Bayan College, General Foundation Program Quality Audit, Jan 1900
 
Dr Samya Al Shanfari
 
Dr Samya Al Shanfari is the Executive Director of Quality and Institutional performance at Muscat University with experience of over 29 years of working in education, 20 of which have been in the Higher Education Sector in Oman. I hold a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to joining Muscat University, I held numerous leadership positions such as Assistant Dean for Academic Support & Student Affairs, and Director of Quality Assurance/Head of Quality Assurance Unit at the College of Banking and Financial Studies (1st Accredited Government Institution by OAAA). I also acted as Acting Dean, Acting Assistant Dean Academic Affairs and as Chair/Deputy for a number of boards and committees including the Academic Committee, Progression Board, Research Committee and Quality Assurance Committees. I have been involved in the field of management and leadership that was well informed by an MSc. in Management and Leadership from Strathclyde University.  Similarly, my active engagement in the sphere of quality came as early as 2006 when I submitted a thesis titled “Managing Change to Introduce Quality Assurance”, contributing to the MSc mentioned above. My experience in the education sphere generally and quality in particular, was further consolidated through my PhD in Transnational Higher Education, investigating education quality through the lens of international partnerships and affiliation provision in Oman.I maintain close links with both industry and Higher Education providers in Oman. I enjoy disseminating knowledge and sharing experiences related to educational practices, management, leadership, quality and accreditation. Furthermore, I enjoyed working closely with the HEIs as a member in Oman Association for Quality in Higher Education from 2016-2000.
 
Dr. Hala Deeb Obaid
 
Dr. Hala Obaid currently works as a Senior Review Director/ Consultant/Advisor, Academic Affairs at the Directorate of Higher Education Reviews at Education &Training Quality Authority (BQA) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. She has acted as a Review Director for several institutional and programme quality assurance reviews for all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) operating in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Since 2018, she has been selected by The Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA) to act as a chair for several General Foundation Programme audit visits in Oman, as well as being an external moderator. She also works with The German Accreditation Agency (AQAS) in auditing College of Arts and Social Science at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. She has presented several workshops conducted by BQA to HEIs covering areas related to writing effective self-evaluation report, reviewing processes for both HEIs and auditing panel, institution and programme review frameworks and training local reviewers. Her PhD Degree is in Linguistics from University of Essex, UK. Her thesis tackled issues related to effective Business English Writing, employability skills and bridging the gap between industry and academia by focusing on lifelong learning skills and genre analysis from professional and linguistic aspects. Prior to joining the BQA, she was the programme coordinator for all Business English courses offered at UoB. Her interests are around enhancing quality assurance in HEIs, genre analysis, and enhancing students’ writing skills and lifelong learning skills to easily inject them in to the workplace.
 
Dr Hamdan Sulaiman Al Fazari
 
Dr. Hamdan Al Fazari is an Associate Professor who holds MBA Degree in Aerospace Management from Toulouse Business School in France, and a PhD from National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA) – Toulouse, France. He joined Sohar University in 2013 and was appointed as Pro-Vice Chancellor (Resources), and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Vice Chancellor (Resources) in 2018. Dr. Hamdan was formerly a career officer in the Engineering branch of the Royal Air Force of Oman where he was acknowledged for his distinguished record of experience in engineering, management and academic leadership. He has an established record of experience in engineering, academia, business and leadership. In addition, he has wide experience in education and academic leadership ranging from Head of Department of Further Engineering Training, to Assistant Principal of the Air Force Technical College and Assistant Academic Advisor in the establishment of the Military Technological College. He has held many senior management posts in the field of personnel and administrative services, training, education, personnel development, coordination and planning, quality assurance, and in management and development. Dr. Hamdan is registered in the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA) as an external reviewer and he is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).