A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y O F B E I R U T

A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y O F B E I R U T

PO Box 11-0236

Riad El Solh 1107 2020

Beirut, Lebanon

(+961) 1–340–176, ext. 2530

A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y O F B E I R U T

THE DEBS CENTER

3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 8th floor

New York, NY 10017–2303

USA

(+1) 212–583–7600

BOLDLY.AUB.EDU.LB

I N V E S T I N G I N

IT@AUB

A STRATEGIC PARTNER

WE ARE A STRATEGIC AND

DYNAMIC PARTNER WITH THE

ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE

UNITS HELPING TO TRANSFORM

TEACHING, RESEARCH,

STUDENT LIFE, AND PATIENT

CARE AT AUB. WE WORK WITH

FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATORS

TO TRANSFORM TEACHING,

RESEARCH, STUDENT LIFE, AND

PATIENT CARE BY IDENTIFYING

AND INTEGRATING SERVICES

FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES.

WE ARE IT@AUB.

BOLDLY AUB

THE CAMPAIGN WILL

• Enrich the educational and research experience of students and faculty

• Serve the healthcare needs of the region

• Prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship

• Engage with communities in the region to achieve real impact

• Secure the University’s long-term sustainability

IN JANUARY 2017, AUB PRESIDENT FADLO

R. KHURI ANNOUNCED BOLDLY AUB: THE

CAMPAIGN TO LEAD, INNOVATE, AND SERVE.

THIS $650 MILLION FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN,

THE LARGEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS IN THE

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY, AND INDEED

IN THE ENTIRE REGION, IS A TESTAMENT TO

AUB’S ENDURING COMMITMENT TO SERVE

THE PEOPLES OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND

BEYOND—A COMMITMENT THAT HAS DEFINED

OUR HISTORY AND IS THE CORNERSTONE OF

OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.

“ We will lead, by producing

thought-leaders and C O M M U N I T Y

L E A D E R S with the passion and

drive to effect significant and

M E A N I N G F U L C H A N G E .

We will innovate, by

keeping AUB at the forefront of

G R O U N D B R E A K I N G M OV E M E N T S

and ideas in the MENA region and

beyond.

We will serve the C O M M U N I T I E S

around us, near and far, through

O U T R E AC H , R E S E A R C H , and

L E A D E R S H I P I N H E A LT H CA R E . ”

P H I L I P S . K H O U R Y , C H A I R M A N ,

B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S

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BOLDLY

Whether it’s the INTERNET of things, wearable tech, or big data TRANSFORMING BUSINESS, HEALTHCARE,

EDUCATION, or as yet UNKNOWN

COMBINATIONS OF TECHNOLOGIES, we know that in the future, and VERY

SOON, people’s lives are going to be CHANGED BEYOND RECOGNITION as this NEW AGE UNFOLDS. Institutions like AUB are POISED not just to be shaped by these developments but also TO HELP SHAPE THE EMERGING

WORLD that is appearing before our eyes at this MOST CHALLENGING,

EXCITING TIME.”

FA D LO R . K H U R I , A U B P R E S I D E N T

“

We are helping to transform teaching, research,

student life, and patient care at AUB. We are no

longer operating as a separate entity that interacts only

occasionally with other university departments—usually

when something is not working. We are instead partnering

with the faculties in knowledge acquisition, creation, and

dissemination. We are mission-critical to AUB.

As the role of technology and information increases in all

academic disciplines, it places even greater responsibility

on IT departments requiring them to assume a central

place in carrying out universities’ teaching, research, and

service missions. We are enormously proud of what we

have accomplished so far and very excited about our plans

for the future. We need your help to expand our capacity,

upgrade our services, and invest in technologies that

will fundamentally transform the way AUB teaches and

conducts research.

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYM I SS I O N - C R I T I CA L TO A U B

“ IT is not about technology. It’s actually about understanding what the faculty do and what the students need, and then finding the solutions for them using technology.” — Y O U S I F A S F O U R , C H I E F I N F O R M A T I O N O F F I C E R

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Information technology connects faculty with colleagues, databases, and networks

providing them with access to the resources they need for research.

Information technology is also a basic requirement in classrooms enabling students

to learn more effectively. IT can have an especially powerful impact on the learning

experiences of students with varied skills and special needs.

Information technology also makes it possible for AUB to reach beyond the walls

of its campus and share the expertise and perspective of AUB faculty and students

with audiences around the world.

FINDING SOLUTIONS

“ Our mission in IT is to partner directly with the academic and administrative units within AUB to help transform teaching,

research, student life, and patient care. The way we do that is by creating a flexible ecosystem and acting as a service broker.

IT has to be a leader and a partner with all the stakeholders within AUB.” — Y O U S I F A S F O U R , C H I E F I N F O R M AT I O N O F F I C E R

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR AUB TO MAKE CHANGES

THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSITY. IT IS CENTRAL TO THE IMPLEMENTATION, FOR EXAMPLE,

OF THE AUBHEALTH HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT IS TRANSFORMING THE

PATIENT CARE EXPERIENCE AT THE AUB MEDICAL CENTER AND PROVIDING HEALTHCARE

PROFESSIONALS WITH A WEALTH OF ELECTRONIC TOOLS TO MANAGE INFORMATION

ABOUT HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE AND TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY. DOCTORS ARE ALSO

USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO CONSULT WITH COLLEAGUES IN OTHER LOCATIONS

AND TO SECURE ACCESS TO CURRENT, EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION ENABLING THEM

TO PROVIDE EVEN BETTER CARE TO THEIR PATIENTS.

