The Global Programs at New York University: An Overview
David W. McLaughlin
∗
Provost, New York University
PREFACE
The global nature of our world today demands transformations in all of its institutions, including its
research universities. New York University envisions transforming itself into a
global network
university
, anchored in New York City, but with nodes of the network throughout the world.
These nodes consist of sites of distinctly different categories ranging from exchange programs with
other universities, to short term/summer programs, to NYU global sites for semester study abroad
programs, to branch campuses that award NYU professional degrees, to complete regional
campuses that provide (within the graduate study/research environment of a research university) a
full liberal arts education at the undergraduate level. NYU students and faculty will have easy access
to the entire network of the university, and through that mobility, will take full advantage of the
network’s multiple components. This mobility will provide additional exposure to other people,
cultures, perspectives, and modes of research and knowledge acquisition; access to NYU for
talented students and faculty around the world; additional access for NYU faculty and students to
research source material; additional opportunities for interaction with international colleagues; and
thus, opportunities to further improve the ability of NYU students and faculty to address the social
and scholarly issues of our time—so many of which are global in nature. In the future, the faculty
and students of New York University will be members of the entire network rather than any single site,
location, or campus. New York University will not only be “in and of the city,” but “in and of the
world.”
The Global Network NYU will emerge from its current global programs, which today constitute an
integral part of NYU’s character as a 21
st
century urban, international research university. Following
NYU’s long tradition of offering broad access to higher education in an urban setting, the global
programs currently provide NYU students with opportunities to study, and its faculty with
opportunities to conduct scholarly work, in cities throughout the world. In addition, some global
programs make it possible for international students who cannot study in New York City to
experience an NYU education abroad. Thus, NYU’s global programs enrich our community’s
exposure to and thoughtful participation in the cultures and societies of the world, and shape an
international perspective and familiarity that will be so important for a research university in the 21
st
century.
∗
This paper is the outcome of many conversations I have had with the school deans, members of the administration, individual
faculty who are actively engaged in teaching and supporting existing global programs, and faculty groups established to advise on new
global initiatives. In particular, I’ve benefited from many strategy discussions with Professor Yaw Nyarko, former Vice Provost for
Globalization and Multicultural Affairs, whose energetic leadership is evident in the development, oversight and coordination of
university-wide global initiatives; Ulrich Baer, Vice Provost for Globalization and Multicultural Affairs (as of January 1, 2008); and
Katherine Fleming, Vice Chancellor, Europe.
Issue date: November 1, 2007
Revised and updated: April 1, 2008
Page 1
The global programs at NYU consist of many categories, each with its distinct mission, goal, and
purpose. Our purpose in this paper is to describe this complex array of programs—summarizing their
current status, reporting on new initiatives that are underway, and describing the University-wide
planning processes in which our faculty and administrators are engaged. We hope this overview will
clarify strategy and rationale, inform a University-wide discussion, and ultimately enhance faculty
participation in the design and implementation of the global programs at NYU, and thus, its
transformation into a global network university.
In short, the paper provides an account of the variety of NYU’s current programs, or those it is
planning to launch. We begin the paper by characterizing the transformative role that universities
can play in addressing the global challenges of the 21
st
century, and by indicating general ways in
which research universities must themselves be transformed to meet these challenges. We then lay
out the organizing strategy and principles for the development of global programs at NYU that have
emerged from the joint discussions of faculty and senior administrators.
The plans for sustaining and growing our global programs are ambitious. They are, however, tightly
coupled and governed by our plans and priorities for Washington Square, where the vast majority of
NYU’s academic investments are made and will continue to be made. Academically, we require all
global programs to have fundamental connections and be closely linked to schools and departments
at the Square, to meet the same academic standards of excellence, and to contribute to the academic
and research mission of the schools and departments. Financially, all global programs must be self-
supporting and, in some cases, revenue generating.
Many members of the faculty are involved in these global programs by planning and designing new
sites and possible branch campuses; serving on formally constituted committees of the Faculty
Senators Council; participating in “affinity groups” of faculty with scholarly interests related to
particular sites, and in international house activities; and teaching, conducting research, or hosting
research conferences at the global sites. Many students have studied at one or several of our global
sites. Although these faculty members and students may be quite familiar with some of the global
programs, they still may find this comprehensive overview of the entire global program useful. This
paper may be even more useful to those faculty and students who have not, as yet, been actively
involved with NYU’s global programs.
Page 2
LIST OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
The Foundation 5
Guiding Academic Principles 6
OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS 7
CATEGORY A: SHORT TERM AND EXCHANGE PROGRAMS 8
CATEGORY B: SEMESTER ABROAD SITES AND PROGRAMS 8
Program Scope and Student Participation 9
Program Design and Philosophy 12
Uninterrupted progress toward the degree 13
Outside the classroom 13
Language acquisition 13
Academic site identities 14
Graduate Level Studies, Research Exchanges, and Faculty Fellowships 14
Site Structure 16
Washington Square Faculty Oversight and Participation 16
Liaison-Washington Square 17
Faculty affinity groups 17
International houses 17
New site selection 18
New Curricular Models at Existing Sites 18
World studies track in the Stern School of Business 18
Advanced studies in the arts 19
Undergraduate entry programs abroad 19
Future Sites 19
CATEGORY C: BRANCH CAMPUSES WITH SPECIALIZED DEGREES 20
LL.M. in Singapore 20
MFA in Film Production, Singapore 21
Executive MBA, London and Paris 21
C
ATEGORY D: REGIONAL CAMPUSES OFFERING FULL DEGREE PROGRAMS 21
A Regional Campus in Abu Dhabi 22
Background 22
Due diligence 23
Framework: Legal agreement 26
Next steps 28
A Possible Regional Campus in Europe 29
Why in Europe? 29
The European higher education context 29
Due diligence: Where and how? 30
A Possible Regional Campus in China 32
C
ONCLUSION 32
Page 3
INTRODUCTION
The society of the 21
st
century will be a global one. Created and shaped by the transportation,
information, and communication revolutions of the 20
th
century, this global society will demand
much from its members, who will be presented with worldwide challenges that were never faced or
even anticipated by earlier generations. The world will encounter global problems in health, in the
environment, in population, in poverty, in economy, in politics, and in the complex relationships
between cultures. The welfare and even the very existence of our worldwide society will depend
upon the resolution of these global problems. Higher education must provide the next generations
with the knowledge, information, and intellectual tools to address successfully these immensely
important global issues of the 21
st
century.
Faculty, through their research and scholarship, certainly will contribute significantly to these global
issues, working within the current structure and organization of universities. However, the tradition
of tying our universities to a single location will eventually limit the capacity of the university to
capitalize fully on highly fluid knowledge and talent markets. If universities are to realize their full
potential as the educational foundation of this global society, the research university of the 21
st
century must change substantially from the research university of today, creating truly global
academic programs and even a global organizational structure for the university itself. Each
university will develop its programs and structure in its own characteristic manner, reflecting its own
unique circumstances. Some universities will take bold organizational steps—indeed, bold
transformational steps—to establish the educational and academic infrastructure to address these
issues most effectively.
NYU is positioned perhaps uniquely well to lead this transformation. We are fortunate in that we
have developed over time a rich array of global sites, programs, and institutional international
relations that engage the community at the Square and also attract international faculty and students.
The entrepreneurial spirit that marks our institutional history sensitizes us to emerging opportunities
and changing circumstances. And, NYU’s long tradition of broad access to higher education within
an international university that is “in and of the city” suits it to a commitment to education that is
“in and of the world.”
NYU’s global strategy to date has been founded upon the very sound principle that as many
students as possible ought to be exposed to international cultures. Many of our students, like our
faculty, are very cosmopolitan and have already experienced diverse and international cultures.
However, all
of our students should have the opportunity to become familiar and learn from
cultures they have not previously experienced. Further, our faculty should have easy access to
structured opportunities for enhanced international collaborations, interactions, research, and
scholarship. These principles lead NYU to a new model for a worldwide research university, a
global network university
anchored in New York City, with nodes of global sites and regional
campuses located throughout the world, each with its own mission and defining characteristics, and
all with programs of education and research of the highest academic quality. The faculty and
students of NYU will be members of the entire network, which will be structured to facilitate mobility
throughout the network. The opportunity to work, live, and travel throughout the network in some
instances will enhance the recruitment of faculty and students, particularly those whose perspective
and lifestyle are cosmopolitan in nature.
Page 4
At NYU, faculty and administrators have developed and are planning a variety of global programs
ranging from exchange programs, to summer programs, to semester study abroad programs, to
branch campuses offering NYU degrees. Currently, academic programs at the global sites range
from language acquisition and fluency through immersion, to NYU courses taught in English, to
specialized academic and disciplinary programs that give an intellectual identity to each global site.
As is the case with our schools on the Square, each of our global sites is renowned for particular
academic and disciplinary strengths; thus, students are increasingly able to select their study abroad
not solely on the basis of an interest in one country or another, but also on the basis of the academic
strengths of the sites.
Today, in this first decade of the 21
st
century, NYU is poised to shape itself as a modern global
research university. In a transformation that is no less than a paradigm shift, the challenge is to
develop, plan, and administer NYU as a
global network university
, rather than a single site New
York-based entity. This transformation has many daunting challenges and risks as well as
opportunities. It can only be accomplished with a concentrated, deliberate level of strategic
planning. This necessarily begins with the faculty assessing and charting our long-term global vision
and strategy—organizationally and academically. The challenge is to instill NYU standards of
academic excellence in widely varying instructional settings; accommodate differences in culture,
background, expectations, and communication in other countries; ensure quality by involving all
faculty in all phases of development of study abroad programs and regional campuses; and establish
advanced academic, technological, and administrative systems to achieve seamless communications
and mobility by faculty and students throughout the global network. The faculty at NYU need to
assess the development of our global programs to date and determine what key goals they want to
set going forward. This paper contributes to that process by summarizing the various categories of
global programs that exist and are envisioned, and by laying out the principles that have guided the
development of NYU’s programs and sites thus far.
