JEDDAH, 29 October 2004 — Effat College, a well established private college for girls in Jeddah, received a grant jointly with Duke University in North Carolina from the US State Department to produce the first engineering curriculum for Saudi women.

The award was only recently announced. Effat College applied in June 2004 and was notified that the grant would be funded on Oct. 2, 2004. The total amount of the award is $99,932. This amount is specified to be spent on the joint development of an engineering curriculum for women at Effat College.

The grant is part of the Bush administration’s awards of the Middle East Partnership Initiative. The State Department announced a few days ago awards of an additional $18.5 million in economic support for democracy-building programs in Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The programs “focus on our effort to help these people, civic organizations, citizen’s groups, educational institutions in these countries reform and develop,” said Adam Ereli, deputy State Department spokesman. The bulk of the money is for programs that promote free trade and education. The $18.5 million is the final allocation of $129 million allocated by the Middle East Partnership Initiative in 2002 and 2003.

Nearly $100 million in additional funds have been appropriated by Congress for 2004. The initiative also awarded $700,000 to seven different university partnerships between US and Middle Eastern universities and colleges to teach American Studies, business, economics and journalism.

The award includes a grant to University of Michigan-Dearborn and Al-Quds University in the West Bank to link teaching and research on American Studies, and a grant to Duke University and Effat College.

“Receiving this award has helped us feel ‘reconnected’ with the United States again,” said Dr. Haifa Jamal Allail, dean of Effat College. “Although it is a small project, it symbolizes the strong relationship we have with the US in the midst of trying times, and also their confidence in us. Receiving grant funding is also a great motivator for all involved in the project. It will provide us with a strong ‘kick-start’ and help us remain focused on the ultimate objective of establishing an engineering college for women,” she told Arab News.

Effat College for girls and the Pratt School of Engineering of Duke University, ranked one of the top five universities in the US by US News and World Report, have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on establishing a new curriculum in engineering at Effat College. Further meetings will be held between Effat and Duke to develop components of the engineering curriculum that will be integrated into Effat’s programs. Initial efforts will be made in the computer engineering field as Effat already has degrees in computer science and information technology. Pending Ministry of Higher Education approval, additional degree programs are contemplated in architectural design, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering. “These new majors have been introduced into this year’s curriculum and once we have approval, we will offer the majors beginning next year,” said Dr. Jamal Allail. Joint activities between Effat and Duke are currently being designed and planned in curriculum development, team-based learning opportunities, summer student experience and faculty training.

“It’s good to have the option of studying engineering available for girls even if only few apply because there might be a girl who is particularly talented in this field,” said Salma Ahmed, a biochemistry college student. “But I think it’s important that the college clarify to the applicants from the beginning what the nature of studying and working in this field is and what would their future employment opportunities be in our society,” she added.

Maya Hamid, a graphic design student, wondered who would be teaching the subjects since there are no Saudi female engineers in these fields. Nevertheless, she also was excited about the prospect.