Holy Spirit University of Kaslik

The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) is a private Catholic higher education institution founded by the Lebanese Maronite Order (LMO) in 1938. It is, thus, the first university which was established upon a Lebanese initiative and by Lebanese citizens (in this case by the LMO monks). From that moment, these monks, who had been entrusted with a teaching mission for more than three centuries, have undertaken the management of USEK. Their remit was to provide university teaching, in conformity with the requirements of the labor market and in close association with scientific research.

Being a national institution, USEK has brought its teachings and curricula into line with the official requirements of the Lebanese state, which acknowledges the diplomas it delivers. Furthermore, USEK remains careful in achieving synthesis of tradition and modernism in the educational options it offers, while remaining true to a Christian humanism, which is imprinted on the overall education it provides.

Due to the pressure to democratize higher education, the university is deploying necessary efforts to fight exclusion and abide by a non-elitist policy, albeit without making any concessions with regard to the quality of education. The establishment of decentralized regional centers (in Zahle, Chekka and Rmeich) thus springs out of the wish to implement the right to higher education.

USEK has adapted well in light of soaring socioeconomic development and has created new vocational specializations, in order to diversify its education and meet the needs of the labor market. Its objectives also include the installation of welcoming and service-oriented infrastructures which rely on new information and communication technologies. USEK is concerned with the modernization of administrative procedures and academic systems, and also with providing continuous training.

Nowadays, USEK welcomes more than 8,000 students across its twelve faculties and three institutes; i.e. fifteen academic units which offer a broad array of high-level diversified education.

Studies in USEK are based on the modular system of units which are accounted for on a half-year basis, or “credits”. By adopting this system, the University is complying with the regulations stipulated by the Lebanese state and with the provisions that were recently adopted in European universities, while also remaining compatible with the system in force in US and Canadian universities.

In addition, the adoption of such a structure enables students to enjoy flexibility on all levels for the academic and financial management of the prospective degree courses. It also enables :
Promotion of students’ mobility in Lebanon and abroad: Credits can be accumulated and transferred from one university to another.

• Personalisation of the students’ training: The academic course of each student is adapted to his(her) personal and vocational project.
• Flexible Organisation of the semester: Students are allowed the freedom to choose the number of credits (while abiding by the minimum and maximum numbers set by the University) and the courses taken during the semester (out of a group of courses that are required for a given curriculum), thus enabling them to ameliorate the manner in which they set their schedule.
• Development of close pedagogical support: The follow-up and support provided by the teachers is reinforced by the fact that, thank to this system, education is centred on the students.
• Offer of a diversified courses to students: This system promotes a multidisciplinary approach, as well as exchanges within and among disciplines.
• Facilitation reorientation: Thanks to the establishment of links among the various education courses that are proposed, students can easily change their curriculum without losing all their achievements.

USEK cultivates a strong feeling of belonging among its students, thanks to its welcoming student life and the multiple services it offers them. Hence, outside the framework of courses, student life in USEK takes several shapes and offers new occasions to develop new competences and knowledge and build a large network of contacts: a student magazine, social associations and clubs, pastoral work, cultural trips, student parties, etc.

Since the University is keen on emphasizing the culture of the body as well as that of the mind, it also offers students a broad choice of sports activities. The program includes: basketball, volleyball, football, tennis, table tennis, oriental dance, yoga, ski, etc. In addition, USEK has several sports teams, which take part regularly in competitions among universities, as well as in national and international championships.

USEK has always been interested in research activities, as proven by the international magazines published by the University (Melto, Parole de l’Orient), the annals and proceedings of high-level conferences and seminars held at USEK, in addition to the numerous publications, which are the result of individual or collective research works and which – by and large – pertain to a broad theme of diversification, namely that of the Lebanese and Near-Eastern heritage (musical, theological, liturgical, literary, legal, historic, architectural, technical, scientific, etc.). In this context, exchanges within and among disciplines are promoted, thus establishing links among USEK’s faculties and institutes, in order to achieve better collaboration. Moreover, the University has access to much resource equipment, earmarked for research activities and which is put at the disposal of teachers/researchers and students.

As higher education became widespread and the socioeconomic crisis in the country grew harsher, USEK has set the following objectives for itself:

• Make higher education accessible to all equally, without discrimination and, most importantly, without excluding economically deprived students;
• Preserve the quality of its students’ education and training, so as to enable them to better live in society and in their vocational sphere.

Since its founding, USEK seeks, and in accordance with the Article 92 of the Constitutions of the OLM (ed. 2012) and the social teaching of the Catholic Church on universities, to contribute to the development of all its students through quality educational programs and research in various fields of study.

By providing a high quality American-style education to its students, USEK intends to prepare future leaders for innovation, professional growth and life-long learning, in Lebanon, within the Middle East and throughout the world. USEK is committed to a faith-based educational development of its students rooted in the Catholic tradition whereby spiritual values and ethics as well as respect for cultural and religious pluralism are promoted.