MUSCAT: Fifty-four students of the Class of 2015 at the Modern College of Business & Science (MCBS) received their bachelors and associate degrees in various disciplines at the college’s 19th graduation ceremony held at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel on Monday.
The ceremony was held under the auspices of Prof Thomas George, the Chancellor of University of Missouri, St Louis, USA, and in the presence of many dignitaries.
The highest number of bachelors were from Business Administration stream (19) followed by Science (12 in Airport Management, and 4 in Information Systems). Nineteen students were conferred Associate Degrees in Business Administration and ICT. One of the graduates in Business Administration bagged the highest Latin honour “summa cum laude”, while seven graduates received “cum laude.”
In his address, Dr Khalfan al Asmi, Assistant Dean at MCBS, appreciated the successful academic association the college has had, since its inception, with the University of Missouri. He exhorted the graduates and the student community in general to develop humane values along with knowledge and professional skills and contribute to building beneficial structures compatible with Islam.
The degrees were conferred by Dr Joel Glassman, Associate Provost at University of Missouri and presented by Dr Muneer bin Mohammed al Maskery, founder and Executive Chairman of MCBS, along with Prof George.
Prof George in his keynote speech hailed MCBS as one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the Middle East, adding the college is fully prepared to assume a leadership role in the region. He specifically mentioned the innovative and highly job-oriented airport and aviation management programmes offered at MCBS, saying the rapidly growing transport and logistics sector in the Middle East offers great employment potential.
He called on the graduates to become citizens of the world. MCBS started functioning in 1996 as the first private higher institution in Oman in affiliation with the University of Missouri St. Louis. It is the first private college in Oman to have been provisionally accredited (in 2004) by the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA).
Its MBA programme, in association with Franklin University, USA, is the first ever American Graduate Programme to be offered in Oman. The college has a separate wing called the MCBS Center for Graduate & Professional Studies which offers a range of professional development programmes in Aviation, Marketing, and Technology.
MCBS students have the choice of transferring their credits to countries including USA, UK, Australia and Malaysia. Similarly, students from abroad may also transfer their credits to the MCBS programmes and complete their education at the college.
