recent tourism trends
with special emphasis on the Middle East
area. He also stressed the importance of
the challenges in management, marketing,
design, distribution, environment, and
quality standards created by the trends.
Dr Vellas stayed three more days for the
intensive course on The Economics of
Tourism given to the graduate students
in Tourism Management.
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Orphan's day at AUT |
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The AUT community celebrated Christmas this
year in the company of 76 children who live
and study at the orphanage of St Charbel in
Harissa but had the opportunity to spend a
day of fun and entertainment at AUT. Student
and staff volunteers led by AUT President
organized games and entertaining activities
with a special Xmas show and acrobats.
Then lunch was served in the cafeteria,
prepared and served by AUT Hospitality
Management students till it was time for the
big moment: the gift distribution by Santa
himself!!
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Business School Guest Speakers Fall 2007 |
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Below are dates of guest speakers
presentations to be held at the
Auditorium
on main campus
at 12:30 pm.
Speakers invited by the Business faculty
will introduce their companies, their
mission and strategies and will also collect
job application from students. The Business
School will try to include speakers from
different sectors so as to provide students
with the widest spectrum possible. Check
this link for frequent updates
November 1:
Mzaar Intercontinental Spa and Resort,
presented by the Personnel Manager,
Micheline Nohra
November 20:
Premier
Leisure Group (Boubess Group of
restaurants and hotels), presented by
HR Manager
Houssem Yaacoub, the Operational Manager
Donald Batal
December 11:
Uniceramic Group
presented by its General manager Mr. Nabil
Ghorra
December 18:
Kocache Group (Interior
Design Company)
presented by its Deputy General Manager Mr.
Khaled Hariri
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Recognition ceremony of Students Success |
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All six winners of the Best Poster
competition organized by UNDP and the
Ministry of Environment for the Montreal
Protocol 20th anniversary were recognized
during a ceremony held in the Halat campus
on November 29.
The Ambassador of Canada, Louis de Lorinier
attended and addressed the audience about
the efforts of Canada towards the protection
of the ozone layer. The UNDP was represented
by the director of the Environment and
Energy Bureau, Mr Edgard Chehab who spoke of
the necessity to beautify the Lebanese
cities plagued by the invasion of concrete
and Lama Moghammes, Deputy Project Manager
of the Ozone Unit represented the Ministry
of Environment and gave statistics about the
results of the efforts deployed by the Ozone
Unit to convert gas emissions of Lebanese
factories to ozone-friendly gases.
The ceremony was attended by AUT President,
members of the Administrative affairs
Committee, Member of Parliament, Gen Shamel
Mozaya, heads of municipal councils of Jbeil,
Halat and Fidar, principals of schools the
winning students studies at before joining
AUT, AUT staff, parents and students.
Words were said for the occasion by Director
of External Relations, Marcel Hinain, UNDP
and MoE representatives and Canada
Ambassador before Chairman of Arts, Dr Lex
Coleman called the winners on stage to get
their awards. National winner, Layal Attieh
and International Best Poster winner Rana
Bark also spoke to the audience about their
experience.
Awards to the speakers were later presented
by AUT President Ghada Hinain before all
went to Crystal Room for the cocktail
reception.
Rana Bark
Layal
Attieh
Moghammes,
Chehab, de Lorinier and AUT President Ghada
Hinain
Congratulations
Winners,
parents and officials
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“An Inconvenient Truth”, a documentary at AUT |
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Global Warming and Climate Change were the main
themes presented through the movie An
Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, former Vice
President of the United States on November 16 at
AUT.
Invited by the English Department at AUT,
students, faculty and staff watched the winning
2006 Academy Award for Documentary Feature film
“An Inconvenient Truth”. In this documentary, Al
Gore reviews the
scientific opinion on climate change,
discusses the
politics and
economics of global warming, and describes
the consequences he believes global climate
change will produce if the amount of
human-generated
greenhouse gases are not significantly
reduced in the very near future.
Prior to the movie, students had the chance to
brainstorm ideas and free write about threats
and effects of climate change. After the movie,
students shared solutions for climate change. In
her report about the documentary, one of the
students wrote, “Al Gore, whose speech was
interrupted by applause several times, has
revived in me the sense of a hero that we as
Lebanese fight for.”
