University competing to put branch in Middle East

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri School of Journalism is one of three under consideration to be granted a branch campus in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, school officials said.

The government-backed Qatar Foundation For Education, Science and Community Development will make the final decision. The other two schools, both in the United States, have not been identified.

The journalism branch campus would be located in Doha, Qatar's capital, with students drawn primarily from Qatar and other Arab nations. The country is also home to the Al-Jazeera television network.

Officials of the Qatari foundation are scheduled to meet this week with chancellor Brady Deaton, university system president Elson Floyd and Dean Mills, dean of the School of Journalism.

"It is a very preliminary discussion," Mills said. "But I think it would be a great opportunity to extend our mission to the Middle East, a part of the world where I think the free press would be a big help."

If it sets up the branch campus, Mills said, the University of Missouri-Columbia will maintain control over such things as curriculum, tuition, graduation requirements and admissions standards. The faculty would be a mix of specially hired educators and visiting professors from the Columbia campus.

The Qatar Foundation would pay construction costs and salaries.

Cornell, Texas A&M, Carnegie-Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth and Georgetown already maintain campuses at the Education City complex on the outskirts of Doha.