Saudi Arabia’s future leaders welcomed to Robert Gordon University to commence summer school to develop their skills.
A group of top-performing Undergraduate students, especially chosen from the University of Jeddah, have recently completed an innovative yet intensive 2 week programme at RGU’s state-of-the-art campus in Aberdeen.
This programme, entitled “Leaders of Tomorrow”, was designed by RGU to give delegates an early insight into what it takes to be a successful leader in the modern international community. It gives students an opportunity to explore different aspects of leadership, to learn about themselves and analyse how they would respond to certain challenges they may face in the workplace.
For the past two weeks, delegates have been learning about the key principles of leadership and leadership strategies which is delivered through fun, interactive workshops and activities. Participants have also been challenged to develop key skills such as public speaking.
The programme aims to foster students’ ability to produce innovative approaches to resolution conflict in a variety of leadership scenarios and aid them in identifying their own skill sets as potential leaders and team members. As well as exploring the beautiful RGUGarthdee campus, the delegates have also enjoyed many Scottish cultural visits during their time in Aberdeen.
A Graduation ceremony was also held to celebrate the delegates’ completion of the programme and to enjoy their last day in Aberdeen.
Dr Faisal, Head of Giftedness Programme at the University of Jeddah commented: “The Leaders of Tomorrow course is crucial in shaping the way our students develop their creative productivity and hone their management skills. We look forward to continuing the excellent relationship between University of Jeddah and RGU.”
Professor Elizabeth Gammie, Head of Aberdeen Business School, said: “We have been delighted to welcome suchenthusiastic and talented students to our University.
“These 13 delegates come from a variety of degree disciplines and it is that richness of background that has made for a very productive learning environment. We have been very impressed with the group’s enthusiasm, how they have engaged with all the activities and the quality of their work at the end of the programme.”
Erica Cargill, academic strategic lead in the department of management at RGU’s Aberdeen Business School, who helped design the programme, added: “We have loved working with this remarkable group. Whilst they have been identified by the University of Jeddah as future leaders, we wanted to give them some practical leadership skills and tools which we hope will help them as they progress with their studies as well as being highly relevant when they do eventually enter careers in their chosen disciplines.
“I would like to congratulate the students for all they accomplished during their time with us. They presented us with interactive and engaging presentationswhich highlighted their continued commitment to learning. We hope they are leaving us with many new skills as well as lots of happy memories.”
Mohammed Al-Ghandi, a student at the University of Jeddah, added: “This course has shown us the importance of working together as a team towards shared goals. By discussing our ideas and believing in each other we have accomplished far more than we would have done as individuals.
“I thank RGU for welcoming us into their family and will always remember my time here fondly.”
RGU are currently in discussions with the University of Jeddah about running another cohort next year.
Professor Gammie concluded: “I hope we can further strengthen our relationship in the future and continue with the exciting provision for the University of Jeddah. We also hope toexpand this to other Universities around the world.”
