Mohammad Ali Meraj, Mba, Efqm, Pgche Email & Phone Number

United Arab Emirates

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I am responsible for the following departments: - CampusCentral - Careers and Employability Services - Centre for Academic Success - Dubai Academic Registry - The Library, and- The Quality OfficeIn this role, I lead all facets of strategic development of academic professional services to support the delivery of our programmes at the Dubai campus and ensuring that students have an outstanding learning experience. Each of my teams provide prompt and efficient support to our Students, Faculty, and Alumni. We also engage proactively with our Regulatory stakeholders (including Dubai Government's Knowledge and Human Development Authority - KHDA), Employers and Business Partners. My responsibilities include ensuring regulatory compliance; managing the University's timetabling process; overseeing our quality assurance and enhancement systems; providing academic learning, disability and counselling support to students; promoting student employability and alumni relations; and ensuring the adequacy of our Library learning resources.

My teaching experience includes postgraduate and final year undergraduate modules in Strategic Planning, Marketing Management and in Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses. I have also taught undergraduate level courses in Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Management in addition to running a series of professional training workshops and presented seminars at a variety of conferences.

Since I joined this fledgeling but rapidly growing campus of Middlesex University, United Kingdom (UK), nearly 70 new programs have been introduced and enrolments have increased from around 800 to 3,600 students. I have been directly involved in this growth; leading the program approval and validation processes in the UK through the University’s committee structure and also with Dubai Government’s KHDA; and improving the University’s external communications through initiatives such as schools outreach, publications and website overhaul. I was also the Dubai campus’ main liaison for the Institutional Audit of Middlesex University carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the UK in 2009, where the QAA commended the University for the ‘meticulous attention given to the establishment, development and integration of the University's Dubai campus’. More recently in February 2014, I coordinated the participation of our Dubai campus in the Transnational Education Review held by QAA (a positive report was published in May 2014). I have played a key role in formalising workflows, documenting processes, setting-up performance management systems within the Quality Office and for other functional areas within the University. Part of this work involved creating a range of policies and procedures for both academic and administrative functions and training staff members. In managing this change process, I have established collegial and supportive relationships with members of the University Executive, faculty and administrative staff members both in Dubai and in London as well as a number of key external partners (such as Dubai’s KHDA).

Qualified EFQM Assessor for the 2010 version of EFQM Model.I have participated as an Assessor in several Awards cycles for the Business Excellence Department at Dubai Economic Department (DED). DED's awards are assessed based on EFQM methodology.

I was responsible for ensuring the University met its standards for academic excellence, had an effective policies and procedures framework and undertook strategic planning using accurate and pertinent information and statistics. I also ensured the institution optimised its use of resources and adopted continuous improvement leading to cost savings. At the same time, I pro-actively provided intelligence and market assessment leading to new programmes, business development and service enhancement. I supervised a team of research assistants and a policy coordinator to ensure institutional research was carried out in a systematic manner and authored a comprehensive range of studies and reports for internal and external audiences. Collaborating with the Dean and the CEO, I assisted in managing the University’s relationship with key stakeholders, for instance, the UAE Ministry of Higher Education’s Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA).Key accomplishments included:- Initiated a systematic process for identifying and monitoring KPIs that enabled timely tracking of organisational performance. - Played a key role in attaining accreditation for 7 masters and 4 undergraduate programs that included submission writing, managing auditor visits and response preparation.- Developed the University’s survey framework including measuring feedback from current students, graduate exit, alumni, employers as well as measuring employee satisfaction data. Enhanced the use of client opinion ratings in strategic planning.- Developed an effective suite of policies covering program quality assurance, admission and enrolment, examination, staff performance assessment and promotion.- Instituted a comprehensive reporting system to track operational performance metrics in teaching assessment, enrolment trends and graduates outcomes. - Conducted feasibility studies to determine the need for academic programs (engineering, arts and commerce disciplines), new markets and campuses.

Being responsible for University of Wollongong Dubai’s student recruitment and admissions (the main source of revenues for the private university) I had to manage a team of 6 full-time and up to 10 casual staff to meet challenging enrolment targets. I successfully created a new department that handled all flows of information with prospective students and provided superior customer service. In addition to organising on-campus marketing and conversion events and activities, I worked closely with the university’s network of international agents to develop long-term profitable relationships. I travelled regularly within the GCC, to the Indian sub-continent and Levant regions participating in educational fairs and universities’ exhibitions. I initiated the use of a telephone contact management system and an electronic customer relationship management (CRM) system that facilitated effective handling of all enquiries and greater conversions. Key Accomplishment include: - Recruited nearly 1,000 students annually for undergraduate and postgraduate process across domestic and international markets. - Instituted a new customer contact centre and upgraded procedures for admissions and student recruitment; develop systems for motivating and managing staff. - Developed criteria for entry, approved student admissions and conducted orientation and induction ceremonies for new students coming from a variety of educational backgrounds.

Postgraduate Certificate In Higher Education Teaching & Learning, Education

Action Learning Project Topic: Using Marketing Strategy Simulations to Enhance Student Learning

Master Of Business Administration (Mba), Strategic Management, Marketing, Supply Chain Management

Bachelor Of Business Administration, Business, Finance, Economics, Marketing, Strategy, Communications

Top graduating student and recipient of the Microsoft Award