AUK IS UNIQUE

The American University in Kyrgyzstan is unlike any other institution in Central Asia or, for that matter, in all of the CIS. It is the first and only higher education institution in the region that functions according to the American model, with a credit-hour system, an American-style curriculum, and a commitment to democratic values, to freedom of expression and inquiry, and to academic integrity and honesty.

AUK enjoys an excellent reputation, both regionally and internationally, for academic excellence. AUK offers high quality undergraduate programs in Business Administration, Economics, Sociology, Law, Software Engineering, International and Comparative Politics, Journalism, Psychology, British and American Studies, French Studies, German Studies and Kyrgyz Ethnology. The University also offers an MBA program. The quality of our programs has been recognized both nationally and internationally. Graduates of AUK receive both an AUK bachelor's degree and the Kyrgyz State Diploma.

AUK recognizes that in order to be successful in today's increasingly interdependent world, graduates must have a global perspective and must possess an appreciation and tolerance for a more diverse society. Therefore, AUK is an international community of teachers and learners, and the University builds on bridges between the East and West. AUK enrolls students from around the world, including all of the countries of Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics, Turkey, China, Korea, the United States, Canada, Iran, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan. The University is open to students of exceptional ability from any country, regardless of their age, sex, religion. The faculty of AUK is also multinational, coming from the United States, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Romania, Italy, France, Greece, Australia, Korea, Japan, and Turkey, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and, of course, Kyrgyzstan.

Education at AUK consists of more than gathering knowledge and facts. It emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, interpretation, learning through experience, and reflection. AUK is an institution that provides a foundation for lifelong learning and intellectual and personal growth.

Instruction at the University is delivered in both English and Russian, and competence in both languages
is required for successful study at AUK. Those who are qualified to enter the University but who need further work to master either language are enrolled in special preparatory programs that usually last one year. Those needing further help are offered extra instruction in the required language during the freshman year.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY

The American University in Kyrgyzstan was founded in 1997, but its antecedent was the Kyrgyz-American School (KAS) of the Kyrgyz State National University. With the independence of the Central Asian countries, it became obvious that to advance into the world of free markets and democracy, Central Asia needed a new generation with a novel understanding of how economic resources, information, and personal freedoms are held and used in an open society. Camilla Sharshekeeva, an educator from the Kyrgyz State National University (KSNU), felt an acute need for a new kind of higher education in Kyrgyzstan, based upon American models. In 1992 Camilla Sharshekeeva proposed creating a new educational institution in Kyrgyzstan, and Camilla, along with a few colleagues, resolved to start a new and independent University. On April 6th, 1993, the dean of KSNU signed the decree to open the Kyrgyz American School, and Camilla Sharshekeeva was appointed the first dean of KAS.

KAS opened its doors and enrolled its first 42 students on the 15th of September 1993. In attendance at the official grand opening of the Kyrgyz-American School were the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Askar Akaev, and the Vice-President of the United States, Albert Gore. The official birth of AUK took place four years later in 

 1997 when, by Presidential decree, KAS officially became the American University in Kyrgyzstan. The decree was solemnized in a ceremony on November 12th, when President Akaev and the First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton, addressed a gathering of students, educators, government officials and representatives of Kyrgyzstan's leading businesses and media.

The University was made possible by a three-way agreement between the government of Kyrgyzstan, the United States Department of State, and the Open Society Institute, all of whom signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to provide support for the young University. Since that time AUK has also received generous support from the Eurasia Foundation, as well as from the local business community.

AUK graduated its first students on June 14, 1997. For the ceremony, both graduates and faculty were dressed in American-style academic caps and gowns, which had never before been seen in Central Asia. The main speakers were Askar Akaev, President of the Republic, and the United States Ambassador, Eileen Malloy.

Since 1993 the University has experienced a rapid development, adding new curricula, new programs, and new services. The number of applications from around the world has skyrocketed as the University has already established a reputation for excellence, and it is expected the enrollment will pass 1,000 by Fall 2002.

AUK has ongoing relationships with several leading American universities. For the last three years University has maintained a relationship with the University of Nebraska, originally funded by a Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs grant (BECA, previously USIA). In 1994 USIA provided to AUK a second grant that has funded a faculty development project overseen by a consortium of four US universities (the University of Washington-Seattle, the University of Hawaii, George Washington University
and Brown University) and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board, and others has enabled AUK to expand facilities. In May, 1999, a BECA partner university grant for $1.9 million over three years was awarded to a consortium of Indiana universities, led by IU Bloomington.Generous support from a variety of sources has enabled the University to continuously develop its curriculum, services, and facilities. Assistance from the United States Department of State, the Open Society Institute, the Eurasia Foundation, and others has enable AUK to expand facilities. The Raushan Bulatova Audio/Video Studio with digital technology and equipment was opened, as well as several state of the art computer laboratories and other technical facilities.

