Management

Description: 

Lead Organization: Al Quds Open University

1.     OVERVIEW OF BENEFIT PROJECT

Agriculture sector in Palestine carries both economic and political importance.  According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2013), this sector is employed about 11,5% of the labour force. Further, the agriculture income represents 5,6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for 21% of the total exports. More notably, the agriculture in Palestine plays a central role in land protection from Israeli confiscation and settlements. The environmental and political challenges are the main factors threaten the agriculture sector in Palestine. However, the effects of these issues are more intensified when considered in the frame of Climate Change. Consequently, negative impact on agriculture sector my realized attributed to damage crops, decrease water availability; loss of biodiversity. Thus, can affect negatively the natural control of agricultural pests, and delay the growing seasons.

Digital technologies are expanding in global phenomenon with an emphasis on digitalisation, automation, control and robotics in various operations, related to environmental protection, soil cultivation management, optimization of crops nutrition, crop tending etc.  The added value of automated robotic systems to agriculture is the enhancement of their flexibility, concerning farmer decision making to select the optimal technological arrangements during the production process of the field crops, which entails not only economic but also environmental and social aspects. As a result, the use of (digital) technologies could allow the agricultural sector to achieve big leaps in Palestine. The knowledge about advanced agricultural technologies have therefore become key for the farmers in Palestine, throughout the process of cultivation and harvest.

“Precision agriculture”, also called “digital farming”, is an innovative concept in Palestine. This is not specifically about the technologies, but about the overall concept putting accent on understanding how the technologies can make the farming more accurate and controlled.

In the document “National Agricultural Sector Strategy (2017-2022) “Resilience and Sustainable Development” as one of the main factors that had negative impact on (sustainable) agriculture development weak capacity to keep up with technological progress, low competitiveness of local products and abandoning production processes have been identified. As a possible solution of this problems the following two actions have been proposed:

1.Working with the private sector to keep abreast of new technologies and encouraging their entry into the local market and

2.Continuous training of human resources in the agricultural sector to keep abreast of technical agricultural progress.

From these points of view, the innovative character of the BENEFIT project serves not only the capacity-building aspect for Palestinian HEIs, but also addresses the challenges faced by the Palestine regarding ICT, technological developments, and creating a global education and research framework for innovation and development regarding the integration of newest (digital) technologies into agriculture and rural development.

As well, cooperation between EU and Palestine HEIs contributes to the multicultural mating and collaborating.

 

1.1.  The general objectives of BENEFIT project:

  • Involving Palestinian HEI’s in Research Movement related to Precision Agriculture in Europe;
  • Encouraging both Palestinian researchers and academics to interests related to the concept, domains, tools and digital technology of the Precision Agriculture (e.g. a wide array of items such as GPS guidance, control systems, sensors, robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, variable rate technology, GPS-based soil sampling, automated hardware, telematics, and software).

·       Defining a qualitative profile and a state of the art curriculum in Precision Agriculture and elaborating reliable and valid assessment standards.

·       – Involving Palestinian farmers into the precision agriculture processes, enriching them not only with critical-reflective but also with creative skill-

 

1.2.  The specific objectives of the project are:

  • Training Palestinian academic staff and researchers in “precision agriculture” through an in-service process, providing them with the knowledge to use and re-use useful Open Educational Resources (OER) and enhancing their professional development both for their self-esteem and to meet market’s needs: “Expert in precision agriculture”. The profile will be aligned with the specific socio-political conditions and educational systems in Palestine.  (BENEFIT Training)
  • Developing a joint, contemporary, open and flexible curriculum in precision agriculture will entail the need to focus not only on competences related to technology/digital innovation in the agricultural sector, but, at the same time, to develop the capability of looking at the future, within a sustainable and optimistic view, to embracing new opportunities arising in the labour market. This will lead to the integration of a strong entrepreneurial dimension in the curriculum. (BENEFIT Curriculum)
  • Developing a e-Repository with precision agriculture OER (BENEFIT Repository)
  • Designing, piloting, and evaluating pilot and initial courses, focusing on the precision agriculture. These activities will be realized on the new or updated centres at the Palestinians’ universities, e.g. Al-Istiqlal Dates Palm Research Center (BENEFIT Research Centers).
  • Establishing a hub for digital agriculture (BENEFIT Incubator). This hub will be located at the Al-Quds Open University and will provide the essential equipment and instruments needed for digital agriculture application. Specifically, the advantages of such site are:
  1. A platform for practical courses both for students and staff in the national universities , and
  2. A good beginning as demonstration site for business start-up in Palestine, especially for Date palm growers. (link outputs of teaching and research with market needs).
  • Creating an international research network about precision agriculture. (BENEFIT Community of Practice)
  • Develop an e-precision agriculture space that will provide the BENEFIT stakeholders- and not only- with a multidimensional space (e.g. OER PA Repository, Communities of Practices, Research Initiatives, etc.) (BENEFIT e-SPACE)

