Milestone agreement means students will be able to complete entire undergraduate degree courses in Oman
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has signed two international agreements worth a combined £6.5 million to deliver courses in the Middle East.
The first of these contracts will see UCLan extend its long-term partnership with the International College of Engineering and Management (ICEM) in the Sultanate of Oman for a further five years.
The milestone agreement means students will be able to complete entire undergraduate degree courses in Oman, whereas they were previously required to study part of the programmes in Preston.
"The extension of our partnership with ICEM is a real milestone and evidence of its past success, while the new relationship with Qatar Civil Defence will complement this and the University’s other global partnerships."
UCLan and ICEM have been partners in Oman for over 15 years delivering unique undergraduate degree courses in Fire Safety Engineering; Well Engineering; Facilities Management and Health, Safety and Environmental Management.
With this announcement ICEM will continue to provide UCLan approved courses in Oman focused on providing a truly world-class higher education learning environment based on practical vocational teaching with a strong bias towards producing graduates who are ‘employer ready’, well rounded and internationally experienced.
A separate deal with the Ministry of Interior of Qatar will see UCLan deliver Fire Safety Engineering Management courses from the new state-of-the-art Ras Laffan Emergency and Safety College in Doha.
UCLan will work closely with Qatar Civil Defence to develop a range of courses which will utilise the £302 million world-class facility, the Middle East’s leading training institution for fire services and emergency responders.
This collaboration, the University’s first in Qatar, will be led by a dedicated team of UCLan staff based at the college working in partnership with a vocational provider, Texas A & M Engineering.
"The programmes will generate graduates who are highly trained and highly employable, both vocationally and academically, ready to apply their skills to national and global challenges."
It is also planned that existing UCLan students based in Preston will have the opportunity to visit the college and use its cutting-edge facilities to expand their own knowledge and experience.
Pro Chancellor and Chair of the University Board David Taylor, who led the visits to Qatar and Oman to agree the deals, said: “The extension of our partnership with ICEM is a real milestone and evidence of its past success, while the new relationship with Qatar Civil Defence will complement this and the University’s other global partnerships, such as those in China and Mauritius.
“What’s more these initiatives will result in enormous benefits for students. For instance, they’ll have access to world-class facilities, they’ll be taught by academic staff with wide ranging industrial experience and they’ll benefit from collaborative research which will feed into the teaching curriculum.
“The programmes will generate graduates who are highly trained and highly employable, both vocationally and academically, ready to apply their skills to national and global challenges.”