The Foundation
At NYU, our global identity begins at Washington Square where it is founded upon international
faculty and student bodies that have long been a defining characteristic of the university and have
made NYU a truly global institution. In addition to the international composition of the permanent
faculty drawn to the NYC area, visiting faculty and post-doctoral fellows come to NYU from all
over the world. The Institute of Fine Arts and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have
hosted world-renowned international visiting and postdoctoral programs for nearly three quarters of
a century. Global Professorships are providing our faculty and students access to some of the finest
scholars from all over the world – interactions that are not single events but continue over several
years in a program of multi-year visits. This model of long-term global professorships, initiated in
our Law School, has been adopted by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and is now a significant
component in its faculty configuration.
NYU also has an international student body. The special educational features of the American
research university are attractive to students all around the world. Many of these students, both
undergraduate and graduate, have chosen to study at NYU. In fact, NYU has one of the largest
international student populations of any college or university in the U.S. In academic year 2005/06,
Page 5
NYU, with 5,502 international students, was ranked 4
th
in the U.S.
1
International students enrich
the educational and cultural environment at the Square, enhancing the quality of our student body
and exposing U.S. students to other cultures.
2
Further, NYU’s schools at the Square offer a number of strong degree programs that are
internationally oriented, and are designed to prepare professionals who will function in the
international arena. As examples, the SCPS Master of Science in Global Affairs prepares
professionals for careers at international not-for-profits, diplomatic missions, international business,
and so on. The new Master of Public Health Program in Global Public Health is a collaborative
venture, joint between our professional schools—Wagner, Steinhardt, Social Work, Dentistry, and
Medicine—which was established to prepare professionals with advanced degrees to play leadership
roles in promoting global health through improved research, practice, and policy-making. These and
other programs are important curricular expressions at the Square of what it means to be a global
university.
Guiding Academic Principles
NYU’s global plan, founded upon its international faculty and student bodies, is based on general
principles, which also guide the way we assess existing programs and conceptualize and design new
programs. These principles are:
• Many of the most important issues of our time are global in nature and require approaches
that are themselves both multi-disciplinary and global.
• Research universities will provide the fundamental research, scholarship, and educational
foundation upon which global issues will be addressed.
• Leading research universities of the 21
st
century will be grounded in the disciplines, while
being both multi-disciplinary and global in nature, with the global sites providing important
components of undergraduate education, graduate education, and research.
• Some leading research universities of the 21
st
century will realize their full potential in
contributing to a global society by developing an organizational structure suited to global
outreach – such as global network universities with mobility throughout the network for
students and faculty.
1
NYU ranked behind University of Southern California (6,881), Columbia University (5,575) and Purdue University (5,540), and
ahead of University of Texas, Austin (5,395) and the University of Illinois, Champaign (4,904). Source: 2006 Open Doors Report, the
annual report on international academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the
U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. See
http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=89196.
2
The NYU Office for International Students and Scholars reports that the leading countries of origin for international students at
NYU in fall 2006, by order of total enrollment, were: South Korea (781), India (599), Canada (455), China (393), Taiwan (308), Japan
(228), United Kingdom (149) and France (147). NYU Schools receiving international students in fall 2006 were, in order of
enrollment: GSAS (1387), Steinhardt Graduate (641), Stern Graduate (539) and Law (391). For additional information, see:
http://www.nyu.edu/oiss/general/studentstatistics.html
Page 6
• Successful global programs will be designed, created, and led by the faculty—with genuine
faculty engagement in each program.
• Each program will have significant research and scholarship components.
• At NYU, these global programs will be closely linked to schools and departments at
Washington Square, often to several departments.
• At NYU, global programs will enable our students to learn from a range of nationalities,
cultures, and viewpoints. Some programs will provide students from throughout the world
access to a NYU liberal arts education within a research university.
• Global programs at NYU will offer a diverse menu of distinct global experiences and
programs. These programs and their curricula will be embedded in, and fully leverage the
distinctive advantages of their specific geographic locations.
• Since NYU has a small endowment and is heavily tuition dependent, the global programs
must be self-supporting and, in some cases, provide resources for the University as a whole.
OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS
NYU global programs are multifaceted and include several distinct categories of programs:
• Short term and summer programs in targeted areas of study;
• Exchange programs with universities throughout the world;
• Semester abroad programs for our undergraduates;
• Research programs at all NYU sites for our faculty and graduate students;
• Branch campuses that offer NYU degrees in focused areas;
3
• Proposed regional campuses offering a wide spectrum of undergraduate degrees and some
graduate degrees.
The goals, missions, and measures of success of these programs vary. For example, global semester
abroad sites have a two-fold primary mission: (a) to provide a short-term international educational
opportunity for NYU’s New York-based students, and (b) to provide a point of entry to NYU’s
New York-based schools for certain categories of admitted students (e.g., some students in the
General Studies undergraduate entry program). The primary mission of a full branch campus is: (a) to
provide an NYU quality education to an international cohort, one that might wish to spend only a
brief time in New York City, and (b) to provide platforms for NYU faculty for international
scholarship and interactions. Branch campuses will also serve as global study abroad sites for New
York-based students, and they may also be a point of entry to the NYU schools at the Square;
however, their primary mission will be to provide a complete NYU education in non-U.S. locations.
3
Branch campuses that offer NYU degrees in focused areas include the MA at NYU in France and at NYU in Madrid, the LLM in
international law in Singapore, the MFA in film in Singapore, and the MBA, joint with London School of Economics and with HEC
School of Management in Paris.
Page 7
The goals and missions for each category of global program, as well as particular programs within a
given category, are detailed in the text below.
CATEGORY A
SHORT TERM AND EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
These programs are often school based and discipline specific and give students an opportunity for
short visits abroad (one to two weeks to a month or so) during winter and spring breaks or during
the summer, to enable in-depth concentration in specific international issues.
NYU students can choose to study as exchange students at one of 17 partner institutions in the
University’s International Exchange Program or in one of many school and department based
exchange programs. While on an approved NYU exchange, students pay NYU tuition, maintain
their financial aid packages, and earn NYU credits. As an example, Stern undergraduate students
can participate in the International Business Exchange Program (IBEX), which offers study abroad
courses that fall into the Stern business curriculum. Students can enroll in business courses offered
in London, Singapore, and Milan, while immersing themselves in the local cultural and business
environment.
Short term programs offer undergraduate and graduate curricula. As an example, FAS sponsors
short-term summer undergraduate programs in language and civilization/cultural studies (art,
literature, architecture, history) at Athens, Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, Dublin, Florence, London,
Madrid, Prague, and Paris. In addition, FAS offers journalism programs in London, Ghana, and
Russia, and urban design studies in London. As another example, Steinhardt’s summer programs—
16 offered for summer 2007—mostly focus on graduate level courses. In addition, Steinhardt has a
robust offering of January study abroad intersession courses for graduate student—seven intensive
global graduate courses in January 2007, and nine programs offered for Winter Intersession 2007-
08.
4
Among the newest school programs is Gallatin’s three-week program on Culture, Art and
Politics in Buenos Aires, first offered in Summer 2006.
CATEGORY B
SEMESTER ABROAD SITES AND PROGRAMS
Apart from the student exchange programs that American universities typically offer, NYU provides
opportunities for its undergraduates to study abroad for a semester at one of the University’s global
sites. There are presently programs in nine locations: Madrid (established in 1958), Paris (NYU in
Paris-Passy), (1969), Florence (1995), London (1999), Prague (1998), Berlin (2003), Accra (2004),
Shanghai (2006), and Buenos Aires (2008). (Organizationally, Madrid, Berlin and Paris are FAS sites,
however, these sites are closely aligned with the University’s global programs since they serve a wide
4
For additional information about summer programs, see http://www.nyu.edu/summer/2007/abroad/programs.html. For
information about Steinhardt’s winter intersession programs see
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/study_abroad/programs/.
Page 8
audience of students throughout the University.) In addition, individual schools administer study
abroad sites that are tailored to their programmatic needs.
5
The recent establishment of sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America has turned NYU’s already strong
but all-European study abroad program into a truly global network of study and research
opportunities. New programs are scheduled to open in 2009 in Tel Aviv, thereby expanding
opportunities for NYU students in the Middle East. The program in Berlin has added a fall
semester program in 2008, and work is currently underway to explore the most suitable location for
a site in Mexico, and potentially other sites in Asia. The principle guiding these locations is the belief
that NYU graduates can be best educated to become global citizens and future leaders in the world
economies and cultures by studying in some of the most vibrant and pace-setting capitals of our
time.
These campuses offer semester-long programs of study for New York City-based students from all
parts of the university. The curriculum offered at our ten locations includes language study (where
appropriate) and courses in many disciplines that count toward a range of undergraduate majors or
minors. This rigorous academic program is enhanced by the invaluable experience of living in a
different culture that is complemented by carefully designed trips and site visits in the host countries.
During the time that our students take courses at the NYU centers abroad and some carefully
selected local partner universities, they are also taking part in the local communities through
community service opportunities, partner activities with local student groups, service-learning
options, courses with fieldwork components, and a thoughtful orientation process that enables them
to quickly adjust to and move freely in the new environment. Increasingly, our strategy for
enhancing the learning experience at existing and developing new academic programs is to create
specializations that incorporate a study-abroad element and take full advantage of the special
location of each site, while giving each site a unique academic identity.
Program Scope and Student Participation
The NYU global sites host students from Washington Square, as well as several hundred visiting
students from other colleges and universities in the U.S. Enrollment in the global abroad sites in
academic year 2007-08 was 2,218 (up from 1,928 in AY06-07), not counting non-NYU students,
who make up about 20% of the total enrollment. Of the 2,218 NYU students, 170 were enrolled at
individual school sites enumerated below.
5
School sites include Tisch in London, Prague, Dublin, Cuba, Johannesburg, and Shanghai, and FAS in Berlin.
