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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC, Qatar End Negotiations

Chancellor James Moeser said Friday that he met last week with representatives from the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which first approached UNC in June.

Moeser said the discussion ultimately ended in an amicable but final resolution not to proceed with the project.

"Both the University and the Qatar Foundation held to a very high standard of excellence for the program, but at the end of the day Tuesday, we concluded the distance between the two positions was too far to negotiate," Moeser said.

Moeser said the disparity between the two positions was the result of disagreement on several points, including the amount of the management fee the foundation would pay to UNC and the size of faculty compensation packages.

"There was no one sticking point -- there were a number of issues, both financial and conceptual, that we were unable to resolve," he said.

Negotiations between UNC and the foundation had intensified in recent months, especially after University officials submitted a revised budget proposal to the foundation in December.

Robert Sullivan, dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, said Friday that the projected cost for the program was $16 million to $18 million a year in operating costs, for which the University would be fully reimbursed by the Qatar Foundation.

One of the major requests that University officials added to the budget in December was more money for safety and security, although Moeser said security was not a concern when the negotiations concluded.

University representatives also had been engaged in discussion with Qatari officials about the possibility of including a pre-engineering curriculum as part of the General College offerings.

But Moeser said the engineering program had not been a factor in the final decision.

He said the discussions about the curriculum were fairly smooth, with no concerns arising over academic freedom or standards.

Moeser said he expects the Qatar Foundation to approach other schools now that UNC is no longer in negotiations, but he said the foundation's discussion with the University of Texas at Austin had not affected its negotiations with UNC.

The proposal spurred intense debate on campus in recent months, including an endorsement from a split Faculty Council and a forum where about 75 students debated many pros and cons of the project with faculty panelists.

Student Body President Justin Young said he was glad negotiations were concluded to the University's satisfaction, despite the outcome.

"If it wasn't a perfect fit for us and a perfect fit for them, we shouldn't go forward," he said. "It made me feel better knowing, in essence, we didn't sell out and there were some things we wouldn't compromise on."

But English Professor James Thompson, who went on a foundation-sponsored trip to Qatar with about 50 other faculty members, said he was dismayed that the negotiations failed.

"I think it would have been a good opportunity for a cultural exchange with a progressive Arabic state," he said.

Moeser said that although he also was disappointed, the failure of the negotiations would not affect UNC's goal of strengthening its global presence.

"I can't count the number of relationships we have existing with countries around the world -- that number will continue to grow," he said. "We're engaged in a number of smaller efforts every day that don't come to the public eye."

"I have no shame nor discomfort that this was not concluded to our satisfaction."

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The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

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