Fayoum University Monday 24 December 2012

Higher Education Funding Opportunities in the Arab Region Fayoum University Monday 24 December 2012

A New Initiative! In May 2008, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) with the generous support of the Ford Foundation regional office in Cairo agreed on implementing the “Higher Education Funding Opportunities” Project.

The Project aims to serve.. Donors Higher Education Institutes Students

How will this serve Students?? The Directory includes 83 donors in 12 Arab countries who support higher education by providing at least one of the following: – Scholarships. – Trainings. – Grants. – Fellowships. – Internships. – Loans.

Research Methodology Research Internet Business Magazines Newspaper Personal Contacts Approach Phone Calls Courier Visits Follow Up Assemble Compile Filter Verify Edit & Publish

Challenges Desire to remain anonymous rather than be publicized in the Directory. Inability to comprehend the rationale of the project. Charity nature of the donations (zakat). Lack of a systemized policy for support. Support is provided for employees only.

Yet…..

And the BA took the initiative and produced the following

Printed Directory A printed version of the Directory was produced. 600 copy was printed. The directory was disseminated to most of the 12 countries’ Universities, Cultural Centers, Donors and NGOs.

Website An on-line Directory serves as a search engine through the BA website

Social Network A Page on FacebookFacebook with more than 700 users

A Step Further Still more needs to be done Starting from September 2011 and over more than a whole year, the project team started implementing second phase of the project with more: Updates Additions Workshops Training Interaction

Will include the following: Updating Data. Adding new donors. Adding Oman to the list of countries. Adding hyperlinks of international donors. Creating an interactive space to receive feedback from end- users.

Designing and posting guiding documents for students such as the following: - Produce a glossary of terms with the definitions of most common prerequisite exams (i.e.: ELPET, GMAT, GPA, GRE, IELTS, IQ, SAT, TOEFL) and identify links for training centers that provide these courses and exams. – Guidelines and samples for: Application forms. CVs Recommendation letters. – Videos: For example videos of how to write a CV.

The BA will also organize training workshops across Egypt to: Demonstrate the website. Provide guidelines to fill an application. Acquaint attendees with donors to know their work and how to reach them.

Your suggestions are IMPORTANT

Thank you