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Heritage management among new subjects at AUS

Dr Thompson, who was briefing the Press on the new intake of students for the fall semester, new courses and programmes launched in the new academic year and other expansion plans of the university, said the AUS would initially offer a certificate programnme in heritage management. Later, it will be developed into a degree programme.

"The decision to launch the new programme is appropriate for Sharjah as His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, has an interest in preservation of culture and heritage of the region."

In addition, a master's degree programme in urban planning and an engineering programme in mechatronics that was previously approved by the authorities will also be introduced in the fall semester, he added.

Meanwhile, AUS has enrolled around 983 students for the fall semester this year. It shows a significant increase over the fall semester last year. The total number of students this semester, including graduate students, stands at 3,483, compared to 3,140 last fall.

"UAE nationals account for 20 per cent of the new intake this year with a total of 195 students admitted compared to 160 last fall. Jordan and Saudi Arabia are the largest sources of new students from other countries, with 104 and 75 students respectively," Dr Thompson said, adding that the institution's recruiting team has also visited India and other countries to attract students from the subcontinent. Besides, Iran is another big market for the AUS , he said, admitting that Gulf nationals remain among the top 62 nationalities of students at the AUS.

He said the qualifications of incoming students has continued to improve with 32 per cent of the new students had high school averages of 90 and above. Besides, the average TOEFL score for high school students was 568 this year.

Dr Thompson pointed out that the university, which has in a short period earned respect in the region, was not seeking to simply replicate some abstract concept of an American university in the emirate.

"Our aim is to build an American-modelled university on the Arab Islamic cultural soil of the Gulf. What is emerging is a synthesis of traditions," he said.

Out of the 983 new students this fall, 266 are in the School of Business and Management, 225 are in the School of Engineering, 134 in the College of Arts and Sciences, 123 in School of Architecture and Design and 235 in Intensive English Programme.

Dr Thompson disclosed that the AUS scholarship and financial aid programmes remain the same this year. Around 10 per cent of the total university budget, which is around Dh190 million this year, is reserved for granting financial aid to students unable to afford the high tuition fees. Around 220 students this year will be benefiting from the financial aid programme, he said.

According to Dr Thompson, the dropout ratio of students at AUS is less than 15 per cent.

The university has raised its tuition fees by 2.7 per cent for the fall semester, which he said was decided by the AUS board of trustees last year.

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