By Paulo Fugen
Hamad Bin Khalifa University is implementing controversial new criteria for its student scholarships, including “loyalty and contributions” to Qatar, in addition to students’ scholastic and academic achievements, according to an official document emailed to students at Texas A&M University at Qatar and obtained by The Daily Q.
Of these new requirements, the stickiest for Northwestern University in Qatar is the one on credit hours because NU-Q ‘s students previously haven’t earned credit hours, said Quinton Sprull, Budget and Student Finance Manager at NU-Q.
Instead, they earn credits based on the number of courses taken—not credit hours—which the new criteria do not take into account. Under the new system, applicants must take 25 or more hours of course work to qualify.
But NU-Q’s administration, including its registrar’s office, managed to come up with an alternative solution so that the university could allocate four hours for every unit, instead of three. As a result, NU-Q students qualify for the HBKU scholarships, said registrar’s office personnel.
According to Sprull, HBKU notified branch campus coordinators about the change in scholarship criteria last Oct. 2013 in an email that detailed the initial proposal. The changes were implemented two months later, after consultation with all the campus coordinators.
He added that the criteria, while in force for the current scholarship cycle, might not be permanent because HBKU was open to making changes: “Perhaps after one cycle, they may change the criteria.”
Despite repeated attempts, the HBKU scholarship office could not be reached for comment on the changes and HBKU’s communications office referred the reporter to the information session for students being held on March 26 in the HBKU Student Center cinema hall.
Taken as a package, the new HBKU scholarship criteria is based on a 100-point scale that includes grade point average, how long the student has lived in Qatar, certified contributions to Qatari society and whether the applicant has a parent working for Qatar Foundation or HBKU, in addition to the credit hours requirement.
On that 100-point scale, an applicant’s GPA will count for up to 50 points, how long the applicant has lived in Qatar will count for 20 points, with five points awarded for being born in Qatar and the other 15 awarded based on time living in Qatar. Contributions to Qatari society count for another 10 points. The number of credit hours students take will count for up to 10 points and the last 10 points are awarded to those who have a parent working for QF or HBKU.
Permanent or not, many students felt that HBKU’s new scholarship criteria would not help those who most needed it.
“The ones who need it are the international students,” said Ahmad Shakeeb, an electrical engineering junior at TAMU-Q. “[The locals] all have sponsorship opportunities.”
Others disagreed. “I feel like it’s a good thing,” said Jemina Legaspi, a communications freshman at NU-Q who has lived in Qatar for more than 10 years. “I feel like they think that those who have been here longer will stay here longer (in Qatar after graduation.)”
“One comment we made was that the new criteria was making it difficult for international students,” said Bianca van Zundert, enrollment services manager at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. “But I think their angle was that they would like to reward students who had strong links to Qatar.”
Zundert said that ultimately, it was up to HBKU to decide who they wanted to reward for the scholarship.
“We’re fine with [the changes],” said NU-Q’s Sprull. “It is not unusual for universities to have unique criteria for rewarding scholarships.”