1.3.  Overview of Management Package

For all project, it is critical that(QOU), the manager of BENEFIT who leads work package 5 (WP5), develops effective work plan for managing project in general and consortium communication, collaboration, and work in particular. Managers use the work-plans to communicate the objectives and strategies to partners and staff members and develop individual agendas of work, and adopt practical techniques based on management best practices. This workplan isthe process of determining what activities the project intends to carry out during project lifetime (i.e. activities, milestones, quality, effectiveness, impact, annual budget calendar). This workplans is constructed within the guidance and focus of the strategic plan in the proposal, and contains the operational details that illustrate exactly what indicators and outcomes will be delivered and to what level of quality.

1.4.  Management Work plan objectives

Management work plan of this project aims at ensuring the optimal utilization and allocation of budget and resources across partners, while ensuring the commitment of all partners.  This will eventually lead to effective and efficient achievement of the expected outputs and the intended impact of the project through the following objectives:

  • Show all the tasks involved in the project, who is responsible for each task, and when the tasks will be completed.
  • Define the goal of the project and the key objectives that the project will achieve, as a result, partners are able to perform work tasks toward goal achievement.
  • Ensure that project objectives can be translated to concepts and actions relevant to your target, and follows SMART methodology (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-related).
  • Organize outline or “roadmap” for achieving project goals; how we will achieve project goals.
  • Help keep partners from spending time and efforts on tasks that won’t bring them closer to project goal, andhave control.
  • Identify the performance measures for how success will be determined, the level of quality of the deliverable or satisfaction of the beneficiary, and whether the project is on-time, on-budget, and/or on-quality, relative to the original project plan.
  • Help to foresee risks, identify actions to prevent them from occurring and reduce their impact should they eventuate.

2.     Executive Summary of Project management

The project is a three-year-project with a budget of 790,845.00Euro. “BENEFIT” project is managed and directed by Al-Quds Open University in collaboration of another nine partners forming the consortium with different  activities included in five Work Packages (5 WPs).

Project Management focuses on the organization of project activities through controlling time, costs, and responsibilities associated with the different five WPs and their related activities and tasks.  Indeed, it aims at ensuring the optimal utilization and allocation of budget and resources across partners, while ensuring the commitment of all partners.  This will eventually lead to effective and efficient achievement of the expected outputs and the intended impact of the project. “BENEFIT”project will be managed and directed by Al-Quds Open University in collaboration of all partners.

In order to manage the project efficiently (minimum waste) and effectively (ensuring the achievement of our objectives), Al-Quds Open University(QOU)will establish an innovative management structure that will ensure successful implementation of all activities and effective collaboration of all partners to achieve the intended results and impact.

