Maryam Al-Nahari has dreams of opening an art studio in Saudi Arabia where people can come and create, with the intention of making her city of Abha known for its art. But for Maryam, realizing this dream requires gaining both an understanding of business practices and the ability to work with various market networks that could influence her success. The new partnership MSUglobal has formed with King Khalid University in Abha may allow Maryam to do just that.

This fall marks the pilot run of this new partnership, where 20 King Khalid University (KKU) students will join a class of MSU students via an interactive open educational resource entrepreneurship education curriculum.

Mary Anne Walker, the Director of Business Development at MSUglobal, said that KKU approached MSUglobal asking to build a region-specific program similar to the msuENet programs already in place across the state of Michigan. Seeking assistance with entrepreneurship and online education programs, KKU is also interested in working with MSU on IT, education, English language training, and possibly other disciplines in an online learning environment. MSU faculty members Constantinos Coursaris, Telecommunication; Barb Fails, School of Planning Design and Construction; Forrest Samuel Carter, Marketing; Brent
Ross, Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics; and Jordan Skole, new economy consultant on the msuENet project, all traveled to Abha this summer to connect with prospective students, deliver workshops and prepare case studies to present in the fall course.

“We’ve been invited by KKU to develop a pilot project in entrepreneurship and employability, strengthening a newly created Business and Entrepreneurship Center on KKUs own campus. The Saudi students and community leaders we have engaged are talented with complementary skills that align with entrepreneurship endeavors around the world,” Walker said.

Working with Dr. Abdullah Alwalidi, Dean of eLearning at KKU who is working with the newly opened Business and Entrepreneurship Center led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Nasser, faculty hope to see the partnership grow from its pilot into a long-term program including incubation services, mentor services and follow-through for students that have completed the online courses. A broader program has been proposed to KKU involving nine colleges and 20 faculty members from across the MSU campus.

“We’ve put together a program at MSU that has been successful, but we realize there is a different context here,” said Ross. “We’re here trying to listen to real people and make sure this is a success for them. Evident to all of us is the excitement of the students to make a change for themselves and their communities, which is in turn a motivating factor for ourselves.”