Students at the American University of Malta campus in Cospicua will start attending lectures on August 28, 2017, according to provost John Ryder.

The date marks the start of AUM’s first academic year. It obtained a university licence last week.

Interviewed by The Sunday Times of Malta Prof. Ryder said the academic year could not start this October, given the tight deadline.

We have to earn people’s respect

But he insisted it was not in breach of contractual obligations, as the land transfer deal that signalled October 2016 as the start of classes was conditional on AUM obtaining its licence in time.

“Given that we received the licence last week, two weeks is not enough time to generate a serious university,” he said.

AUM expects to enrol 330 students in its courses for the first year, and lectures will be held in the British building at Dock One.

Addressing concerns about a lack of credentials – AUM has no university affiliations and is starting from scratch – Prof. Ryder acknowledged it would be difficult to convince sceptics by simply talking about the intention to become “a jewel in the Mediterranean”.

“We have to earn people’s respect… the only way to do so is to prove what we are saying by the way we act. People who have reason to be suspicious of us are going to be suspicious until we demonstrate otherwise,” he said.