The College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) has signed an articulation agreement for degree pathways with the AFG College with Aberdeen University for degree pathways. The agreement was signed by Dr Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh al-Thani, chairperson and founder of AFG College with the University of Aberdeen; Dr Karen Foster, provost of University of Aberdeen Qatar; Dr William Radford, president of College of the North Atlantic in Canada; and Dr Ken MacLeod, president, CNA-Q.
The event was attended by HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, Qatar Petrochemical Company managing director and CEO Dr Mohamed Yousef al-Mulla, Gulf Organisation for Research and Development founding chairman and managing director Dr Yousef  al-Horr, Community College of Qatar founder and president Dr Ibrahim Saleh al-Naimi, and Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s Higher Education Institutions’ Affairs Department director Dr Khalid al-Ali.
According to the agreement, CNA-Q students will be able to get admission at  University of Aberdeen with credit transfer that facilitates a bachelors (honours) of Business Management and Bachelors (honours) of Accountancy and Finance. Students of CNA-Q’s business administration, business management, banking and office administration graduates can make use of this facility.
The agreement allows students to transfer into University of Aberdeen in Qatar or to the home campus in Scotland. Students will have to study at Aberdeen University for two or three years depending on the number of years they have spent at CNA-Q.
HE Dr al-Sada said, “The graduates from CNA-Q are aspiring to pursue higher education and from our experience, they perform extremely well. This agreement will make it easier for students in Qatar to continue their higher education in Qatar at AFG College with Aberdeen University or at the parent university in the UK.”
“It has always been part of our vision at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen to work collaboratively with existing higher education providers to help build Qatar’s knowledge economy. We do have a good number of students  from CNA-Q and they are doing very well. We look forward to welcoming more graduates from CNA-Q to our Doha campus in the next academic year. Furthermore, this agreement will allow graduates to apply for degree programmes both here in Qatar and in Scotland directly,” noted Dr Sheikha Aisha.
“CNA-Q programmes are governed by the Canadian standards and we are very pleased with the standards.  We are providing an exponential learning of the highest calibre with an internationally recognised credential. This agreement will further the scope of education for the students of CNA-Q,”  said Dr Radford.
“This initiative provides pathways for further and higher education for diploma graduates, and is in direct alignment to Qatar’s education and training sector strategy. Collaboration between various education sub-sectors ensures students have diverse avenues through which to gain knowledge and skillsets, and credentials in demand by the labour market,” added Samah Gamar, vice president academic at CNA-Q.


AFG College with Aberdeen aims for four streams of study
The AFG college with the University of Aberdeen aims to have four colleges in the campus once it moves into its permanent building.
“We aim to complete the permanent building in less than three years. We are already in the initial stages and it will be completed according to the time frame,” Dr Sheikha Aisha bint Faleh al-Thani, chairperson and founder of AFG College with the University of Aberdeen told Gulf Times yesterday.
“Once we have our own building, the aim is to have four colleges offering humanities, medicine, business and engineering. We have signed some international agreements. And today, we have signed the first agreement in Qatar to provide higher education for the students of College of North Atlantic in Qatar,” added Dr Sheikha Aisha.
According to Brian Buckley, principal AFG College with the University of Aberdeen, there is a huge demand for the programmes of the college from several institutions in Qatar. “As it is, the college will have around 450 students when it starts the next academic year in September. We are also getting a lot of inquiries from students of other institutes,” he explained.
“This is the first British University in Qatar outside of Qatar Foundation. We offer some main stream degrees which are in high demand. We are in talks with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education  for approval to launch two post-graduate degrees,” continued Buckley.
“We plan to launch one MBA programme as well as an  MSc programme  in international business management from the College of Business School at Aberdeen University. Once the Ministry gives the approval, we will be able to launch it,” added Buckley.