This section summarizes important facets pertaining to Faculties, students, facilities, financial aid and campus ministry.

Faculties

Notre Dame University – Louaize was established in 1987 by the Maronite Order of the Holy Virgin Mary. Today, the University catalogue lists seven Faculties along with 73 undergraduate degrees and 19 graduate ones, including a new Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.).
The Faculties are:

• Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design (FAAD)
• Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (FBAE)
• Faculty of Engineering (FE)
• Faculty of Humanities (FH)
• Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences (FNAS)
• Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS)
• Faculty of Political Science, Public Administration and Diplomacy (FPSPAD)

NDU’s programs draw upon the values engraved in its mission and the rich and diverse cultural context of Lebanon to prepare students for interaction with the complexity of arts and sciences in the twenty-first century.

NDU’s study programs are designed within an eclectic framework; thus providing students with the opportunity to develop critical and research-based learning attitude. Its instructional approach is learner-centered. Faculty members support and provide guidance; their responsibility is to facilitate students’ learning experience. Such an educational approach enables students to engage actively in a learning experience that prepares for a life learning process.

Innovative and Useful Research

As both a teaching and research university, NDU has a rich history of learning and research. Research at NDU is characterized by its interaction with industry and the community at large. With its six research centers and its seven Faculties, NDU has found its way into society. Fundamental research is not absent at NDU. It has been and will always be original, innovative and quite often interdisciplinary.

To strengthen joint research , NDU remains open to collaborative partnership with local and foreign universities. Only recently, NDU has signed agreements with several universities in Canada , Europe , the U.S and Australia. On another front, NDU has always provided support and assistance to international scholars. During the past two years the university has hosted over 50 scholars, coming from different parts of Europe and U.S.A.

Student Applicants and Enrollees

Consistent with the vision of NDU, the majority of students join the University because of its American system of education, the diversity of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts and professional majors, the reputation of the University in the community, and the proven achievement record of NDU graduates in the national and regional market place. Moreover, the Catholic identity of the University and its incessant emphasis on its core ethical values as embedded in the curriculum; student activities and community service have been the main reason for attracting more students. These students who graduate from Catholic schools find it advantageous to pursue their higher education at a Catholic university that follows the American system of education and maintains equal opportunity policies and practices that accommodate all students regardless of their religion, gender, creed, belief, disabilities or nationality.

Over the years, Notre Dame University-Louaize has continued to attract more students.

The exponential growth of student enrollment at the University is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Student Enrollment (Undergraduate and Graduate) at NDU from Fall 2005 to Fall 2008.

Diversity

NDU attracts students diverse in age, socio-economic background, and educational interests to pursue academic excellence in a range of undergraduate and graduate programs. These students have made and continue to make significant and valuable contributions to fostering the identity and mission of the University.

The University’s diversity profile is reflected in the composition of students based on their school language backgrounds (see figure 2). Although the majority of students (65%) come from schools which use French as the second medium of instruction after Arabic, NDU provides opportunities to these schools to seek American-based higher education for their students as materialized in orientation programs and English language courses offered at NDU. The diversity of students by language background at NDU gives the University its particular character since it is the only Catholic institution of higher education in Lebanon and the Arab world that follows the American system of higher education and teaches in English to serve a diversity of students from different cultural, national, and linguistic backgrounds.

Figure 2: Undergraduate Student Background by Schools’ Foreign Language.

Language diversity is also represented in the language courses offered on the Main Campus during the 2007-08 academic year. Courses offered include French, Italian, Spanish, German, Latin, and Chinese (6 languages) and were attended by 215 students.

Another aspect of diversity at NDU is the composition of its student body and faculty members by religious affiliation. The fact that educational institutions in Lebanon attract students from their immediate geographical vicinity, the distribution of students at NDU reflects the religious affiliation of these students and the regions from which they come from. Figures 3,4,5 respectively show the distribution of students at NDU in the three campuses, by their religious affiliation.