 

2.1.  Management structure

The management structure will consist of three management levels:

  1. The Management level (applicant) which will supervise and coordinate the communication both with within the 3-layered management unit among other stakeholders. The Project Manager (PM), appointed by QOU, will be responsible for the management of project five WPs and related activities, controlling and allocation of the budget across partners, organization of communication across partners and stakeholders, and leading the day-to-day technical and administrative works, including reporting activities. The PM will dedicate tremendous time and efforts to ensure to follow up and monitor the execution of the specific activities/tasks in the different WPs.
  2. The Management Board of Partners (MBP) level, which will ensure the workflow on the operational level with a role consisting of a representative from each project partner. In fact, the role of MBP is to discuss the periodic progress and financial reports and to give recommendations to the PM and all project partners. They have the authority to take and enforce strategic decisions to all the consortium partners, such as changing the budget allocation, amendments to the agreements, and other corrective actions, in order to ensure the achievement of the project’s vision and specific objectives. Strategic decisions will be taken by consensus, utilizing a voting process based on the majority of voices. In case of the equal voting, the voice of the PM will be considered. When a decision is reached, the decision will be distributed to all partners and become effective within 5 working days of the meeting date.
  3. Steering committee level, which will ensure routine administrative tasks within each work, packages depending on the leader and the partners. Their role is to maintain a coherent and smooth implementation of the project activities, coordination of the work across the different WPs. They are also responsible for evaluating the project results (outputs and outcomes), exchanging expertise to address cross-cultural issues, and providing feedback and input to the MBP to do necessary changes/amendments to achieve the expected impact and results of the project.

The project management team while running the project should:

  • Mobilize the staff and other resources needed to build the products and deliverables that will enable the required outcome
  • Plan, monitor and control the work and resources of the project
  • Manage risks and issues as they occur
  • Maintain communications with those impacted by the project and its outcome
  • Report progress and issues to Project Board/Stakeholders
  • Decide ongoing viability in the light of experience and any changes in requirements
  • Ensure deliverables are fit for the purpose of the project and will enable objectives to be realized

 

The project management team in project closure should:

  • Evaluate the outcome of the project
  • Ensure that any lessons learned are shared with those who might benefit from them
  • Release resources used by the project
  • Review any objectives achieved by the end of the project

2.2.  Assumptions/Constraints

2.2.1.     The project has the following Assumptions

  • Full collaboration and cooperation between consortium members
  • Agreement among partners upon the work plan and contributions in the different WPs
  • exchange visits or through internet.
  • Innovation process has to come throughout collaboration, willingness to working together, and sharing resources in between HEIs in Palestine.
  • All stakeholders have the experience of managing and participating in EU previous projects. They all understand the procedures and regulations of executing EU funded projects, Thus, general harmony of project team is expected, which will provide large support to the success of the project.
  • Agreement among partners upon the work plan and contributions in the different WPs
  • Open communication between regional countries and program countries in EU is available either through exchange visits or through internet.
  • Innovation process has to come throughout collaboration, willingness to working together, and sharing resources in between HEIs in Palestine.
  • The management team will work to overcome any obstacle or problem related to human resources.
  • Effective administrative and financial management of the project.
  • The project might face the risk of the following constrains:
  • Poor understanding of the project goals and objectives, which can be overcome by an effective communication plan throughout the different phases of the project.

2.3.  Project Scope Management

In addition to the above described management structure, which is responsible for project leadership, teams are established to lead, manage, and follow up the execution of different activities across the WPs. In order to work towards the achievement of the main goal and the objectives of the project, and developing BENEFIT  in Palestinian universities, a systematic approach will clarify the design and the implementation of the working methodology and will clearly identify the key stages to follow, tasks and activities within each, the milestones and indicators to be chased.BENEFIT activities fall under these work packages:  1. Preparation, 2. Development, 3. Quality Assurance, 4. Exploitation, 5. Management.

Here is a short description of each team responsible of the 5 main work packages of the project, and its due dates:

Work Package Milestone Partner in charge
WP1: Preparation From 15/1/2020 to 15/1/2021 University of Ruse Angel Kanchev
WP2: Development From 16/1/2021 to 30/7/2022 Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
WP3: Quality assurance During the whole project lifetime Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice
WP4: Dissemination and exploitation During the whole project lifetime Al-Istiqlql University
WP5: Management During the whole project lifetime Al-Quds Open University

2.4.  Project Approach

  • Plan the overall strategy, approach, and team structure.
  • Define the project requirements.
  • Design interaction and visual concepts and evolve them into detailed specifications.
  • Develop, test, and refine the solution.
  • Deploy the solution via messaging, training, and a planned launch.

