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The University has ended negotiation with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to create a campus in Doha to support an undergraduate business degree program.
Chancellor James Moeser announced the decision on campus Feb. 1 following talks that ended last week in New York City. The two sides had been discussing the proposed project for more than a year.
"Both the University and the foundation held to a very high standard of academic excellence for the envisioned program," Moeser said. "But at the end of the day Tuesday [Jan. 29], we concluded that the distance between our two positions was beyond our ability to negotiate any further.
"We continue to have the highest admiration for the Qatar Foundation and its vision for building first-class educational institutions in Qatar. We wish them well in that pursuit."
Had the project gone forward, the Kenan-Flagler Business School would have offered a program for students to earn a bachelor of science in business administration degree.
The Qatar Foundation's managing director, Abdulredha Abdulrehman, said in a statement issued by the University that he felt "great sadness that we were not able to reach an agreement due to financial considerations."
In responding to questions at a session with reporters, Moeser said, "I don't think there was any one thing. There were a number of issues that I would say were both financial and conceptual which we were unable to resolve."
The two essential financial criteria were that there would be no direct costs whatsoever either to the University or the State of North Carolina, and that academic programs on the Carolina campus would be enhanced as a result of the partnership.
The University constructed a budgetary model based on those criteria, Moeser said, and the foundation did not accept it. "It was really the gap between what we thought was necessary and what they were willing to do."
Moeser said the issues were so complex that the two sides spent two days wrestling with them. The time spent also reflected the great interest both sides had in trying to reach agreement.
"I will tell you there was great interest on both sides. There was a strong desire to make this work. And, at times, I thought we were getting closer [to an agreement], but at the end of the day we didn't."
Abdulrehman said it had been a privilege to work closely with Moeser and his colleagues in "pursuing this common and noble goal," and he singled out Bob Sullivan, dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, for his "global vision."
Both sides were in agreement about the importance of setting high academic standards, Moeser said. The foundation also adequately addressed safety considerations.
In January 2001, the Qatar Foundation signed an agreement with Cornell University to establish the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, which will admit its first class of students in the fall of 2002. Since then, the foundation has been exploring relationships with other elite universities to establish similar programs in key areas of study.
Last May, at the invitation of the Qatar Foundation, a University delegation visited Doha to discuss the business school proposal. That trip followed previous discussions between Sullivan and foundation officials, as well as a trip by Kenan-Flagler representatives in 2000.
A University delegation led by Moeser visited Doha at the foundation's expense last November as part of a fact-finding mission about the proposal. The chancellor also surveyed faculty in Kenan-Flagler and the College of Arts and Sciences about the program. Faculty and student groups held forums. Professors Holden Thorp and Bob Adler co-taught a special seminar for students that concluded last December with a final presentation that Moeser attended.
Moeser thanked the entire University community for the time and attention that had been invested in the proposal and acknowledged the particular roles played by Dean Risa Palm of the College of Arts and Sciences and Sullivan in developing curricula and budgets.
Moeser said Sullivan's vision had been the "initial spark" that brought this project to the attention of the University community.
Sullivan said he had received a number of e-mails from people expressing their regrets the project did not go forward. He received one or two e-mails from people who tempered their disappointment with an understanding of why the University did not proceed. "This is one of those opportunities where you will never get a unanimous view one way or the other," Sullivan told reporters.
Sullivan said he wanted to make it clear that he and Palm supported the decision to break off negotiations. "Risa Palm and myself were both involved in all the negotiations and the discussions from day one," Sullivan said. "The decision that was made we both agreed with and we both endorse.
"I think we both would agree that even now knowing the outcome of this, had we to do it over again, we would do it over again because it was worthwhile just as a process."
Moeser made a similar statement to reporters and in an e-mail to all faculty sent Feb. 1 to inform them about the decision.
"All of us feel that through this process we've gained enormously in understanding what we can do and what we might be able to do," he said. "We may not have an opportunity quite like this -- this was a very singular opportunity. But I think we have learned what we are capable of doing and what it would take to provide a high-quality program without any compromise. To that end, I think we have benefited enormously through the process."
Moeser emphasized that the University would continue its ongoing efforts to enhance its international presence and increase students' opportunities to study abroad. Having a viable international presence is among the defining characteristics of the great universities of the 21st century, he said.
"To this University community, I am today reiterating a previous pledge: to aggressively seek opportunities to make Carolina a university with a presence in the world commensurate with our role as one of America's leading public universities and our vision of being the leading public university in this country," Moeser said.
And there may still be different opportunities to pursue in Qatar, he said.
"The good news is we left our discussions in a very collegial and amicable state, and my last words to Abdulrehman were: `I believe this won't be the last time we talk about some kind of relationship.' Who knows what it will be?
"But we know each other very well at this point, and I am actually hopeful we will find ways to interact with them. These are good, honorable people who have a great vision for their country. They are great friends of this country. We have now established a great relationship with them, and I am pleased to say that breaking off this negotiation has not in any way broken our relationship with them."
Abdulrehman echoed that sentiment in his prepared statement. "We are disappointed in this outcome, but our high regard for Chapel Hill and its leadership has only increased," he said. "I hope that the working relationship we established together can continue in other areas of mutual interest."
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