Page 9
NYU Students at NYU Study Abroad Sites Academic Year 2007-08
Fall Spring Total
07 08 AY
Buenos Aires NA* 28 28
Florence 301 327 628
Ghana 39 36 75
London 216 246 462
Prague 134 95 229
Shanghai 44 82 126
NYU at AUP 79 110 189
NYU in Paris 80 88 168
Madrid 51 92 143
Global Programs subtotal
944
1104 2048
TSOA Cuba NA * 27 27
TSOA Dublin 19 15 34
TSOA Johannesburg NA * 8 8
TSOA London 21 25 46
TSOA Prague 14 NA * 14
TSOA Shanghai 5 NA * 5
FAS Berlin
NA * 36 36
School site subtotal 59 111 170
Total 1003 1215 2218
* Program not offered for these semesters
NYU in Florence is our largest site for both fall and spring terms. For Paris, students may choose
between two experiences: NYU students can now study either at NYU in France or, in limited
numbers, at the American University of Paris (AUP), which offers general courses of study in
English and gives students the opportunity to experience being part of another university. The
newest campuses—Accra in Ghana, Shanghai, and Buenos Aires —are currently the smallest, but
are attracting growing populations of NYU and non-NYU students: NYU in Ghana grew from 25
at inception in fall 2004 to 36 in spring 2008. Shanghai grew from 17 at inception in fall 2006 to 82
in spring 2008. And, particularly Shanghai and Buenos Aires are expected to have substantial
growth in the future.
There has been a dramatic increase in enrollment in the global sites over the past five years. In
2007-08, 2,218 NYU students spent a semester abroad, up 79% from 1,237 in 2001-02.
6
Said
differently, today, over the course of a typical four-year college career at NYU, more than one out of
three students will have participated in a semester abroad program upon graduation, compared to
one out of four students five years ago. For comparison with peer institutions, in 2004-05, NYU
6
Students may enroll for more than one semester abroad, as is the case for all students in the GSP Freshman Year Program in
Florence. The count of 2218 students double counts students enrolled for two semesters, notably the students in the GSP Program.
Page 10
sent more students abroad than any other U.S. institution of higher education.
7
For that year, NYU
reported a 30% participation rate in study abroad programs, compared to a median rate of 14% for
doctoral/research institutions.
8
Given continuing student interest, and consistent with NYU’s mission of educating global citizens,
NYU has developed a long range plan to further increase the enrollments of NYU students studying
abroad. Five years ago, one out of every four NYU students would have studied in an NYU
semester-long program abroad over the course of their college careers. (This is above and beyond
enrollment in summer programs and other short exchange programs.) The University’s academic
goal, which is articulated and endorsed by the provost and the deans, is for at least 50% of all NYU
students to spend at least one academic semester abroad before they graduate. The feasibility of the
50% target was determined in detailed discussions with deans and directors, department heads, and
admissions officers, and is being implemented in the schools through their academic advisors. It is
motivated by the principle that for graduates to be truly prepared for the challenges and
opportunities of a globalized world, they must have lived and studied in several locations. If
knowledge is assumed to be universal, its acquisition is decidedly local. With the network of global
sites, NYU strives to educate our students in carefully designed courses by faculty who have
expertise in areas, cultures and questions that are best understood and studied locally.
The chart below shows the Doubling Plan (actual enrollment through 2007 and projected
enrollments thereafter) compared to the earlier Steady State Plan (which projected enrollment
growth from 2004 through 2007 and steady state thereafter).
Study abroad enrollment among NYU
students is planned to grow from 1,237 in 2001-02 (roughly one in four students) to 2,803 in 2010-
11 (roughly one in two students), and level off thereafter.
7
As reported in the Institute of International Education, 2006 Open Doors Report at http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=89230
“Institutions by Total Number of Study Abroad Students: Top 20 Doctoral/Research Institutions 2004/05.” Includes semester
abroad and other study abroad programs. See too
http://www.iienetwork.org/file_depot/0-10000000/0-10000/1710/folder/62450/IIE+Study+Abroad+White+Paper+I.pdf
8
Ibid. Participation rates are for doctoral/research institutions responding to the survey and as reported in “U.S. Study Abroad
Participants by Institutions with more than 10 Students [Abroad]”, The Annual Study of U.S. Study Abroad, Appendix D.
Page 11
Fall & Spring Semester Visits
NYU Undergraduates at NYU Study Abroad Sites (Global & School)
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Academic Year
Enrollment
Steady State Model. Projections for 2004 and thereafter. Doubling Model. Actual through AY07 with doubling model thereafter.
Student study abroad is, we believe, essential to the educational experience of the 21
st
century.
There is as well a financial advantage to the University to increasing the number of undergraduate
students participating in our semester abroad programs—an advantage which is secondary to
academic advantages and principles, but important nevertheless. NYU is a tuition dependent
research university, far more so than many of the universities with which we compete. Constraints
on the rate at which tuition can be raised and constraints on the size of our student body here in
New York City limit the tuition resources that are available to the University. Students who leave
New York City to study abroad for a semester and students who participate in the GSP option to
spend their first year abroad (see below), effectively allow the University to expand carefully the
student body and grow tuition revenue without increasing the density of students in New York City.
Realizing the opportunities—which have the potential to provide significant additional tuition
resources—requires detailed planning and close coordination between Undergraduate Admissions
and the schools.
Program Design and Philosophy
In carrying out the mission of providing an international educational opportunity for NYU’s New
York-based students, our global study abroad sites aim to provide a carefully designed curricular and
co-curricular experience. The breadth of curricular programs abroad, their expansion beyond
language acquisition courses and regional studies, the delivery of courses in English, and the fact that
all courses are monitored and approved for credit by departments in the schools, are key features of
our vision for study abroad.
Page 12
Uninterrupted progress toward the degree: Our curricular strategy is to
offer, in English, NYU courses or their equivalents,
9
which are approved by the faculty and carry
course numbers originating in departments in New York City. Doing so retains academic standards
set by the NYU faculty, and enables students to fulfill some of their degree requirements while
studying abroad, without losing time in their New York programs of study. Our goal is to enable
NYU undergraduate students to be increasingly able to use their time abroad to advance toward the
degree and meet their core and major requirements.
To some degree, students studying in these programs will find themselves in an academic enclave of
English-speaking students, somewhat removed from the local environment. To expand and enrich
the students’ experience beyond this protected enclave, the programs systematically structure many
student activities beyond the classroom. In some cases, our students take courses on an individual
basis at local universities or become involved in those universities’ student activities and offerings.
Academically supervised internships in a range of areas, community service volunteer opportunities,
and weekend or longer options for home-stays are another way in which our students learn directly
within the local environment of our sites.
Outside the classroom:
Students studying abroad have the opportunity to learn
from the locale—absorbing its flavor, participating in cultural activities, meeting local students,
reading local newspapers, adopting the habits of the host country, going to the movies, theater, and
other venues, listening to radio, and watching local TV. Students commonly report that their stay
abroad has helped them understand other societies and cultures and has enhanced their appreciation
of academic classes on the region’s history, culture, or politics. Indeed, many students with only
general interest in the country they visit return to New York City with a passionate desire to learn
more about the academic disciplines they discovered abroad—in and outside the classroom—for
example, converting to majors in art history, Africana studies, economics (with a focus on emerging
economies), political science (with a focus on emerging democracies), or East Asian studies. In
close consultation with deans, department chairs, and directors of Undergraduate Studies, curricula
in New York City will ultimately be enhanced to deepen, extend, and build on knowledge and
expertise gained by our students during their study at the global sites.
Language acquisition:
Classically, the curricular program emphasizes language
acquisition in the local environment. The oldest two overseas campuses, NYU in Madrid and NYU
in Paris, have very strong language and culture programs grounded in their respective New York
City-based departments. NYU in Madrid began as a language initiative of the Department of
Spanish and Portuguese. Until 1988, NYU in Paris was primarily a master’s program offering a
concentration in French literature, or French language & civilization; at that time, it expanded to
include a multi-faceted undergraduate program.
Language acquisition remains an important curricular component in all the campuses. NYU in
Florence offers courses in Italian, Prague offers Czech and German, Shanghai has Mandarin, Accra
has Twi, and Buenos Aires offers Spanish. In London, the study of African language in a cultural
context is available through an affiliation with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of
the University of London. Students with sufficient language skills may opt to take some of their
9
A complete listing of course offerings at the NYU global sites is available at: http://www.nyu.edu/registrar/study-abroad/
Page 13
coursework at partner schools at each global site (e.g., Charles University, Prague; University of
Florence; University of Paris or Institut d'Études Politiques, Paris; East China Normal in Shanghai,
Universidad Autónoma or the Universidad Complutense, Madrid). Classroom-based language study
enhances the student’s ability to navigate a foreign environment, further reinforcing student
acquisition of language skills through daily use.
Academic site identities:
Today, all overseas campuses offer specialized classes
and integrated courses of study that build on the distinct environment of each overseas campus
location. In an organic pattern of development, campuses are moving to develop particular
academic strengths and specializations, and thus, discrete site identities. At present, Florence focuses
on literature, art, and culture pertaining to Italy and Europe, with programming that examines the
cultural legacy of the late Medieval and Renaissance eras, as well as the political, cultural, economic,
and social issues shaping modern Europe. NYU in London has strength in pre-health, with course
offerings in biology, chemistry, and physics. Indeed, this is one of the few study abroad programs
with science facilities and courses, making it particularly attractive to science majors who generally
are unable to take advantage of international opportunities. As well, London offers a cluster of 11
sophomore and junior level core courses required by most U.S. undergraduate business schools, and
launched a new mathematics program for majors in fall 2005. NYU in Prague has long had special
strengths in economies and cultures in transition, with course offerings that examine the challenges
of moving a planned economy and society to a democratic and capitalist system. NYU in Prague also
has a range of course offerings in journalism and a music program that includes individual
instrument instruction and draws on the Czech Republic’s rich environment of music facilities and
performers. NYU in Ghana and NYU in Shanghai are designed to attract students and faculty with
research interests in economic development, political economy, and international relations. Ghana
also has particular strengths in drama and a burgeoning arts curriculum, particularly in film.
Shanghai, like London, is establishing itself as a destination point for students with interests in
business and economics, as well as the politics and culture of China and the shifting global landscape
due to China’s prominence in the world’s economy. At NYU in Buenos Aires students take courses
covering the politics, culture and economies of Latin America in general, and by taking advantage of
NYU’s strong institutional relations with Di Tella University, study business and finance in the
context of the Latin American markets and economies.
