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Summer 2007

Dubai delegation visits MSU, formal agreement signed

Gathered for the formal signing session on June 8 are (from left) Patty Croom, Corinne Reardon, Kim Wilcox, Sally Harwood, Chris Wentzel, Satish Gobinathan, George Saad, Ayoub Kazim, Michael Trevitt, Lou Anna K. Simon, Todd Drummond and John Hudzik. Kazim, executive director of Dubai International Academic City, headed the visiting delegation, which also included Wentzel, Gobinathan, Saad and Trevitt.

A delegation from Dubai visited MSU in early June for a series of meetings and a formal signing session that included President Lou Anna K. Simon, Provost Kim Wilcox and John Hudzik, vice president for global engagement and strategic projects, who has led discussions related to MSU's Dubai project on campus and in Dubai.

The visit followed the May meeting of the MSU Board of Trustees, which unanimously endorsed the development of undergraduate and graduate degree programs and research activities at Dubai International Academic City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Simon called the board action "transformational for a university with an expanding 'world-grant' mission."

"The mutual opportunities are many and impressive, not only for MSU but more widely for business and other institutions in Michigan," Simon added. "There are strong indicators that collaborations can have lasting regional impact for education, research and service."

Simon predicted that other U.S. institutions are likely to follow MSU’s path.

According to Wilcox, MSU will have full academic authority and quality control over courses and programs and MSU’s regular course, program, degree and admissions requirements will be maintained. Multiple MSU colleges and departments will be involved in the initiative.

Wilcox related the Dubai project to wider engagement in the Middle East, where MSU has strong connections in countries such as Israel and Turkey.

"Passage of the Dubai resolution by the Board is part of a more strategic long-term presence for MSU in the region," Wilcox said in a recent posting on his Web site. "Given changing global dynamics and the growing importance of the region’s economics and politics, there are strong reasons to engage at this time. Dubai is emerging as a key center of commerce, with over 400 of the Fortune 500 corporations having a significant presence in Dubai. The influx of non-Dubaians has given the nation a recognizably cosmopolitan and international flavor."

For the entire text of Wilcox's "From the Provost's Desk" Dubai message, go to provost.msu.edu
 
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