Abu Dhabi, UAE – Zayed University won the Gold Award in the Excellence in Innovative Practices category at the NASPA Awards for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.
This is a qualitative achievement that reflects the university’s efforts to reformulate the student experience through the “Uniquely ZU” initiative launched by the university to enhance the student experience.
NASPA is a global professional association dedicated to promoting student success through scientific research, professional development, and collaboration among higher education institutions.
The award honors excellence and innovation in student affairs across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia regions.
This honor reflects the university’s adoption of an integrated framework of skills and competencies that contributed to transforming student development mechanisms at the campus level.
For the Student Affairs team at Zayed University, the award represents the culmination of three years of continuous work to build a more coherent, clear student journey based on skills development.
The Uniquely ZU initiative represents a pioneering approach adopted by Zayed University in developing the student affairs system.
This is achieved by integrating an integrated capacity development framework with a modern digital platform that enriches extracurricular learning, enabling students to track their curriculum-related activities and map their skills and mastery to keep pace with their future aspirations.
More than 2,500 first-year students participated in implementing the initiative through courses and foundation activities.
In addition to experimental groups that underwent advanced tracks, before it was officially circulated to all students starting in May 2025.
