American University in Dubai

The American University in Dubai (AUD) (Arabic: الجامعة الأمريكية في دبي) is a private for-profit university in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 1995 and serves UAE nationals and international students with an American-style education.

American University in Dubai
MottoWhere potential is turned into success
TypePrivate for-profit university
Established1 October 1995 [1]
Endowmentn/a
PresidentLance De Masi
ProvostSabrina Joseph
Academic staff
109 (Fall 2022)
Administrative staff
101
Students1,800 (Fall 2022)
Location,
Colors  Blue
MascotAUD Knights
Websitehttps://www.aud.edu/

AUD is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the UAE Ministry of Education. 2022–2023 enrollment was around 1,800 students. AUD has a faculty of over 110.[2] Its curriculum is based on the US model of a liberal education.[3]

Campus

The American University in Dubai is situated next to Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, and the Palm Islands.

AUD's campus is situated on grounds of approximately 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2), and encompasses three academic buildings, a Student Center, an administration building, residence halls, a cafeteria area, and an open air sports facilities.[4]

Academics

The university is organized into schools:

  • School of Architecture, Art and Design
    • Department of Architecture
    • Department of Interior Design
    • Department of Visual Communication
  • School of Arts and Sciences
    • Department of International Studies
    • Department of Psychology
    • Middle Eastern Studies
  • School of Business Administration
    • Department of Business and Economics
    • Department of Finance and Accounting
    • Department of Management
    • Department of Marketing and Marketing Communications
  • Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication
  • School of Education
  • School of Engineering
    • Department of Civil Engineering
    • Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering

Accreditation

The American University in Dubai (AUD) is accredited to grant bachelor's and master's degrees by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), one of seven regional accrediting bodies in the United States. The American University in Dubai is officially licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry has accredited all the university's programs.[5]

AUD is authorized to operate by the State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC).[6] AUD's undergraduate majors in Marketing Communications and Advertising have been accredited by the International Advertising Association (IAA) in New York.[7]

The Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).

Founding and history

Following the Gulf War in 1991, a team led by Elias Bou Saab from the American Intercontinental University (AIU), visited the Persian Gulf to establish relationships with various ministries of higher education, as well as the region's schools.

The lack of quality private education at the university level, coupled with an appreciation of the American model of higher education, led them to conduct a feasibility study on the prospects of establishing an American university in the Persian Gulf. The results confirmed the high level of interest and desire for a campus offering an American-accredited educational curriculum.

It also became quickly apparent that the Emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, would be an ideal place to locate such an institution. Dubai was found to be a politically stable, cosmopolitan and outward-looking principality whose nearly non-existent private sector in higher education was just beginning to draw some attention.

Elias Bou Saab moved to Dubai in 1995 in order to officially establish the American University in Dubai, which in turn would not have been possible without the commitment and support from the outset of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai.

The American University in Dubai opened its doors in October 1995 as a branch campus of the American Intercontinental University, a multinational educational institution currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.

AUD's initial enrollment was 165 students, over half of which were females. By the time former Secretary of State and Treasury James Baker gave the Keynote at AUD's first commencement in 1998,[8] enrollment had climbed to 499; and the Dubai government, as an expression of confidence, had decided to build a campus of 1,400,000 square feet for use by the university. AUD moved out of its initial premises to occupy the new campus in January 2000. Its enrollment at that time was 687.

The year 2000 was also significant because it was in that year that the university was officially licensed by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHE). The private sector for higher education had grown considerably since AUD's founding, and the Ministry saw fit to establish a formal licensure and (subsequently) accreditation process. It was in 2000 that AUD's largest academic department – Business Administration – was organizationally designated as a School. In 2001, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the American University in Dubai (AUD) and the Georgia Institute of Technology of Atlanta, GA to establish a School of Engineering. Representatives from Georgia Tech, including six senior faculty and administrative officers, visited AUD to finalize the adaptation of curricula to the requirements of the UAE.[9]

See also

References

  1. "HISTORY | American University in Dubai (AUD)".
  2. Archived April 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Uniandi: American University in Dubai (AUD)". Uniandi. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  4. Archived January 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "CAA". Caa.ae. Archived from the original on 2015-05-13. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  6. Archived April 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Accredited Institutes" (PDF). Iaa-resources.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  8. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Georgia Tech to help set up AUD engineering school | GulfNews.com". gulfnews.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

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