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I. GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. How did this project start?
In the academic year 2005-06, representatives of NYU and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi met and recognized that a partnership between the Government of Abu Dhabi, with its goal of establishing world-class educational and cultural institutions in the U.A.E., and NYU, with its goal of achieving a truly international, global network university, could be furthered through the establishment of NYU Abu Dhabi.
The agreement to build NYU Abu Dhabi is based on a shared understanding of the essential role of quality higher education in a global society: a common belief in the value of a liberal arts and sciences education, concurrence on the benefits a research university brings to the society that sustains it, a conviction that interaction with new ideas and those who are different is valuable, and a commitment to educating students who are citizens of the world, prepared to lead at home and contribute to global trade, politics, and culture.
2. What is the vision of NYU Abu Dhabi?
Both parties are committed to building a U.S.-style, research-focused educational institution. NYU Abu Dhabi will be a residential research university and a branch of NYU New York, operated consistent with NYU New York's academic quality and practices.
NYU Abu Dhabi will consist of a highly selective liberal arts and sciences college, distinctive graduate programs, and a world center for advanced research and scholarship -- all integrated with each other and connected through technology to NYU New York. Together, NYU New York and NYU Abu Dhabi will form the backbone of a unique Global Network University, with faculty and students from New York or Abu Dhabi spending "semesters away" at one or more of the numerous study abroad sites NYU maintains on five continents. It will draw students from around the world, and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of our interconnected world.
NYU Abu Dhabi will equip students for leadership in all arenas of human endeavor. It will foster curiosity, creativity, and critical reflection. At NYU Abu Dhabi faculty and students will extend the frontiers of knowledge, and they will extend themselves.
The residential life of students is central to the academic mission. Learning will take place across the campus, not only in classrooms, but also in residential houses, in clubs and sports, in informal campus gatherings, and in the wider community.
NYU Abu Dhabi will stimulate and be a home for advanced research, with the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute as a major research center. Engagement in research will be integral to the undergraduate experience at NYU Abu Dhabi, and it also will drive the University's graduate programs.
As one of the two major hubs in the Global Network, NYU Abu Dhabi will create a unique capacity for faculty and students to access the assets of the entire University system.
New York University in Abu Dhabi Corporation is a New York not-for-profit, which is registered as a branch of a foreign entity in Abu Dhabi and will support NYU in fulfilling its educational and research mission and contributing to the evolution of Abu Dhabi as an international center of ideas and human capital development.
3. Why are NYU and Abu Dhabi a good fit for one another?
The international composition, rigorous academic program, innovative research capacity, and rich array of extracurricular options that will characterize NYU Abu Dhabi are aligned with Abu Dhabi's vision of having a world renowned education system within the Emirate in parallel with the evolution of the city as a global ideas center.
NYU and its Abu Dhabi partners share important perspectives -- a mindfulness of history, but a focus on the future; a belief that the evolving global dynamic will bring about the emergence of a set of world centers of intellectual, cultural, and educational strength, great magnets that will draw people of talent and talent-based enterprises (business, educational, and cultural); and an understanding that a requisite ingredient to the success of any idea capital will be the presence of an outstanding research university.
NYU, as a university that is based in New York, one of the most globally far-reaching of cities and tied into a network of research and teaching sites in idea capitals around the world, naturally embraces these principles. Moreover, NYU -- as a university which has transformed itself in recent decades from a local university to world class research university -- understands, admires, and feels a kinship for those who embrace large, audacious, transformative plans, such as those envisioned by our Abu Dhabi partners.
A presence in the region will enhance the ability of the University, its faculty, and its students to participate in a dialogue with the Middle East in all its connections to the world. And an NYU campus in Abu Dhabi will provide students throughout the world who might not come to New York with access to an NYU liberal arts education.
Over time, the dynamic relationship between NYU's campuses in New York and Abu Dhabi will become a vital force linking the two cities as innovative idea capitals, where world-class universities will support a rich and nuanced public dialogue, propel innovation, and educate leaders and citizens of the world.
4. How does this fit with NYU's overall academic plans?
Since its origins, NYU has been a university "in and of the city;" as NYU has expanded its international presence in recent years, it has become a university "in and of the world." NYU Abu Dhabi will enhance and expand NYU's global character and efforts. The region's status as historic, economic, cultural, and strategic crossroads made exploration of a partnership natural. If NYU Abu Dhabi is in one sense a culmination of the University's long-term endeavor to expand opportunities for its students worldwide, it is also an effort to develop a new paradigm for the university as a dynamic global network.