2.5.  Schedule/Time Management

2.5.1.     WP.1. Preparation

The preparation phase, which will consist of these activities: Organize kick-off meeting focusing on project management and planned activities- Prepare training material for training workshops – Organize Training workshop 1 “ Curriculum and Bologna principles” – Realize Institution readiness survey -Organize Training workshop 2 “ Digital technologies in agriculture” –   Organize Training workshop 3 – Advance technologies in agriculture and Case studies ”Development of ToR and Training report.

These activities will be complete within 12 months from the start of the project with the buying of equipment requiring more time to be realized due to the tendering procedure.

The output of this sub-phase will be the redaction of Terms of Reference that will have to be produced. It will serve as training blueprint to develop or enhance course or study program and enrich the learning, research and teaching process inside Palestinian Universities, focusing on precision agriculture in local communities. The main target is the better consideration of local, regional and national authorities and the potential implementation of concreate modern and open technologies and resources in agriculture as a stimulus at development of Palestinian economy and improving job creation. University of Ruse Angel Kanchev will be the lead organization for this work package.

 The following table presents a brief summary of the activities to be carried out in this work package:

WP.1 Estimated Start Date Estimated End Date Responsible
1. PREPARATION 15.1.2019 15.1.2021 University of Ruse Angel Kanchev
1.1 Supported materials for training workshops Due Date All Partners specially the EU Partners
01.04.2020
1.2 Instructional phase and curriculum development 01.07.2020 EU partners
1.3 Technical phase and learning content development 01.10.2020 EU partners
1.4 Technical phase – Advance technologies in agriculture 01.12.2020 EU partners
1.5 ToR development 31.3.2021 Palestinians’ institution & supervised by EU partners

2.5.2.     WP.2. Development

Based on the output of previous phase – Terms of Reference – each Palestinian’s partner will start development of their own Curricula and Syllabus.

The process will content following activities such as identify needs which emerges from a concern of concreate target audience (and in line with the institution readiness findings); the selection of the members teams for a curriculum development; a definition of intended outcomes, the components of intended outcomes; examples of intended outcomes, and an overview of learning behaviours.

 

 

The In addition, activities and learning experiences, learning styles, list of types of activities with detailed description etc. will be defined.

Finally, the Curriculum Product will be produced. In this phase, the experts’ teams will suggest topics and materials for finding and evaluating existing materials; evaluation criteria, suggestions for producing learning materials etc.

After Curriculum and Syllabus finalization, all Palestinians’ partners will continue with the OERs development for the new/updated course. As a baseline for their effort will serve knowledge obtained during the training organized during the first year of BENEFIT project realization.

Parallel with the above-mentioned activities, the installation process for the whole equipment’s related to the laboratories or BENEFIT incubator for  digital agriculture and piloting, including equipment’s installation, deployment and testing equipment’s will be realized.

For the correct and most effective realization of activities of this work package, the Development team will be established. This team will consist of experts from EU and Palestinian partners both experts in ICT and agriculture in order to lead the development phase of the project, which need a continuous collaboration in between different stakeholders and at the same time on multiple levels: instructional, technical, and infrastructure. Management meetings will foster close and systematic collaboration towards reaching the common goals of the project and disseminating them. It will also introduce an approach throughout dissemination and piloting for creativity and transformational change during the lifetime of the project by fostering research, incubation of new visions, and ensuring an optimal quality for the project’s outputs. Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra will be the lead organization for this work package.

The following table presents a brief summary of the activities to be carried out in this work package:

WP.2. DEVELOPMENT Estimated Start Date Estimated End Date Lead Organization
Development, Implementation and Deployment 1.2.2021 30.7.2022 Palestinians’ partners
2.1. Curriculum Development Due Date
1.6.2021
2.2 Learning Content Development 31.1.2022 Palestinians’ partners
2.3 Infrastructure and deployment 31.1.2022 Palestinians’ partners

 

2.5.3.     WP.3: Quality Assurance

Two levels of quality monitoring and evaluation will be provided:

  1. QUALITY OF COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT

During the KickOff meeting, The Quality Committee (QC) will be set up. The QC will be made up of the key members from all partners’ organizations. These key members of staff will be profiled according to the most experience in quality control activities.