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EMMY Award Winner Appointed Faculty Chair At American University Of Technology |
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Dr. Lester K. “Lex” Coleman has been
appointed Chairperson of the Faculty of Arts &
Humanities at the American University of
Technology, in Halat.
Dr. Coleman is a scholar, an EMMY award winning
investigative journalist, a former radio and
television correspondent, a writer, and author.
Lex Coleman was propelled into the national
limelight when he broke the story in the late
70's that Alabama Governor, George C. Wallace's
wife tapped the governors bedroom telephone.
The story won him the
Edward R. Murrow Award. He was soon selected
to be Mutual Radio’s
White House correspondent, covering the
presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
He
won his first
Emmy for exposing the fraud behind the city
of
Boston, Ma. Greenline trolly cars for
Westinghouse Television. He was an
investigative reporter for JACK ANDERSON
CONFIDENTIAL, a national television news
magazine. He went on to co-produce investigative
segments for 20/20 at ABC, and 60 MINUTES at
CBS News. He moved over to the
CBS News foreign desk, where he covered the
Hajj in Saudi Arabia and the civil war in
Lebanon. He received the overseas press
club award, and a second Emmy in 1988 for his
Expose of the Lebanese drug trade for NBC NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS. He was named a senior
investigative producer for
ABC News in
London in the early 90’s, working with
European Bureau Chief,
Pierre Salinger .
After leaving active reporting, Dr. Coleman
served as National Director of Public Affairs
for the Boys Scouts of America. He
subsequently established a communications
consultant company, LCG, LLC, based in his
native Florida, working with clients across the
USA and abroad, while lecturing at Florida State
University School of Mass Communications.
He
is married to the former Mary - Claude Phillipe
Beaino of Sarba, Lebanon. They have three grown
children.
Books:
'SQUEAL' Behind the New England Mafia, Spoonwood
Press.
'TRAIL OF THE OCTOPUS', The Untold Story of Pan
Am 103, Penquin Signet Books.
'THE VANITY OF LEX, A Memoir, Publication date,
Sept 2008.
Honors & Award
Emmy Award: Right Track Wrong Trolley, WBZ TV,
Boston
Emmy Award: The Lebanese Connection, NBC News,
London
Over Seas Press Club Award, The Lebanese
Connection, NBC News
Edward R. Murrow Award, The Wallace Tapes, WSGN
Birmingham, Al
The Society of Professional Journalists Award
for Public Service
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Coleman"
Academic
B.A. Jacksonville University, FL
Neiman Fellow, Harvard University
D.
Arts, Rochville University, SUNY Concord
AUT and Dr Coleman are currently working on
establishing a media and communication center at
AUT that will serve the needs of AUT students
majoring in Radio/TV and in Audio-Visual Arts.
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AUT Wins International Competition |
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After the AUT success marked by Layal Attieh
winning the first prize for the national
category and traveling to Montreal with the
official Lebanon delegation to represent the
country in the Montreal Protocol’s 20th
Anniversary conference held there from
September 14 to 22, another hit scored by
AUT was the voting of second-prize national
category,
Rana Bark’s
poster as the Best Poster for the
International category and overall winner!
A recognition ceremony was held by the
Ministry of Environment and the UNDP on
November 16 to honor Rana and Layal and AUT
will hold a recognition celebration on
November 29 at AUT in presence of parents,
UNDP and MOE officials and the ambassador of
Canada. More to come on this topic.
Graphic Design students enrolled with Mr Joe
Prince (GDP 225) last spring had entered a
best-poster competition organized by the
Ministry of Environment and the UN
Environment Program around the Montreal
Protocol for the protection of the planet
Earth along with over 160 participants
including students from other universities
in Lebanon, advertising agencies and
individuals. All countries that signed the
Protocol also had entries for the
international best poster competition
For other success stories please click
here
Layal
honored in Montreal
Best international poster
best
national poster
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“Sleep”, a presentation at AUT |
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Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Disorders were the main
topics addressed by guest speaker, Dr Tania
Tayah at AUT on November 8, 2007.
Invited by the English department of AUT, Dr
Tayah presented important facts related to sleep
and students had a chance to ask questions about
the effects of energy drinks on sleep,
recommendations for night workers, and the
effects of sleep deprivation on early aging.
