Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar to graduate first class

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley and Mary McLaughlin

DOHA, Qatar – There’s not a word for "design" in Arabic, but 21 students know the subject well as they prepare to graduate from the Virginia Commonwealth University – School of the Arts in Qatar. They will receive their bachelor of fine arts degree at commencement exercises June 27 in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.

While several American universities are in the process of establishing branch campuses in the Persian Gulf, VCU is the first four-year American university staffed with American faculty to actually graduate students. The students, most from the Middle East and all females, will receive bachelor’s degrees in graphic design, fashion design and interior design.

"Until VCU, these kind of degrees were unavailable to students in the Gulf region unless they attended university abroad," said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D. "These students are now able to integrate into the economy of their cultures, blending their traditional beliefs and customs with modern technology and professionalism."

VCU-Qatar is the result of a search by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to find the right university to create an extension of a highly respected school of arts found in the West. VCU was selected because of its national ranking as one of the leading arts and design schools in the United States.

There are 27 faculty and staff at the Qatar campus, 20 of whom are from the VCU main campus in Richmond, Va. The Qatar campus boasts a 10-1 ratio of students to faculty, with an enrollment of 115. The close interaction with students helps faculty overcome the significant challenge of teaching a subject to students that is literally foreign to them.

"A huge change in the thinking process is required for Middle Eastern students to become educated in western approaches to design," said Richard Toscan, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of the Arts. "We’ve got the potential to have a subtle but noticeable impact on the development of the region through our focus on educating women for professional careers that would not be available to them without us."

"The commitment of the Qatar faculty to teach goes way beyond the typical," Trani added. "Many of the them have been at the campus since it was started three years ago and can see the progress they are making in building the design profession in this part of the world. These faculty bring not only their talent as VCU instructors to these students, but also their experience as professionals who practice their art."

Trani will be joined at the graduation with other VCU officials and ministers of education from surrounding Persian Gulf countries. Reem Acra, an award-winning Arab American fashion designer and a top name in the international luxury bridal market, will deliver the commencement address. The commencement also will be attended by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, wife of H.H. the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who conceived the idea of having U.S. universities operate specialized colleges in Qatar.

VCU–Qatar continues under an agreement with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The programs at VCU-Qatar have the same admission standards and nearly identical curricula as those required at VCU’s main campus. VCU exercises full academic control over the hiring of faculty and staff, curriculum and the treatment of students to ensure nondiscrimination in race, religion or gender. All construction, maintenance and operational costs for the campus are provided through the Foundation.

VCU–Qatar operates under approvals and authorization of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Virginia General Assembly and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges (SACS).