By Julie FrenchThe Daily Northwestern

Like many universities, Georgetown offers students myriad study abroad options.

But Georgetown students also can opt to study abroad at Georgetown University – in Qatar.

Georgetown joined a small group of other American universities with foreign branch campuses when it set up its School of Foreign Service in Qatar two years ago.

Northwestern officials have shown interest in opening an international campus as well, said NU President Henry Bienen.

“We’ve been talking to our friends in Qatar for some time,” Bienen said. “There’s a lot of mutual interest, but there is nothing signed, sealed and delivered.”

Bienen visited Qatar last week to meet with colleagues from Georgetown and other American and Qatari universities who have previously visited NU.

The benefits of international branch campuses are numerous, said James Reardon-Anderson, dean of Georgetown’s school in Qatar. The benefits include offering foreign students American educations and offering American students and faculty the chance to continue to study with their home universities while abroad.

“This is a way to strengthen Georgetown,” he said. “We bring students and faculty over here, then they go back to the main campus of Georgetown, and they’re better for it.”

Georgetown decided to establish its Qatar branch after the nonprofit Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development approached the school in 2002.

“It was crucial to Georgetown that this not cost Georgetown money,” Reardon-Anderson said. “We couldn’t justify building a campus over here (in Qatar) if it meant reducing the support we give to students on the main campus.”

All five schools with campuses in Qatar’s “Education City” – Georgetown, Cornell Medical College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon University – are fully funded by the Qatar Foundation.

The cost of creating a campus abroad would be a major concern for NU, said William Anthony, director of the university’s study abroad office.

“The chief challenge is not just location, but cost,” he said. “The cost of establishing an entity abroad is daunting. A new option like that would bring new challenges and benefits, but it’s hard to gauge long-range benefits.”

But other universities with campuses abroad continue to see benefits.

Temple University established a Japan campus in 1982 to offer an intensive English language program for Japanese students, but it began granting a wide variety of degrees soon after its inception, said Denise Connerty, the director of international programs at Temple.

“Over the years, a number of faculty have taught in Tokyo,” Connerty said.

Many Temple faculty members developed a research interest once they arrived in Japan and brought their expertise back to the Philadelphia campus, Connerty said.

“We didn’t have an Asian studies program on campus before, and we do now,” she said.

The exchange of students from both campuses also has been a major benefit of having the Japan campus, she said.

“Having those international Japanese students on our campus enhances education for all of our students,” she added.

Anthony said an international campus must match up with NU’s long-term interests.

“You definitely don’t want to pick a site abroad and decide five to 10 years later that you don’t want to be there,” Anthony said.

Reach Julie French at [email protected].