WCM-Q team presents at international student affairs conference

A student affairs professional and two Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) students gave a presentation on student governance at the 19th annual MENASA NASPA Conference, held in Abu Dhabi.

The WCM-Q presentation, which compared the role of student government at WCM-Q with that of Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) in New York, was given by Dr. Amjad Abdo, events and student development specialist, second-year pre-medical student Batoul Arabi, and second-year medical student, Reem Al Janahi.

The conference, which was hosted by New York University-Abu Dhabi in partnership with NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education), had the theme, “Beyond Borders: Exploring Global & Local Perspectives on Student Experience in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) Area.” Participants in the event included students, professionals, researchers, and experts from many different educational institutions in the MENA region and South Asia.

The presentation, which was a result of a collaboration between the Division of Student Affairs and the Medical Student Executive Council-Qatar (MSEC-Q), also gave a general account of WCM-Q’s history, mission, vision, and accomplishments. The presentation was undertaken after collaborating with the Medical School Executive Council (MSEC) in New York.

In the presentation, titled “The Role of Student Government in an International Branch Campus,’’ Dr. Abdo, Ms. Arabi and Ms. Al Janahi introduced the student government structures at WCM-Q and WCM, discussed the similarities and differences between the two campuses, reflected on the main challenges faced on both campuses (based on feedback from students), and highlighted the best practices that were formulated after learning from these experiences.

The conference is the main annual event for the MENASA region of NASPA, a leading international professional association for student personnel administrators.