QC, led by VSTE, will be responsible for evaluations and feedback during the entire project, monitoring progress, handling risk management, and communicating frequently to ensure the proper flow of information and decisions. The QC will also be in charge to monitor all positive and negative influences to being sustainable, socially responsible and economically viable which the consortium is able to attain. This Committee is in charge for the quality control and evaluation of all activities within the project. First task of the QC will be creating a Quality Management Plan (QMP), which will provide the baseline for monitoring project’s costs and project’s progress.

The objectives of the QMP can be defined as follows:

  • Create confidence in the quality of the work that the partnership will perform by showing how the project will be carried out, measured, monitored, accounted for and safeguarded during and after development;
  • Show how changes and problems can be identified, reported and mitigate;
  • Clearly define the content, format, review process, and responsibilities for each intellectual output.
  • Make visible all the means that will be applied to meet the user’s technical and quality requirements.

The QMP will also provide the baseline against which to monitor projects’ expenditures and project’s progress as well.

  1. QUALITY OF THE OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES are subject to a peer review process. For each output a peer reviewer will be assigned. All partners will provide experts to act as peer reviewers. The peer reviewer will focus on the quality and coherence of the content, and indicates the main corrections using a standard template. Formal approval of the output is documented at the next QC meeting.

The design of the Testing and Evaluation Methodology will take into account a specific set of performance indicators and establish the threshold level. Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice will be the lead organization for this work package.

The following table presents a summary of the activities of this work package:

WP. 3 Estimated Start Date Estimated End Date Responsible
Evaluation & Quality Assurance 15.1.2020 15.1.2023
Due Date
3.1 Quality Management Plan 1.3.2020 Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice &  Quality Committee (QC)
3.2 institutional readiness report 1.3.2020 Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice& Quality Committee (QC)
3.3 quality of course curriculum and OERs design reports 1.3.2022 Quality Committee (QC) with EU partners involvment

 

2.5.4.     WP.4. Dissemination and Exploitation

Various ways will be adopted to disseminate the project. opening and closing conferences will enable all partners to disseminate the project’s results to various institutions like universities, language centers, media, government departments and various stakeholders, in addition to printed materials like folders and brochures. The project web-based platform will be a major dissemination tool and will have all required information about the partners, project description, its goals, objectives and any beneficial information, examples of successful lesson plans, activities and good practices in the field of innovative and creative ways for BENEFIT created by academic staff. It is also important to disseminate the project outcomes, products as well as the experience gained during the implementation of the project. Thus, the leader of this WP should form a dissemination team and assign tasks to them in order to design and follow-up a dissemination strategy, which should include detailed actions including establishing and managing the needed dissemination infrastructure such as the web-based platform, portal, printings, information days, awareness campaign , and social media accounts..

The various channels and media used in the project for dissemination and exploitation purposes will be selected and adapted according to the intended audience or target groups. Additionally, the consortium will disseminate the results, documents, activities and events, joint research papers, media work and training materials of the project through the project platform, consortium HEIs’ websites, brochures, papers, Al Quds Educational Sat channel and through participating in relevant events at the national level.

The website of BENEFIT will disseminate the project and its outcomes, staff training courses will reach other peers and educators, and the availability of digital materials and OER will disseminate the project widely. Annual progress reports will be printed and published. Conferences and project events will give the partners opportunity to establish new links and strengthen existing ones. Staff visits and potential future exchange will enhance dissemination. It is also enhanced by networking and publications, in addition to the reflection of components and students’ satisfaction with their potential development of the project outcomes.

The exploitation of this project will be implemented through ensuring the sustainability of results and impacts of this project at the long-term by making its resources and educational content available to all consortium members and to other external beneficiaries. Al-Istiqlal University will be the lead organization for this work package.

