UNC Not Only School Qatar Has Courted For Satellite Campus

Both Cornell University and Virginia Commonwealth University have agreed to or have created schools in Qatar.

The University of Virginia considered the option in 1998 but decided against a satellite campus.

Richard Toscan, VCU's dean of the School of Arts, said the institution opened an arts and design school in Qatar in the fall of 1998.

VCU agreed to a 10-year, $50 million contract for the campus in Qatar, Toscan said, adding that a formal campus branch will open in 2002, accommodating 23 faculty and administrators and 120 students already at the school.

The agreement also provided for the construction of a $10 million, 70,000-square-foot building, which Toscan said was funded solely by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Qatar working to improve that country.

Toscan said the satellite campus, which is in its fourth year, is a major success. "We've been very pleased with the results."

But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks alerted the school to place more emphasis on security issues, he added. Toscan downplayed the potential of a security threat at the Qatar campus.

Tracy Hickenbottom, media coordinator for the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, said the Qatar campus will provide the country with a medical institution to cater to its citizens' needs when it opens in 2002. "The whole idea is to provide medical assistance to that part ... of the world," Hickenbottom said.

According to Cornell's Web site, funding for the school's first 10 years will cost about $750 million.

In 1998 UVa. researched the creation of a college in Qatar, but potential accreditation problems from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools stopped further progress.

Louise Dudley, UVa. assistant vice president of university relations, said the school was approached by the Qatar Foundation. "It seemed ... in line with the mission of the founding of the university."

She said the Qatar campus had the potential to create more educational opportunities for women.

Despite these praises, UVa. School of Law Professor Peter Low said accreditation problems could have been solved.

He said language barriers, attracting students and recruiting educators were the main difficulties. "It was a very complicated situation," he said. "It was just something ... that didn't sort out."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.