Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of the University, stated in an interview with Al-Quds Newspaper, his proposal of trying to open the most needed faculties to meet the increasing demands of the market, making sure at the same time that these faculties do not duplicate with the ones of other universities. Among recent achievements of the university, he highlighted the opening of new faculties and their transferal to the new campus, such as the faculty of Human Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the creation of the Nursing Faculty and the Optometry Faculty. Ten Faculties are currently operating at the new campus besides the new theater, well furnished and supplied with high technical equipment. The construction of the building that will host the gym is in its second stage, he added, as well as the stadium, the mosque, the restaurant and a commercial complex. The university has also opened the Forensic Medicine Institute and the Poison Control and Drug Information Center, both offering services to the local community and providing an opportunity for students to get their training. The University has got 64 undergraduate degree programs, 32 Master programs and one PH.D program in Chemistry.
The University has benefited from different aids for the construction of the new campus. Thanks to the many donors who have contributed, we have managed to provide the university grounds with its needed facilities, he added, thanking all those who supported the university in spite of the hard times.
The University President spoke about the cooperation between the 14 scientific centers of the University and the local community, thanks to which hundreds of projects have been developed and implemented. “I do believe that scientific research is essential for development, and in spite of the lack of funding we have managed and achieved good results in this regards”, he added, “Our University professors have received tens of national and international awards for their researches”.
The President thanked the academic staff of the University for their efforts, stating that they have given their fruits in form of the Quality Assurance and Accreditation (QAA). The evaluation of the Educational Sciences Faculty was done under supervision of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and with the participation of experts from QAA in London. It is worth mentioning that the last accreditation project was concluded in 2004, when it was the turn of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
In relation to the University’s developments, the President mentioned the establishment of the Careers Unit, recently created to offer the necessary training for the graduates of this University, opening new doors for them in the local and regional market. He also referred to the Information Technology Institute, donated by the Southern Korean Government by a sum of 1.6 Million JD and is likely to add another improvement in the field of technology. He mentioned that the university has opened the Honour Faculty for Distinguished Students who study more courses in leadership and communication.
Regarding the financial crisis, Prof. Hamdallah said that this situation is not new. He pointed out "we cannot raise tuition fees while student’s applications for loans have also dramatically increased”. He then added that the Palestinian Authority used to give 20 million dollars to Palestinian universities every year. Although sometimes offering less than a half and other times more, this year we have not yet received anything. We understand the situation of the Palestinian Authority but we hope that it will give a priority for universities when funding is available. The above-mentioned sum is not sufficient, universities offer thousands of academic seats, and this saves millions dollars if we have to send our students to study abroad. We should not forget the job opportunities these universities offer to people, besides refreshing the economic atmosphere in the universities regions”.