A new chapter

A Harvard graduate with considerable experience in managing and running international educational institutions in the US and Middle East has taken over the helm of the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in Adliya.

Dr Dottie Milligan Lewis took up the office as campus dean last week and has revealed plans to build on the concept of a global university that knits the campuses of Bahrain, Jordan and Abu Dhabi with others located around the world.

Excited about working closely with the student and teaching community in the kingdom, she said: "First of all the role is changing with the new campus dean playing a greater role in the community. There is some excellent faculty here and I am eager to work with them.

"I think NYIT has a different outlook than most of the other US campuses in the Middle East. The outlook is one of a real global campus - the New York City campus in Old Westbury, Manhattan, and the one in Long Island; the three campuses in the Middle East, two in China and one in Vancouver, Canada.

"It is different from many of the other institutions in the area that are just a branch of an institution. If the student decides to start here in Bahrain and then decides on further studies or to take courses in the US or any of the other campuses, it is very possible and that makes it very good for the students."

NYIT is also keen to meet the quality assurance standards of Bahrain and provide courses according to the needs of the community. The institute has also set aside a faculty development fund and encourages research among students and faculty at the campus research centre.

She said: "There is a significant curriculum change that will be happening locally as we are really preparing students for careers. There will be a complete overhaul of the core curriculum ... it is also about modernising and realising that some of these courses were required in the past and may need to be shifted a bit to compete in the global arena.

"We really want to look at what the needs of Bahrain are and work towards serving the needs of the community.

"Faculty here report to the subject dean who is physically located in New York. So they are hired by New York and their credentials are vetted there. The curriculum is exactly the same. Obviously we want to make sure that cultural differences are taken into account and that we celebrate those differences."

NYIT offers both bachelor's and master's programmes in the schools of engineering and computing sciences; management; arts and sciences and architecture and design. NYIT also offers its students in Bahrain a 50 per cent discount in New York tuition fees.