The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (Aurak) and US-based Wayne State University (WSU) have signed an agreement expanding their transfer student programme.

The agreement was signed by Aurak president, Professor Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, and Wayne State provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, Dr. Keith Whitfield.

The two institutions have maintained a previously established 3+2 Transfer Student Programme since 2017, in which students can earn college degrees from both Aurak and WSU simultaneously. Aurak students who have completed three years of a four-year, pre-approved engineering program with a 3.0 grade point average and/or maintained a rank in the top quartile during their first three years of studies as well as having met the language proficiency level required by WSU can transfer to WSU to fulfil two years of a pre-approved curriculum.

During the first year at WSU, the students are expected to complete sixteen hours of coursework and an undergraduate senior research project and either sixteen hours of coursework or eight hours of course work and eight hours of Master’s Thesis Research project the second year. Upon completion of the program, each student will receive both a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Aurak and a Master’s Degree in Engineering from WSU.

The programme has resulted in such high success that the two institutions have decided to bolster the agreement with additional faculty exchange, student exchange, and research opportunities. The universities look forward to utilizing each other through faculty exchange to enrich their faculty’s teaching experience and benefit the students of both institutions.

Students from both institutions will be offered the opportunity to spend one to two semesters to engage in exchange programs, which include course work and access to the library and laboratory resources.

Aurak and WSU have also agreed to include one another to collaborate on both pre-existing and future joint research projects of mutual interest in which both universities will exchange statistical and technical data, publications, and reports; encourage the exchange of visiting scientists; and organize various academic ventures such as seminars, workshops, and conferences on topics of mutual interest. – TradeArabia News Service