Joint Masters Program To Focus On Global Market

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has formed a new partnership with the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, a major university with more than 50,000 students in Barcelona, Spain. Faculty from both universities will jointly develop and deliver a master's degree in aeronautical management designed to address the expanding aviation and aerospace industry in Spain and the rest of the European Union.

The curriculum, which will be submitted to the Catalan government by September for approval, is modeled after the existing master of aeronautical science degree at Embry-Riddle, reports the Orlando Business Journal.

The degree is scheduled to begin in September 2008. Each university will teach half of the prescribed curriculum with a single diploma carrying both university seals being awarded to graduates of the program.

After the new degree launches in 2008, the universities plan to develop an Institute of Aviation Management to act as a think tank to advise and direct the growing aviation and aerospace industry in Spain and Southern Europe, said Dr. John R. Watret, vice chancellor for academic affairs for Embry-Riddle Worldwide.

The joint curriculum will be modeled after ERAU's existing master of aeronautical science degree. Plans call for the curriculum to be submitted for approval to the Catalan government by September 2007, with the degree scheduled to begin in September 2008.

Home to a comprehensive aviation marketplace with four airports, the city of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia is a major international cultural center and one of the most economically robust regions of Spain.

"We are privileged to work in partnership with the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona," said Marty Smith, chancellor of Embry-Riddle's Worldwide campus.

"This program will be a key component in addressing the educational and aviation needs of Catalonia and Spain as their aviation industry continues to expand at such a rapid pace, while concurrently transitioning from the Joint Aviation Authority to the European Aviation Safety Agency."

"The commitment of UAB in fostering a new degree in aeronautical management is founded on strong interaction between the aeronautical sector and our international partnership," said Lluis Ferrer, rector of UAB, in the meeting with the Embry-Riddle delegation.

"In such a vision, the agreements with Embry-Riddle will strategically position UAB as a catalyst establishing high-quality, internationally recognized educational programs in a short timeframe."

"We are very pleased to extend our partnership with UAB for the specific development of this joint degree and the institute. This will establish Embry- Riddle's presence in Spain and Southern Europe and extend opportunities to the rest of the European Union," said Dr. Karen Shehi, assistant chancellor of global strategy and international relations for Embry-Riddle Worldwide, who accompanied Smith and Watret on the trip to finalize the agreement.

"As the leading edge of Embry-Riddle's commitment to invest in global development and expansion, the Worldwide campus is also working on opportunities in China, Brazil, Germany, Canada, the Middle East, and in other Asian countries," noted Shehi.

As a major public university, the UAB is committed to implementing new forms of teaching, training, and research dedicated to serving the society in which it is embedded.

To that end, the UAB chose to offer a new degree in aeronautical management in order to educate decision-making professionals in the air transport field in making high-level, strategic management decisions, as in aircraft maintenance and routing policies, and in making low-level operational decisions, such as handling and balancing the goods in an aircraft.

Embry-Riddle Worldwide began in 1970 as a branch of the Daytona Beach Campus at Ft. Rucker, AL with 20 students, primarily military working adults. Since then, the program has become one of the largest off-campus, regionally accredited colleges in the United States.

FMI: www.erau.edu, www.uab.es