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The Detroit News

MSU branches out with Dubai campus

by Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

February 11, 2008

When Michigan State University opens its campus in the United Arab Emirates in August, the land grant institution will become the first North American university inside the world's only free zone dedicated to higher education.

"Our presence in Dubai will broaden MSU's reach into an important region of the world," Brendan Mullan, executive director of MSU Dubai, said in an e-mail from Dubai. "It also reflects our dedication to building international partnerships that provide enhanced global educational opportunities and experiences for all of our students."

The government of Dubai formally invited MSU to open the facility in its International Academic City, Mullan said.

The university, which had long wanted a presence in the Persian Gulf region, jumped at the chance because of Dubai's growing global importance and MSU's commitment to being a "world-grant university."

"What MSU required was the right environment, right location, right culture and the necessary funding required to establish the campus," Ayoub Kazim, executive director of Dubai International Academic City, said in an e-mail. "Dubai was able to match the expectations of MSU."

At least 10 professors will move from East Lansing to Dubai to teach the inaugural class, with students who will originate largely from the Middle East. An advertising campaign that kicked off this month is expected to generate scores of applications for the 200 or so spots available this year. Dubai paid for the full-page ads in leading newspapers in the United Arab Emirates to welcome MSU to the region.

Overseas demand high Universities setting up campuses overseas to educate foreign students is a trend but "it's a little one so far," said Allan Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education. The Observatory for Borderless Higher Education has identified 82 universities worldwide that have international branch campuses, about half being American.

Qatar's Education City is home to many of these international branch campuses, including Texas A&M, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon.

"The demand for higher education is just enormous," Goodman said. "More and more young people are graduating from high school, and they just have no place to go. … And not everybody can fit into East Lansing.".

While MSU may be the first American university in Dubai International Academic City, leaders acknowledged it will soon have plenty of company.

By 2015, Academic City will be home to about 38,000 students at 37 international universities. "We expect to host six to seven universities from North America, and we are in talks with several U.S. universities," Kazim said, noting a new agreement with Boston-based Hult International Business School. Dubai is an ambitious and rapidly growing international business hub. Modern and cosmopolitan, Dubai's skyscrapers have become a key destination for Fortune 500 companies, and its beaches and manmade islands are hot spots for international tourists.

It's home to one of the largest shipping ports, some of the world's most luxurious hotels and one of the tallest indoor ski slopes. Dubai is constantly under construction, with projects including the creation of the world's tallest building, largest shopping center and biggest airport.

All the activity is the bold vision of its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

"I want it to be No. 1," Maktoum told CBS' "60 Minutes" in a rare interview last year. "Not in the region, but in the world. In everything -- higher education, health, housing."

Dubai has provided the shell of the building that MSU will occupy and has agreed to fund facilities for student housing, dining, athletics and entertainment. TECOM Investments, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding that owns International Academic City, will loan MSU money for the start-up costs, such as interior construction of the 32,000-square-foot facility, furnishings, staff and faculty hires and equipment. MSU's board of trustees agreed to financing with TECOM of up to $3 million.

In turn, MSU will have sole control over the academic operation of the campus. Tuition dollars will be used to repay the loans and to sustain the operational costs of the not-for-profit campus. Michigan tax dollars will not be at risk, said John Hudzik, MSU vice president of global engagement and strategic projects.

State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, who has been critical of state taxpayer dollars being used to educate out-of-state students at public universities, doesn't challenge MSU's decision to establish a branch campus in the Persian Gulf, especially if public money isn't at risk. In fact, Hoogendyk, R-Texas Township, views the MSU Dubai campus as an opportunity "to spread freedom and liberty."

His hope is that students may ultimately work in Michigan or the United States after graduation. "It could be a way to lure some talent," he said.

Professors to travel to Dubai The MSU campus will ultimately grow to about 800 undergraduate and graduate students and about 40 faculty members. While MSU Dubai will hire some professors from the United Arab Emirates, the campus should always have a significant East Lansing presence "for reasons of quality control and to make sure that the Dubai campus stays true to our institutional values," Hudzik said.

Getting professors to come has some challenges, said Richard Wampler, professor of family and child ecology who has been organizing MSU's early childhood and youth development undergraduate programs in Dubai.

While a few professors in his department would teach there immediately, most of the 18 faculty members are apprehensive and waiting for someone else to go first, he said.

"There's a lot of concern about this, and there's a sense of 'Is it safe' and " said Wampler, noting two 'Is this what Michigan State should be doing,' professors from his department will teach in Dubai each semester when the campus is fully under way.

"And the answer is: 'We are going to give it a shot and see what we need to " do and how it's going to work.'

Student exchanges between MSU and Dubai will also take place. Faculty members should come back enriched with new experiences and perspectives they can bring to the East Lansing classroom, Wampler said.

The rotation won't interfere with course offerings in East Lansing, he said.

"It's not intended to be a drain on the resources for the university; it's intended to be a resource for the university," Wampler said. "If it's successful, it represents a major contact point for East Lansing to reach out to that part of the world."

While Dubai will be MSU's first international campus, the university has had a rich history in other countries.

Some of the projects include an international elementary school in Beijing, research on global climate change in the Brazilian Amazon and strengthening agricultural development in Africa, where MSU has had a presence for nearly 60 years.