Graduate Level Studies, Research Exchanges, and
Faculty Fellowships
The semester abroad sites also provide rich opportunities for expanding the participation of
graduate students and for developing graduate level studies and research exchanges that are driven
by strengths in departments at Washington Square and are natural or especially appropriate to
develop at the site. Paris and Madrid are extensions of departments at Washington Square and offer
the master’s degree, respectively, in French and Spanish language and civilization. At Paris, a Joint
Masters’ Degree between FAS and Steinhardt prepares NYU students to become certified teachers
of French. Graduate studies are emerging as a particular focus at Florence’s La Pietra, which is
attracting increasing numbers of faculty who are interested in participating in semester-long teaching
and in hosting graduate symposia. In 2006-07, a graduate program in Italian Studies in Florence for
doctoral and B.A.-M.A. students was officially launched, and a roster of M.A. level courses was
approved by the Faculty of Arts and Science. In addition, there are plans for a credit-bearing
Page 14
program in creative writing, there is a range of activities organized by the Department of Music, and
there are summer internships in Museum Studies. Faculty from departments at the Square regularly
visit the site to assess the curriculum and make suggestions for its improvement.
In addition to these graduate degree programs, there are research agreements that link NYU with
universities abroad. Typically, formal institutional agreements give structure to already existing
interactions that developed at the level of departments or individual faculty. As an example, in
December 2006, NYU and Peking University entered into an agreement to facilitate collaborative
research and training within the administrative framework of the NYU-PKU Cooperation Center for
Research and Graduate Studies. Among the interactions envisioned are faculty exchanges, joint student
advisement and mentoring, co-sponsorship of conferences and other venues for academic exchange,
exchanges of graduate students, and exploration of dual degree programs. The agreement is the
outcome of varied efforts by many NYU individuals and programs. These include a GSAS
delegation that engaged in an intensive series of visits and planning meetings with faculty
counterparts and senior administrative leadership at PKU. Reflecting on that experience, the GSAS
delegation reported, “No other universities in the world have undertaken such an initiative to
coordinate so closely the institution-wide commitment to global research and graduate studies with
faculty-driven and individually crafted research and student training programs as the basis for global
graduate education.”
10
The University is proud of and firmly committed to faculty-driven initiatives
of this kind that can shape our global identity.
In addition to University research and exchange agreements, the University this year developed
opportunities for individual faculty by initiating the Global Fellowship Program. This new program is
designed to support short-term teaching, academic research, artistic endeavors and other scholarly
activities related to or involving residency at a NYU global site. The program is open to all NYU
faculty, to faculty affiliated with an NYU global site, and to NYU Ph.D. students. The fellowships
are intended to support short visits with limited funds available for partial support, for example, to
augment external funding for a research trip, or to help offset travel, living expenses, or similar costs
associated with a residency. These visits strengthen the ties between our sites abroad and the
departments in New York City, and often allow the students at our sites to interact with faculty from
New York City more closely than may be possible at home.
Department chairs and school deans must endorse all proposals and approve any necessary
academic and financial arrangements for release time and, if appropriate, supplemental support for
residency activities. Fellows are selected by a Global Fellowship Peer Review Panel comprised of
NYU faculty in a range of disciplines.
11
10
“Report on GSAS Delegation Visit to China to Develop Collaboration in Research and Graduate Studies, June 2006” submitted on
August 11, 2006 to John Sexton and David McLaughlin from Yaw Nyarko, Catharine Stimpson, David Slocum, Bernard Yeung,
Xudong Zhang, and David Cai. Page 5.
11
Additional information on the Global Fellowships, including guidelines and application, is available at:
http://www.nyu.edu/global/fellowships/
Page 15
Site Structure
By design, and consistent with the cosmopolitan milieu of the University at Washington Square, the
global sites are situated in major urban and financial centers with rich academic and cultural
resources and activities. Typically, the sites utilize local facilities on long-term lease located in the
city proper. In each site, a main building serves as an academic center with classroom space,
computer labs, staff offices, reading rooms and small teaching libraries with access to electronic
resources, and student lounges. Additional buildings or apartments nearby are often maintained as
residence halls. In Florence, the NYU campus is based at Villa La Pietra, a 57-acre estate situated
just outside the city center. Villa La Pietra is the only global campus whose site is owned by NYU,
the result of an exceptionally generous gift to NYU by Sir Harold Acton in 1994. Housing for
approximately 130 students is available at one of the villas, with additional housing in apartments
located downtown. Students at most sites also have the option of home-stays with local families as a
housing alternative. The Paris and Madrid programs offer home-stays, help students find private
apartments, and do not maintain residence facilities.
At each site, the Site Director reports to the Vice Provost for Globalization and Multicultural
Affairs
12
and is overseen by the relevant NYU faculty affinity group (see below). The Director has
responsibility for academic matters (developing the academic program, hiring faculty, cultivating and
managing relations with local partner academic institutions, building connections with departments
and faculty at Washington Square) as well as student services, human resources, and related non-
academic administrative activities. The Director is supported by on-site administrative staff,
typically, an assistant or associate director for administration charged with oversight of non-
academic administrative activities and responsibility for budget, operations, and facility maintenance.
Student services are the responsibility of a professional staff, which receives regular training each
year at Washington Square on NYU-wide student policies and procedures. Staff are responsible for
organizing the on-site student orientation, organizing co-curricular programming, coordinating
housing, managing resident assistants and residence life, and monitoring the physical and mental well
being of students. Student services personnel communicate regularly with local authorities, U.S.
consulates and embassies abroad, and with staff in New York on issues that may impact the safety,
security, and welfare of students.
Washington Square Faculty Oversight and Participation
Oversight of the semester abroad programs rests with the faculty, schools, and departments at
Washington Square. All courses must be approved by the departments and carry the same course
numbers as their counterparts here at the Square. This equivalence insures that the students’
progress toward degree will not be delayed because of study abroad, and maximizes the number of
our students who can participate in study abroad programs. Further, schools and departments at the
Square oversee faculty selection at each site, typically through formally constituted faculty affinity
groups.
12
As exceptions, the Madrid site and NYU in France are organizationally a part of FAS, and their site directors report to their
respective chairs within FAS.
Page 16
Liaison-Washington Square: Close communication between the Square and the
sites is facilitated through the designation, for each study abroad site, of a Liaison - Washington
Square who serves as academic liaison to the Site Director-abroad.
13
Faculty affinity groups:
The academic priorities and direction of each site are
overseen by affinity groups of faculty at Washington Square who have research and scholarly
interests related to the particular region or locale. The affinity groups provide advice and counsel to
the Vice Provost for Globalization and Multicultural Affairs and the Washington Square Site
Directors about new program initiatives and enhancements to existing course offerings. The affinity
groups facilitate significant faculty involvement in the management of the NYU programs abroad,
and ensure that the offerings meet the educational needs of their students. Additionally, the groups
assist with curriculum review and assessment, and actively participate in the planning process for
new campuses abroad. Affinity groups are active for London, Florence, and Prague.
14
In addition,
there are large affinity groups for Africa, China, and Latin America, members of which form smaller
working groups for NYU in Ghana , Shanghai, and Buenos Aires respectively.
15
Presently, over 170
faculty and school and University administrators participate in the five affinity groups, which draw
faculty from nearly every school.
International houses:
Faculty support for the Ghana and Shanghai programs was
significantly advanced and largely cemented through the establishment of parallel institutes here at
Washington Square (our “international houses”). Africa House (launched in fall 2004) and China
House (fall 2006) were created as academic forums to support faculty research and serve as faculty
affinity groups for those areas.
16
These programs reinforce faculty engagement in NYU in Ghana
and Shanghai through joint programming. Currently both Africa House and China House are
“virtual houses,” but it is hoped that facilities can be developed through philanthropy, and that these
new “houses” will join the existing houses at Washington Square (Casa Italiana with NYU in
Florence, La Maison Français with Paris, the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center with Madrid, etc.)
Equally important, these initiatives support faculty research by sponsoring academic conferences
and colloquia, host visiting scholars and prominent guest lecturers, and coordinate activities across
related programs and institutes in the NYU schools. Also in planning is India House, which, like
Africa House and China House, will provide a vehicle for bringing together faculty with common
interests and supporting area scholarship and research.
13
Current Washington Square liaisons and their home departments are: AUP, Kathering Fleming, European Studies, FAS; Berlin,
Thomas Ertman, Sociology, FAS; Paris, Judith Miller, French, FAS; Madrid, Gerard Aching, Spanish and Portuguese, FAS;
Florence, Jane Tylus, Italian Studies, FAS; Ghana, Awam Amkpa, Drama, TSOA; London, Mossette Broderick, Fine Arts, FAS;
Prague, Farhad Kazemi, Politics, FAS; Shanghai, Bernard Yeung, Finance, Stern.
14
The FAS sites in Madrid and France are closely associated with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of
French, respectively. The faculty members in these departments monitor these two sites.
15
Additional information on Faculty Affinity Groups, including membership, is available at:
http://www.nyu.edu/global/information.html
16
Additional information on Africa House is available at http://www.nyu.edu/africahouse. Information on China House may be
found at
http://www.nyu.edu/chinahouse
Page 17
New site selection: In addition to overseeing and shaping existing global sites,
Washington Square faculty are also heavily involved in the choice of new sites. Typically, the
decision to explore a particular site is an iterative process that builds on documented student interest
and demand, strong faculty leadership, and established or emerging connections between NYU and
foreign institutions. The due diligence process systematically engages faculty with affiliated research
interests to participate in the planning process. The three newest campuses, Accra (Ghana),
Shanghai, and Buenos Aires, were initiated by the faculty, reflecting their research interests and their
assessment of student needs. Faculty vetted a number of possible partner institutions and locations
and made the final recommendation for situating and organizing the programs as they currently
exist. The result is genuine faculty ownership of these three new programs. Similarly, the programs
in Paris and Madrid, which concentrate on language and culture programs, have had from their
inception a large degree of faculty engagement and participation, and substantial oversight from the
affiliated FAS departments. And, there has been similar discussion about new sites in Tel Aviv and
Mexico.
