Recently, Dr. del Carmen and I ventured to the United Arab Emirates to network with our growing cadre of Tarleton grads -- with both MPAs and MCJs degrees -- and to, hopefully, create lasting relationships and networks with several UAE universities.I am extremely glad that I made this trip for a number of reasons. First, I now have a very good idea of the kind of stress our students from UAE must endure to travel back and forth. The flight over was just over 14 hours and the flight back to the States took just over 15 hours.
Second, I saw and experienced what life, if only from a visitor's eyes, is like for them in the UAE. It is a place where modernity meets the sand. The people are gracious and polite, or at least they were to Dr. del Carmen and me, and the country is very tidy. Transportation is modern, multi-modal, and well designed -- they drive on the right like we do. The architecture was amazing with modern, creative building designs blended with traditional middle-eastern. Building is going on everywhere. I actually counted 13 large construction cranes, all in a row, on what appeared to be new construction of high rise buildings in Dubai. Wow! Dubai, is a modern, fast-paced, urban juggernaut. It is has a bustling and hectic pace to it. It seemed to me to have more than one "downtown" center with very tall and dense centers -- it was like having several downtown Dallas's in several areas. It was a sight to see.
Third, we had very productive meetings with the Ministry of Education, leaders of Zayed University and the University of Modern Science. We hope to create on-going and leading-edge programs between these prestigious institutions and Tarleton.
Finally, I got to see and experience many great things while on our visit. I saw an indoor ski slope. I saw the third largest mosque in the world, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and actually went inside for a tour and Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. I experienced traditional Arab and Lebanese food -- most of which was good -- some I did not enjoy. Of course, I saw several huge malls -- one had Ferrari World in it. We were treated to a cruise in the harbor next to Palm Island in Dubai. In short, we experienced a lot in just 6 days.
Our hosts, mostly our students, who by the way, did a great job of both tour guides and liaisons with the various entities and officials we were able to meet. Our sincere thanks to them for making our visit both productive and enjoyable.
From an MPA perspective, several things come to mind. The country is relatively young -- formed in 1971 -- has had rapid and sustained growth. It is not a democracy, but the country seems to be run with the best interests of its citizens in mind. It is an affluent place, which means all kinds of social problems that confront us in the USA are not present in the UAE. However, other challenges await this young country such as a large guest-worker population, dwindling oil supplies and developing technologies that reduce dependence on oil, small size of endogenous Emiratee population and rapid growth of both infrastructure and urban centers. The UAE government is very much focused on futures thinking and strategic planning.
The UAE has one of the most aggressive modernization schedules I have seen. By 2030, the UAE has a goal of 100% autonomous driven vehicles, at least of government vehicles. That is mind-blowing. I wonder if they have any idea of the problems that might accompany this innovation? The USA is trying to grapple with these issues now -- think Google cars, car crashes, breakdowns, traffic law violations, rules that apply to ADVs that might not apply to people driven vehicles, etc.
Glad to be back in the USA, but I, truly, enjoyed my experience in the UAE. Thank you to our students who took such great care of us. By the way, one of our MCJ students had some issues with coming back to Tarleton to receive his Masters in Criminal Justice degree in May 2016 and missed his commencement. So, being the number 1 student focused university in Texas and beyond, Dr. del Carmen donned his regalia, had our student done his cap and gown, and bestowed upon him his MCJ degree -- we believe that is the first MCJ degree, possibly any degree, conferred outside the USA and in the UAE. Awesome to see his family's eyes light up as Dr. del Carmen said the words and gave him his degree.
Dr. G M Cox
Assistant Professor
Director, MPA Program
Tarleton State University
