The University of Sharjah

Team 3 has had the great opportunity of working with the University of Sharjah for our project targeting the university students as an eGovernment market segment.    The main campus resides in University City, an educational complex containing nine academic institutions.  

His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, established this 1600 + acre complex, shown in pink above,  in 1997.  We see the progress of buildings under construction each day.

 

The University of Sharjah is quite impressive in terms of scale and academic offerings.  The campus is beautiful.  The buildings and ornamentation are excellent examples of Islamic architecture and design.

(There is no way that a single photo shows the splendor of the site.  Click here to see a flyover video of the campus.)

As you face the main building,  the men’s campus is located on the right and the women’s campus on the left.   The buildings containing the same academic programs are labeled with the same number.  However, the building number also contains the M or F so you know in which area it is located.  (e.g. M9 and W9.)  Many classes are segregated by gender. Others are not.

We have met with students in business, engineering, medical fields, Arabic studies, Communications and more.  We have seen the new university hospital, lab buildings, and the state-of-the-art production and media labs in the Communications building.  The cafeteria closest to us in in the Women’s Lab building.  It has been neat to see the solar projects that have been on display the last few weeks.

In case you are curious about what students wear, some of the male students are dressed in a kandura and guthra.  (The long robe in white, sand, or blue and the head covering.)  The majority of the male students wear jeans and a button-down or polo shirt.   

The young women are much more diverse in what they wear.  Many wear the abaya (black gown) and a shela or hijab as a head covering.  A few wear the burqa which covers all but the eyes.   I have also seen some with full facial covering and the hands covered by the gafaaz.  (One note about the Abaya and head coverings – they can be quite simple in all black or ornately trimmed with ruffles, lace, crochet, bead work, colorful fabric, and more.)   Some female students wear long skirts or slacks with tunics and colorful hijabs.   A few of the ladies wear jeans and knit tops with no head coverings.  

The semester is almost over on campus.  Finals start this Sunday.  Thank you students for your input in focus groups and in our surveys.  Your opinion made a difference!

#ibmcsc  #uae  #University of Sharjah