The following table presents a summary of the activities of this work package:

WP. 4. Estimated Start Date Estimated End Date Responsible

 

Dissemination and Piloting

 

15.1.2020 15.1.2023 Al-Istiqlal University
  Due Date
4.1 Project design manual & Dissemination plan 1.3.2020 Al-Istiqlal University
4.2 Website, repository & Community of Practice 1.4.2020 Al-Istiqlal University
4.3 Promotion materials – periodical newsletters, brochure and roll-up etc. 1.6.2020 and continual during the whole project Al-Istiqlal University & other Partners
4.4 To prepare Social Media campaign included audio-visual material, on-site awareness campaign with farmers in Palestine 1.9.2020 and continual during the whole project Al-Istiqlal University
4.5 Preparing a research network „BENEFIT Community of Practice » 1.01.2021 Al-Istiqlal University & other Partners
4.6 Producing promotional and educational videos 1.1.2022 Al-Istiqlal University
4.7 BENEFIT Incubator 1.2.2022 Al-Istiqlal University& QOU

 

2.5.5.     WP.5. Project Management PM

Project Management focuses on the organization of project activities through controlling time, costs, and responsibilities associated with the different WPs and their related activities and tasks.  Indeed, it aims at ensuring the optimal utilization and allocation of budget and resources across partners, while ensuring the commitment of all partners.  This will eventually lead to effective and efficient achievement of the expected outputs and the intended impact of the project. “BENEFIT”project will be managed and directed by Al-Quds Open University in collaboration of all partners. In order to manage the project efficiently (minimum waste) and effectively (ensuring the achievement of our objectives), Al-Quds Open University(QOU)will establish an innovative management structure that will ensure successful implementation of all activities and effective collaboration of all partners to achieve the intended results and impact. Al-Quds Open University will be the lead organization for this work package.

The following table presents a summary of the activities of this work package:

WP. 5.

 

Estimated Start Date Estimated End Date Lead Organisation

 

Project Management 15.1.2020 15.1.2023 Al-Quds Open University

 

5.1 Project management handbook Due Date
1.3.2020
5.2 Partner IPR agreement

 

1.07.2020 QOU with all partners
5.3 Virtual Collaborative environment 01.3.2020 University of Patras

3.     Partners: Project Team

The Consortium is set-up around a coherent group of partners who have a long record of work and collaboration in BENEFIT project. Each partner is expertise in a specific field required for providing optimal training and exchange experience in the assessment and building the capacity of BENEFIT The made up of the consortium is promising as the partners have already proven their fruitful collaboration in the framework of other projects and cooperation in Erasmus+ projects, which was devoted to capacity building in HEIs. The consortium wishes to take advantage of their shared expertise, knowledge of each other’s capacities, motivation and dedication and collaborate together in what is underlined as a common academic and educational need made possible and implementable only through high-quality work in the framework of a joint project and research purposes.Partners have been selected related to their relevance for the project and also for their complementarily. Pal HEIs have interest in the subject of BENEFIT  and ICT integration, and intend to establish a core-network to facilitate communication, share experience and knowledge in BENEFIT  pedagogies and tools that fulfill EU quality standards and overcome challenges. EU partners have been carefully selected based on prior knowledge of their expertise and experience within the field of BENEFIT creative methodology, ICT integration projects. Ten  partners altogether are part of the consortium, of which four EU partners as follow:

1.     Al-Quds Open University (QOU)

2.     An- Najah National University (ANNU)

3.     Hebron University (HU)

4.     University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS)

5.     Al Istiqlal University (PASS)

6.     Palestine Technical University / Kadoorie (PTUK)

7.     University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev” (URAK)

8.     Slovak University  of Agriculture (SUA)

9.     University of Patras  (UPAT)

10.  Institute of Technology and Business (VSTE)

4.     Cost/Budget Management

The project budget is according to the EU regulation and to the approved budget, the financial budget is separated for each partner, yet we have a consolidated budget for all partners and any change in the budget will be for all partner, QOU is the responsible for all financial matter and reviewing audit and approved the partners financial documents and payment

5.     Human Resource Management and communication

The project team developed 5 working committees to organize the project workload,The Project Management Board (PMB) is consist of one member from each partner as a contact person as the below table, it is the highest management body responsible for managing, monitoring all project activities, checking their progress and realization as well as for coordinating tasks and discussing important issues that might come up during the project lifetime; the PMB meets each quarter or when needed

