The Academic Bridge Program (ABP), a center of Qatar Foundation, organized an orientation for approximately 250 new students on Sunday and Monday in the Learning Resources Center (LRC) of the ABP’s Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Building, in Education City. This year, the ABP also welcomes a new Director, Dr Bryan Lewallen.
During orientation, the class of 2015 was introduced to the ABP’s facilities, policies and activities, as well as, to the administrators, faculty and staff who will be working with the students throughout the upcoming academic year. A College Information session, a Goal-setting and Reflection session, an Academic Integrity session and a Community Building activity were also part of the programme.
Around 77 percent of this year’s students are Qatari and the rest of the students come from around 15 different countries (Sri Lanka, Algeria, Gambia, Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others). Nearly 70 percent of this year’s class is female. Commenting on the start of the ABP’s 14th academic year, ABP’s new Director, Dr Bryan Lewallen, said: “Our faculty and staff are working hard to see that everything is in order for the first day of classes on August 17, and [that] we look forward to a very successful and rewarding school year. I am very proud to be a part of the ABP this year.”
Dr Bryan K Lewallen (USA) joins the ABP as Director this August 2014. He has 31 years of experience in education and has worked as a school administrator for 26 years. During that time, he served as a teacher, principal, university instructor, and school director. Dr Bryan has worked in the USA, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Indonesia, and Morocco.
The two-day orientation programme started with an introductory welcome from Dr Miles Lovelace, ABP Consultant and former ABP Director. This was followed by a presentation by Alia Khairat, Senior Student Services Officer (on behalf of Moza AlBoainain, Assistant Director for Student Services), explaining the ABP Student Services’ policies and activities. Students were then introduced to the library and the LRC, given a tour of the ABP’s LAS building and attended a College Information session.
The second day of orientation started with a presentation outlining the keys to success by Dr Mark Newmark, Assistant Director for Academic Affairs.
Hassan Zeidan, Admissions & Records Coordinator, then explained the ABP calendar, marking periods, grades and report cards.
All the new students took an “Accuplacer” (placement) test. The ABP Department Supervisors then use these test results to place each student in a level that is most suitable to their academic level in English, math, science and computer skills.
The Peninsula