We would like to develop the same intensity and level of faculty engagement and leadership in sites
that have a broader focus (London, Prague, and Florence). However, increasing the level of faculty
participation in these sites has proven more challenging than engaging faculty in the initiation of the
new sites. A critical feature of this effort will be the increasing consolidation of their academic
identities and the development of curricula that leverage distinctive features of the specific location
of each. In order to enhance and lend further intellectual depth to the international experiences that
NYU offers its undergraduates and, increasingly, graduate students, it is important to adapt the
existing curriculum at the Square to students’ needs upon their return from our global sites.
New Curricular Models at Existing Sites
Within the schools, there are creative plans for taking full advantage of the wide range of the
international experiences that are available to NYU students. Examples include the following:
World studies track in the Stern School of Business:
In an initiative
that may serve as an innovative academic model for many of our global programs, the Stern School
of Business undergraduate college is designing new curricula that move groups of students across
multiple NYU campuses in sequences that tie directly into their coursework, deepening its impact.
The program takes full advantage of the University’s multiple sites.
For its fall 2007 entering class, Stern has introduced the World Studies Track—or ‘Stern World’—as
part of the core business degree. The World Studies Track is designed to place students in the key
global marketplaces of the 21
st
century (London, China, and Latin America) allowing students to
examine and reflect on world-wide economic linkages and regional growth differences as an integral
part of their education.
Students will apply to this honors program at the end of their freshman year and the program will
span the following three years of study. The heart of the program is a two-semester sequence of
global study in London during the spring of sophomore year and in Shanghai during the fall of
junior year. Specialized coursework each semester will address the unique commercial and financial
aspects of these local markets and their global impact. The experience will be further enhanced by
Page 18
short study trips to nearby corporate sites and international centers of commerce. Additionally, in
spring of junior year, students will go to a Latin American destination as an honors section of Stern’s
long-standing International Studies Program (ISP). ISP, which is required for all Stern students,
includes education in international economics and strategy, as well as a one-week study trip to an
international city of commerce. Students meet with the senior management of a local company, tour
their facilities, and prepare an analysis of the company and its international competitiveness. Senior
year features participation in small group honors seminars and preparation of a substantial final
research paper. That paper will be designed to help students integrate their different courses and
experiences into global-level insights and learning.
In the inaugural year of the program, Stern expects to accept a class of 25 students and will scale up
to 75 over the next several years. Ultimately, there will be approximately 300 World Studies Track
honors students across the multi-year program.
Advanced studies in the arts: The Tisch School offers a number of semester
and summer study abroad programs that provide specialized advanced level training and offer
courses in a variety of arts disciplines. Student majors are encouraged to supplement the New York
City curriculum with advanced training that is not available in the United States. Among the Tisch
programs that bring students in contact with some of the world¹s most prestigious and influential art
academies are: advanced television production in London at the British Broadcasting Corporation;
advanced acting in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; and training in 35 mm
cinematography in partnership with the Prague Film and Television Academy of the Performing
Arts (FAMU) in Prague. In each case, student activities (field trips, performances, interactions with
professional artists) are carefully scheduled to enhance the classroom experience.
Undergraduate entry programs abroad: NYU undergraduates have the
option of beginning their general core curriculum in New York City, or at one of the NYU
campuses throughout the world: GSP offers entering undergraduate students a two-year liberal arts
general education, which, with its “great books” curriculum and small class sizes, is an alternative to
other general education curricula at NYU. Some entering GSP students—who are themselves
extremely diverse with a range of international backgrounds—may choose to study (for the first
year) at the Washington Square campus, or in GSP programs at study abroad sites in Florence (La
Pietra), Paris (American University of Paris), or London. The global experience is particularly
valuable for students studying the GSP liberal arts core, since it is natural to integrate the unique
cultural and educational resources of each site into the “great books” program. GSP is further
expanding global awareness through summer study abroad and by increasing the international focus
of classes in New York. Student applicants find the global GSP program attractive, especially the
opportunity to pursue intensive language study, which is a requirement of their liberal arts
curriculum. For AY 2007-08, about 200 GSP freshmen began their NYU careers studying at an
international site for the full year, and another 150 sophomores are expected to join them for one
semester.
Future Sites
Presently, Faculty Affinity Groups are exploring potential new semester abroad sites in Latin
America and the Middle East, the next two priorities in the global program. The focus is on Mexico
and Argentina, the latter perhaps as early as the Spring 2008 semester. In the Middle East, following
Page 19
the work of a faculty study group studying the feasibility of opening a campus in Israel, NYU
announced on June 1, 2007 that it had signed a letter of intent with Tel Aviv University (TAU) to
develop a study abroad site in Israel. The program is expected to open during the 2008-09 academic
year, and it is projected that up to 50 students per semester will study there. NYU students in the
program will be allowed to take TAU courses as appropriate, and TAU students will be allowed to
take courses in the NYU program as appropriate. It is hoped that “NYU in Tel Aviv” will also offer
research opportunities for graduate students and faculty. Another set of faculty groups is examining
the feasibility of a study abroad site for NYU students within the framework of a branch campus in
the Gulf region. (Each new regional campus will also be a potential location for a study abroad site.)
CATEGORY C
BRANCH CAMPUSES WITH SPECIALIZED DEGREES
Several NYU Schools have begun launching specialized degree programs abroad for regional and
other student populations. Branch campuses, and regional campuses that offer full NYU degree
programs (Category D, discussed below), greatly enhance the mobility of our faculty and students,
making it possible for them to move throughout the university’s network to take advantage of
educational and research opportunities. Both branch and regional campuses provide multiple
opportunities for a fluid flow of international students to the Square, Washington Square students to
programs abroad, faculty teaching at branch and regional campuses, and so on. While not all
members of the University community will seek to take full advantage of these opportunities, many
will.
LL.M. in Singapore
In a move that promises to transform the very concept of global legal education, the NYU School of
Law and the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Law launched a dual degree
program in Singapore, Asia’s commercial and legal hub. The new program, entitled NYU@NUS,
allows students from around the world to experience two educational universes, earning a Master of
Laws (LL.M.) degree from both a leading U.S. institution and a leading Asian law school. The
program attracts two broad categories of students: Asian students desiring proficiency in American
law and a comparative understanding of Asian law, and students from elsewhere in the world who
want to combine the rigor of an American law degree with proficiency in Asian law and institutions.
The first cohort of 42 students began studies in May 2007; the student group is heavily international,
coming from 23 countries across six continents.
The NYU degree offered is the LL.M. in Law and the Global Economy. Students can focus their
studies in either U.S. and Asian business and trade law, or justice and human rights. Students may
also take courses towards the NUS LL.M. degree and can focus their studies on one of five
specializations, in corporate and financial services law, intellectual property and technology law,
international and comparative law, maritime law, or Asian law. A distinct feature of the NYU degree
is that, while it takes place in Singapore, the program will be taught predominantly by NYU faculty
Page 20
in residence at NUS, primarily in four three-week intensive summer courses. There are also plans
for collaborative teaching between NYU and NUS.
17
MFA in Film Production, Singapore
The Tisch School of the Arts launched its first-ever branch campus in Singapore for the fall 2007
semester. The Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore Campus offers an MFA in film production,
with administrative and classroom facilities located in its own building in the city’s main business
district. The School enrolled 33 students for the fall 2007 semester, and expects ultimately to enroll
approximately 250 students. The Tisch Singapore program offers the same curriculum as its New
York counterpart, taught in English by New York Tisch faculty in residence on the Singapore
campus. As in New York, the Singapore MFA is a concentrated three-year course of study
integrating theory and practice designed to develop individual creative filmmaking potential. It
provides detailed instruction and practical experience in the various aspects of filmmaking, including
writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing, and sound recording and mixing. Students
enrolled in the program must study and complete their course work in Singapore.
18
Executive MBA, London and Paris
The Stern School of Business has joined in alliance with the London School of Economics (LSE)
and Political Science and the HEC School of Management, Paris to establish the TRIUM Global
Executive MBA program. The 16-month program consists of six intensive modules. Of these, two
are hosted at NYU Stern and one each is hosted at LSE, HEC Paris and two other international
business centers. This integrated global program focuses on the economic, social and political
context for business decisions. Faculty members from each institution teach at their home
campuses, providing an educational experience that blends local business expertise with a broad
international perspective. Graduates receive a single degree issued jointly by the three institutions.
19
CATEGORY D. REGIONAL CAMPUSES
OFFERING FULL DEGREE PROGRAMS
Regional campuses, offering NYU degrees with an extensive collection of undergraduate majors and
some graduate programs, constitute another possible type of global program – a type that will be
very important to NYU as a global network university. As yet, NYU has no such regional campuses
– although studies for two sites (Paris and Abu Dhabi) are quite far along, and very early
consideration is being given to a third site in China. These possibilities are each being explored in
genuine partnership with leaders of the local government at each site and would not be pursued
without it.
17
For additional information about NYU@NUS see http://www.nyulawglobal.org/graduateadmissions/singapore/index.htm
18
For additional information about the Singapore MFA see http://www.tischasia.nyu.edu.sg/page/home.html
19
For additional information about the Trium MBA program see http://www.triumemba.org/
Page 21
The rationale for regional campuses abroad is rooted in the special appeal and success of the
American style research university. During the last half of the 20
th
century, vast numbers of students
from around the world desired to study here, and many did. However, the number of international
students studying in the United States has been declining in recent years.
20
Although the decline
may seem to have stabilized, future growth cannot be assumed. The post 9-11 political environment
within the United States, social attitudes, and increasing visa restrictions are reducing the pool of
students willing or able to study here. At the same time, U.S. institutions that train international
students are facing new sources of competition from universities around the world – from Europe,
Australia, New Zealand, and China.
NYU’s interest in regional campuses is motivated in part by these supply and demand conditions.
But there are other reasons, as well. It is our firm belief that a liberal arts education, with its open
access and traditions of scholarly investigation, debate, and critical analysis, is needed throughout the
world. Further, in the 21
st
century, the world will be increasingly interconnected, with truly global
universities having sites worldwide – sites that will provide students and faculty direct access to
international collaborations, interactions, research, and scholarship. NYU has a long tradition of
access, and a founding mission of “in and of the city” and hence today, “in and of the world.”