The guest speaker is a neurologist who has two
American Board certifications in Neurology and
Neurophysiology. She is a graduate of Staten
University Hospital and the State University of
New York. She did also a fellowship in Epilepsy
and Sleep Medicine at Vanderbilt University and
she’s a lecturer at University of Balamand – St
George Hospital.
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AUT honored by SUNY Empire State College |
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During a ceremony held in Athens, Greece on
November 1, Vice- President for Academic Affairs
and currently Officer-in-Charge of Empire State
College-State University of New York, Dr Joyce
Elliott presented AUT, represented by Director
of External Relations and Development Marcel
Hinain, with an honoray award in honor of the
friendship between the two institutions.Dr
Elliott said a word for the occasion insisting
on the importance of the importance of the
partnership with AUT initiated by Director
Marcel Hinain in 1996 and promising closer
cooperation on many projects and academic
programs on both undergraduate and graduate
levels.
Marcel Hinain thanked SUNY Empire State College
for the trust and friendship shown to AUT and
wished VP Elliott success in her current
assignment pending the selection of a new
preident for Empire State College. He reiterated
AUT's will to develop the relationship with ESC
and later met with the director of the Center
for International Programs, Dr Kingston
Nyamapfene and the director for the Lebanese
Residency Program, Dr Karolyn Andrews to
discuss current state of affairs.
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Awards Ceremony for Student Divers |
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The latest class
of Scuba Divers received their IANTD diving
certificates in a recent awards ceremony on
the American University of Technology campus in Halat.
The largest
graduating class so far received Open Water
Diving Certification, allowing them to
perform free dives above a 20 meter depth.
Master Diver, Kamal Greij is the principle
instructor for the Scuba Diver program at
A.U.T.
Pictured with
him presenting certificates to the
graduating class is Dr. Lex Coleman,
Chairperson, for the Faculty of Arts &
Humanities.
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Fall Semester 2007 Begins |
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AUT faculty and staff were happy to receive
new and returning students on Monday October
8 for the fall semester. Coffee was offered
to all and one of the AUT music bands
performed modern opera while students took
breaks in the green area between classes.
A street-ball challenge will open the sports
season at AUT on Monday October 12 while a
table tennis tournament will take over
students’ attention the following week.
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Another AUT Students’ Success |
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Graphic Design students enrolled with Mr Joe
Prince (GDP 225) last spring entered a
best-poster competition organized by the
Ministry of Environment and the UN
Environment Program around the Montreal
Protocol for the protection of the planet
Earth along with over 160 participants
including students from other universities
in Lebanon, advertising agencies and
individuals.
Layal Attieh won the first prize and
traveled to Montreal with the official
Lebanon delegation to represent the country
in the conference held there from September
14 to 22. Her winning work alongside the
works of the other top 9 students were
displayed to the audience that grouped
representatives of 168 countries.
AUT is especially proud as the second place
in that competition went to AUT’s Rana Bark
(poster shown here ) and 4 other students
placed in the top 10 positions: Roger
Bardawil, Richard Ashi, Marc Mozawak and
Daniela Bou Gharios. The winning poster
cannot be displayed before the official
ceremony the UNEP will organize in October
2007.
A recognition ceremony is in preparation at
AUT to honor students and professors.
For other success stories please click
here
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AUT and State University of New York- Empire State College Offer Dual Degree
Opportunities |
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It is now possible for students accepted at
AUT to follow a program leading to two
bachelor degrees: one granted by AUT and the
other by SUNY- Empire State College. All
majors under the School of Business and
under the Department of Arts in addition to
the majors of Computer Science and
Information Technology fall under this new
dual degree agreement. Students have to
enroll with ESC for 20 credits and to follow
12 credits co-taught by the two universities
and satisfy the graduation requirements of
both institutions.
More information can be obtained from the
Director of External Relations.
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AUT Authorized TOEFL Testing Center |
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AUT Becomes An
Authorized TOEFL Testing Center.
Students can now take the TOEFL (iBT
version) at AUT-Halat whether they are
applying for admission to AUT or any other
university. Applicants to TOEFL who wish to
take the TOEFL at AUT in Halat must access
the site
www.ets.org and look for the TOEFL
Locations and Dates page then choose Lebanon
so they find Halat.
AUT’s TOEFL Testing Centre Number is
STN12940A.
The test fee is $150 and payment is effected
by credit card through the www.ets.org site.
