Monday, January 28, 2008

Saudi Arabia: US University Explores Possible Links

JEDDAH — A high-level team from the University of Colorado is in the Kingdom to explore the possibilities of collaborating, and developing joint programs, with Saudi universities. Invited by Zuhair Hamed Fayez, an alumni of the university and president of Zuhair Fayez Partnership, the Jeddah-based architectural and IT consultants, the team is led by Dr. M. Roy Wilson, chancellor of the university’s campus in Denver.

Topping the list of potential tie-ups is a plan for an architecture program leading to a bachelor’s degree in the subject at Dar Al-Hekma College for Girls (DAHC) in Jeddah. Fayez is currently chairman of the trustees of the college.

The Colorado team includes the dean of the university’s college of architecture and planning, Dr. Mark Gelernter, as well as two other members of the college. A memorandum of understanding between Colorado University and DAHC on helping establish an architecture department as well as cooperation on the existing interior design degree through a possible exchange of students may be signed soon.

At Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz University, the Colorado team discussed the possibility of collaborating with the existing faculty of environmental design. The faculty’s original curriculum was based on one developed by Harvard University.

In Riyadh, the team will visit King Saud University before flying on to the Eastern Province to investigate possibilities there.

One area in which Dr. Wilson is particularly interested in establishing collaboration is medicine. Colorado University at Denver is currently building a multibillion-dollar dedicated medical campus on a former military base in nearby Aurora. When finished, it will be one of the largest and most prestigious education, patient care and research centers in the US.

- Michel Cousins, Arab News

No comments: