Al-Buraimi University College
Departments And Programs

International Center for the California State University (CSU) Graduate Professional Education at Al Buraimi (University) College (BUC), Oman

In the interconnected and interdependent global economy, advanced professional education is becoming increasingly essential for senior professional roles in business and industry and in a growing number of fields of professional practice.

The California State University (CSU) with its 23 campuses throughout California (the largest university system in the U.S.) is uniquely positioned to provide exceptional graduate education focused on preparation for advanced professional practice in a variety of fields and disciplines. Over the last decade, CSUN and sister campuses have developed a number of new graduate degree programs (master’s degrees and a growing number of professionally focused doctoral programs) that respond to the changing needs of professional practice in business, engineering, the sciences, health care, computer science, agriculture, public administration, urban planning, public policy, the arts, travel and tourism, the social sciences, the humanities, environmental sustainability, emergency management, and more in the context of a demanding and competitive global economy.

California State University, Northridge (CSUN), working collaboratively with other California campuses, has developed a distinctive model for working with Al Buraimi University College (BUC) to deliver graduate education to meet the needs for advanced professional education in the region. CSUN, working through its Tseng College, will work with BUC to select a portfolio of graduate programs that best respond to the distinctive needs of BUC’s region. The CSU international graduate center will have a set of programs and an approach to delivering programs that is developed working collaboratively with BUC.

CSUN is committed to ensuring that the partnership with BUC is a distinctive collaborative opportunity that can expand research, teaching, and learning allowing both students and faculty at CSUN and BUC to gain from a meaningful engagement with professional practice in a different international context.

The programs offered will be the same as those offered on the relevant CSU home campus in California in terms of academic rigor and oversight, accreditation, qualified instructional faculty, and core program content and learning outcomes. Each program will have a selection of case studies, field work, guest speakers and team teachers, examples from practice, and the like to explore effective professional practice in the distinctive international context of Oman. This is a distinctive approach both to international collaboration and the international delivery of exceptional graduate professional degrees.

Master Degrees

Master Degrees to be offered:

 

After analyzing the demands of local area by conducting ‘Survey of Interest’, the graduate center will offer two master degree programs at first place.

  1. Master in Business Administration (M.B.A)

  2. Master in English (Teaching English as a Second Language, TESL)

Other Programs Specializations for Master Degrees to be offered later

  1. Engineering Management (EM)

  2. Management Information Systems (MIS)

  3. Knowledge Management (KM)

Distinctive Academic and Service Features of Graduate Programs Offered

  1. The language for all instruction and program information is English.

  2. CSUN can make arrangements to offer an English and university study preparation program in advance of the start of the cohort if that need is determined to ensure student success in the cohort program.

  3. Admission requirements and academic performance standards for the cohorts will be the same as application to that same program when offered on the relevant CSU home campus.

  4. All academic decisions will be made by the same CSU faculty, academic department, department chair, and academic dean that has academic responsibility for the program in question when it is offered on the CSU home campus.

  5. Programs offer some program components online, with some programs being primarily online.

  6. Online program components are developed and offered using asynchronous models (given the time differences across national lines). If there are a few synchronous sessions, they will be planned to work in the time frame of Oman and not the originating location in California.

  7. In general, each cohort would have some of the program’s courses/modules taught live on-site at BUC.

  8. Each program will have Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) substantive change approval for remote site delivery (live or online as appropriate) before it will be added to the schedule and marketed. Responsibility for securing that approval rests with the relevant CSU home campus/department. Programs that also have special accreditation on the CSU home campus will only be offered if that special accreditation applies to the program offered at BUC.

  9. The CSU, through CSUN, will provide a focused set of student support services and communication (for planning, implementation, and ongoing program management) to ensure agile and responsive services for students and a meaningful and co-creative collaboration with BUC. Each program will have an assigned coordinator that will work with cohort students throughout the program.