First Graduates of the Master Degree in Human Resource Development
Published Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A class of 23 high achievers received master degree diplomas Tuesday, May 15 evening in a ceremony filled with congratulations to the graduates and praise for the partnership for excellence in human resource development between the University of Minnesota, Saudi Aramco, and ASHRM. This graduating cohort included 16 employees from Employee Relations & Training, two from Exploration and Producing, one from Finance, two from Safety & Industrial Security, and two private students. A total of 150 people attended the ceremony which was held at the Technical Exchange Center in Dhahran.
Each of the graduates had devoted much of their after-work time during the last three or more years to earning 34 credit hours required for the Master of Education in Human Resource Development degree from the University of Minnesota. It is the first time the university's governing body has approved awarding graduate degrees through the ASHRM-sponsored program.
An array of speakers, headed by Hamed T. Al-Saadoun, vice president of Employee Relations and Training (ER&T), and Essam Z. Tawfiq, president of ASHRM and director of Saudi Aramco's Personnel Department, offered their congratulations and expressed hope the graduates will use their hard-earned knowledge for the betterment of the Saudi Aramco and the Kingdom.
"This is an excellent achievement," Saadoun told the graduates. "However it is only the beginning of a long journey. Knowledge is good in itself, and yet, as we all know, the impact of this knowledge can be maximized if we are able to produce practical applications to improve human performance in the workplace."
A video with photos of each graduate and their written comments about the HRD program ran continuously on several large screens during the ceremony. These video-taped messages thanked the program sponsors and instructors, but many also focused on the camaraderie between program participants—or cohorts—as they are called. “We saw each other as great sources of information and inspiration,” one graduate said.
Fouzi Bubshait, director of the Career Development Department, who was chosen by the graduating class to speak on their behalf at the ceremony, elaborated on the generous investment the company has made to enable its employees to improve and continually develop their capabilities. He then praised the sense of fellowship that prevailed among the participants and made reference to Mr. Jum’ah’s recent address to the HR community in which he emphasized the important role played by Human Resources in creating value and prosperity for their organizations and challenged the HR professionals to show significant improvements in human performance.
“I would,” Bubshait said, “like to express my appreciation for the amazing team spirit of the cohort. Participants selflessly provided assistance to others in time of need, whether to help with understanding of the material or to lift the spirits of those of us who were losing heart under the pressure of the struggle.”
Rajaa Al-Ramadhan, another graduate, spoke about the practical work related projects that the participants had completed as an integral component of their program. “Each of the 23 graduates,” Al-Ramadhan said, “has already completed an HR intervention to satisfy the internship requirements and has developed a product which addresses one of the HR issues in their respective departments. The breadth and depth of these internship assignments warrant some praise. The diverse internship subjects reflect the diversity of the class and cover a wide range of topics across the various Saudi Aramco operations: From Training, Medical, IT, Finance, Security, to Exploration & Producing. The topics were carefully scrutinized to ensure that they add value.”
Finally, Prof. Gary N. McLean of the University of Minnesota, challenged the graduates to live up to spirit of the song, The Impossible Dream, from the 1960’s Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha. He recited the lyrics, urging them, “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go, to right the unrightable wrong, to strive when your arms are too weary to reach the unreachable star…”
Dr. Ahmad Ajarimah, the program coordinator and the ASHRM HR Certification director, then invited the graduates, most wearing the traditional black gowns, hoods lined in maroon and gold colors, and mortarboard caps of the University of Minnesota graduates, to pass by and receive their diplomas from Saadoun, Tawfiq, and McLean. Nineteen of the 23 graduates attended the ceremony.
Media Talk
Arab News