Within this context, it will be natural for the NYU of the 21
st
century to have regional campuses
throughout the world and especially in strategic areas, such as the Far East, the Middle East, and
Europe. Given the opportunities and circumstances described below, and NYU’s characteristic
entrepreneurial spirit, the next stage of our development of global programs is focusing on possible
regional campuses in Abu Dhabi, Paris, and China.
A Regional Campus in Abu Dhabi
The university is currently planning the opening of a full regional campus in the emirate of Abu
Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This will be the first full university established by a
major U.S. research university in the Middle East. As envisioned, NYUAD will offer a residential,
NYU-style liberal arts college experience, with curriculum and resources of the standards of
scholarly rigor, pedagogic creativity, and academic freedom that govern our Washington Square
campus. The regional campus will offer NYU degrees to students who spend the majority of their
time there, with the option of spending a semester or a year at the Square or a global site.
Background:
In academic year 2005-06, as NYU was reviewing possible sites and
regions to develop the new regional campus model, the leadership of the emirate of Abu Dhabi,
which was seeking to form a partnership to bring the educational opportunities of a world-class
research university to the region, approached NYU about collaborating to achieve their vision for
higher education by establishing a branch of NYU in Abu Dhabi. They communicated their strong
desire for NYU to create in Abu Dhabi a complete liberal arts research university of the highest
quality to serve students from across an extensive geographic region. The school would be the
flagship university of Abu Dhabi and would be a liberal arts program for undergraduate students,
within the framework of a significant research and graduate university. When fully mature, the
campus could serve 2,000 students; its size would be calibrated to ensure the highest academic
20
According to the 2006 Open Doors Report, “in 2005/06, the number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education
institutions remained steady at 564,766, within a fraction of a percent of the previous year's totals. This marks the seventh year in a
row that America has hosted more than half a million foreign students, with a peak of 586,323 three years ago followed by declines of
2.4% and 1.3% in the past two years.” See
http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=89251
Page 22
quality, and therefore could be sized differently, and it would start out considerably smaller. The
new university would be modeled after an NYU-style of a research university – centered upon a
liberal arts core.
The leadership of Abu Dhabi envisions its emirate as the cultural and educational center of the
extended region and was partnering with cultural institutions around the world to establish that
presence. NYU was receptive to a partnership, having already an interest in establishing a presence
in that part of the world. In the ensuing conversations, we found that the Abu Dhabi leadership and
we had much in common. Not only did they express a deep vision and understanding of academic
concerns and the determination and resources required to achieve that vision for higher education in
Abu Dhabi, they also shared a focus on the future and the willingness to grasp great opportunities.
The leadership of Abu Dhabi is offering NYU an unprecedented opportunity in higher education –
an opportunity with remarkable potential, albeit with daunting challenges and with real risks.
Due diligence: Last year, immediately following initial conversations with Abu Dhabi,
groups of faculty and administrators at NYU began initial discussions of the possible academic
advantages and risks that this opportunity presented to NYU, as well as its academic and financial
feasibility. Preliminary feasibility discussions were held with individual members of NYU’s faculty,
with the Faculty Senators Council, and with the Faculty Advisory Committee on Academic
Priorities.
21
On July 11, 2006 NYU and the government of Abu Dhabi signed a “Letter of Intent,”
which formally expressed the intent of both parties to study the feasibility of creating a branch of
NYU in Abu Dhabi. The Letter imposed strict terms of confidentiality.
Immediately thereafter, faculty and administrative groups undertook academic and financial due
diligence studies, within the confines of the confidentiality required by the Letter of Intent. The
Faculty Senators Council formed the FSC Educational Policies Branch Campuses Committee to
advise the administration.
22
Two working committees were formed – the Legal/Administrative
Committee
23
and the Faculty Steering Committee.
24
The former was to lead the legal due diligence
and discussions with the government leadership in Abu Dhabi; the latter was to lead the academic
due diligence and academic planning. As a part of this due diligence process, discussions continued
21
The Faculty Advisory Committee on Academic Priorities, chaired by Dean Richard Foley, is composed of distinguished senior
faculty members from across the University, serving staggered three-year terms. The committee advises the President and the
University administration on any and all academic matters, fosters a culture of teaching and research excellence throughout the
University, and develops specific strategies for measuring, achieving, and sustaining excellence. For a list of current and previous
members, see
http://www.nyu.edu/provost/about.office/committee.ap.html
22
The FSC Executive Committee at the time was chaired by Virginia Black (Medicine) and included: Sylvain Cappell (Courant Institute),
Jim Hinojosa (Steinhardt), Carl Lebowitz (SCPS). The FSC Educational Policies Branch Campuses Committee at the time was chaired by
Sylvain Cappell (Courant), and included: Brookes Billman (Law), Raphael David (Medicine), Mona Mikhail (FAS), Jeffrey Simonoff
(Stern), Paul Thompson (Tisch), Srinivasa Varadhan (Courant), and Daniel Zwanziger (FAS). For a full current listing of FSC
committees, see
http://www.nyu.edu/pages/facgov/reps.html#FSC_Comm
23
The Legal/Administrative Committee includes: Robert Berne, Senior Vice President for Health; Martin Edelman, Counsel to
NYU; Thomas Jackson, President Emeritus University of Rochester and Consultant to NYU; Cheryl Mills, Senior Vice President,
General Counsel, and Secretary of the University; Jeanne Marie Smith, Senior Vice President for Strategic Business Development.
24
The Middle East Faculty Steering Committee includes Brookes Billman (Law), Sylvain Cappell (Mathematics, Courant), Bernard
Haykel (Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, FAS), Tom Jackson (Consultant to NYU), Farhad Kazemi (Politics, FAS), David
McLaughlin (Provost), Linda Mills (Senior Vice Provost), Ali Mirsepassi (Dean, Gallatin), Yaw Nyarko (then Vice Provost for
Globalization and Multicultural Affairs), and Jalal Shatah (Mathematics, Courant).
Page 23
within the Faculty Advisory Committee on Academic Priorities. Several groups of faculty and
administrators took fact-finding trips to the region, most recently in January 2007.
25
Were NYU to
go forward with this project, the Faculty Steering Committee, working through faculty sub-
committees, would advise on the development of the entire academic plan for the new regional
campus.
These studies confirmed the many advantages to NYU of establishing a regional campus in Abu
Dhabi. The Middle East has been a major geographic center of history, economics, and culture in
both the ancient and modern world. If, as a global university in the 21
st
century, NYU will have
regional campuses outside of New York City, a campus in the Middle East will immerse NYU in
that crucial part of the world. A presence in the region will enhance the ability of the University, its
faculty, and its students to participate in a dialogue with the people of the Middle East. And an
NYU campus in the region would provide students throughout the extended geographic region with
access to an NYU liberal arts education.
A regional campus in Abu Dhabi would provide our graduate students and faculty with research
opportunities in many disciplines, including on-site access to the geographic region, and significant
funding in the form of peer reviewed grants from the government of Abu Dhabi for research
projects, scholarly interactions, research conferences, and workshops. Immediate academic benefits
could result for many disciplines at NYU – including the Institute of Fine Arts, the Institute for the
Study of the Ancient World, the Departments of Fine Arts, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Middle
Eastern and Islamic Studies, History, Politics, Economics, Sociology, and many others.
Students at NYUAD would have the option of spending a year at Washington Square and/or a
semester at one of NYU’s global sites – enhancing the cultural experiences and interactions of New
York-based NYU students. The regional campus could also serve the dual purpose of a global
semester abroad site for NYU undergraduate students – one that could offer a rich set of studies
about the Middle East, including immersion studies of the Arabic language.
If NYU is to develop educational programs in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates stands out
as a partner: it has the political stability, the financial resources, and the commitment to pursuing
excellence that are essential to success. The government of Abu Dhabi will fully fund both the
capital and operating budgets of NYUAD, providing resources to ensure the highest academic
quality. Funds will be available for those departments at Washington Square whose faculty are
deeply engaged in activities at NYUAD, including funding for departments to choose to increase in
size by having some fraction of their faculty at any one time based in NYUAD. Funds will also be
available to develop a modern technological infrastructure for library resources, teleconferencing
and seamless collaborations with NYU in New York, which will facilitate close connections among
all NYU sites, from Washington Square to Abu Dhabi, and from Buenos Aires to Shanghai.
In summary, within a few years, our goal is for NYUAD to be known as the finest research
university in the region – recognition that will enhance NYU’s position as a leading global research
university.
25
The faculty fact-finding team that visited the Middle East in January 2007 included: Marsha Berger (Computer Science, Courant),
Farhad Kazemi (Politics, FAS), Jalal Shatah (Mathematics, Courant), Daniel Stein (Physics, FAS and Dean for Science), Paul
Thompson (Tisch and Faculty Senator), Ron Zweig (Hebrew & Judaic Studies, FAS), as well as David McLaughlin (Provost) and Yaw
Nyarko (then Vice Provost for Globalization and Multicultural Affairs).
Page 24
Notwithstanding these benefits to NYU, the faculty committees identified important risks and
concerns. Faculty members stressed the importance of protecting the basic academic freedoms that
are an essential characteristic of a liberal arts education. They also raised concerns about open
access to the campus for all religions and nationalities. Concerns were raised about ensuring non-
discrimination with respect to religion, race, gender, or sexual preference; and about ensuring an
admissions process based solely on academic credentials, with the availability of the sufficient and
appropriate level of financial aid, to be assigned by NYU academics based solely upon academic
credentials and financial need. Also raised were concerns that the academic programs, including
course content, be determined solely at the discretion of NYU and its faculty. Faculty members
pointed to the uncertainties in successfully recruiting students and faculty of the appropriate
academic standard, and the importance of a detailed analysis of the available pools of student and
faculty candidates in setting the proper size of NYUAD, both initially and at “steady state.”
Concerns were raised about competition emerging in the region, which will further limit the
available pools of students and faculty.
26
There was also discussion about financial risks, including
the possibility that the regional campus could be forced to close – leading to further concerns that
there be financial arrangements to ensure that students are able to complete their degree, and faculty
on contract are fully compensated.
