In September 2015, Culture Resource announced the names of students who have been selected to join the first round of the MA Program of Culture Policy and Management, the first two-year program of its kind in the Arab region, to be conducted in both Arabic and English and hosted by The Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ben M’sik, Casablanca in Hassan II University, Morocco. This program was established by Culture Resource in partnership with Hassan II University and the University of Hildesheim, Germany, and its UNESCO Chair in Culture Policy and Management for Arts and Development. The list of students selected included 10 students from seven different Arab countries and 10 students from the Kingdom of Morocco.
Hassan II University was granted a conditional accreditation in September 2015, from the committee authorized to give accreditation to new academic degrees in Morocco, the National Committee for the Coordination of Higher Education, which operates under the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Professional Training. This preliminary approval is to become final after certain conditions are met and modifications are made. Both Hassan II University and the MA program Steering Committee (composed of members from Culture Resource, Hassan II University and Hildesheim University) have responded to these conditions and modifications.However, as of May 23, 2016, the file for the full accreditation of the MA program is still in the hands of the National Committee for the Coordination of Higher Education, and procedures are not yet completed.
While the hope remains that these procedures will be completed before the end of summer and prior to the start of the academic year in fall, in order to honor its obligations to students, partners, and all parties involved in this program, Culture Resource will begin to study possible alternatives, in order not to lose the opportunity to begin the MA program starting in September 2016. Updates will be provided regularly as the situation develops.