component is completed a
second part of the course would
commence overseas. This program
would entail a 2 week cultural
program with industry site visits
tied to the learning outcomes of
the course proper. The faculty
leader could choose from a unique
experiences in Spain, Italy, Eastern
Europe, China and many more.
and told me that my first concern
should always be my family. It was
a valuable lesson and one that I
learned living in the UAE.
AURAK students are concerned
with their family first and foremost.
This means that parents or even
a grandfather, brother, etc… have
enormous input over what they
study and if they can do so abroad.
In order to send our students
abroad I have to be mindful of the
concerns of their families.
We recently sent a survey to our
student body asking them what
their top three challenges were
to studying overseas. The results
were: 1) financial 2) family 3)
safety concerns. Our ruler, Sheikh
Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, has
allowed AURAK to be open to all
the residents of his emirate and
others. One way to achieve this
was through affordable tuition.
This means that most experiences
abroad will be more expensive
than our programs. I try to search
for programs the majority of my
students can afford.
As to safety, the main stream news
from the U.S. highlights nightly that
they are in the midst of presidential
election period where a major
candidate has made hostile remarks
about keeping people of the Islamic
faith out of the country. This
http://www.aramfo.org/
concerns our students as they
wonder if they will have a negative
encounter in one of their preferred
destinations. In terms of day to day
safety, the crime rate in the UAE
is exceedingly low. One can leave
one’s car and even home unlocked
as the security apparatus here is
very secure. But that is not the case
with every country.
One solution to encourage
students and their families with
study and travel abroad, while
being mindful of costs, family
concerns, and safety factors, is
to develop short term faculty led
study abroad programs. This
would allow for group travel under
the guidance of a faculty member.
We are currently working with the
ARAMFO Education Foundation
for Multicultural Education and
Students’ Understanding to create
a model that would minimize
our three biggest challenges
mentioned above. We began the
process in December of 2015 and
we tried a hybrid model that didn’t
appeal to our students. Dr. Abeer
encouraged us to consider the
standard ARAMFO model for short
term programs.
This model is as follows. During
a university summer session the
student would take a regular
summer course on campus.
When its on campus academic
2016
I
One solution
to encourage
students ... is to
develop short term
faculty led study
abroad programs.
The advantages of working with
ARAMFO are many. For one thing
they have contacts in 60 countries
around the globe. Secondly, Dr.
Abeer and her dedicated staff
will spend the time to make your
program come to life. Thirdly,
they offer comprehensive cost
affordable programs. And the
hours they have given to AURAK
are numerous and have proven
their dedication to their client
universities. Additionally, ARAMFO
is mindful of cultural and religious
considerations. They also have
many years of experience in
running faculty led programs. And
very importantly, they organize all
the logistics: flights, housing, site
visits, on the ground coordinator
for trip duration, connections
with local universities. They take
care of everything allowing the
faculty leader to feel the program
is possible without sacrifice of
valuable research time.
We hope to soon offer a
successful study abroad program
through ARAMFO. In the
meantime we are working with
them to become a center in the
Gulf region for faculty led study
abroad programs who wish
to come to us in the summer
(early summer is best) or winter
break period. We look forward
to a growing relationship with
ARAMFO and to hosting faculty
led programs at our university in
the very near future.
A R A M F O E D U C AT I O N A L F O U N DAT I O N
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