Canadian university to shut Dubai campus

Canada’s University of Waterloo is to transfer students at its Dubai campus to its home base in Ontario to complete their studies following the announcement that the facility is to shut as a result of low enrolment levels. “The decision will see approximately 80 students currently completing their first year in Dubai come to Canada one year early to complete the balance of their undergraduate degree. The decision also impacts approximately 12 faculty members and 10 staff,” Dr Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, Associate Vice-President International (Interim) at University of Waterloo said in a statement. “The cohort of students now in their second year of studies in Dubai will come to Waterloo as scheduled in September 2013 to complete the final two years of their undergraduate programs, while those enrolled in their first year in Dubai will complete their final three years on the main Waterloo campus,” the statement added. The Dubai campus opened three years ago but has been shut after enrolment numbers fell short of expectations.The Dubai school has 140 students - 80 in first year and 60 students in second year - but it needed at least 180 students, and was hoping for as many as 500, to make the programme viable, Sallie Keller, vice-president academic and provost, told the Ontario-based The Record newspaper. Keller added plans for a campus in China and other international locations had now been put on hold.