Figure 3: Distribution of Students by Religion, Main Campus

Figure 4: Distribution of Students by Religion, North Lebanon Campus

Figure 5: Distribution of Students by Religion, Shouf Campus

Figure 3 shows a majority of Christian students in the Main Campus which is situated in a predominantly Christian area. This Christian majority drops in the Shouf Campus which is situated in a predominantly Druze area, as shown in figure 5. A similar distribution applies to full-time faculty members across NDU’s campuses.

From the figures at play, immediately discernible is the challenge of NDU to promote wider diversity by religious affiliation in each campus, knowing that the issue of promoting social cohesion and diversity of students in schools and university campuses in Lebanon has always been a national issue and public concern. However, experience has shown that despite the lack of religious diversity at NDU, the University still provides its students, faculty, and staff with opportunities to share educational ideals and values without necessarily sharing the same religious belief.

Graduates

NDU has graduated a total of 9055 students from the Fall of 2000 to the Fall of 2008. The majority of these graduated students (n= 8420) were undergraduates as opposed to 635 graduate students.

Educational Facilities

Students at NDU enjoy access to a vast array of educational services and facilities. For instances, the library renders a host of services that facilitate students’ research projects through the online database system through subscription to reputable referred journals in different fields and specialized academic books and primary resources that can be accessed on-campus and off-campus through the online database system.

Presently, the library houses 102,816 titles; 27,427 full-text journal, magazine and newspaper titles; 1,476 digitized manuscripts. The total collection amounts to 131,719. Also, students have access to many electronic facilities (e-mail, wireless internet, electronic registration and Blackboard) that make student life on campus easy and enjoyable. Additionally, approximately 65% of the classrooms are smart rooms ie: equipped with LCDs and computers to facilitate learning and meet students’ diversified learning styles. Besides, NDU has newly constructed modern labs for students to engage in experimentation and research. Prospective students enjoy campus tours and admission career guidance services. Once enrolled, students benefit from academic advising before and during their enrollment. Moreover, the University’s modern cafeteria with its distinctive location on top of a precipice overlooking the Dog River, receives hospitality management students for training and internship.

Financial Aid

Another incentive for student enrollment at the University is the generous award of financial aid to students reflecting the legacy of education for all enunciated in the Education Declaration of the Lebanese Synod held at the Monastery of Louaize more than two decades ago. Financial aid allotments are distributed in the form of scholarships, study grants, sibling grants, athletic scholarships, and the President’s list, schooling for the schoolchildren of NDU faculty members, and full-fledged tuition fees for the sons and daughters of full-time faculty members at NDU. Figure 6 shows the financial aid distribution for students by campus during the academic year 2007-08 which amounted to a total of US$ 4,775.570.

Figure 6: Financial Aid

Recreational Facilities

Notre Dame University - Louaize has recently established a complex of sports and recreational facilities including outdoor tennis courts, basket and volley ball grounds and indoor sport facilities that encourage student and community involvement in sports, recreation and profitable use of their leisure time.

Campus Ministry

NDU believes that the spiritual dimension of human development should grow together with all other areas of interest to the University environment. It seeks to instill in the University community a deep concern for the rights and dignity of the human person, especially the poor and most vulnerable. It promotes religious awareness in students and faculty members.

The Campus Ministry is staffed by five full-time campus ministers who celebrate masses and religious services daily at convenient hours in the University Chapel, and cater for the religious, personal and moral concerns of the University community.

The Spiritual Family is actively engaged in promoting religious awareness. Throughout the year, it organizes several week-end spiritual retreats conducted by student leaders. It also invites lecturers on spiritual issues, initiates gospel discussions and organizes social activities.

Medical Facilities

NDU renders on-campus medical services to students, staff and faculty members. These services include medical check ups, laboratory tests and medication.

Student Life

Students at NDU enjoy a vibrant campus life including a variety of social, academic and recreational activities needed for their healthy social, psychological, and physical development. Students organize themselves in clubs on a yearly basis. These clubs initiate and organize social, recreational and national activities on campus as guided by the University’s mission and core values and supported by the Student Affairs Office (SAO).

Virtually all the services rendered by the University have their impact on students who apply to NDU.