1.1 The institutions of the new Palestinian State expect to have a need for specialist personnel, with postgraduate training and experience. This is reflected in the proliferation of new postgraduate courses at several Palestinian Higher Education Institutions in recent years, and the number of respondents who believe Bethlehem University should initiate such graduate programs during the coming five years.

1.2 Traditionally Palestinian students went abroad for graduate studies. Declining opportunities for studying abroad have put pressure on Palestinian universities, including Bethlehem University, to provide opportunities for postgraduate studies. Bethlehem University has been reluctant to expand into this area for a variety of reasons, ranging from space and facilities to availability of faculty. Graduates from Bethlehem University have been obliged to seek postgraduate opportunities and qualifications elsewhere. Recent developments in the region, (the expansion of research activities, the projected need for postgraduate training), and the demand from students for postgraduate programs within Palestinian Higher Education Institutions have prompted a review of this policy.

1.3 The addition of postgraduate programs to the campus could have beneficial effects. Post-graduate seminars, workshops and poster displays stimulate ideas and discussions outside the regular curriculum. Postgraduates encourage undergraduates. Students and particularly postgraduate students provide each other with challenge and stimulation that is an essential ingredient of a university education. To quote John Henry Newman, "The conversation of all is a series of lectures to each".

1.4 Existing postgraduate programs at Bethlehem University have been limited mainly to the award of Diplomas (in Education, Midwifery, Neonatal Nursing, Social Work and Clinical Supervision).

1.5 Bethlehem University is mindful of the MOHE concerns about the introduction of new programs, and the proposed moratorium on them.

2 Major Issues Emerging from Responses and Consultation

2.1 Many of the responses, both internal and external, believe that Palestinian universities, including Bethlehem University, must provide opportunities for postgraduate education. The internal requests were cautious and tempered with a call for a gradual development into this area and in limited disciplines to begin with. These should be areas in which there is already a record of excellence, thus building on an existing strength. Some suggest beginning at the level of Diploma and moving on to Master's level, specializing in areas where a clear potential for postgraduate qualifications has been identified. Some departments already have the competency and resources to offer a Master's program; others have already got strong international links and want to pursue the possibilities for offering a joint Master's program. Programs in applied fields are particularly suggested.

3 Proposed Initiatives

• Consideration will be given to the development of postgraduate programs to meet current demand and projected needs, avoiding unnecessary duplication with those offered in other Palestinian universities.
• Careful consideration of

  -which diplomas and degrees could be introduced in a proximate future

  -whether postgraduate degrees would be by course work or research or both

  -content and accreditation

  -creative ways of supplementing teaching staff and facilities.

• Advance planning to identify appropriate facilities and support structures implied in postgraduate programs, including qualified staff, to avoid repeating mistakes perceived to have been made elsewhere in rushing into postgraduate education.
• Exploration of possibilities for Joint Postgraduate programs with local universities (at present students registered for M. Sc. Programs at An-Najah University are undertaking the research component of their program at the UNESCO Biotechnology Center at Bethlehem University).
• Exploration of a variety of possibilities, including inter-faculty cooperation, interdisciplinary initiatives, use of resources and facilities outside the University, the use of outside scholars and researchers as mentors and supervisors, the use of grant-aid programs to provide/promote mobility, the use of information technology, particularly the Internet and satellite linkages.
• Urgent attention to International linkages, such as a student spending one year of a Master's program at a linked university or Research Institute.
• Adequate Library resources being essential (and often the central focus of postgraduate programs in the Faculty of Arts), expansion of the Library and a building up of its resources with special attention to Internet access.
• Postgraduate work being heavily dependent on adequate computing services and software, particularly in Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, attention to upgrading of these facilities.