NYU Abu Dhabi will provide faculty and students with research opportunities across the disciplines, from the arts and humanities to science, social science, and engineering. The NYU Abu Dhabi Institute will be a world-class center of cutting-edge research on the campus, serving as a hub of advanced research, creative endeavor, and public discourse. NYU faculty will engage in research projects, scholarly interactions, research conferences, and workshops. The Institute will enhance the interaction and flow of faculty and students between New York and Abu Dhabi, and it will attract leading scholars and researchers from around the world.
The NYU Abu Dhabi campus will be an anchor of a global NYU network.
5. Can you share the consultation process within the University community about this project?
There was extensive consultation.
Immediately following initial conversations with representatives from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, faculty and administrative groups undertook academic and financial due diligence studies. The Faculty Senators Council formed the FSC Educational Policies Branch Campuses Committee to advise the administration. Two working committees were also formed -- the Legal/Administrative Committee and the Faculty Steering Committee. The Legal/Administrative committee led the legal due diligence and discussions with its counterpart in Abu Dhabi. The Faculty Steering Committee led the academic due diligence and initial academic visioning. As a part of this diligence process, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Academic Priorities was consulted on a regular basis.
Additional advisory committees were formed in the areas of Liberal Arts Education, Department Start-Up, Residential Life and Academic Advising, Student Recruitment, and Faculty Recruitment. A campus-wide forum on the prospect of an NYU campus in the Gulf was held in March 2007. Approximately fifteen faculty and administrators from these various subcommittees and constituencies traveled to the U.A.E. during the spring semester of 2007, prior to the agreement being signed and announced in the fall of 2007.
These advisory committees confirmed the many advantages to NYU of establishing a campus in Abu Dhabi. The NYU Abu Dhabi campus will become a catalyzing anchor of a global NYU network that will comprise additional undergraduate study abroad sites and graduate degree-granting locations.
Since the announcement, faculty and administration officials involved in the development of NYU Abu Dhabi have consulted actively with senior leaders from other institutions of higher learning in the region to gain insight from their experiences.
In the fall of 2008, after nearly a year of work by faculty/administration committees on the general contours of the curriculum, six Coordinating Committees were established (Arts, Economics and Finance, Engineering, Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences) to coordinate work on detailed curriculum development and faculty recruitment; each coordinating committee consists of six faculty members, and the Coordinating Committees work with the Departments, Units, or Schools of the University.
6. What will the relationship be between this campus and the Washington Square Campus?
NYU Abu Dhabi, in effect, will be simultaneously a school and an anchor -- with NYU New York -- of the University. It will grant NYU degrees. The campus is being led in Abu Dhabi by Al Bloom, the Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, who joined NYU after an 18-year tenure as president of Swarthmore College. The organic integration of the project with NYU New York will be fostered by the Deputy Vice Chancellor for NYU Abu Dhabi. NYU Abu Dhabi will have a standing faculty appointed in the school; initially each of these standing faculty members will be chosen and sponsored by departments, units, or schools of NYU New York and affiliated with them. Over time NYU Abu Dhabi will develop, in conjunction with NYU New York, its procedures for appointing its standing faculty. In addition, NYU Abu Dhabi will have many affiliated NYU faculty from Washington Square teaching and conducting research in Abu Dhabi on a regular basis. There also will be a number of faculty appointed jointly to NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU New York; these faculty will spend 50 percent of their time on each campus, and will serve as bridges between the two units of NYU. NYU Abu Dhabi students will spend at least one term at NYU in New York or at NYU's study abroad sites, and NYU students enrolled in Washington Square may study abroad at NYU Abu Dhabi.
7. How does this differ from NYU's other international sites -- study abroad sites, and collaborations with other universities?
NYU Abu Dhabi is distinct from NYU's study abroad sites and programs: it will be a "portal campus" (a way to enter fully the NYU system and a place, like New York, where one could remain for all of his or her time at NYU); a degree-granting research institution offering comprehensive liberal arts and science undergraduate programs in the arts, sciences, social sciences, humanities, and engineering; in due course, it will also offer graduate degree-granting programs.
8. Who do we expect to attend?
We expect the student body of NYU Abu Dhabi to be of diverse national, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The student body will be recruited worldwide, including students from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the United States.
9. Where will the campus be located?
For the first years of its existence, NYU Abu Dhabi will be located in the center of downtown Abu Dhabi, near the Corniche waterfront, the Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, and the new Central Market, slated to open in late 2009.
