On September 27, 2010, Qatar University’s Foundation Program Department of English (FPDE) celebrated its achievement of five-year accreditation by the Commission for English Language Program Accreditation (CEA).

The event held at Sheraton Doha was attended by QU President Prof Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad, CEA Executive Director Theresa O’Donnell, QU VP and Chief Academic Officer Dr Sheikha Jabor al-Thani, Foundation Program (FP) Director Dr Khalid al-Ali, Community College of Qatar Dean Dr Judith Hansen, QU Deans, FP faculty and staff, and guests from academic institutions and programs in Doha.

“This is a major milestone in QU’s endeavour to achieve international accreditation for all of its programs,” Prof al-Misnad said on the occasion. “We are proud of the Foundation Program team and confident that they will provide an increasingly positive experience for their students,” she added. Dr al-Ali stated that the accreditation reflects the continuing effort to raise the education level in the Foundation Program.

“It also reflects the importance of the English language and up-to-date resources and information for university students. This achievement confirms our commitment to follow the highest standards and to achieve Qatar’s 2030 Vision,” he said.

QU Accreditation Project Co-ordinator Justin Richards observed that the key aim of the Program now should be to ensure that it maintain, or even improve upon, the standards of best practice set out by CEA.

“In this way, students will continue to benefit from the cycle of continuous appraisal and development that is the cornerstone of accreditation”.

In her keynote address, O’Donnell pointed out that in seeking and gaining CEA accreditation, the Foundation Program Department of English completed a rigorous process of internal and external review.

“CEA accreditation signals that the Department has met widely-accepted standards of good practice, and it joins a growing number of English language programs that value the professionalism that accreditation signifies.”

FP student Taimaa Janat was of the view that accreditation means that the English courses have become more effective. “The students’ English has improved and they have become more confident and ready to start at their colleges,” she claimed. The accreditation process started three years ago with the FPDE’s rigorous self-study to align its program with CEA’s 52 standards.

The process included workshops led by CEA members, a self-study report and financial review, a site visit by CEA reviewers and a response to the site visit report. The decision to grant full accreditation was announced in April this year. By this achievement, the program is one of the largest in the world to gain CEA accreditation. The CEA was founded in 1999 in the US by English language professionals as a specialised accrediting agency for improving the quality of English language teaching and administration through accepted standards.The agency conducts accreditation reviews in the US and internationally.