  • The Project Management Board (PMB): The Management Board of Partners (MBP)level will ensure the workflow on the operational level with a role consisting of a representative from each project partner. In fact, the role of MBP is to discuss the periodic progress and financial reports and to give recommendations to the PM and all project partners. They have the authority to take and enforce strategic decisions to all the consortium partners, such as changing the budget allocation, amendments to the agreements, and other corrective actions, in order to ensure the achievement of the project’s vision and specific objectives. Strategic decisions will be taken by consensus, utilizing a voting process based on the majority of voices. In case of the equal voting, the voice of the PM will be considered. When a decision is reached, the decision will be distributed to all partners and become effective within 5 working days of the meeting date.
  • The Project Management Board (PMB):
No. Name Partner institution Role on the project
1 Aziz Salmeh QOU Management/ lead
2 Zuzana Palkova SUA Member
3 Nicolay Mihailov URAK Member
4 Mohammad Najjar ANNU Member
5 Marta Harničárová VSTE Member
6 Abdul-Jalil Hamdan HU Member
7 Maria Fragkaki UPAT Member
8 Walid Khalilia PASS Member
9 Ahmed Ghorab UCAS Member
10 Nisreen Tamimi PTUK Member
  • The Steering Committee (SC), which will ensure routine administrative tasks within each work, packages depending on the leader and the partners. Their role is to maintain a coherent and smooth implementation of the project activities, coordination of the work across the different WPs. They are also responsible for evaluating the project results (outputs and outcomes), exchanging expertise to address cross-cultural issues, and providing feedback and input to the MBP to do necessary changes/amendments to achieve the expected impact and results of the project.
  • Quality Assurance team (QA): this team will be responsible for the preparation and distribution of the Quality Assurance and Monitoring Plan, dealing with the quality process for this project. Quality Assurance (CA) and quality Control (QC) methodologies will be used in this project. For QA we will use set of templates for developing courses and training materials and need assessment. For QC we will use set of peer reviews for the developed materials and set of delivery satisfaction surveys will be used. Agile and Immersive software engineering techniques will be used for developing the virtual environment in each course. QA mentoring project activities & QC will involve peer review, internal review, external review and annual reports. QA meet frequently upon any work development.
  • Quality Assurance team (QA)
No. Name Partner institution Role on the project
1 Jan Valíček VSTE Leader
2 Ondrej Lukac SUA Member
3 Tzvetelin Georgiev URAK Member
4 Mohammad Hawawri ANNU Member
5 Maen Sheqwarah QOU Member
6 Rezeq Salimia HU Member
7 Maria Fragkaki UPAT Member
8 Abdalhadi Deghles PASS Member
9 Samah Hammouda UCAS Member
10 Yahya Istaitih PTUK Member

 

  • Dissemination and Exploitation team (D&E): the team will be responsible for the preparation and distribution of the dissemination and exploitation plan
  • Dissemination and Exploitation team (D&E)
No. Name Partner institution Role on the project
1 Sameh Qubaj PASS Lead
2 Randa Abdelhay QOU Member
3 Dusan Hruby SUA Member
4 AtanasAtanasov URAK Member
5 Mohammad Hawawri ANNU Member
6 VojtechStehel VSTE Member
7 Mr. Wesam Samar HU Member
8 Stylianos Mystakidis UPAT Member
9 Ola Azam UCAS Member
10 Iyad Badran PTUK Member

 

  • Development team- the team will consist of experts from EU and Palestinian partners, both experts in BENEFIT and innovative methodology in order to lead the development phase of the project which needs a continuous collaboration in between different stakeholders and at the same time on multiple levels: instructional, technical, and infrastructure. Meets frequently upon need on the development phase
  • Development team
No. Name Partner institution Role on the project
1.        Zuzana Palkova SUA Leader
2.        Maen Sheqwarah QOU Member
3.        Boris Evstatiev URAK Member
4.        Munqez Shtaya ANNU Member
5.        Roman Danel VSTE Member
6.        Sabri Saghir HU Member
7.        Nikolaos Gorgolis UPAT Member
8.        Fayez Abedelhafiz PASS Member
9.        Nasser Deeb UCAS Member
10.     Mahmoud Rahil PTUK Member

