The University of Georgia - Tunisia Educational Partnership

Timeline and Milestones of Partnership Programs and Exchanges

May 2002	Professor Hamrita invites representatives of the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education (Kamel Braham and Samia Saadaoui) to UGA in preparation for submission of initial grant proposal. Visit funded by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences' Office of Global Programs.
October 2002	Initial grant in collaboration with UGA's Office of Global Programs (Ed Kanemasu), the Institute of Higher Education (Del Dunn), the Fanning Institute for Leadership (Carolyn Humphrey), and the ISCAE of the University of Manouba (Samir Ghazouani) is awarded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State.
December 2002	Professor Hamrita, Kamel Braham, Director of the University Mission of Tunisia in Canada, and Dr. Ed Simpson of the Institute of Higher Education of UGA, travel to Tunisia to meet with university faculty and administration as well as government officials and begin project planning. Visit hosted by the ISCAE (Dr. Aida Boukhris) and Manouba University.
June 2003	Professor Hamrita invites Tunisian higher education officials to participate in a leadership exchange at UGA. Exchange co-funded by CAES' Office of Global Programs and co-hosted with various UGA units and administrators.
June 2003	Professor Hamrita travels to Tunisia to meet with the Minister of Higher Education (Sadok Chaabane) , Virtual University of Tunis president and staff, Manouba University President and ISCAE Director, and other Tunisian university leaders to coordinate upcoming Partnership events.
March 2004	Partnership Program hosts a Tunisian national delegation of 20 professors for a 3-week e-learning workshop at UGA in collaboration with the Virtual University of Tunis (President Houcine Chebli), UGA's Office of Instructional Support and Development (Dr. Bill Jackson, Director) and the Board of Regents' Office of Advanced Learning Technologies (Jessica Somers).
March 2004	Partnership Program hosts 10 professors from the ISCAE of the University of Manouba to participate in a 2-week workshop on university management in collaboration with the Institute of Higher Education (Dr. Ed Simpson).
April 2004	Professor Hamrita invites the Tunisian Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Hatem Atallah for a UGA visit to meet with Tunisian delegates and UGA community. Visit co-hosted with Associate Provost for International Affairs (Mark Lusk).
June 2004	Dr. Art Dunning, Vice President for Public Service and Outreach travels to Tunisia with Professor Hamrita for leadership exchange. Delegation meets with Minister of Higher Education Sadok Chaabane and other higher education leaders.
July 2004	Professor Hamrita spends the month in Tunisia to prepare new grant proposal for submission to MEPI to support UGA Tunisia Educational Partnership Programs.
November 2004	Dr. Threadgill, Director of the faculty of engineering at UGA, travels to Tunisia with Professor Hamrita for leadership exchange. Delegation meets with Minister of Higher Education Lazhar Bououny and other higher education leaders.
February 2005	Professor Hamrita gives a presentation on the Partnership in Atlanta to the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council.
February 2005	Professor Hamrita gives a presentation on the Partnership to ESCOP-ACOP (Lead 21) members in Washington, DC.
April 2005	Professor Hamrita organizes national e-learning workshop in Tunisia in collaboration with the Virtual University of Tunis, the University of Sousse, partnership program alumni, the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, and the US Embassy in Tunisia. Minister of Higher Education Lazhar Bououny and US Ambassador to Tunisia, His Excellency William Hudson, attend workshop opening session at INSAT Tunis. Professor Hamrita invites a UGA and GA Board of Regents delegation (Brad Cahoon, Tom Reeves, Janette Hill, Michael Rogers) to collaborate on the workshop technical program and to conduct workshop training sessions. Alan Flurry of the Faculty of Engineering accompanies delegation for project support.
May 2005	Professor Hamrita’s MEPI grant proposal is funded.
July 2005	A delegation consisting of Dr. Arnett Mace, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Steve Wrigley, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Dr. Bob Boehmer, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, and Professor Hamrita travel to Tunisia to inaugurate the MEPI project. Delegation meets with Minister of Higher Education Prof. Lazhar Bououny and other Tunisian higher education leaders.
October 2005	Dr. Arnett Mace, UGA Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost invites Professor Hamrita to give a presentation to UGA Vice Presidents and Deans for update on Partnership goals and activities.
November 2005	Professor Hamrita invites Tunisian Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Nejib Hachana, to inaugurate MEPI project at UGA. Ambassador's visit co-hosted with Dr. Arnett Mace, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs.
November 2005	Professor Hamrita invited to give a presentation on the Partnership with the Virtual University of Tunis at the World Summit on Information Society, Tunis, Tunisia.
March 2006	Partnership Program organizes advanced 2-week e-learning workshop at UGA for national Tunisian delegation of 20 professors in collaboration with the Virtual University of Tunis, College of Educations' Department of Instructional Technology, Center for Teaching and Learning, Board of Regents' Office of Advanced Learning Technologies, and the Student Learning Center, Professor Hamrita invites Prof. Lotfi Bouzaiane, a program alumnus to head the delegation. 28 UGA professors, administrators, staff, and students from around campus contributed to this workshop.
May 2006	Professor Hamrita gives a presentation about the Partnership at the "University and Civil Society Conference," The Bologna Center for Civic Engagement, Bologna, Italy.
June 2006	Partnership Program organizes a 1-week public service and outreach workshop for a University of Sousse delegation of 12 administrators, professors, and graduate students. 22 UGA professors and administrators from around campus contributed to this workshop including Vice President of Public Service and Outreach Art Dunning and several other PSO administrators.
July 2006	Partnership Program organizes a workshop in Tunisia on civic engagement through art in collaboration with the University of Sousse (Institute of Fine Arts, Institute of Music), multiple UGA faculty and units including the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the Lycee pilote of Sousse, and multiple Sousse elementary Schools. UGA students had the opportunity to participate in this workshop through a Service Learning Course.
July 2006	Professor Hamrita co-hosts Alumni gathering organized by Dr. Lotfi Bouzaiene and other partnership alumni. The purpose of the gathering was to prepare proposal for Tunisian Scientific e-learning association.
March 2007	Tunisian Association for E-learning Research and Dissemination (l'APREV) is founded by UGA-Tunisia Educational Partnership alumni.
March 2007	Professor Hamrita travels to Tunisia to meet with higher education leaders, plan future Partnership events, and participate in l'APREV's first Board meeting.

June 2007	L'APREV hosts its first annual seminar on e-learning and publishes summary report on the innovations, challenges, and future directions of e-learning.
December 2007	L'APREV hosts its first annual symposium for research on virtual education,bringing together an international group of researchers to present findings,build collegial relationships, and participate in workshops.
January 2008	UGA-Tunisia Educational Partnership awarded Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education in the category of international exchange partnerships and highlighted in the "Best Practices" section of the IIE website.