Qatar University’s (QU) College of Business and Economics (CBE) has announced its three-year strategic plan (2013-2016).
At a recently held press conference, it also briefed the gathering on new developments and accomplishments of the past academic year.
Of note was the increase in incoming students during the Fall semester this year, bringing the CBE student body to 3,500; the launch of new majors in economics, concentration in entrepreneurship and business analytics within the MBA programme; and the appointment of the Commercial Bank-endowed chair in
banking.
CBE dean Dr Nitham Hindi emphasised that the college’s strategic plan is guided by QU’s institutional strategic plan and follows the organisation’s overall direction of becoming more research-intensive and expansive in its graduate programmes to contribute to the realisation of Qatar
National Vision 2030.
“The CBE strategic plan takes into consideration the importance of engaging our students in research and the need for expanding CBE activities and involvement in organising local, regional and international conferences to provide them with opportunities to interact with business leaders, professionals and experts and gain guidance from them in all areas of the business
industry,” he said.
The Fall 2013 intake totalled 798 students, 90% of whom are Qataris, with the Department of Finance and Economics attracting the highest number of students. Sixty-three students were admitted to the college’s graduate programmes, of whom 40% are Qataris. To accommodate the student increase, 35 new faculty members were recruited in the new academic year, bringing the faculty body total to 77. This included 11 new faculty members for the Department of Marketing and Management to teach in both Arabic and English, increasing its faculty strength to 25, head of the department Dr Rana Sobh said. Faculty strength at the Department of Finance and Economics rose to 30 while the Department of Accounting and Information Systems faculty body increased to 22.
Planned new graduate programmes include MA programmes in finance, marketing and innovation, and business entrepreneurship to meet the new and emerging trends in Qatar’s business environment,
Dr Hindi said.
On the launch of the chair in banking, he said: “This comes as part of our ongoing efforts to place CBE as a leading business college in the region and among those around the world.”
On the college’s activities and new plans for the Research Office and Graduate Studies, CBE associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies Dr Khaled Alshare said: “CBE is planning two research centres - one in Islamic Finance and the other in Business Excellence. Both centres will support the planned graduate programmes and enhance the existing ones”.
Other areas of mention included the building of a community service culture at the college, continuous improvement of administrative efficiency and faculty accomplishments in terms of published research papers and books.