PRESS RELEASES
U.S. Department of State - Office of the Spokesman
Fact Sheet: MEPI To Fund Seven University Partnerships
21 October 2004
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is pleased to announce
awards to seven University Partnership grants. The grants will fund
partnerships between U.S. and Arab universities and their economic
and civil society partners, with the goals of both improving the
quality of instruction, research, and materials, and enhancing Arab
universities' administrative and managerial capacity. This is the
second year of MEPI's University Partnership Program, managed by
the Association Liaison Office (ALO) for University Cooperation
in Development, funded through USAID.
The awards total $699,841 and will cover areas such as Information
and Communication Technologies, American Studies, Business and Economics,
and Media and Journalism. The selected partnerships are:
-Colorado State University and Helwan University
(Egypt) to develop online courses integrating business administration
and engineering education;
-Madonna University (Michigan) and Notre Dame University
(Lebanon) to establish full-fledged American studies programs
on both campuses;
-University of Michigan-Dearborn and Al-Quds University
(West Bank) to link teaching and research on American Studies
at the two universities;
-Duke University (North Carolina) and Effat College
(Saudi Arabia) to produce the first engineering curriculum available
to Saudi women;
-Montana State University and Al-Akhawayn University
(Morocco) to enhance professional level teaching of information
and communications technology;
-Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
and the Arab Academy for Science and Technology (Egypt)
to build capacity in information and communication technology
in computer-related courses; and
-Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and Institut
de Presse et des Sciences de l'Information, Universite de la Manouba
(Tunisia) to enhance professional level teaching of journalism
and communication skills.
MEPI is a Presidential initiative founded to support economic,
political, and educational reform efforts in the Middle East and
expanded opportunity for all people of the region, especially women
and youth. More information about MEPI can be found at: http://mepi.state.gov.
|
