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Globally, higher education institutions have become reliant on a quality assurance (QA) system over the past four decades. QA is considered to be one of the most important drivers of continuous improvement and an essential tool for promoting excellence in teaching, learning, and research. It provides a framework for establishing and maintaining standards, and for assuring stakeholders that programs and services meet or exceed these standards. Despite the wide range of quality assurance models available to higher education institutions, there remains considerable debate over which model is the most effective, as well as what criteria should be used for evaluating the effectiveness of these models. Universities in the Middle East have tried to adopt different models of QA that can meet their needs and expectations and provide a framework for continuous improvement. A major objective of this book is to provide an overview account of the QA process as implemented in the higher education systems of a number of Middle East countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. This book lays out essential theoretical and practical insights into the role of QA policies and practices in higher education in the Middle East countries and builds upon this idea to provide a blueprint for future academic leaders in these countries and other Middle Eastern countries to enhance their QA policies and practices and drive higher education in those countries forward.

A wide range of clays are presently available in Egypt. These clays are potentially economic substances as they contain minerals such as montmorillonite, kaolinite and illite. The x‐ray flourescence and the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were calculated for the clay sample under consideration. The modification of the clay surface was achieved by using two different organic substances such as stearic acid and poly (methacrylic acid) solutions. It was found that the modification process improved the pigmentary properties of this clay.

Emulsion adhesives can be subdivided on the basis of chemistry to acrylics, styrene‐butadiene latices, styrene‐butadiene/natural rubber blends, vinyl acetate copolymers and natural rubber latices. Acrylics have the advantages of being easily modified by changing the type and amount of polar comonomers. They have excellent ageing characteristics.

Surface of aluminium oxide was modified using the adsorption of stearic acid molecules from benzene solution. The adsorption isotherm and the sedimentation properties of the aluminium oxide in the organic medium were determined. Commercial unsaturated polyester was cured to a cross‐linked structure using styrene, methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate monomers as cross‐linking agents, and small amounts of peroxidic initiator to initiate the curing process. Different composite materials of polyester‐modified surface aluminium oxide were prepared, and the physicomechanical properties of the prepared composites were measured for the products in the form of cast laminates and rods.

A newly developed polyvinyl acetate (PVA) emulsion latex for adhesive has been prepared by the semicontinuous process using a newly developed octyl aldehyde sodium bisulphite‐potassium persulphate redox pair initiation system. In this work the amount of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a protective colloid has been changed and it was found that only a little amount of (PVA) together with the newly developed adduct could cause a stable latex with excellent mechanical properties for bonding wood which favours this redox system in large industrial applictions. Also monodisperse latex particles with low polydispersity index can be prepared by using 1% PVA coupled with the newly developed redox system. Finally the developed latex has been incorporated and the corresponding shear strength were measured.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a model for developing, implementing and evaluating performance management systems in Jordan public universities that will ensure the successful achievement of their set goals in the competitive dynamic environment.

This is a conceptual paper that focuses on the model for developing, implementing and evaluating performance management systems by public universities in developing countries.

As the focus is on a conceptual model for performance management systems in public universities in developing country, it is yet to be empirically tested.

The conceptual model is limited to developing, implementing and evaluating performance management systems by public universities in developing countries.

The implementation and evaluation of performance management systems by public universities in Jordan and developing countries will ensure successful achievement of their set goals in the competitive dynamic environment.

The originality of the paper lies in its methodology. In this paper, an innovative conceptual model is proposed for developing, implementing and evaluating performance management systems by public universities in developing countries.

Heavily regulated higher education institutions may not be able to possess the autonomy to produce students who are both college and career ready. This paper aims to explore the role of the Ministry of Higher Education in Jordan in determining the content and direction of general education requirements, the historical roots of this type of intervention and its possible implications for the future of liberal arts in general education requirements.

The paper is a critical and historical reflection that combines practitioner research perspectives – the author is a university president – with reference to a single case study from a Jordanian university to demonstrate the real-life context of government intervention in general education requirements.

University education is inextricably linked with employability rather than inquiry-based disciplines that produce both intellectual development and technical skills. Jordanian universities, heavily regulated by the government, are required to allocate between 21 and 27 credit hours to general education requirements. Lost between universities that are mandated to have them and policymakers who impose them, general education requirements, as recently reformed, possess neither the ability to produce intellectual skills or career-readiness skills.

This paper highlights the importance of university autonomy in determining its approach to general education requirements to allow students to develop both career-readiness and college-readiness skills.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk perception of project sponsors in financing of public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects in India.

The methodology used is survey questionnaire that seeks the perception of risk managers in PPP projects. Rating and relative ranking of risk at various phases of PPP project have been analyzed and supplemented by unstructured interviews.

This paper shows that the perception of project sponsors for various levels of project risk categories differ significantly in PPP infrastructure projects. The practices of assessing risk and handling differ among the financing institutions. The ranking of risks shows a disagreement among respondents for relative importance. The project financiers that include major banks and financial institutions funding for the PPP infrastructure projects perceive risks differently, and their disagreement on the relative importance of risks may create a sub-optimality in risk management, and the essence of project sponsorship may be lost.

This paper examines the perceptions of the various risks involved in PPP infrastructure project financing. The authors emphasize on the infrastructure projects in the transportation and energy sector that are undertaken in the PPPs. This research can further be extended to the other infrastructure sectors such as roads, shipping and communication.

Experiences reveal that risk perception profoundly influence the implementation of infrastructure projects involving PPPs. To ensure smooth implementation and success of PPP infrastructure projects, the project sponsors must align, synchronize and develop consensus on the various funding and non-funding risks into the project curriculum.

The PPP infrastructure projects carry huge investment and are of strategic importance to the nation and society. In order that the provision of infrastructure which can be most economically and efficiently delivered through PPPs, the risk concordance assumes crucial importance.

The authors believe that this research may provide new direction to the visible and invisible misbalances in risk postures of project partners, which has been a cause of concern to the government and policymakers in India in the recent times.

We had just got over the shock of seeing the demise of the well respected name of “Berger Industrial Coatings”, now trading as Herberts (see this page, September 1987), when the parent company Hoechst made its announcement just before Christmas that Berger, Jenson & Nicholson Ltd is being sold to Williams Holdings Plc.

With less than ten years left to accomplish the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, there is a pressing need to develop innovative sustainable methods and/or techniques that agriculture and food businesses can apply to improve natural resource efficiency. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to review sustainable agriculture in one of the developing Arab countries by presenting a real-life example of a sustainable farm.

The current study aims to showcase a sustainable farm in one of the developing Arab countries, utilizing a case study methodology. The case study methodology is particularly appropriate within the current research context to provide an in-depth and multi-faceted understanding of sustainable agriculture practices.

The findings of the current study delineate the different dimensions of sustainable agriculture which includes water savings, less usage of artificial fertilizers, reduction of pesticides and use of renewable energy. In addition, the current study shows that the application of the different sustainable agriculture practices results in substantial savings on the economic levels as well as the environmental levels.

There are two valuable outcomes from this research. The first is a framework for understanding the different dimensions of sustainable agriculture. The second outcome is highlighting various implications for sustainable entrepreneurs who wish to accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture.