Houston Community College’s effort to build and help operate a community college in Qatar has been racked by misunderstandings with Qatari officials and other problems, reports the Houston Chronicle. According to e-mails and internal documents obtained by the newspaper, the Community College of Qatar, which opened for classes in 2010, is teaching female and male students separately, contrary to the contract the Houston institution signed; has faced accreditation issues with students unable to receive Houston Community College credit for courses as originally promised; and has been problematic for visiting American faculty members, who have complained of visa issues and other logistical problems of working in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

In November a dean chosen by the Qatari government was replaced by a Houston Community College official. The Houston college’s deputy chancellor said that the problems have been fixed and that they were part of the usual challenges of working abroad.