Zayed University hosted the 7th Gulf Conference on Professional Issues at its Convention Center in Abu Dhabi on the 6th and 7th of February 2013. The conference was held in association with Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), a leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession, and American College Personnel Association (ACPA), and attracted 150 student administrators from the GCC and international universities.

This year's conference theme was designed to highlight programs, services, professional development opportunities and innovations across the region that have successfully achieved the delicate equilibrium between international best practices and local requirements.

It also comprised workshops and seminars that tackled many subjects including counseling, academics, raising awareness among university students as part of their contribution to the community and the role of extra-curricular activities in raising cultural and global awareness.

Following the conference, His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and President of Zayed University, received leaders of NASPA and ACPA, and the co-organizers of the 7th Gulf Conference on Professional Issues, in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Dr.Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy, Honorary Executive Director of NASPA, Dr. Oscar Felix, current Executive Director of Naspa, Dr. Heidi Levine, former President of ACPA,  and Zayed University officials. 

Sheikh Nahayan said advanced learning has become a key objective that achieved to qualify and empower young generations with up to date knowledge and skills so as to add a qualitative push to national development.