Dubai Women’s College welcomes 400 new students

Dubai Women’s College (DWC), a Higher Colleges of Technology flagship institution welcomed approximately 400 new students in its New Student Orientation program for the new academic year 2011-2012. The 'Orientation Week' kicked off on Sunday, the 4th of September packed with activities allowing the new students to get acquainted with the campus facilities and environment, and the College’s policies and procedures.

The two-week program aimed at helping students understand the DWC campus culture: how technology is used on campus, from online SharePoint to the online campus Portal; the emphasis on healthy living, from healthy food offerings in the cafeteria to physical education classes in the state-of-the-art DWC Fitness Center – and how DWC cares about the health and well-being of its students; and resources for student success, including counseling services, IT support, and academic advising.

This year’s event was very special as dietitians and nutritionists from Abela & Co., a leading company in offering healthy eating for over 15 years at DWC, were present at DWC cafeteria to create awareness among the young students about the importance of healthy eating and how to take advantage of the healthy options and the nutrition information that DWC offer in its cafeteria.

Mariam Saleh, Nutrition Manager at Abela & Co. said many important points were tackled at the orientation session such as ‘How to choose a balanced meal containing the necessary nutrients from protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals’.” Mariam added that a balanced meal can be an easy task for them as DWC cafeteria offers the color coded menu based on the nutrient content of the food so for instance food labeled in purple is high in proteins and iron.

Mariam also explained how the food at the college cafeteria is cooked in trans fat free-oils and the health risks of trans fat. DWC is the only college to have incorporated physical education classes into the curriculum, introduced healthy foods without trans-fats in the cafeteria and eliminated sodas and candy from the campus.

 “Students were advised to extend this healthy practice to their daily living outside the college and at home to avoid extra calories, fat and cholesterol, coming from junk food and candies,” she pointed out.

From his part, Dr. Howard Reed, Director of DWC commented on having an orientation session on healthy food for the first time in a higher educational institution in UAE by saying “Dubai Women’s College is known for providing its students, faculty and staff with healthy food in an environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle. This proactive approach to healthy eating for the DWC family is part of our commitment to help the UAE combat obesity, diabetic diseases and other lifestyle problems such as heart problems.”

The Bachelor of Education Program has also offered new students a unique orientation to help them get to know each other, break down barriers between year groups, create a powerful learning environment and facilitate team work between faculty and students. By the end of the program, students will have made friends, met and worked with all the staff, understood the effectiveness of working together and had fun.