U. of the Indian Ocean -- Sponsored by 5 Nations -- Offers First Degree Program

The University of the Indian Ocean -- a new, regional institution sponsored by five island nations off the east coast of Africa -- will offer its first degree program, a master’s in business administration, beginning this month.

Instruction will be in French and English, the languages of the five countries involved -- Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, and the Seychelles.

The program will be based at the University of Mauritius; the University of the Indian Ocean has no physical campus.

When the five countries began to discuss the idea of a regional university, they studied institutions such as the University of the South Pacific and the University of the West Indies. But officials concluded that the Indian Ocean islands were so varied that they would have to develop their own model of a regional institution. The five countries are spread over an area that measures roughly 900 by 1,300 miles.

“Our final idea was a network of higher-education and research institutes,” said Goolam T.G. Mohamedbhai, vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius and current chairman of the new institution’s governing board. “It is not a university in the normal sense. It is a university without walls, no students of its own. Instead, it encourages institutions to work together to meet the needs of the region.”

The European Union is providing support for the university’s first three years.

So far, the University of the Indian Ocean, which began operating in January 1998, involves eight institutions: six in Madagascar, one in Mauritius, and one in Reunion. The Seychelles, with a population of 70,000 living on 100 islands, and Comoros, with 300,000 people, do not have their own universities. The University of the Indian Ocean has its office in St. Denis, the capital of Reunion, although its academic programs are based at the partner institutions.

The one-year, full-time M.B.A. program will draw both professors and students from participating countries. It will include a four-month supervised “attachment,” or internship, for students on their home islands, after which they will write a short thesis. The goal of the internship program, said Mr. Mohamedbhai, is to make the M.B.A. “relevant” to the region.

The university hopes to start other regional master’s-degree programs in the near future, including one in environmental issues, based in Reunion, and one in renewable energy, in Madagascar.

“What is surprising is that we were not cooperating before,” said Mr. Mohamedbhai. “The University of Mauritius has 20 links with institutions in India and Europe. But we never talked to Madagascar, which has enormous collaboration with France.” He said the partners would work to focus attention on regional needs.

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