THE director general of the New York-based International Advertising Association (IAA), the world’s largest professional association for the advertising industry, based completed his first visit to the Kingdom last week.
Michael Lee arrived in the Kingdom accepting an invitation from Dr. Abdullah Sadik Dahlan, chairman of the Board of Trustees, University of Business and Technology, to attend celebrations marking IIA recognition to Jeddah College of Advertising and to distribute IAA professional diplomas to the first batch of graduates from JCA.
Together with Lee, Professor Hussein Al-Alawi, UBT director, Dr. Abdullah Bankhar, JCA dean, Dr. Haneen Shoaib, associate dean of the female JCA campus, participated in the certificates distribution.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Shihab Jamjoom, member of the Board of Trustees of UBT, and Professor Munir Al-Sayed, former dean of JCA, and prominent figures in advertising industry in the Kingdom, in addition to the parents of the graduates.
During the two-day visit, Lee met with university officials including Dr. Ali Al-Tawati, vice rector for academic affairs; Dr. Lulua Al-Mutlaq, vice rector of the women’s section; Dr. Wiam Tunusi, rector, quality and development; and deans Dr. Salah Abu-Nar, Dr. Yusra Jamjoum and Dr. Jawad Al-Sulaiman.
Expressing his positive feelings about his visit, Lee said, “I had come to the Kingdom with overwhelmingly positive impressions on the standards of Jeddah Advertising College students through their active participations in sessions conducted by IAA in Dubai several times in the past four years.”
He said he was really excited and impressed to see the capabilities of UBT equipped with high tech laboratories and sophisticated technical facilities as well as highly qualified teaching and administrative staff, technicians, faculty members and a skillful mix of students. He also praised the international standard of professionalism witnessed in the graduation projects submitted by the students.
Lee promised to further increase mutual cooperation with JCA for international advertising projects in the near future.
The University of Business and Technology is offering quality education in various professional specializations. JCA graduates will get degrees recognized by the Ministry of Education for undergraduates and vocational certificates recognized by the International Advertising Association (IAA).
The agreement between JCA and IAA comes from UBT’s efforts focusing on quality education and specializations both academically and professionally and at the same time engaging more efficiently to meet the requirements of the Saudi job market.
The first batch of graduates from Jeddah Advertising College, including 24 girls and 11 boys, entered the Saudi job market in 2016. IAA’s first branch in the Kingdom is expected to open in Jeddah College of Advertising during 2017. — SG
