School of Business Exchange Program Brings Egypt Closer to the US

By: Maureen Guirguis
@MaureenGuirguis

AUC’s School of Business partners with the University of South Carolina’s (USC) Darla Moore School and launches its first cohort exchange program, welcoming international students next summer.

The new degree program is titled International Business and the Middle East-North Africa (IBMENA).

It is offered to students who are planning to pursue careers in international business, especially business activities between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the United States, Sherine Gad El Mawla, director of the office of internationalization and partnerships told The Caravan.

The program aims to attract international students from the US to study at AUC. Students in the Arab region interested to study at AUC or USC are also permitted to join the program.

El Mawla added that this partnership builds on the unparalleled access the School of Business offers to the MENA region, and the strong Arabic programs available at AUC.

Students from Darla Moore will be attending summer sessions at AUC in 2017 to study Arabic at the Arabic Language Instruction Department and will then study at the School of Business for one full academic year (2017-2018). They will also be allowed to register for other courses besides business.

AUC’s Office of International Students and Study Abroad (ISSA) offers assistance to international students when applying for their visa. It also is responsible for organizing trips to familiarize students with Egyptian culture.

AUC registered a total of 151 new international students during the same semester, Director of ISSA Amal Salah told The Caravan.

“We’ve checked in 75 new international students to attend our orientation this Fall,” she said.

Salah believes that the USC program will increase the number of international students for the semesters to come.

“As for AUCians, they will travel to study at Darla Moore with their colleagues in 2018-2019 for one year on exchange. The first cohort is expected to graduate in 2019-2020 [in line] with AUC’s Centennial,” El Mawla said.

Being one of the two percent worldwide triple-crowned accredited schools, the School of Business’s internalization strategy is to push students to explore various cultures from around the world before they graduate.

“We encourage our students to travel on exchange for a semester or on short trips in the winter and summer breaks. Internships are mandatory at the School and the students are pushed to join international competitions,” El Mawla said.

AUC chose to partner with Darla Moore Business School because of its recognition on the international level, El Mawla told The Caravan.

USC currently offers three international business undergraduate degree programs with partners in Chile, China and Egypt, making it the first new joint program in the Middle East.

El Mawla hopes more programs can be offered to AUC students from other AUC schools building on the success of IBMENA.

“Its International Business undergraduate degree program has been ranked number one for the past 17 consecutive years by US News & World Report. Also, its International Business MBA [was] ranked number one in 2015, and a top-three graduate international degree for 26 consecutive years,” El Mawla said.

Assistant Professor of Marketing Dina Bassiouny has already started receiving students interested to join the program as soon as it starts.

The School of Business will be announcing the details of the affiliation in the coming weeks through the school’s website and social media.