NYU Abu Dhabi is expected to move to the Marina District of Saadiyat Island, 500 meters off the coast of the main city of Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2013. The natural island, now undeveloped, is being planned for a population of 150,000, with a central business district, ecological zone, and cultural district featuring several museums, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
10. How will campus planning and construction proceed?
Rafael Viñoly Architects has been selected as the master planner of NYU Abu Dhabi.
The master planning process is scheduled for completion in 2009. It will establish a physical and spatial framework for development of the campus. Design guidelines will develop a basic vocabulary for the campus, which will comprise multiple buildings and outdoor spaces; the guidelines will reflect underlying design goals, such as responsiveness to the climate and sustainability, and address such issues as building materials and height. We intend for individual buildings to be designed by various architects. Throughout the planning, design, and construction process, updated information and images will be available on the NYU Abu Dhabi website. The Saadiyat campus is projected to open in September 2013.
Because NYU Abu Dhabi will begin classes in fall 2010 -- prior to the completion of the permanent campus -- a downtown campus will be built in a prominent location in downtown Abu Dhabi, just off the Corniche, in close proximity to the landmark Cultural Foundation and historic Al Hosn Fort. The downtown campus will include two buildings totaling 65,000 square feet, and a plaza courtyard and garden. The downtown campus, which will open in Fall 2009, is being designed by the Abu Dhabi offices of Obermeyer. It will include classrooms (including rooms equipped with advanced videoconferencing to connect with NYU), a library, computer labs, faculty and administrative offices, a large meeting hall, and a garden as well as an information center, bookstore and café that will be open to the public. In order to expedite construction, the facility will be prefabricated; manufacturing began in March and the modules will be trucked from Turkey to Abu Dhabi and assembled on site.
II. ACADEMICS
11. What degrees will be offered?
The University will offer two NYU undergraduate degrees through its NYU Abu Dhabi campus: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.).
Over time, NYU Abu Dhabi will phase-in select graduate programs.
12. Describe the undergraduate curriculum.
The NYU Abu Dhabi curriculum, in the tradition of a liberal arts and science college, will expose students to challenging ideas, bodies of knowledge, cultural traditions, and transformative achievements. It will deepen reflection about the human condition to help students develop their abilities and realize their potential.
The core liberal arts curriculum of NYU Abu Dhabi will provide broad introductions to the major questions, research protocols, thought processes, and practices that drive the Humanities, Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, and Engineering. Students will choose two core courses from each of four major areas:
- Pathways of World Literature
- Structures of Thought and Society
- Art, Technology, and Invention
- Ideas and Methods of Science
Additionally, students in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will specialize in a Major that is declared no later than the fourth semester. Science and Engineering students will normally begin the Major during the first year. Students will also take at least three courses in a Multi-Disciplinary Concentration that is declared no later than the sixth semester. They will have a broad choice of electives, including up to three courses in a Pre-Professional Track. Every student will complete the undergraduate degree with an independent Capstone project or thesis.
13. What is the scope of NYU's role in defining the NYU Abu Dhabi curriculum?
NYU has unfettered authority over academic programs in NYU Abu Dhabi.
14. Who is developing the curriculum?
The faculty of NYU is developing the curriculum.
During 2007-08, the undergraduate program framework for NYU Abu Dhabi was developed by the Academic Cabinet and Faculty Working Groups of NYU Abu Dhabi. These committees were composed of NYU faculty members and the academic leadership team for NYU Abu Dhabi. The cabinet consisted of directors in five broad disciplinary areas: Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, Sciences, and Engineering. Each cabinet member led a faculty working group of 3-5 members drawn from schools across the university. Various components of the proposed curriculum were discussed with department chairs and faculty in disciplines that will be represented in NYU Abu Dhabi.
The content generated in this way was submitted for review and vetted by the Provost and the Deans' Council of NYU. The finalized curriculum framework was presented to NYU's university-wide faculty curriculum committees for advice and consent in May 2008.
The design development of the curriculum has now been completed by six Coordinating Groups of NYU faculty members in the main disciplinary domains for NYU Abu Dhabi: Arts, Economics and Finance, Engineering, Humanities, Science, and Social Science. Each Coordinating Group is chaired by a dean of NYU, and each has five faculty members (in addition to the dean) on it. The Groups have developed the requirements for the major in their fields and are planning courses in close relation to faculty recruitment, and they will work with the Departments, Units, and Schools of NYU to engage NYU faculty for participation in NYU Abu Dhabi and to recruit standing faculty worldwide.
15. Will NYU Abu Dhabi offer engineering?
Yes. NYU's formal affiliation with the Polytechnic Institute of NYU (formerly Polytechnic University) in summer 2008 as well as extant programs in NYU schools will be instrumental in building the engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi.
