Zairi International Awards for Excellence in Higher Education

Deadline: 10-Feb-22

The Center for Learning Innovations and Customized Knowledge Solutions (CLICKS) is inviting nominations for the Zairi International Awards for Excellence in Higher Education to highlight inspiring success stories of higher education institutions and celebrate institutions that have developed and implemented creative responses to current and ongoing issues in the sector.

The Award is a formal international recognition of outstanding performance for Higher Education institutions around the world in specific areas pertinent to research, digital transformation, community engagement, etc. and to those who successfully addressed global educational challenges.

Objectives

• To celebrate excellence, inspiring efforts, innovation and success stories of higher education institution across the globe.
• To raise the profile of higher education institutions that are committed to creating real and sustainable impact through their digital initiatives, research and innovation or engagement with the community.
• To promote the transfer of best practices and ‘know-how’ among higher education institution across the globe in various contexts and cultural settings.
• To influence future collaborations and cross regional collaborations that could help shape the future of higher education.
• To infuse a culture of honest and ethical competition, while at the same time encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Categories

• Award of Excellence for Digital Transformation: This award recognizes higher education institutions that successfully implemented digital transformation initiatives to solve challenges, operate more efficiently and/or offer a more comprehensive studentcentric learning experience that leverages on the use of technology. This award aims at rewarding those institutions hat keep inspiring others to push the boundaries of higher education technology and innovation.
• Award of Excellence for Outstanding Not-for-Profit Contribution to the Community: This award seeks to highlight the incredible achievements of higher education institutions that stands out when it comes to engaging with the community including: volunteerism, community based learning or research, outreach and fostering community partnership, and building institutional commitment to serving the community and public good.
• Award of Excellence for Research Impact: This award recognizes higher education institutions which distinguish themselves through engaging in groundbreaking research that addresses real world challenges whether social, economic, political, cultural or other and that has made a meaningful impact in the communities or had significant impact on the field/ discipline.
• Award of Excellence for Disruptive Education: This award considers innovative and disruptive higher education institutions that stand out in their approach to shaping and re-imagining the future of higher to meet the challenges of the future.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any higher education institution from across the globe whether a university, college of technical institute offering academic degrees can apply for the award.
• Entries should be completed by a senior administrative of the institution.
• No nominations are accepted to the award.
• All submissions must be made by the institution itself, the award does not accept nominations by others.

Selection Criteria

• Award of Excellence for Digital Transformation: Digital transformation is a journey that impacts on the entire complex higher educational ecosystem; it requires specific capabilities and well-crafted strategies that can be defined from different perspectives. Hence, the award will take into consideration the following criteria:
  • Digital Transformation Strategy: considers how the institution transforms or operates to increase its competitive advantage through digital initiatives and how is this integrated within its strategic priorities and plans.
  • Student Experience: reflects on how digital technologies has been adopted to create/ enhance a student centric learning experience; this involves but is not limited to new modes of digital delivery and student services digitally enabled.
  • Technology: looks at the digital technologies and innovation that have been harnessed to implement digital transformation and how they align to the institutional strategic priorities and considers aspects of equity.
  • Implementation & Results: considers the execution and sustainability of the digital transformation strategy and how digital technologies are driving and enhancing the student learning experience, the institutional strategic management and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the institution.
  • Institutional Culture & Capacity Building: reflects on how the institution has developed an organisational culture to support digital transformation at all levels and how it strives to build capacity among different stakeholders
• Award of Excellence for Outstanding Not-for-Profit Contribution to the Community:
  • Stakeholders’ Engagement: considers the extent to which the institution engages various stakeholders in community based activities and the sort of opportunities and incentives available for students, alumni and staff to participate to engage.
  • Significance and Needs: reflects on the extent to which institutional community- based activities focus on a specific community-identified need or opportunity.
  • Impact and Sustainability: looks into how HEIs demonstrate a long-term commitment to community engagement that is measurable, relevant, sustainable and which offers tangible long lasting benefits to the community. It also takes into consideration evidences of community satisfaction and the impact created on the community.
  • Institutional Culture: looks into how the institution has developed an organisational culture to support community engagement at all levels and how it strives to support various institutional stakeholders in engaging with the community.
  • Community Partnerships: emphasizes on long term partnerships and collaborations established to maximize its potential for community engagement.
• Award of Excellence for Research Impact:
  • Research Priorities & Strategy: This refers to the research key priorities identified by the institution and translated in its research agenda and which aim at solving local, regional or global problems or challenges in any disciplines and inclusive of all types of outcomes that solve problems (i.e., development of policy, product creation) or considerably impact the discipline.
  • Innovative Approaches: considers innovative approaches adopted by the institution to achieve real impact and how it can both sustain and grow its research.
  • Research Culture & Leadership: focuses on the established institutional culture and environment in support of research, the type of support available for research and scholarly activities and demonstrated vision and leadership for research.
  • Impact and Results: considers institutional research output (i.e. publications, citations, patents, external grants etc.) of the institution, it quality and the impact it had.
  • Research Partnerships and Collaborations: considers productive partnerships established within or outside of the sector to support the research priorities and agenda of the institution and for knowledge co-creation.
• Award of Excellence for Disruptive Education:
  • Forward Looking: considers how higher education institutions are introducing new ideas in relation to programs and innovative approach to delivering learning while addressing problems od the 21st century and the extraordinary circumstances the sector is facing. It also looks into how these new ideas are translated into practice.
  • Relevance: considers how the initiative/ project is addressing a significant issue or problem within the context of a given country or region.
  • Transferable & Replicable: takes into consideration the possibility of transferring and replicating the initiative/ project (curriculum, pedagogical approaches, etc.) as a best practice in a different setting or context.
  • Effective & Impactful: looks into the success and tangible positive impact of the initiative/ project and the type of changes and transformations which have been noticed since its implementation.
  • Learners’ Empowerment: reflects on how the new initiative/ project empowers learners to succeed in a disruptive and evolving business landscape. It takes into consideration how the HEIs is preparing its learners for in-demand skills for the jobs of the future including but not limited to training them on thinking critically, becoming lifelong learners and developing agility that will enable them to adapt to new jobs of the future.

For more information, visit http://www.cli-cks.com/zairi-international-awards/