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We work closely with our faculty to learn about the research they are

doing, the information they need, and the challenges they are facing in

acquiring, generating, sharing, and storing data and information. We talk with

them also about how they want to teach their classes—how they are structured,

about their students, and the learning outcomes they seek to achieve. We help

them understand not how they can use technology in different ways, but how

technology can be used to change the way they do things.

We are working with faculty at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business,

for example, to develop the content, pedagogy, and platforms for the EMBA

program; with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on student advising; with the

Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture to set up labs; and

with the Continuing Education Center on online courses.

We collaborate with AUB’s University Libraries to support outstanding research

and scholarship, strengthen the educational experience of students in the

classroom, and facilitate the preservation of historic documents. We manage

computer labs and e-classrooms; support technologies that enable remote

users to access library resources; and design, implement, operate, and build

digital repositories.

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AT THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSITY

“ We want to impact not only the life, but the success, of our students.” — Y O U S I F A S F O U R , C H I E F I N F O R M AT I O N O F F I C E R

TO THRIVE, UNIVERSITIES REQUIRE A ROBUST

AND FLEXIBLE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT.

One of the most significant changes in recent years has been in how many of us

around the world interact with information technology—not just as students,

in the workplace, or when we go to the doctor. IT is now a ubiquitous part of our

lives. AUB’s Office of Information Technology has been in the vanguard in bringing

the internet to Lebanon. Our IT Department continues to Lead, Innovate, and Serve

by playing a central role in regional networks and governing bodies. IT@AUB led

the effort to establish a National Research and Education Network (NREN) and is

working closely with other global and regional NRENs such as Europe’s GEANT, the

Arab region’s ASREN, the North American Internet2, and New York’s NYSERNET.

By taking a leading role and participating in these networks and governing bodies

IT@AUB is helping advance learning and research at AUB and in Lebanon and the

region by encouraging collaboration among the faculty and students across different

local, regional, and global institutions.

LEADING, INNOVATING, AND SERVING

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“ We are learning the lessons of the past, while setting our sights on the future. One thing has not changed

since Daniel Bliss founded AUB in 1866: we are determined to make an impact—on knowledge, and on

society.” — A U B P R E S I D E N T FA D LO R . K H U R I

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AUB’s student body has grown dramatically in recent years from more than

7,300 in 2007-08 to more than 9,000 in 2017-18. During the same period,

the number of full-time faculty has increased from 570 to more than 900.

We have made enormous changes during this period to strengthen, expand,

and transform Information Technology at AUB so that it can meet the ever-

increasing demands of our expanding community.

We have, for example, invested in student learning, upgraded the University’s

financial aid system, implemented library digitization infrastructure upgrades,

improved the IT systems in classrooms throughout the campus, and installed

enhancements in AUB’s accounts receivable system. We have also more than

tripled the network bandwidth at AUB in just the last three years providing the

on-campus community with one of the best networks in Lebanon.

Despite these changes, AUB requires a larger and more robust IT infrastructure

to achieve its mission to Lead, Innovate, and Serve.

MAKE A BOLD STATEMENT

A dynamic, robust, and innovative information technology ecosystem is key to the success of AUB’s BOLDLY AUB campaign.

There is so much that we could—and must—do to extend the

breadth and depth of IT services at AUB. We need to increase

our network capacity tenfold to support the demands of modern-day

research and of a target student population of 12,000. Demands for

data are also increasing. We need to quadruple our storage capacity

and increase our computational needs by at least 10 times to meet the

capacity required by researchers.

There are a number of opportunities to partner with us to

establish and name centers, laboratories, and studios including

a computational research center; a technology innovation lab; a

technology evaluation lab; a technology learning center; a technology

support center; an extended reality development lab; and a high

fidelity recording studio for e-learning.

Associating your name with a particular office or computer

classroom is a prominent way to indicate your support for the

University and for Information Technology. It is also an especially

meaningful way to improve the experience of every student, faculty

member, and staff person on campus.

Endowing a named position signals an individual’s enduring interest

in Information Technology. It also confers prestige to the individual

selected for the position and to AUB.

We are also seeking support to expand the existing university-wide

systems and IT services that are the lifeblood of AUB: email, student

services, finances and human resources, and WiFi to name a few.

Capital Funds provide essential resources and tools that will enable

us to continue to make the necessary investments in infrastructure

and technology. We are seeking support in all areas: high-performance

computing and classroom and laboratory upgrades to enhance

teaching and research; classroom scheduling, contact and document

management, reporting, and student advising to strengthen academic

operations; and upgrades to our security, telephone, and wireless

networks to create a more robust infrastructure.

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The AUB story is one of advancing knowledge; of providing for

the healthcare needs of our community; of deep and abiding

commitment to Lebanon and the region; of hope and perseverance;

of inclusivity and diversity; and of fostering respect and mutual trust.

The challenges before Lebanon and the region are daunting. We

are eager to Lead efforts to overcome these challenges, to Innovate

bold and effective solutions, and to continue to Serve the people of

Lebanon and the region for generations to come.

Please join us.

TOGETHER BOLDLY

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