03/18/08-Joining Forces to Support Families Worldwide

March 18, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Desi Burns Porter, Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Texas A&M University at Qatar
+9744230135, +9745846626

James Calvin, Charles A. Johnson, Richard Wilkins, Mark Weichold

Joining Forces to Support Families Worldwide

DOHA, Qatar — An agreement of importance to families around the world was signed today in Doha. On the campus of the Texas A&M University at Qatar in Education City, the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development, based in Doha, Qatar, and the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University, located in College Station, Texas, entered into a much-anticipated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Key memorandum signatories included Dr. Fathy Saoud, president, Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Dr. Richard Wilkins, director of the Doha Institute and Dr. Elsa Murano, president of Texas A&M University.

The MOA is a result of recent, successful research collaborations between the Institute and the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI), a social policy research organization within Texas A&M University’s College of Liberal Arts. For more than 20 years, under the leadership of Charles D. Johnson, PPRI has provided scientific research and evaluative services to public and private sponsors engaged in determining public policy.

Chief among recent Doha Institute/PPRI collaborative projects is the Global Family Matters Information System (FAMIS). Located on the web at http://globalfamis.org, Global FAMIS is the world’s leading electronic archive of international data and bibliographic resources on the family.

“With one billion personal computers worldwide the Global FAMIS has enormous potential for reaching people,” said Charles A. Johnson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M.

A formal spring unveiling of the Global FAMIS is anticipated at the United Nations, and an Arabic version of Global FAMIS will be available in May 2008.

“Our relationship with PPRI began with the planning of Global FAMIS, said Dr. Richard Wilkins, director of the Doha Institute. “Working with them, it became clear that we shared common goals and that our complimentary skills made formal collaboration beneficial to both parties. The formal linking of our Institute with researchers at Texas A&M University in College Station and Doha will yield enormous benefits to research in support of the natural family.”

As part of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the Doha Institute is among the premier international research centers examining the legal, sociological, and scientific basis of the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society. The Institute is known for facilitating an international network of family scholars who promote family-supportive policy initiatives and reinforce effective family programs around the world.

“We are very excited by this unique opportunity to partner with the Doha Institute, said Dean Charles A. Johnson, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, College Station. “This group is on the forefront of family-based research and we look forward to continued partnership with this highly skilled and dedicated group.”

This agreement represents a landmark event by linking researchers based at Texas A&M University’s main campus in College Station, Texas, with peers at Texas A&M University at Qatar in Doha, Qatar, to foster a mutually beneficial research effort to strengthen the family.

“This is the kind of partnership that will promote outreach in the community that I hoped would develop when we invited partner universities such as Texas A&M to Education City, said Dr. Mohammad Fathy Saoud, president of Qatar Foundation. “This collaboration will be of great value to Qatar as well as families around the world.”

Dr. Mark Weichold, dean and CEO of TAMUQ echoed Dr. Saoud’s enthusiasm.

“Texas A&M at Qatar is proud to help facilitate and participate in this kind of collaboration. Our mission of teaching, research and service goes beyond our engineering program, and together with our main campus and local entities like the Institute, some of today’s most important issues can be addressed.”

Key Facts
• Signatories to Memorandum of Agreement Include: Dr. Richard Wilkins, Director, Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development; Dr. Elsa Murano, President, Texas A&M University; Dr. Jim Calvin, Interim Vice President of Research, Texas A&M University; Dr. Emily Ashworth, Associate Vice President for International Programs, Texas A&M University; Dr. Charles A. Johnson, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University; Dr. Charles D. Johnson, Director, Public Policy Research Institute, Texas A&M University; and Dr. Mark Weichold, Dean and Chief Executive Officer, Texas A&M University at Qatar.

• The Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development was established in 2005 under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned and Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
• Since 2003, Texas A&M University at Qatar has offered engineering degree programs with materially identical curricula to the main Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas.

• The Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts conducts research in the social sciences and humanities that facilitate scholarship in business, medicine, and public policy while promoting collaborative and multidisciplinary research initiatives. Additionally, the College maintains more than 500 faculty members instructing 6700 students in 12different departments and programs while operating 8 research centers and institutes.

• Specific research collaborations that have been contracted between the Doha Institute and the Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts include the following projects administered by the Public Policy Research Institute: 1) The Global Family Matters Information System (FAMIS); 2) The Global Family Matters Information System—Arabic Version (FAMIS—AV); and 3) The World Family Scholars Database (WFSD).

o The Global FAMIS is an electronic archive of international data and bibliographic resources on the family. Emphasis on the inclusion of research-quality content reflecting high scientific and philosophical standards has resulted in Global FAMIS serving as a superior research application. This information system is a focused compilation of distinct resources organized within a comprehensive typology and equipped with powerful search mechanisms. With universal accessibility, primary beneficiaries of the Global FAMIS include policy makers, scholars, faith-based groups, nonprofits, and families.

o The Global FAMIS—AV is an online, Arabic language archive of family related research resources. Through FAMIS—AV, research emanates from the Doha Institute, further highlighting Qatar as a regional and international leader in scholarship on the family. With over 450 million Arabic speaking people and one billion personal computers in the world today, visibility garnered from web-based research applications like FAMIS—AV is unparalleled. This collaborative initiative with PPRI greatly elevates the Doha Institute’s presence and mission not only in the Middle East but globally as well.

o The World Family Scholars Database (WFSD) is also a current collaboration between PPRI and the Doha Institute. Presently, WFSD includes the “Directory of Family Scholars” serving as an electronic index of international family scholars for identifying and targeting potential research partners. A listserv will also be available for focusing communication on the global state of the family and promoting researchers’ interactivity. Lastly, a “Current Events” feature serves to facilitate users’ electronic submission (and subsequent posting and archiving) of international news stories about the family.