The Ministry of Higher Education's outcome-based evaluation framework places a spotlight on how effectively universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) equip students with the skills and experience they need to succeed in the labour market.
To help institutions better understand student expectations and experiences, Ellucian has launched EnlightenED, its global student ambassador community, in the UAE. EnlightenED gives students opportunities to expand their professional networks, develop leadership and communication skills, contribute content and research, earn valuable credentials, and help shape the future of higher education through ongoing feedback and collaboration.
We spoke with Natalie Burkard, Customer Impact Associate at Ellucian, about what the launch of EnlightenED means for students and institutions in the UAE, and how the community is helping to bring the student voice closer to innovation and decision-making.
What is EnlightenED and Why Was It Created?
EnlightenED is Ellucian's global student ambassador community, designed to help students build career-ready skills, expand their professional networks, and share their perspectives on the future of higher education.
Through activities ranging from content creation and thought leadership to research projects, advisory panels, and product feedback, students gain practical experience that helps prepare them for life beyond university.
One of the reasons we created EnlightenED was to help students bridge the gap between education and employment. Students today know they need more than academic knowledge to stand out in a competitive job market. They need opportunities to communicate, collaborate, network, and build confidence in a professional environment.
As they participate, students can earn credentials, LinkedIn badges, and other rewards that showcase their skills and achievements to future employers, while also earning points towards other rewards.
My colleague Tara Broadway, who founded the community in 2023, came up with the name EnlightenED. This name reflects the community's purpose: shining a light on the student experience and ensuring student voices are heard. It's a fitting name for a community designed to put learners at the centre of conversations about the future of higher education.
What Does the Launch of EnlightenED Mean for Students in the UAE? And for Institutions?
The UAE's higher education sector serves a diverse student population. Some learners study fully online, others balance their studies alongside work, while many are returning to education to gain new qualifications or advance their careers.
With such varied experiences, aspirations and competing priorities, students can find it challenging to develop professional networks and career-ready skills alongside their studies.
In a competitive employment market, opportunities to gain real-world experience, build confidence, and connect with peers can be just as valuable as academic achievement.
Through EnlightenED, students gain access to a global community where they can collaborate with peers, develop professional skills, and build networks that extend beyond their institution and geographic region.
For institutions, EnlightenED creates a valuable opportunity to better understand the student experience. As the community grows in the UAE, institutions can use student insights to inform decisions around teaching and learning, student services, digital transformation, and the overall learner experience.
Why Expand into the UAE Now?
We have a long history of working with institutions across the UAE and understand the important role they play in supporting student success and workforce readiness.
Expanding EnlightenED felt like a natural next step, allowing us to bring students, institutions, and industry closer together through a shared focus on outcomes and innovation.
The UAE has a highly skilled talent pool, particularly in growth industries such as AI and digital infrastructure, healthcare, and finance. With competition for graduate roles soaring, employers are increasingly seeking graduates who can contribute right from the start. EnlightenED can help students develop the skills they need to make a mark in their chosen industries.
Since its launch, more than 3,000 students worldwide have been part of the EnlightenED community. We've already seen how EnlightenED is enhancing the student experience in many countries and we're excited for that momentum to continue building across the UAE.
What Opportunities Does EnlightenED Offer Students in the UAE?
While studying, many students are focused on academic success but have limited opportunities to gain the practical experience, professional networks, and workplace skills employers increasingly expect.
EnlightenED provides its student members with opportunities to develop skills such as collaboration, written and verbal communication, and AI literacy, all of which will serve them well in a professional role.
There are lots of career-readiness activities available to EnlightenED ambassadors.
One of my favourite initiatives is the Student Voices blog series. It gives students the opportunity to write about topics that matter to them, from student experience and employability to technology and higher education. In addition to developing their writing and communication skills, students can build their professional profile by becoming published contributors.
Public speaking is an increasingly important workplace skill, and EnlightenED offers students a speaker certification designed to help them build confidence and strengthen their communication and presentation skills. Through a series of activities, students reflect on effective speaking techniques, develop their personal voice, practice communicating ideas clearly and apply what they’ve learned in real-world presentation scenarios.
We've also recently introduced an AI-readiness certification because employers increasingly expect their early career talent to be AI literate, but there's a big difference between knowing about AI and using it in the workplace.
When students participate in EnlightenED activities, they earn points that they can redeem them for rewards such as gift cards and exclusive opportunities. One of the most valuable opportunities in my view is an hour-long session with someone on Ellucian's talent acquisition team. It's a unique opportunity for students to discover how to communicate their skills to employers and learn how to succeed in competency interviews.
Why Is the Student Voice So Important Today?
Students are at the heart of every decision an institution makes. From teaching and learning to student support and digital transformation, those decisions ultimately shape the student experience and influence learners' ability to achieve their goals.
That's why the student voice has always been so important to Ellucian. Everything we do is focused on helping institutions create better experiences and outcomes for their learners. Understanding what students think, feel, and need is an essential part of that.
Students' needs and expectations continue to evolve. They want their time in higher education to prepare them for their future but understanding what matters most to them can be difficult through traditional surveys and polls alone. By listening more closely and consistently, institutions can gain the insight they need to make informed decisions, drive innovation and create experiences that genuinely respond to their students' needs.
Behind every student ID number on an institution's student information system is an individual with their own goals, ambitions and experiences. EnlightenED gives universities the opportunity to ask, listen, and learn directly from them.
How Can Institutions Benefit from Having Students Participate?
EnlightenED ambassadors may participate in Ellucian student advisory panels when their institution chooses to take part. Through these in-depth research opportunities, institutions identify the questions and topics most important to them, developing up to 50 specific questions they would like their students to answer.
Institutions get to hear first-hand what their students think about new courses, communication tools, and technology. Institutions can ask specific questions to find out what is working and what could be improved with processes like registration and accessing advice or support.
The tailored surveys help institutions test assumptions and gain a deeper understanding of their students' experience. The panel data can be particularly important when institutions are going through times of change or innovation, because they can test out ideas on the panel and put the student at the heart of their strategy.
How Does Student Feedback Influence Ellucian's Innovation?
Student feedback helps us understand higher education through the eyes of the people who matter most – students.
The insights we receive through EnlightenED help inform our innovation, giving us a better understanding of student expectations, behaviours, and experiences so we can continue developing solutions that address their changing needs. Most importantly, this helps us deliver what we are focused on, supporting the student success that ultimately drives institutional success.
What's the Vision for the Programme in the Region?
Our vision is to build a thriving community of student ambassadors across the UAE who can develop career-ready skills, build professional networks, and play a meaningful role in shaping the future of higher education.
We want students to have opportunities to share their perspectives, contribute ideas, and influence conversations that impact the learner experience. At the same time, we want institutions to benefit from a deeper understanding of what students need to succeed.
As the community grows in the UAE, we hope to welcome more students from across the region soon, including Saudi Arabia, creating an even stronger platform for student collaboration and insight.
What we would really like to see is some more enthusiastic EnlightenED student ambassadors like Muhammad from Regent Middle East!
Muhammad said: "I joined EnlightenED because I wanted to share my opinion and meet more students. Being involved in surveys, discussions and community activities about student life, career development and technology are some of my favourite parts. I would invite other students to experience EnlightenED as a place to join and connect with other students, share ideas and feel like part of a community that values the student voice."
Discover how your institution can support career-readiness and help your students make an impact in the UAE, through the EnlightenED community.
