Ahlia University, Bahrain’s first private university, is poised to create the country’s first Unified Digital Campus with the help of SunGard Higher Education, a global provider of software solutions for higher education institutions.

The solution, PowerCAMPUS Unified Digital Campus (UDC), will help Ahlia University achieve new benchmarks for quality assurance assessment in Bahrain by providing resources for teaching and learning.

“PowerCAMPUS UDC will help provide an environment that will move us closer to our vision of becoming a major centre of academic excellence,” said Professor Abdulla Al-Hawaj, president, Ahlia University.

SunGard's solution helps small to mid-sized institutions, and the people they serve, find better ways to teach, learn, manage and connect. It helps institutions respond effectively to expectations around improved accountability, performance and productivity.

By automating administrative tasks for recruitment, admissions, retention, financial services, academic records and human resources, as well as creating self-service capabilities for a collaborative community, the PowerCAMPUS UDC helps institutions deliver on their learning and service obligations to students.

The PowerCAMPUS UDC is built on Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint and SQL-Server and integrated with other Microsoft applications such as Dynamics GP.

“Mobility and connectivity are important to today’s students, they want to be connected to each other and their faculty without being in the same room; they want to know that the quality of their academic programs are recognized regionally and globally; likewise, college staff want to be able to offer quality administrative services with less time and physical presence,” said Mathew Boice, general manager, Emea, SunGard Higher Education.

As part of its commitment to the development of Bahrain’s higher education, Ahlia University teamed with SunGard Higher Education in February to organise the Bahrain Higher Education Executive Meeting, which attracted more than 75 academics, educators and top government officials.-TradeArabia News Service