16. Will there be a library?
NYU Abu Dhabi will have a state-of-the-art library at both the initial and the permanent campus; both will have extensive electronic resources, use innovative technology, provide space for group study and team projects, and be fully linked to the libraries of NYU New York.
17. In what language will the academic work be conducted?
English will be the language of instruction at NYU Abu Dhabi. Select courses in Language and Literature will be conducted in other languages.
18. What steps is NYU taking to ensure NYUAD shares NYU's quality expectations?
The admission process will apply the standards of quality consistent with those of the finest undergraduate institutions; students who do not fit comfortably among the most accomplished of those admitted to NYU NY will not be admitted to NYU Abu Dhabi.
The curriculum for NYU Abu Dhabi is being developed by NYU faculty in accordance with the same standards as those used in developing curricula at Washington Square.
As in New York, NYU Abu Dhabi's faculty will be appointed according to the highest credentials of scholarly, creative, and pedagogic accomplishment. NYU Abu Dhabi's faculty will include faculty from NYU in New York who will visit regularly, as well as newly appointed standing faculty who will reside permanently in Abu Dhabi, as well as a select number of faculty appointed jointly to NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU New York who will split their time evenly between the two campuses. All faculty members resident in Abu Dhabi will be appointed with approval of the Provost of NYU and the Vice Chancellor of NYUAD.
19. Will the same norms of academic freedom that prevail on NYU's Washington Square campus prevail on the Abu Dhabi campus?
Yes; NYU Abu Dhabi will enjoy full academic freedom as it exists at NYU New York.
As at NYU New York, NYU Abu Dhabi will operate consistently with the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
As in other countries in which NYU has programs, members of the NYU Abu Dhabi community should be respectful of local culture and customs.
20. How can NYU faculty in New York participate in NYU Abu Dhabi?
Active participation by NYU faculty in NYU Abu Dhabi will be essential, particularly in linking the new campus to NYU New York and ensuring that the standards of academic excellence that prevail in Washington Square will characterize NYU Abu Dhabi. Beginning in fall 2008, deans and department chairs began speaking with faculty about teaching and research opportunities in Abu Dhabi, as well as logistics such as housing, schooling for children, and travel.
In advance of NYU Abu Dhabi opening to students in the fall of 2010, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute has begun to establish an immediate presence for NYU in Abu Dhabi and to present extensive programming characteristic of the full intellectual productivity of a major university. The Institute issued its first call for faculty proposals; a full range of activities began in the fall of 2008; read a full description.
The Institute will enhance interaction and flow of faculty based in New York and Abu Dhabi, and it will bring leading scholars from around the world. Extant university communities in Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E., and the Gulf will be encouraged to attend public programs or participate in the Institute's research culture.
21. What opportunities will be offered to NYU faculty in New York to teach in Abu Dhabi? Will there be any flexible models for teaching?
Compelling research and teaching opportunities at NYU Abu Dhabi are available for faculty of NYU New York; interested faculty may alert their dean or department chair, who must nominate faculty to the relevant coordinating committee (a faculty coordinating committee has been created in each disciplinary area). To maximize the opportunities for faculty participation, flexible academic models and an equally flexible academic calendar have been developed for NYU Abu Dhabi.
22. What process will be used to recruit NYU Abu Dhabi faculty?
NYU Abu Dhabi faculty are appointed with approval of the Provost of NYU and the Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, on the recommendation of NYU faculty. Initially, searches are being conducted by the academically relevant units at NYU in New York; once the initial faculty is built at NYU Abu Dhabi, appropriate procedures for appointing its standing faculty will be developed in conjunction with NYU New York. NYU Abu Dhabi will use the same standards that prevail at NYU to appoint faculty to NYU Abu Dhabi, including NYU's academic and non-discrimination standards.
23. Will there be new tenured and tenure-track positions?
Yes, there will be tenured and tenure-track positions at NYU Abu Dhabi, according to the same standards that prevail at NYU New York.
III. CAMPUS LIFE
30. Will NYUAD be co-educational?
NYU Abu Dhabi's classrooms, laboratories, libraries, student center, and most other facilities will be fully co-educational. There will be separate student residences for men and women.
31. Will students at NYU Abu Dhabi be able to study abroad at NYU sites around the world? Will NYU students be able to do study abroad in Abu Dhabi?
Students at NYU Abu Dhabi will be encouraged to study abroad at any of NYU's world-wide study sites, and they will be encouraged to spend a semester and/or summer at NYU's campus in New York. NYU students enrolled in New York will be welcome to spend a term at NYU Abu Dhabi.
