MBRSC to offer scholarships to 75% of its Arab students

The American University in Dubai (AUD) yesterday announced its recently launched Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Communication (MBRSC), set to start in September, will offer scholarships to 75 per cent of its National and Arab expatriate students based on their performance.

The AUD scholarships will cover tuition fee for students as well as housing for the expatriate students.

"In four years, our objective is to have around 400 students of whom 300 will be covered through our scholarship programme, said Elias Bou Saab, Executive Vice-President of AUD.

Set to receive an enrollment of 100 students in its first academic year, MBRSC is the only AUD school to have an Arabic track.

Dr Jihad Nader, Provost and Chief Academic Officer explained the school aims at developing a new-generation of talented and well-educated journalists and media professionals to bridge the gap in the Arab media sector.

He said: "This is the first time AUD has required an Arabic proficiency test as part of its admission criteria. The curriculum takes into account the geographical, cultural and professional needs of the region. Therefore, we concentrated on developing an Arabic track. Technical courses will only be conducted in English, but the rest will be in Arabic".

Launched following the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the communications school is established in collaboration with the University of Southern California, one of the most reputed communications schools in the United States.

The curriculum currently includes journalism and sub-fields such as radio, television and cinema.

"It took us three years to develop the curriculum in collaboration with experts from the United States. We expect to launch a New Media subfield, as well as a graduate degree in Integrated Marketing Communications once we get the proper accreditation, hopefully by next year," said Bou Saab.

He said: "Our collaboration with the University of Southern California included peer review, training faculty and student exchange, in addition to a research partnership that features launching a branch of one of the university's research centres".

Nader noted AUD had already agreed with many media organisations and institutions in the UAE, the Arab World and the United States to offer internships to MBRSC students during their course.

He said the local job market desperately needs more Arabic-speaking media professionals.

AUD also plans to launch a Middle Eastern Studies programme at its College of Arts and Sciences.