An-Najah National University

National Network
Palestine
Telephone
0097292394960
Telephone (other)
0097222413077
Fax
0097292345982
E-Mail
kherieh@najah.edu
E-Mail (2)
international@najah.edu
Mobile Phone
00972544807416
Mobile Phone (other)
00972575558099
Organisation Type
Public Institution
Year of Establishment
1918
Fields of Activity
  1. Youth and education
General Information
An-Najah National University is recognized as Palestine's leader in Higher Education. Its name reflects the true vision of its founders: "Najah" meaning success and "National" meaning that it belongs to the citizens of Palestine. An-Najah is a public university in that it is supported and supervised by a Board of Trustees and funded by citizens for a non-for-profit basis. This is opposed to other Palestinian universities that are either governmental - funded, supported, and supervised by the Ministry of Higher Education or private - supported, funded, and supervised by private institutions and organizations. In almost 90 years of teaching the University has been playing a leading part in the development of modern higher education in Palestine. The University is one of the pioneering and well-established universities in Palestine. Students from different parts of the country attend the University in pursuit of learning, knowledge and personal development. The University has a long-standing experience in meeting the educational aspirations of both Palestinian undergraduate and graduate students. The University's academic and administrative staff render a high quality education in numerous disciplines of academia guided by the University's vision: "We Challenge the Present to Shape the Future" An elementary school bearing the name of the An-Najah Nablusi School was founded in 1918. In 1941 the elementary school was converted into An-Najah National College (ANC) offering diploma degrees. In 1965 the site of An-Najah National College (ANC) was moved into a new Campus located at Omar Ibn Al-Khatab Street in Nablus . At this time ANC offered an intermediate university degree in teachers' training. In 1977 An-Najah National College (ANC) was converted into a full-fledged university ( An-Najah National University ) to meet the needs of the Palestinian people for higher education. The new Campus located in the Juneid Suburb of Nablus was inaugurated in 2006. The University is home to 19 different Faculties of outstanding reputation, in addition to an equal number of prestigious Science Centers such as the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Center and the Center for Urban and Regional Planning. These centers continue to enhance and develop their work through community policy-oriented projects and research to assist in the economic, social, educational, cultural, and human development of the Palestinian community. The University has four Campuses distributed between the cities of Nablus and Tulkarem. There are three Campuses in Nablus : the Old Campus, the New Juneid Campus, and Hisham Hijawi College of Technology Campus. The fourth Campus is Khudouri which is located in the city of Tulkarem. The University's campuses are being expanded to better equip the University to meet the growing needs of higher education of the Palestinian society. The University follows a semester system, with two four-month semesters beginning in Fall and Spring, and a shorter two-month semester in Summer and currently boasts about 19,000 students in attendance along with over 3,000 academic and administrative members of staff
Mission and Objectives

Vision:
An-Najah University is facing unprecedented challenges in a rapidly changing political, educational and institutional environment. Standing at the doorsteps of an independent Palestine, the university should be the leading higher education institution that provides Palestine with the educated and well-trained human recourses, which are needed in the building process of a new state. The university will continue to make important contributions to the technological, scientific, environment, infrastructure, and social and economic welfare of Palestine. However, the university must be able to quickly and effectively adapt to the changing conditions it will face in the coming years. An-Najah National University graduates must be given the knowledge, skills, and innovative thinking that will allow them to address future needs and challenges. The university research must also be relevant and pioneering, especially in applied and technological fields.
2. Mission:
The university has three primary missions; instruction, research, and service. The instructional mission is arguably the most important and complex. In instruction, the university seeks to provide the highest quality of undergraduate and graduate education. Furthermore, the university is committed to research and integration of research into its instructional mission. The university has conducted and will continue to conduct both applied as well as basic research, the university’s services mission is one of contributing to the community and providing specialized knowledge to assist in solving the problems facing the Palestinian society. This includes the obligation to identify new and evolving societal problems as well as providing the time and effort needed to address existing problems, especially as Palestine is entering a new era towards independence.
3. Objectives:
3.1 Instructional Mission
- Pursue excellence in undergraduate and graduate instruction.
- Establish an ongoing process for curriculum evaluation and improvement.
- Improve access to the university and establish a process for responding to changing student demographics and needs.
- Pursue new instructional opportunities.
- Strengthen the university graduate programs.
- Increase the practical aspects of instruction.
- Establish procedures to ensure consistency and quality in undergraduate and graduate admissions.
3.2 Research Mission Objectives:
- Conduct research that's responsive to the needs of the Palestinian community and state.
- Conduct high-quality applied and basic research that ensures the university’s role in development.
- Promote faculty and student publications in archival journals.
- Pursue multidisciplinary involvement in research efforts.
- Improve the integration of the university’s centers into its research mission.
3.3 Service Mission Objectives:
- Improve outreach to the local professional community.
- Increase student and faculty involvement in the community developmental affairs in Palestine.
- Encourage involvement in national committees and editorial work.
3.4 Quality Improvement Objectives:
- Identify university’s areas of excellence and a corresponding strategy for hiring distinguished faculty.
- Establish a process for continually improving administrative efficiency.
- Improve mentoring of junior faculty.
- Strengthen the bonds between the university and its alumni.
- Increase current use and endowed funding.
- Improve university visibility.
- Exploit World Wide Web technologies.

Main Projects / Activities

An-Najah National University is a fully independent, non-governmental university, run by the Board of Trustees and the University President. It is a secular institution that does not discriminate based on religion, gender, or race. The structure of the administration is composed of the University President, Assistant and Vice Presidents, University and Deans Council, Administrative Departments, and the University Comptroller. The academic structure divides Faculties into Departments, which are made up of Units.
An-Najah seeks to provide as many opportunities as possible to its students, through providing each Faculty and Department with a computer lab for student use. This has created a ratio of three students to each computer. Physically challenged and visually impaired students are welcomed at An-Najah. A special computer lab designed for the visually impaired converts all Microsoft Office files to Braille to allow students to share lectures, submit assignments either by email or through the Braille printers available. The University also allocates special cars to transport physically and visually impaired students between campuses.
Of the 16 Scientific Centers, the Community Service Center is involved in numerous projects to help the people of Nablus and the Northern West Bank. Harnessing solar power, the CSC was able to provide electricty to Attouf Village for the first time. They collect blood from the community for transfusions and also provide hot meals to the eldery and needy families in Nablus. The Housing Program in the CSC in 2008 partnered with the YMCA, the UN, and the community of Nablus to help a young girl in need. Lara lived with her family on the 3rd floor of their apartment building, which did not have a lift. She is physically challenged and this required one of her family members to carry her and her wheelchair up and down the stairs to be able to attend school. The solution the Housing Program hit upon was to build a ramp and a bridge that would run from the flat out to the hillside road next to the building. The success of this project has allowed Lara to wheel herself down the ramp directly onto the road without the assistance of her family.
To connect to the community, An-Najah has its own radio station, and a soon to be completed satellite television station. Both these programs provide practical training for An-Najah's students as well as provide an avenue to connect to the community of Nablus and soon the international community through the satellite station. To reach more students, videoconferences and e-learning lectures are both organized at An-Najah. The e-learning lectures are available for free on the school's website. Videoconferences have been organized between other academic, non-profit, and private institutions to communicate the academic and political situation to outside parties

Contact (1) Full Name
Dr. Kherieh Rassas
Head of the organisation
Prof. Rami Hamdallah