Three US branch campuses based in Qatar have created Education City鈥檚 first joint university programme in a move that signals a new 鈥渃ollaborative鈥� approach for the higher education hub.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar and Weill Cornell Medicine 鈥� Qatar have co-designed a new course that is set to launch in January and would be open to any Education City student in their junior year.

Omran Hamad Al-Kuwari, executive director of the Qatar Foundation, the principal funder of the Education City site that houses the campuses, said that the course has a working title of 鈥渉appy society鈥� and will 鈥渋nvestigate important themes of happiness and wellness from the design, medical and technological lens鈥�. It will be taught by academics at the three institutions.

In an interview with 探花视频, Mr Al-Kuwari cited the new joint programme, which will contribute credits to students鈥� degrees, as just one example of the way in which Education City is improving the integration between the hub鈥檚 branch campuses.

探花视频

Georgetown University in Qatar and Northwestern University in Qatar have also joined forces to allow students to study a major subject at one institution and a minor at the other.

Meanwhile, changes to class timetables and locations mean that students at any of the six undergraduate campuses can now cross-register and take courses for credit at other institutions in the hub.

探花视频

Mr Al-Kuwari said that the collaborative approach would create a 鈥渧ery unique, innovative environment鈥� for students.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e coming, you鈥檙e attending one university, but you have access to six, which is rare,鈥� he said.

鈥淎t some universities, even cross-registering between colleges is difficult. We think this is a very nice added value.鈥�

He hopes that the joint major-minor degrees will provide 鈥渁 good model鈥� that can be 鈥渟caled up even further鈥�, he added.

探花视频

Visits to the outposts鈥� main campuses have also inspired the Qatar Foundation to explore new ways of enhancing the student experience, he said.

For example, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts鈥� Richmond campus in the US has a Center for the Creative Economy, which brings students together with the private sector.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at that model to see if we can localise it for our students,鈥� said Mr Al-Kuwari.

Although each campus works individually to attract students and faculty, Mr Al-Kuwari added that the foundation was looking to introduce its own marketing strategy to publicise Education City as a 鈥渨hole value proposition鈥�.

探花视频

But he suggested that there were no plans to expand the number of campuses.

鈥淓ach programme that has come has come for a reason,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or now, we鈥檙e very happy with the partners we have.鈥�

探花视频

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com