After fully considering the benefits and risks, those faculty members conducting these studies
(which, consistent with the Letter of Intent, were conducted confidentially) recommended that
NYU proceed with the planning toward creation of the regional campus NYUAD. They
recommend proceeding cautiously, initially with a small student body, and operating with continuous
due diligence. They believe the project presents NYU with a remarkable chance of setting up a
world-class institution in the Middle East, a region of extreme importance to the world.
26
There are other American (as well as UK and Australian Universities) operating in the region, some of which are “for profit” and
most of which are limited to specific professional degrees. None have the scope and breadth proposed for NYUAD. In Qatar:
Cornell established in 2004 the Weill Cornell Medical College; Texas A & M University-Qatar (TAMUQ) offers undergraduate
degrees in chemical, electrical, mechanical, and petroleum engineering; Virginia Commonwealth University (est. 1999) offers arts and
communications programs; Carnegie Mellon University (est. 2004) offers business and computer science programs; Georgetown
University (est. 2005) runs an overseas branch of their School of Foreign Service. In the UAE, leading universities in the United
Kingdom have formed a cooperative British University in Dubai (BUiD), with the U.K. partners providing oversight and expertise in
key disciplines. For example, the BUiD Institute of Informatics is partnered with the University of Edinburgh, Engineering with
Manchester, and Finance and Banking with City University, London. The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Abu Dhabi Education Council to establish a one-year M.A. program with
specializations available in International Economics, Diplomacy, International Relations, International Security, and Political Science.
Finally, Texas A&M and American University in D.C. have established partnerships with the American University Sharjah (AUS).
Texas A&M provides expertise, and oversight of the engineering program at Sharjah, while American University has advised on
overall management, including organizational design for student affairs, operations and its financial systems. American University,
D.C. also utilizes AUS as a study abroad site for its students.
There are two programs in the UAE that resemble what is envisioned for NYUAD. The Universities of Paris (Paris 1 - Sorbonne)
launched a new branch in Abu Dhabi in fall 2006. Its first such campus outside of France, the Sorbonne is currently utilizing the
facilities at Abu Dhabi University but is building its own facility nearby. The Sorbonne will grant degrees recognized by both France
and the E.U. and qualified students may opt to transfer to Paris or any E.U. institutions during their course of study, with French as
the language of study. Additionally, Middlesex University has established a Branch Campus in Dubai. The program has the same
curriculum as in London, with the same examinations taken simultaneously in both cities. The degrees awarded to Dubai campus
students are identical to those achieved by students at the London campus, and students may transfer between campuses if they wish.
Page 25
Framework: Legal agreement: Informed by these due diligence studies, the
Legal/Administrative Committee developed with the leadership in Abu Dhabi a “Framework
Agreement,” which sets NYU/Abu Dhabi on the path to creating the new regional campus, and
states the terms under which the campus will be developed. New York University and the
Executive Authority of Abu Dhabi (the “Authority”) signed and announced this Agreement to
establish a branch campus of NYU in Abu Dhabi (“NYUAD Campus”) in October 2007, which
also is subject to a confidentiality responsibility. NYU’s goal is to have the NYUAD Campus
included within its current accreditation. The terms contained in this agreement are summarized
below.
A. Summary description of NYUAD Campus: The NYUAD Campus will be established as a research
and degree-granting branch campus of NYU, with a projected opening date of 2010. NYU and the
Authority intend for the NYUAD Campus to be the flagship American-style degree-granting
academic institution of Abu Dhabi. The objective is for NYU to develop and operate the Campus
pursuant to NYU’s standards for academic excellence and in accordance with applicable U.S.
education laws and regulations as well as applicable policies and procedures of Middle States and
other relevant accreditors.
Students will be recruited from all over the world and will be admitted based upon their academic
potential and qualifications, as determined by NYU. Instruction at the NYUAD Campus will be co-
educational and conducted in the English language, excluding non-English language and literature
courses. NYU will have absolute and unfettered authority over all academic matters, including but
not limited to the selection of faculty, administrators, students, curriculum, student affairs and other
educational matters. NYU will establish and implement academic and related policies and
procedures for the NYUAD Campus comparable to those at NYU’s Washington Square campus.
These policies are intended to include policies found in the NYU Faculty Handbook and the NYU
Student Guide, NYU’s institutional policies and procedures on academic freedom – policies that
protect the freedom to teach, critique, research, publish, and discuss ideas in public – intellectual
property policies, disciplinary and grievance policies, and the like. NYU and the Authority will
consult to ensure that the NYUAD Campus provides disciplines, types of degrees (including
undergraduate and select graduate degrees), and a period of time over which programs should be
phased in, to maximize the opportunity for the NYUAD Campus to attract the highest quality
faculty and students.
B. NYU’s commitment to the NYUAD Campus: NYU will have absolute academic authority at the
NYUAD Campus, with accountability for making final determinations relating to all academic
programs, educational requirements and content for the NYUAD Campus, including size,
curriculum design and development, faculty rights, selection and appointment, the conferring of
degrees, student admissions, and student affairs and residential life. For instance, NYU will:
• determine the requirements for the degrees and disciplines that will be offered at the
NYUAD Campus,
• establish the curriculum and processes for curriculum development,
• determine the appropriate size of the faculty and administrative staff in accordance with
NYU’s policies and procedures under the authority of the President and Provost of NYU,
with faculty selected from among NYU’s New York-based faculty as well as additional
recruitment efforts,
Page 26
• determine the appropriate size of the student body and, consistent with the prevailing quality
standards at NYU, develop criteria for the selection and admission of students and otherwise
make all decisions relating to admissions qualifications, admissions and administration of
student affairs at the NYUAD Campus, and
• establish and implement academic and related policies and procedures for the NYUAD
Campus comparable to those at NYU’s New York campus.
NYU also will be responsible for the organization and staffing of academic support operations
including at least the following:
• appointment, promotion, and tenuring of faculty (including faculty teaching, research, and
institutional commitments and compensation, including dislocation perquisites to recruit and
retain top quality faculty), student life and programming (including athletics), admissions,
financial aid, student information, registration, class scheduling, grading, records and
certification,
• sponsored research, intellectual property management, and research compliance (including
compliance with applicable law regarding treatment of human subjects, conflicts of interest
and other applicable obligations),
• libraries and electronic resources, information technology and network infrastructure,
classrooms, laboratories, performance spaces, art studios, and other academic and research
support resources, and
• health services (faculty, staff, and students), transportation, public safety (including
enforcement of principles of academic freedom), mail and related services, human resources,
facilities planning, faculty/administrator and student housing, legal advice and guidance,
public affairs, community relations, advertising and publications, university bookstore, dining
and catering services and student services; administrative systems, accounting and budget
operations, payroll, payables, procurement, financial reporting, financial audit and
compliance, bank operations, cash management, insurance, bursaring, billing, and collection
of tuition and fees.
C. The commitment of the Executive Authority of Abu Dhabi to the NYUAD Campus: NYU and the
Authority intend for the NYUAD Campus to be a major facility that will include academic and
research facilities for classroom instruction, research and training, faculty and administrative offices,
support functions such as libraries, athletic facilities, performing arts facilities, campus dining
facilities, computing facilities, and residential housing for students, faculty and administrative staff.
The Authority will provide the land, funding, and financing for the development, construction,
equipping, maintenance, and facilities’ operation of the NYUAD Campus. The Authority will build
and equip the NYUAD Campus in accordance with the academic programs developed by NYU and
with campus design plans that will be approved by NYU. It has also made a significant commitment
to NYU to strengthen the long-term relationship between Abu Dhabi and the University, crucial for
achieving the goal of providing world-class educational and research opportunities at the NYU Abu
Dhabi campus.
In the event of a temporary or permanent suspension of the operations of the NYUAD Campus
(other than a suspension caused by the gross negligence, criminal conduct or willful misconduct of
NYU, NYUAD or specified senior officers of NYUAD), the Authority also agreed to pay all costs
reasonably related to such closure or suspension of operations.
Page 27
D. Organizational structure of the NYUAD Campus: NYU will establish a not-for-profit corporation
registered as a branch
27
of a foreign corporation in Abu Dhabi (“NYUAD”). NYU will be the sole
member of NYUAD, headed by the Vice Chancellor of NYUAD, who shall be the highest ranking
official reporting directly to the President of NYU. The Executive Authority of Abu Dhabi will
incorporate an entity in Abu Dhabi (the “Authority Entity”) to support the educational mission of
the NYUAD Campus. NYU and the Authority will establish an Executive Committee of the Board
of Directors of the Authority Entity, which will be responsible for the finances and operation of the
NYUAD Campus. The Authority will have final approval over the budgets and funding for the
NYUAD Campus. NYU will have final authority over the academic plan for the NYUAD Campus
so that quality is not compromised by any budgetary decisions. Ultimately, all budgets will need to
be formulated and approved in accordance with the academic plan developed by NYU.
NYU and the Authority also have agreed to certain exclusivity provisions with respect to the
establishment of future degree-granting programs within a specific geographical area (“UAE Market
Region”). With respect to undergraduate programs, the exclusivity period is 20 years from the date
of execution of the initial agreement; with respect to graduate programs (excluding Law and
Medicine, which are not included), the exclusivity period is 12 years. NYU will not pursue the
establishment of a degree-granting program offered at the NYUAD Campus in any of the countries
in the UAE Market Region.
28
The Authority will have the first right to implement any new degree
granting programs not currently offered at the NYUAD Campus, at NYUAD or in the region,
provided it is branded NYUAD. Should the Authority decline to sponsor a new degree-granting
program, NYU may elect to do so in any country, including those in the UAE Market Region.
Next steps: Having signed and announced the Framework Agreement to establish a
Middle Eastern campus of NYU, NYU and our partners in Abu Dhabi are taking concrete steps to
create our mutual vision of a comprehensive liberal arts campus of the highest academic quality.
Administrative and academic leadership will be provided by Professor Mariet Westermann, presently
Director of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, who has been named Special Assistant to the President for
NYU-Abu Dhabi and Vice Chancellor for Regional Campuses. She will be responsible for
establishing University processes to develop the academic program and campus planning for NYU-
Abu Dhabi and to develop the requisite administrative organization and operational capacity to
support the academic program. The Faculty Steering Committee, with its subcommittees and with
the University Administration, will lead the planning processes.