After the fee is paid, students receive an
e-mail
from ETS stating their student number
details. They then bring this e-mail to our
Test Centre to
check-in
before the actual exam. It is important to
note that the new version of the test is
4 hours
long.
By becoming a testing center, AUT aims at
making it easy for the students of Byblos
and Batroun areas to take the iBT.
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Davenport University Joint MBA Program |
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American University of
Technology and Davenport
University based in
Michigan, USA signed an
articulation agreement on
August 17, 2007 for a joint
Masters of Business
Administration program to
start fall 2007. The
agreement was signed at AUT
Halat in the presence of a
representative from
Davenport University. By
virtue of this agreement
students can enroll in this
MBA program with
concentrations in Strategic
Management and in Health
Care Management and obtain a
degree from Davenport and
another from AUT when all
graduation requirements are
met. There will be no need
to travel to the US to
complete the program. More
details can be obtained by
emailing the
director of external
relations
Davenport University
representative Sanaa Bou
Melhem, who is the
International Student
Advisor, has also finalized
a study abroad agreement
allowing Davenport
University to study at AUT
for one or two
semesters. Courses proposed
to Davenport students cover
the areas of Business,
History and Civilizations of
the Middle East, Arabic
language and plans have been
formulated to offer exchange
students cultural tours and
special lectures.
The implementation of the
agreement starts Fall 2007.
This is the sixth agreement
of its kind and illustrates
AUT’s policy to provide a
wide horizon to its students
in terms of academic
exchange and cultural
interaction.
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Engineering Studies with University of Dayton |
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An articulation agreement for
studies in Civil, Mechanical and
Electrical Engineering as well
as for Engineering Technology
was signed between AUT and the
University of Dayton in Ohio,
USA. This agreement allows AUT
to offer pre-engineering courses
to students who then move on to
Ohio to complete their studies
at UD. Courses given at AUT
include Math, Physics, Chemistry
and General University
Requirements and cover an
average of 60 credits. At UD,
students complete an average of
60 credits to obtain their
Bachelors. Master and doctoral
programs are also available at
UD.
The agreement also stipulates
that AUT students
with a GPA of 3.0
or above get a 33% reduction on
UD tuition fees.
In addition,
students can apply for more
faculty financial aid and have
the opportunity to join paid
internships with companies UD
has cooperation agreements with
so that their living and
educational expenses are reduced
to a minimum.
More information can be obtained by
emailing
External Relations
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Preparation for the English Placement Exam |
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In order to help candidates
for admission to AUT prepare
well for the English
Placement Exam, free
sessions are offered weekly
Monday to Thursday 10 am to
12 pm. Students will improve
their test-taking skills,
practice reading and
listening comprehension,
sentence structure and essay
writing with the help of the
English department of AUT.
The session is week long and
optional and is offered free
of charge.
This initiative by the
Office of Students Success
supported by the Office of
Admissions is offered to all
students who apply for
admission to AUT in majors
under Business
Administration, Arts and
Humanities and Computer
Science and Engineering. For
more details email the
director of admissions.
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June 19th Conference |
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The book by
AUT’s press advisor, Georges Arab,
titled Patriarch Sfeir, the Keeper of
Memory was the topic for a conference
organized by AUT’ department of External
Relations on June 19th at 7 pm at AUT in
collaboration with the Byblos Cultural
Council.
The
conference hosted Jbeil Bishop, Mgr
Rahi who addressed the national role
played by the Maronite Church in general
and the Patriarch in particular. He read
passages from the book relating minutes
of meetings held with Lebanese and
international leaders between 1956 and
1977 showing the similarity of the
political situation in the past to that
today.
The
President of the Lebanese Ambassadors
League, Ambassador Fouad Turk spoke
about the actions of Patriarch Sfeir
aimed at reaching out to the Lebanese
diaspora. In this respect he counted the
many efforts displayed by the Patriarch
to mobilize the emigrants to work for
their country of origin. Ambassador Turk
has proposed that the title of the
Patriarch be changed to show the width
of his sphere of action (Patriarch of
Lebanon and the world).
Jbeil
district governor Habib Kairouz spoke of
the active role played by the Patriarch
since his early days as bishop in
keeping together the national unity.
The
addresses were followed by a cocktail
reception as the author dedicated his
books
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