Academic Bridge Program

Welcome message from the Director

Dear Faculty, Staff, Students and Friends,

A warm welcome back from me and the rest of the management team. We do hope that you have returned refreshed and ready for what promises to be another very successful start to the academic  year.  

Wayne Jones - ABP Director

Wayne has worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and academic administrator for over twenty years in Europe, South America and the Middle East. During his 16 years at Zayed University, he has worked within the Academic Bridge Program (ABP) as a teacher, Level Coordinator and Assessment Supervisor and as a head of department in the Colloquy on Integrated Learning (Zayed University's General Education program). He has been the Director of the ABP since 2012. His academic interests are in the field of Language Testing and Assessment.

Kara McKeown  - DXB Assistant Director

Kara McKeown is the Assistant Director of the Academic Bridge Program for the Dubai Campus. She has been living and working in the UAE as a teacher since 2004. Her current role is to ensure that the daily running of the Bridge Program is as smooth and successful as possible. Kara’s research interests include Student motivation for studying at Higher Education level in the UAE, An Investigation into challenges and supports in the use of EMI in CACE and Jewelry as an indicator of social change in Emirati Society. Outside of ZU, Kara spends as much time as possible in museums and art galleries.

Robert Turner - AUH Associate Director

Robert Turner is the Associate Director of the ABP and ensures all unit operational matters are dealt with efficiently and effectively in Abu Dhabi. He is currently enrolled on a PhD at UCL and his research interests revolve around the relationships between social/cultural capital, recontextualizations of policy and knowledge production in higher education.

Beth Wiens - DXB Assessment Supervisor

Beth joined Zayed University in 2007 and has been working as teacher and contributor to curriculum and assessment projects throughout that time. She has a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and has considerable experience, with more than 20 years in the Middle East.  She has worked as a teacher and tester in other tertiary institutions in the UAE including UAE University and the University of Sharjah.  Please come talk to her if you have any questions about ABP exams or assessments which help move our students through the program. We really do have their best interest at heart.

Elizabeth Jones- AUH Assessment Supervisor

Elizabeth Jones is currently studying for a post-graduate Assessment qualification, her interests include vocabulary acquisition, language assessment and special needs education. Liz is a New Zealander who has lived in the UAE since 2008.  She has previously taught in New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.

Suzanne Littlewood - DXB Curriculum Supervisor

Suzanne joined Zayed University in 2013 and is currently Curriculum Supervisor on the Dubai campus. She has worked in education in the UAE since 1995 and has taught in tertiary institutions, colleges and schools. She has also taught in schools and colleges in the UK, Turkey, Hong Kong. She has also worked  as a  teacher educator in the UAE. Suzanne has a Masters Degree in Education, a Post Graduate Diploma in Teacher Education, and a Bachelors Degree in English Literature and History and a Diploma in TESOL.

Jesse Balanyk - AUH Curriculum Supervisor

Jesse has extensive experience teaching English in South Korea and the UAE. He joined Zayed University in 2012 and served as the Academic Bridge Program’s EdTech Coordinator from 2013 to 2016. Jesse has a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies, a Master of Education with a Major in TESOL and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Instructional Design.  Jesse is particularly interested in the use of technology to support language teaching and learning.