University first to get UAE licence EDUCATION: MBA

Sunday Herald, The, Mar 11, 2007 by Julia Fields

STRATHCLYDE Business School has become the first in Europe to be awarded a government-approved licence to operate an MBA programme in the United Arab Emirates.

The licence also establishes the business school as an officially recognised educational institution, a distinction held by only one other in Europe, the University of Sorbonne.

The University of Strathclyde has run a part-time MBA programme in Dubai since 1995 and Abu Dhabi for the past three years, with revenues expected to reach GBP2 million for the year ended July 2007.

But according to Colin Eden, director of the the business school's international division, being recognised means its UAE students have better job prospects.

As part of the process undertaken by the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation, Strathclyde was scrutinised by the deans of three top US Business Schools.

The licence also allows Strathclyde to increase its operations in Abu Dhabi, which has stricter regulations on foreign operators. Eden explained the school was focusing a lot of attention on the Gulf region, where it also has activities in Oman, Muscat and Bahrain.

"It's a growing economy. Dubai accounts for something like 20- per cent of all the construction cranes in the world. Abu Dhabi is slower, but in my view, pursuing a more considered growth plan, " he said.

The business school will launch new MSc programmes in April 2008, including one in entrepreneurship offered by the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, founded by Scottish multi-millionaire Tom Hunter. The programmes are expected to boost its total student enrolment in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from 300 to 400 within the first year.

The business school, which has a GBP25m turnover and operates in 10 overseas centres, is keen to extend its international reach and is considering expanding into Russia and India. It provides all of the staff and materials involved with the courses, but shares facilities with local universities or colleges.

Eden, however, said that shoring up flagging university finances was not the prime motivation for its international activities. The University of Strathclyde recently announced it would lose 250 posts through voluntary redundancies. But Eden said that "it was not my job to make a profit out of the business" and that expanding outwards was "part of our commitment to contribute to global education".

He added revenues generated allowed the business school to increase its critical mass by hiring more professors and carrying out more research projects.

Strathclyde Business School is one of the largest in Europe, drawing in 2100 undergraduates and 600 full-time, and 1800 part- time postgraduate students.