2012 Qatar Study Tour and Young Professionals Institute

The Qatar Study Tour and Young Professionals Institute was originally conceived and planned during the 2009 year and then offered to the University of Maryland and University of San Diego masters and doctoral programs in student affairs, higher education, and leadership studies. The first experience was so positive that we forged ahead with the 2nd in 2012. Partners in 2012 were the University of Maryland and Colorado State University.

The QST and YPI was birthed partially out of frustration at the amount of time spent in hosting groups from abroad. The Qatar Foundation sometimes feels like a revolving door with visitors - which is good. However, the visitors almost always just observe, ask questions, offer accolades or express skepticism, and they rarely offer anything in return. Thus the QST and YPI was conceived as a very deliberate and different approach to tour or study groups. The QST and YPI is set up to require the visiting graduate student groups to prepare in advance, to deeply explore the local cultural environment, and then to engage with Qatar student affairs educators through Inquiry Teams. The Inquiry Teams are constructed as learning communities with all participants bring something to the table - either content expertise on student affairs and higher education or cultural authority in knowing how things work in Qatar and the Gulf. The inquiry topics are chosen by staff in Qatar who know what areas need further analysis. So, the end result is visiting graduate students engaging with Qatar staff to push the boundaries of knowledge, especially related to culture-centric practice, that can improve the experience of students attending universities throughout Education City and more broadly in Qatar (i.e. Qatar University, CNA-Q, Community College of Qatar, and Calgary).

The 2012 QST and YPI outcomes are available on googledocs. By posting links here, my hope is to make this information readily available to our Qatar colleagues as well as other colleagues around the world. Two folders are:

QST and YPI Inquiry Team Annotated Bibliographies

QST and YPI Inquiry Team Executive Summaries


Please use this information to help you enhance your practice, keeping in mind that the conclusions are focused in the particular context of the Arabian Gulf and with a student population that is almost entirely Muslim and from a number of countries throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.