It's a typical Canadian postsecondary campus with all the components you expect for thousands of students; among 22 buildings, there are cafeterias, lounges, recreation facilities, classrooms, and labs; the only thing missing is snow.
College of the North Atlantic's Qatar campus.
College of the North Atlantic's Qatar campus.
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Located in Doha, the capital city Qatar, this Canadian campus offers all the value of a Canadian education in the middle of a desert state. While many U.S. universities and some Canadian MBA programs have expanded into the Middle East during the past five years, a college is among the leaders for Canadian expansion into this region.
Newfoundland and Labrador's College of the North Atlantic opened the doors to its Qatar campus in 2002. Starting with 300 students, the campus has grown to house 4,004 students from 36 different countries.
It all started in 1999 when the Government of Qatar, as part of its vision of becoming the higher education hub of the Middle East, approached Canadian and American community colleges and requested proposals to open a satellite campus in the oil-and-gas-rich emirate. The emirate quickly decided it wanted to import the Canadian model and set about touring numerous Canadian colleges looking for the right one. With the similarities between the Newfoundland-and-Labrador and Qatari economy, CNA had the experience and programs the Qatari government was looking for.
"It came down to relationships," says Jean Madill, president of CNA, of the Qatari decision to import CNA, "We share similar backgrounds with fishing and offshore oil."
CNA was awarded a ten-year contract with a budget of $1.7-billion to open the campus. CNA earns a yearly management fee that returns to Canada, but the main benefits to Newfoundland and Labrador come from the networking and employment opportunities stemming from having a highly visible presence in the country. Of the 600 faculty and staff employed at CNA-Q, over 200 are from the province, with the remaining staffing split between 100 local hires and the majority of others coming from other Canadian provinces.
The Qatar campus has improved CNA's international reputation and enabled the college to continueexpanding its international footprint. CNA has 1,800 students enrolled in programs offered in partnership with institutions in China.
"The Qatar campus provides an international environment and global perspective to our education," says Ms. Madill. She adds many firms are looking for employees who can work in globalized environment and that CNA graduates are in demand.
Opening the campus in Qatar required cultural adjustment from both sides. "Opening a Canadian institution internationally can be a challenge," says Enid Strickland, interim president of the Qatar campus. "There are many differences to contend with: English is not the first language, culture differences, just to name a few."
The campus' cafeterias, lounges, and recreation facilities are gender-separate. Sexes often sit on separate sides of the classroom and all activities stop during prayer times.
Stephanie Piercey, a Canadian studying respiratory therapy at CNA-Q, says being in Qatar has taught her a lot about herself. "Coming here showed me that there is more to the world. I am more open-minded to experience new things and I have learned to respect other people's opinions, religions and general ways of life."
Ms. Piercey's parents are among the thousands of Canadians working in Qatar. Students at CNA-Q must live in the country. Doha is a unique city in that the majority of its residents are not Qatari citizens and have only recently arrived, resulting in an international potpourri despite the residency restrictions.
CNA-Q has university transfer agreements in place for many of its programs. Students completing three-year engineering technology diplomas can transfer to universities in Canada, Britain and the United States with advance standing toward bachelors and masters degrees. The agreement with Indiana's Purdue University allows CNA-Q graduates to earn both their bachelors and masters degrees in two years. Many students graduating CNA-Q pre-nursing apply to the University of Calgary's School of Nursing in Qatar.
With a Canadian college already established in the Middle East, many Canadian universities have been eyeing the region for opportunities to expand. The University of Waterloo recently opened satellite programs in the United Arab Emirates and many universities have sold their curriculums in the region. The Qatari government has expressed interest in bringing a Canadian dentistry school into its ambitious Education City project and India recently relaxed restrictions on foreign universities operating in its country. (York University announced this month it will be opening business programs in India.)
CNA-Q's Ms. Strickland says Canadian institutions looking to follow CNA into the region must "Do your homework. This region is a wonderful place to live and work, however the challenges are very different from your Canadian environment."
"Be patient. Language differences can often be overcome when people slow down and learn to communicate in different ways."
With Middle Eastern economies preparing for the change from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy, the opportunity is there for more Canadian schools to open in the region.
Special to The Globe and Mail
