By Scott Pohl, WKAR
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-939276.mp3
EAST LANSING, MI –
Last week, the executive director of MSU-Dubai visited the university's main campus in East Lansing.
Kevin Dunseath met with president Lou Anna Simon and others to discuss the future of MSU's operations in the Middle East.
Low enrollment was a major factor in closing the undergraduate programs at MSU-Dubai earlier this year. A graduate program in human resources and labor relations remains, with just over a dozen students.
Dunseath told WKAR's Scott Pohl that he thinks MSU will maintain a presence in the Middle East.
AUDIO:
KEVIN DUNSEATH: "At the moment, that presence is located in Dubai, and we're looking at ways in which the operation can be maintained, and indeed, strengthened. So, we're talking about, for example, executive education programs, we're talking about study abroad and internship opportunities, we're talking about research and consultancy opportunities in that region, and we're also talking about the possibility of offering a variety of graduate degree programs, either on a face-to-face basis through perhaps a hybrid delivery model, or even through a more traditional kind of online format."
POHL: "When you consider synchronous study with classes in East Lansing, I envision a few potential problems in terms of scheduling. One would be the time difference. One would be the days of the week schedule, because of the differences between our typical Monday through Friday schedule and what I seem to recall is a Sunday to Thursday schedule in Dubai. Am I correct about that?"
DUNSEATH: "Indeed you are. Of course, it's important also to remember that the weekend varies across the countries themselves. So, the weekend, for example, in Saudi Arabia is not the same as the weekend in Dubai. In Dubai, we have our weekends Friday and Saturday, and in Saudi Arabia, it's Thursday and Friday. So, yes, you're absolutely right. These are logistical challenges to engaging entirely in the synchronous learning model."
"Similarly, as you're well aware, national and religious holidays, for example in the Middle East are different from those here in the U.S. So, that's another challenge, too, but I think the way that we can get round that is to ensure that there are asynchronous learning opportunities that are available, in tandom with the synchronous ones, so that students basically have the choice."
POHL: "When might such a plan go into effect? In January? Next academic year, starting in the fall of 2011?"
DUNSEATH: "My feeling is that if these plans go ahead, that it's more likely that it would come into effect from the beginning of the new academic year, so from the fall of the coming year.
POHL: "What can you tell me now about MSU-Dubai becoming a destination for East Lansing-based students and their potential study abroad programs?"
DUNSEATH: "Well, we have actually, as it turns out, we have the opportunity now to welcome our first group of East Lansing students to Dubai. They're arriving on the 28th of this month, and they'll be there for approximately ten days, a study abroad group of 16 students. Dubai is an extremely attractive destination, I think, for study abroad students. It's welcoming, it's liberal, it's tolerant, it's vibrant. It's still a very, very busy center of commerce there, so many of the Fortune 500 companies, for example, have presences in Dubai. So, despite the recent economic downturn, Dubai is still resilient, Dubai is still strong, Dubai is still an attractive destination for our students to go and do their study abroad."
"Now, at the same time, Dubai is a nexus for the wider region. So, students are not limited to doing their study abroad experiences in Dubai. They may wish to do them in Abu Dhabi, they may wish to do them in Qatar, in Bahrain, in Oman, in Kuwait, and so on. And, I think in the future that that'll be quite possible, that students might take their experiences in different locations, one of which then would be Dubai."