LOCATION

The American University in Kyrgyzstan is located in the heart of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Our urban campus is surrounded by the tranquility of Oak Park, the city's central libraries, theaters, museums, and imposing governmental structures. The atmosphere is cosmopolitan, and there are many cafes, theaters, galleries, and shops within easy walking distance from campus.

AUK's main building, the centerpiece of our campus, is the historic former meeting hall of the Supreme Soviet of the former Kirgiz SSR. Today our faculty meetings and school dances are watched over by the stern visages of Lenin, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels. It is the university's intention to preserve this room in its present condition as a reminder of Kyrgyzstan's rich history.

AUK STUDENTS

The American University in Kyrgyzstan is attracting some of the best students in the region and is becoming known as the place where Central Asia's next generation of leadership is being trained. AUK students have done extraordinarily well at international competitions, and they have also successfully made

the transition to some of the best graduate schools in the world, as well as to rewarding careers.

Four AUK students have transferred to Georgetown University. One, Evgenia Kamisheva, graduated as the Marshal (with a perfect 4.0 average) in the School of Business. Seventy AUK students (many times the number from any other substantially larger universities) have passed exams for international accounting standards, through programs offered by the Carana Corporation, a USAID contractor. One of our graduates is the first and only CPA in Kyrgyzstan. With these credentials, they will be able to help fledgling corporations in Kyrgyzstan (the first CIS country to join the WTO) to operate in the international marketplace.

AUK students are regular contributors to local newspapers such as Vechernii Bishkek and RIF Obozrenie and to Internet journals concerned with Central Asia, such as Central Asia and Caucasus Analyst. AUK graduate Vaselina Brajko works full time as the Editor for Kyrgyz Regional News for The Times of Central Asia, an English-language paper published in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Three of the students in AUK's first entering class attended the University of Nebraska and were exposed to SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise), a program designed to teach college students to work in teams to initiate fund-raising and humanitarian projects, and then to present them to a panel of judges. They returned to Kyrgyzstan to initiate the first international SIFE projects, and subsequently won both Rookie of the Year and second place (both in 1996 and 1999) in the competition in the US. As a result of AUK's pioneering efforts, the SIFE program now has been adopted by several other universities in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and recently by institutions in Uzbekistan and Russia as well.

AUK students have been accepted at, are enrolled in or have completed graduate school at Yale (MBA), the University of Indiana (Bloomington), the London School of Economics, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts), Hamburg University (Germany), the University of Nebraska, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis, Central European University (Budapest), and Ball State University. In fact, more than half of our graduating students have already had a semester or more
in the United States. Most of them were able to go as a result of winning places in competitive scholarship programs, such as the President's program, "Specialists for the 21st Century." This program alone has sent students to the US in each of the past three years, and of 29 students chosen nationwide, 14 were from AUK. Recent experience demonstrates that AUK graduates return to Kyrgyzstan when they complete graduate school, bringing with them an international degree, work experience, and a first-hand understanding of how democratic institutions function in a free society.

More than 95% of our graduates are either employed in their chosen careers or are in graduate school. Today they work in leading foreign and local enterprises and organizations such as the UNDP, the National Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kumtor Operating Company, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and London's Financial Times.

THE FUTURE

The American University in Kyrgyzstan is developing a new generation of leaders, a generation with a clear understanding of the inter-relationships of economic resources, information, and personal freedom. AUK believes that our graduates will play a leading role in the development of free, open, and prosperous societies in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, the CIS, and beyond.

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN KYRGYZSTAN

(Taken from the Charter of the American University in Kyrgyzstan)

According to the Charter, American University in Kyrgyzstan has been formed as an international university operating in the tradition of the American liberal arts college. Its mission is:

 to operate and maintain a degree-granting University that trains scholars in humanities, social science, international relations, law, business and natural sciences and other subjects and which may confer certificates and degrees at the baccalaureate, master's and doctoral levels, provided that programs leading to such degrees meet the standards of registration;

 to develop a new curriculum to be taught in the University to help educate a new corps of leaders in the Kyrgyz Republic and in other nations of Central Asian region and elsewhere;

to raise standards and methods of teaching and research in the Kyrgyz Republic and throughout the region and in this process to be informed by American methods and standards;

 to foster cooperation and understanding among the citizens and nations of the region; and to create and disseminate educational and methodological literature.