President of the North Lebanon Educational Sector at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mrs. Nahla Hamati Nehme, visited the University of Balamand on Thursday 29/05/2020 in order to examine progress of the university's pioneering experiment in the online examination proctoring system. Mrs. Hamati was received by the Acting Dean of Admissions, Registration and Student Affairs, Dr. Walid Moubayed, representing the University President, Dr. Elias Warrak, and Dr Amal Iaaly, Director of the GIS Centre, who accompanied her on a tour of various faculties, especially the GIS Centre at the Faculty of Engineering where the online live proctoring system (OPS) was developed. During the tour, Dr. Amal Ialy, who is also the developer of the novel OPS, presented a detailed explanation of the evaluation system, demonstrating experiences of its application in the various faculties. Dr. Iaaly presented detailed statistics that demonstrated the effectiveness of the system and the responses of students and instructors.

Mrs. Nehme praised the new system which reduces stress on students and teachers and provides transparency and accuracy of observation through advanced technology that monitors the student and the computer screen and determines location. While congratulating the university on being a pioneer in developing and implementing this program and preparing students logistically for it in a short period, Mrs Hamati pointed out the importance of generalizing this experience as a model for all universities and schools. She wished the University of Balamand the best of luck in its mission, that continues to excel and achieve as one of Lebanon’s leading universities.

In turn, the Head of University Task Force for Online Assessment, Vice President for Internationalization and Engagement and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Rami Abboud welcomed Mrs. Nehme’s visit on a busy day where over 1200 students were undertaking their online final exams. He assured that this pioneering effort developed at the university with dedication of our staff and contributions of our graduates is a testament to the Balamand spirit that challenges adversity and engineers solutions. Prof. Abboud indicated that this assessment system was developed in response to a crisis. “We are very proud to say that we are pioneers in developing such a novel assessment system that is unique to the University of Balamand on the global scale. We simply could not sit on our laurels and we had to do something exceptional to save our valued students their Spring Semester. I am heartened with the success of our system that was developed and tested in less than one month and with the support of many faculty and staff members from across the university that went beyond their contractual obligations to make sure that we succeed” he indicated. The University of Balamand remains open to share its experiences in online assessment with Lebanese and global educational institutions.