Beginning immediately, the planning team will assess the available pools of students and faculty; help
our partners in Abu Dhabi select the location of the regional campus; advise on the design of the
facilities and infrastructure; design programs and facilities for student life and residential life; design
the academic organizational structure of the campus, including its programs and departments;
define the relationship of the regional campus with the faculty and departments at Washington
Square; design, with the departments at the Square, the programs of study (general education,
27
Under the laws of Abu Dhabi, to do business there, the new corporation will register as a “branch of a foreign company.” The use
of the term “branch” in this context is not equivalent to the use of the term in the university context as is the case when referring to
“branch campuses.”
28
The UAE Market Region includes Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon,
Iraq, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, India, and Pakistan.
Page 28
majors, minors, graduate and research programs); with the faculty and departments at Washington
Square, establish the procedures for faculty selection, for student admissions, and for the assignment
of financial aid; and begin research programs immediately. The goal is to open the NYU Abu
Dhabi Campus with its first class of students entering in Fall 2010.
A Possible Regional Campus in Europe
As part of its longer-term strategy of becoming a truly global university, NYU is currently engaged
in active exploration of the possibility of establishing a regional campus somewhere on the
European continent.
Why in Europe? Three primary considerations lie behind the interest in pursuing a
regional campus in Europe:
• NYU’s stated goal of being the American higher-education leader in global education. For
NYU to be truly “global,” its engagement abroad must become increasingly organic to its
various contexts. That is, in addition to operating NYU sites abroad, it should also have full
degree-granting campuses that are simultaneously part of NYU and shaped by – and a force
within – higher education environments around the world. Clearly, Europe must be
seriously considered as the potential location of one such campus, and makes particular
sense alongside a campus in the Gulf, and a possible campus in East Asia.
• The desire to provide NYU faculty with easy access to the vast intellectual offerings of
Europe – from contact and interactions with European colleagues, to access to archives, to
the availability of a proprietary space NYU faculty can use as the platform for public events,
meetings, and other activities. While many NYU faculty already have their own sets of
European contacts, all would benefit from an infrastructure that facilitates more ready access
to European academic resources, and a structure within which to spend time in Europe.
• The need to be ahead of the curve in the ability of American universities to hold onto their
primacy in the global educational marketplace. As European universities become more
“Americanized,” on the one hand, and as on the other hand the United States becomes less
accessible to some foreign students, NYU must position itself accordingly. In addition to
these pressures, NYU – with its relatively small endowment – comes under increasing
competitive pressure from top-tier, far wealthier institutions that can afford tuition
incentives that are for now beyond NYU’s reach. In more profoundly “globalizing,” NYU is
able to offer a more clearly distinctive educational experience vis-à-vis those offered by other
major American research universities, and will better be able to attract strong students and
faculty.
The European higher education context: Planning and shaping an NYU
school in Europe begins with an understanding of the current higher education environment in
Europe, particularly as emerging under the Bologna Accords. Signed by 29 European countries in
1999 (40 by 2007), the Accords call for the creation of a Europe-wide Higher Education Area by
2010. The Accords promise to significantly change Europe’s traditionally nation-centric higher
education establishment. Specifically, the accords are enabling:
Page 29
• The creation of a system of comparable and understandable degrees throughout the EU;
• The establishment of a clear and standardized division between undergraduate and graduate
studies;
• A quality-assurance process and governing body that is to ensure standard qualifications and
quality throughout participating countries;
• The definition of a specifically European focus for higher education;
• Extraordinary mobility across Europe for students – students may complete their education
by combining terms of study across an array of universities within participating countries.
Finally, the Accords – which have paved the way for European institutions to start charging tuition
– are intended quite explicitly to strengthen European institutions in part by “Americanizing” them
In so doing, the Accords give them a competitive edge vis-à-vis those in America, which has long
reigned as the undisputed world leader in higher education –something that may be starting to
change.
Any major move NYU makes in Europe must take care to respond to and dovetail with these
sweeping educational reforms across the continent.
Due diligence: Where and how? Increasingly, new universities are springing
up in Europe that offer an Anglophone education and that attract an international student body.
The best known of these offer graduate degree programs in targeted areas – business, for example, is
the academic focus of Bocconi (Milan); INSEAD (Fontainebleau); and The European University
(The Hague), among others. Others, most famously Central European University (Budapest – both
graduate and undergraduate) and the European University Institute (Florence – graduate only)
follow a more American-style “liberal arts” model. Nearly every country of Europe – from
Macedonia to the United Kingdom – now is home to at least one “American Style” Anglophone
institution. What used to be a rarity – a tuition-charging, Anglophone private institution – has
recently become a recognized and accepted feature of the higher education landscape in Europe.
A. Accreditation: Such institutions for the most part follow one of four basic models in how they go
about establishing themselves:
• Local accreditation only: the institution is accredited only by the accrediting board of the
country of its location.
• U.S./local (dual) accreditation: the institution is accredited both by the accrediting board of
the country of its location and by an accrediting board in the United States. An example is
CEU in Budapest, which is accredited both by Hungarian norms and in the United States,
where it is a New York Corporation, and by Middle States.
• Multiple accreditations, usually chosen according to the target student body. An example is
the European University of Lefke, in Northern Cyprus, which is accredited locally by the
Higher Education Council of Turkey (YOK), but also has two international accreditations as
well as accreditations from Pakistan, the UAE, and the Sultanate of Oman.
Page 30
• Solely US accreditation. In this circumstance the campus functions simply as a “branch
campus” rather than “regional campus,” and grants only its home degree.
In establishing a campus in Europe, NYU would most likely wish to pursue the second model, that
is, granting a degree recognized both by the accrediting board of the host country, and in the USA as
an NYU Middle States-accredited degree. Having dual accreditation would make the campus of
greater appeal to directly enrolling students (i.e., students who are not traveling to the site from
NYU in New York but rather are completing the bulk of their education and taking their degree
from the regional campus). In addition, such accreditation would allow NYU’s regional campus to
participate more fully in the emerging Europe-wide higher education environment. In some
scenarios, it could possibly be a partner within the current Europe-wide system.
Accordingly, one key component of the due diligence behind this initiative is to explore the
possibilities (or lack there of) for such “dual accreditation” offered by various European venues.
Having dual accreditation is certainly not required, but attaining it would optimal.
B. Faculty: access for NYU faculty; the local talent pool: A second large component of the due diligence
review of European regional campus prospects focuses on understanding the academic and financial
implications of the local labor context of various sites. Most European labor law, particularly as it
applies to academics, is quite different from its US counterpart. As an example, the concept of
“tenure” is relatively meaningless in Europe; in many cases, all employees in all work sectors are by
definition long-term. Some international institutions in Europe – INSEAD and EUI, for example –
have managed to establish mechanisms for lessening the impact of this. INSEAD faculty agree
voluntarily to be subject to tenure review, and agree to leave their post should they not be granted
tenure – even though under French labor law they in fact enjoy job security regardless. As a second
example, many European labor laws may make it difficult to delineate full and part-time faculty, a
distinction that is important in the U.S.
This legal context is an important one: On the one hand, it means that hiring needs to be
undertaken with great care. Access to a ready pool of talented faculty will be crucial. On the other
hand, the legal context means that it can in some instances be difficult for NYU faculty to spend
significant time teaching in given locations A core feature of due diligence is a coming to a clear
understanding of which contexts and circumstances are most likely to facilitate faculty flow to the
site.
C. Building on NYU’s current assets and local knowledge: NYU already has a strong local presence in a
number of European cities. Most logically, in creating a regional campus NYU will take advantage
of the access to the resources of local knowledge, contacts, and historic student interest offered by
its existing study abroad sites, and have one of these locations as its home. That is, NYU’s regional
campus in Europe will likely grow out of, in some way, one of these pre-existing ventures. A further
possibility is that NYU’s regional campus in Europe will itself consist of a network: one could
envision a flourishing undergraduate presence in one location, with a graduate and faculty center in
another. Considerations of NYU’s current strengths in Europe, local talent pool, desirability for
NYU faculty, and local legal and accreditation factors will together determine the optimal location
and configuration of a European regional campus.
Page 31
A Possible Regional Campus in China
Currently, the possibility of NYU regional campuses in Paris is under study, and the pursuit of a
regional campus in Abu Dhabi is under way, with the due diligence and feasibility studies quite far
along in each case. China presents a natural site for a third regional campus, given its economic
development and the international leadership role it is likely to play later in this century.
Government administrators in Shanghai and the adjacent municipalities, as well as leaders in higher
education there, have begun inquiring if NYU has interest in setting up a regional campus. It is
important to note that these discussions are in their earliest stages.
Beyond this possibility of a site in China, there are no additional regional campuses in discussion or
under consideration. Full regional campuses represent very big steps for NYU, with large risks and
large advantages. In comparison, for semester abroad sites, further expansion will depend upon
student demand and academic priorities in particular departments, constrained by the requirement
that the new sites be cost neutral to NYU and at times revenue-producing. For focused regional
campuses with specific degree programs, further expansion will depend upon student demand in the
region. Full regional campuses are much larger undertakings. In the foreseeable future, other than
the three possible sites in Abu Dhabi, Paris, and China, no campuses are envisioned.
CONCLUSION
This working paper has described NYU’s global programs – their scope, current status, mission and
goals, successes and challenges. Collectively, they will be the foundation of NYU as a
global
network university
. Clearly, much remains to be accomplished as we move NYU towards this
network, including the establishment of new semester abroad sites, the nurturing of academic
programs at existing sites, the development of graduate and research programs at each site, the
development of academic identities for each site, the academic planning and implementation of
regional campuses, and, overall, the strengthened and broadened engagement of Washington Square
faculty and especially departments in the entirety of NYU’s global programs.
Faculty leadership is essential to our success, and on behalf of NYU as a whole, I gratefully
acknowledge the many faculty who work diligently on our global programs. Any faculty member
who has expertise and interest in any of the global sites and programs and who would like to
participate in the development of their programs, is encouraged to contact Ulrich Baer, Vice Provost
for Globalization and Multicultural Affairs. He may be contacted at (212) 998-4833 or at
Page 32