32. What type of co-curricular programs will there be?
Co-curricular activities and learning outside the classroom are important for building campus community and enhancing a liberal arts and sciences education. There will be a wide range of student clubs and activities.
33. Will there be athletics?
Yes; NYU Abu Dhabi will have athletics for both men and women, with facilities for individual and team sports as well as personal fitness and athletic development.
34. Will there be campus chaplains?
Yes, as in New York, religious counselors will be available for NYU Abu Dhabi's multi-faith environment.
35. Will graduating students from NYU Abu Dhabi be able to avail themselves of career services at NYU in New York?
NYU Abu Dhabi will have its own career development center, which will be linked electronically to the resources of NYU's Wasserman Center for Career Services at Washington Square.
IV. ABOUT ABU DHABI
36. Can you provide a little background on Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven Emirates which make up the U.A.E., occupying nearly 87 percent of the country's total landmass. The Emirate includes the U.A.E. capital, the city of Abu Dhabi, and a second major city named Al Ain located near the Emirate's border with Oman. According to the 2005 census, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is home to 1.3 million people, the majority of whom are expatriates.
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi holds 9 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and almost 5 percent of the world's proven supplies of natural gas. However, the Government of Abu Dhabi is overseeing an ambitious strategy to diversify the local economy over the next two to three decades, and ensure the Emirate continues to grow in a balanced and sustainable way.
From the Government's perspective, significant and ongoing investment in education is central to the successful achievement of all of its social and economic objectives, and the establishment of NYU Abu Dhabi is an important element in that effort. Among the U.A.E. National population, there are currently more women than men enrolled in higher education.
Established in 1971, the U.A.E. is a Federation, with two separate levels of Government. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, is also the President of the United Arab Emirates.
37. Can U.S. citizens with Israeli stamps in their passports legally enter the U.A.E.?
Yes. U.A.E. law does not prohibit individuals who have Israeli stamps in their passports from entering the U.A.E..
38. Will Israeli students be admitted to NYUAD, and will Israeli faculty be recruited?
NYU Abu Dhabi will hire faculty and recruit students on the basis of outstanding academic and creative qualifications and potential. NYU Abu Dhabi will not discriminate on the basis of national origin in its admissions and hiring practices. As in the U.S., individuals invited to attend any educational institution in the U.A.E. must lawfully enter the country under prevailing local immigration laws. The U.A.E. does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and therefore does not recognize Israeli passports for the purposes of entry into the country. NYU is committed, however, to working to facilitate the participation of all NYU Abu Dhabi faculty and students.
39. Are there any circumstances in which Israeli passport holders are able to enter the U.A.E.?
Yes. In a 19 February 2009 statement issued by the Director of the Consular Affairs Department of the U.A.E. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sultan al Qortasi and a 25 February 2009 Letter to The Washington Post Editor from Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, in connection with the U.A.E.'s decision to admit an Israeli tennis player to participate in an international tournament, it was stated that:
"The decision to issue the permit is in line with the U.A.E.'s commitment to a policy of permitting any individual to take part in international sports, cultural and economic events or activities being held in the country, without any limitation being placed on participation by citizens of any member country of the United Nations."
40. What is the University's position on seeking appropriate standards for those who are building and staffing our campus?
NYU and its Abu Dhabi partners have developed a statement of shared values affecting individuals who build and staff NYU Abu Dhabi. This statement sets forth our standards and expectations for the appropriate treatment of individuals building and staffing NYU Abu Dhabi in terms of compensation, living conditions, workplace safety, and working conditions, such as hours and rest periods.
41. Will there be unrestricted access to the internet at NYUAD?
Students and faculty of NYU Abu Dhabi will have access to the same research and educational materials they currently enjoy at NYU New York including unrestricted access to the internet.
42. What does "Abu Dhabi" mean in English?
Abu Dhabi translates literally to "father of the gazelle," in reference to an indigenous type of deer said to have inhabited the area. To this day, a particular species of native Arabian gazelle is referred to as dhabi in Arabic.
V. BUDGET/FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
43. Will the creation of this campus divert financial resources from NYU New York?
No. The Government of Abu Dhabi will address all of the costs associated with the NYU Abu Dhabi Campus.
44. Is NYU Abu Dhabi a not-for-profit institution?
Like other schools at NYU, NYU Abu Dhabi is not separately incorporated. It will be operated as a school of NYU and supported by New York University in Abu Dhabi Corporation, a New York not-for-profit, which is registered to do business in Abu Dhabi. NYU Abu Dhabi shares fully in the educational and research mission of NYU.
