• Home

USQ to end KV operations in Sept

The current semester three will continue till September, but no further courses will be offered at the Dubai campus after that date, said Professor Bill Lovegrove, Vice-Chancellor of USQ, Australia, in an email to the students.

He offered the large number of affected students options to either continue studying with USQ and complete their programme by enrolling as a distance education student, directly with USQ in Australia, or to continue study with USQ on Campus in Toowoomba, Australia.

Lovegrove explained that they have, for several months, been negotiating to secure the future of the USQ in Dubai campus, but without success. "Our primary concern now is your welfare as USQ student, and we would like to assist you to continue studying with USQ."

"USQ has approximately 16,000 students studying through distance education mode all over the world, with a number of these students located in the Middle East including Dubai. USQ conducts examinations in Dubai each year, usually at the British Council offices."

He said the distance study option was an indicator of goodwill, besides assisting the students to get started. USQ Toowoomba would not charge them tuition fees for four courses during the next two semesters. "This means you can study by distance education full time in the first semester (four courses) and not incur any tuition fees, or part time over two semesters (two courses per semester) and not incur any tuition fees."

"After you have had four courses of free tuition, you will then be charged standard USQ distance direct fees for international students, as advertised on the USQ web site http://www.usq.edu.au/fees/. Students are sent invoices before the start of each semester," he said.

The next opportunity for distance study will commence in the Australian Semester 3 which starts on November 7, 2005, and ends with an examination period from January 30 to February 10, 2006. Once the student decides to study via distance direct with USQ in Australia, the university will advise how to enrol for the November semester.

Offering another option, he said : "If you are interested in studying on our Toowoomba campus, we would be pleased to help you make this arrangement. And lastly, if the student wished to transfer to another university, the university will arrange for their official transcript to be sent to them."

Further, he pointed out that they are trying hard to finalise final results for previous semesters and official results for the current semester which will not be available until mid-October.

On the refund of fees, the Vice Chancellor advised the students that the International Academic Corporation (IAC) in Knowledge Village, which operates the USQ's Dubai campus, currently holds any fees that they may have been paid in advance. "It is essential that you request a refund directly from IAC as soon as possible. You can complete a request for refund form at the administration office of USQ in Dubai. Your refund will take up to 21 days to process."

However, a letter issued to students on August 24 by IAC mentioned that any request for a refund or any other monies paid to USQ Dubai should be addressed to USQ Dubai and not IAC.

"As per notice from Tecom, the governing authority of Knowledge Village, USQ Dubai and IAC (USQs investor at Knowledge Village) are strictly instructed not to collect any monies from students for the 2005-2006 academic year."

"It is important to note that IAC will not be held responsible for any amounts paid to USQ Dubai, beyond the fees the students have paid for the June term and not started the term."

However, some students who were to graduate this year also blamed the Dubai Knowledge Village for its alleged shortcomings in dealing with the situation.

But, KV, in a statement yesterday, clarified that they had received feedback from students at the branch campus of the USQ, which further developed into major complaints from both students and parents on the quality of education over the 2004-2005 academic year.

In response to this, KV undertook an investigation of the operations and management of the USQ branch. It identified several shortcomings including lack of direct control from USQ Australia, which had an impact on management and academic quality in it's branch based here. Other issues like lack of academic material, consistently shortened semesters and inadequacy of faculty were also identified.

KV made extensive efforts to ensure that the USQ branch complies with it's guidelines. When none of these efforts yielded results, KV was compelled to delicense the University of Southern Queensland’s branch in Dubai. While taking this decision, KV made sure that students can complete the current semester (ending September 22, 2005) of the courses they had taken at USQ.

"Dubai Knowledge Village understands the anxiety and distress that the students of USQ and their parents are going through because of this development. KV would like to assure them that it will do everything possible to help them continue with their education without any disruptions."

"Dubai Knowledge Village along with USQ and other prominent international universities in KV such as Heriot Watt, Middlesex University and University of Wollongong Dubai (UOWD), have developed solutions to enable USQ’s students to complete their courses," the statement said.

"These solutions range from continuing their education by joining courses offered by branch campuses of these international universities to enrolling in USQ’s distance learning programme,” the statement from it's Corporate Communications Department said.

• UAE