RIT To Open Dubai Campus

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/11/08

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will be opening a new campus in Dubai as part of Dubai Silicon Oasis, a complex that will include a high-tech park, housing, retail, banks, and conference centers. At the announcement, Dubai representatives said their city will invest in building a full-fledged campus for "RIT Dubai," including an academic center, living quarters for students and faculty, and a recreational facility. RIT will provide academic content and manage the university.

"This is an historic day for RIT as we continue to increase the number of global opportunities for our students," said the school's president, Bill Destler. "Dubai is a cosmopolitan city and it is exciting that RIT will strengthen relationships with multi-national companies located in the United Arab Emirates. Part of our global strategy is to provide companies a pipeline with a capable workforce already exposed to living, learning and working in a multi-cultural environment."

In September, initial offerings will focus on part-time graduate students in fields such as  electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, finance, human resource development, networking and systems administration, and service leadership and innovation. By 2009, graduate offerings will extend to full-time graduate students and include telecommunications, facility management, industrial engineering, and manufacturing management and leadership. In 2010, RIT Dubai will begin offering undergraduate programs to full-time students. RIT Dubai will be attracting students from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

Dubai is one of the seven Emirates and a major port on the Persian Gulf. As part of a focus on strengthening higher education in the region, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum, established a $10 billion foundation to support human development in the Arab world. A major focus of this foundation is to provide scholarships to enhance higher education.