 

6.     CommunicationManagement

A good project Communications Management Plan ensures that you have effective communications throughout the life of your project The project team communicate through emails, and official letter,and virtual collaborative environment (MS Team) no other tools of communication consider official document, each partner communicate with the other needed partner directly, but need to copy benfit_erasmus@qou.edu in all official corresponding. Other informal means of communication is used for instant replies which is immediately documented by emails e.g., mobiles, WhatsApp, Dropbox to share information and files, Skype, and Zoom for chatting and virtual meeting. All these means enable all project partners to use them to provide updates, archive various reports, and conduct project communications.  The web site is also another means used to share project news and files. Additionally, the platform enables senior management, as well as stakeholders with compatible technology, to access project data and communications at any point in time.

a.       Communications Matrix

The following table identifies the communications requirements for this project.

Communication Type Objective of Communication Medium Frequency Audience Owner Deliverable Format
Kickoff Meeting Introduce the project team and the project.  Review project objectives and management approach. Face to Face Once Project Sponsor

Project Team

Stakeholders

Project Manager Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Project Team Meetings Review status of the project with the team. Face to Face

Conference Call

As needed Project Team Project Manager Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Project schedule

Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Technical Design Meetings Discuss and develop technical design solutions for the project. Face to Face As needed Project Technical Staff Technical Lead Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Monthly Project Status Meetings Report on the status of the project to management. Face to Face

Conference Call

Monthly PMO Project Manager Slide updates

Project schedule

Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Project Status Reports Report the status of the project including activities, progress, costs and issues. Email Monthly Project Sponsor

Project Team

Stakeholders

PMO

Project Manager Project Status Report

Project schedule

Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site

 

7.     Procurement Management

All partners have to adhere to the EU regulation in procurement and to the partners regulations http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-2-cooperation-for-innovation-and-exchange-good-practices/capacity-building-projects-in-field-higher-education_en  and according to the partnership agreement

8.     Reporting

All partners have to submit semiannual and final technical and financial reports to QOU (benefit_erasmus@qou.edu) no later than one month after each period along with all supporting documents related, and QOU review the reports and send feedback and notes when needed. Every event is followed by preparing a report reviewed by all partners for feedback.

9.     Travel reports

Each partner has to submit travel report to all traveler within the project within one week after the trip, all reports must be according to the templates  provided, signed, and send the boarding pass, the hotel receipt and any other related documents to (benefit_erasmus@qou.edu)

A travel summary sheet also need to be filled by each partner after each trip and send within a week to (benefit_erasmus@qou.edu)

10.  Risk management

The project risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing and then responding to any risk that arises over the lifetime of our project to help the project remain on track and meet its goal. Risk management isn’t reactive only; it is part of the planning process to figure out risk that might happen in the project and how to control that risk if it in fact occurs.Monitoring is helpful to identify risks, rank the risks according to their negative impact, and minimize them, control and manage their impact.

The management of the project is the most important aspect of the project; it aims to ensure the highest collaboration and coordination between partners and stakeholders. The management board will ensure the commitment of partners to time schedule and the most valuable benefits from meetings and workshops. The leader of this work package is required to form a management team and assign tasks to all project partners in order to ensure the highest involvement of project partners. The leader of this work package should guarantee the best allocation of financial, human, and all other resources, maximizing the impact of the project and the sustainability of the results.

The activities of this WP start with preparing and implementing the project coordination policy which will define the procedures that will regulate the project progressing. A risk plan will be prepared to define the procedures and actions, which should be taken in cases of insufficient outcomes, are occurring. The management will be also responsible to arrange and organize all the project meetings such as the kick-off meeting, the online meetings when required, the four management meetings during the implementation of WPs, and the final closing conferences.

The project management will also be responsible for the management of all financial, legal, and technical aspects of the project and will provide the periodical progressing reports including all the above-mentioned aspects.

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