MSU Dubai opens for first week of class

With classes having started Sunday, MSU’s instructional building in Dubai is up and running and nearly complete.

All it lacks is an MSU distinction, a void that soon will be filled.

“Being installed in the next week or so, at about the sixth or seventh story, is a huge lighted Michigan State University sign,” said John Hudzik, vice president for Global Engagement and Strategic Initiatives. “There’s going to be almost nobody who lives in Dubai who, at one point or another, is not going to see that Michigan State University sign staring at them.”

Even without the flashing lights, MSU’s position in Dubai’s academic landscape was cemented Sunday when classes officially began. MSU Dubai is offering 25 courses to undergraduate students.

Hudzik said enrollment is ongoing but he expects the total number of undergraduates to be between 40 and 50 students by next week.

“There are institutions on the ground there now that after about five or six years currently have 4,000 to 5,000 students,” Hudzik said. “And they started with 20 students so we feel pretty good about (our numbers)”

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said while MSU has had international programs since 1956, they are increasingly important in today’s competitive college canvas. Dubai, she said, was a logical place because of its potential as a world leader.

“If you look at what the Dubai strategic plan is, and their aspirations, they want to be the next financial capital of the world,” Simon said. “We thought it was a good opportunity to be there while they tried to do it.”

The school week, which runs Sunday through Thursday, didn’t begin as expected. Hudzik said a router error caused all electronic connections to shut down for the first classes on Sunday. The problem was resolved by Monday, but Senior Associate Provost June Youatt said problems like these are part of the learning process.

“One of our goals for this semester is around doing that kind of problem-solving,” she said.”

Simon said the university’s goal is to become ingrained in Dubai’s culture, giving students in East Lansing more possibilities in the future.

“If we could have an opportunity to teach students there and become part of that system and not just an educational storefront, then we’re going to be able to generate some internship opportunities there that would be terrific,” Simon said.

While the future remains a prevalent part of MSU’s stake in Dubai, Hudzik said everyone who is there now is excited for the present.

“They’re pumped up,” Hudzik said. “I think the morale among the faculty in particular, but the students’ too, is very high. They’re like, ‘Hey, we’re forever known as the folks who opened this thing up.’”

Published on Thursday, August 28, 2008