Quarterly Report FY19 Q4: Center of Excellence for Water

The project aims to create a Center of Excellence for Water at Alexandria University in Egypt, addressing three major challenges for Egypt: Water, Energy, and Agriculture. The project is managed by The American University in Cairo (AUC) and has multiple partnerships and stakeholders, including universities, public institutions, and industries. The project's duration is 5 years, beginning on February 20th 2019. The current report concerns the reporting period from July 1st to September 30th (FY19Q4). The main highlights of the reporting period include holding the first Advisory Committee meeting, inaugurating the administrative space of the Center of Excellence for Water at Alexandria University, holding the project's Needs Assessment campaign in Egypt, and building the CoE website. Regular meetings are being held with Alexandria University as well as between Chairs and Co-Chairs of all committees. The Center of Excellence for Water was able to make good progress in its activities on all fronts during the reporting period. The first Advisory Committee meeting was held in Alexandria with the participation of 24 out of 25 members. The members of the committee discussed and advised on several key issues, including the need for a different kind of applied research practiced by the CoE, focusing on its identity of excellence, and ensuring the sustainability of the Center of Excellence. Alexandria University has issued three decrees to establish the administrative identity of the Center of Excellence at Alexandria University, and adhering it to the University's administrative structures. The basic administrative staff of the Center of Excellence for Water at Alexandria University was hired as of September 1st. An announcement of the post of Director and Deputy Director was announced on Alexandria University's website for two weeks, and three candidates submitted their CVs and letters of intent to the post of Director and Deputy Director. The selection committee was formed from the Governor of Alexandria, the Vice President of Alexandria University, a water expert at Alexandria University, and the Chief of Party of the Project. Interviews for the two posts were held on August 28th, and only the Deputy Director (Dr. Waleed Elbarky) was selected, and the committee decided to postpone the selection of the Director as no candidate corresponded to the level of competence that was expected. Another committee was formed to identify a suitable candidate for the post of Director, and Prof. Roushdy Zahran, a water expert from Alexandria University and former president of the University, was appointed as an acting Director for the center till the end of 2019. The governance pillar is late in developing the MoUs between the Center and the MoHESR as well as the MoUs and agreements with other universities. The project continues to use the Online Trello tool for the management of the project among the partners and the exchange of information. Monthly meetings were held with the principal participants in the Task 2 pillar to informally report on subtask progress and provide timelines for completion of various subtasks. Needs Assessment surveys were developed, reviewed, and revised several times and published on September 6, 2019. Five surveys were developed targeting Instructional Innovation and Curriculum Development and High-Quality Applied Research pillars of the project. The project's Needs Assessment campaign was conducted on-site by three members of the USU team who traveled to Egypt for the period of September 9 through September 26 and visited all five of the Egyptian Partner Universities and two research centers. The project's website is currently under construction, and the governance pillar is late in developing the MoUs between the Center and the MoHESR as well as the MoUs and agreements with other universities.