ABU DHABI // Just a month into the job, the new head of Paris Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi is already looking four years ahead.
Prof
Eric Fouache was brought in to replace Prof Jean-Yves de Cara as
executive director by the Sorbonne's newly elected president, Prof
Barthélémy Jobert.
By 2016, when the French university's 10-year
deal with the Abu Dhabi government is up for renewal, he needs to more
than double student numbers, from the current 700 to 1,500. That
deadline is already pressing. "In 2016 we have to be evaluated, though
we do this every year and even month to month," said Prof Fouache.
"If we respect the timetable it's quite quick so my main challenge is to reach that target of 1,500."
He
described the university's success in recruiting Emiratis, who make up a
third of the total, as "something we are very proud of".
But he believed the Reem Island university, which opened in 2006, must reach out better to the community and be more open.
"In
the past we were maybe not open enough but we will be more so." That
will mean public events, conferences and debates. "I want Emiratis to
know us and be able to better connect with us."
Eissa Al Raeesi,
an Emirati who has worked at the university since 2007 as head of
student affairs, agreed. "We need more cooperation between [university]
departments and campaigns for students from overseas, especially those
in the GCC and further afield."
Recently the university has
visited countries such as Russia, Spain and Kazakhstan in its bid to
widen recruitment, though its focus remained firmly on the UAE.
"We
focus primarily on the UAE and its schools," he said, though he
admitted that to reach target numbers, the UAE alone was not enough.
More
courses should help. In 2013 a bachelor's in maths will the first of
several science-based courses planned for the next two years.
