The American University of Central Asia (AUCA) (Russian: Американский университет в Центральной Азии; Kyrgyz: Борбордук Азиядагы Америка Университети), formerly the Kyrgyz-American School and the American University in Kyrgyzstan, is a liberal artsuniversity located in Bishkek, the capital of the republic of Kyrgyzstan.
History
AUCA began its existence in 1993 as the Kyrgyz-American School, a specialist school within the Kyrgyz State National University in Bishkek.[3][4] In 1997, it was established as an independent institution and given a new name, the American University in Kyrgyzstan.[5] Funding was provided by the United States government and the Open Society Institute, an NGO established by Hungarian philanthropist George Soros. One of its founders was human rights attorney and journalist Scott Horton.[6]
In 2002, AUCA adopted its current name, to reflect both that its student body was drawn from many countries, and the university's goal was to serve the entire region.[3] While the university focuses on offering higher education opportunities to Central Asian students, its student body and faculty increasingly come from all over Asia and other parts of the world.
In March 2010, AUCA established a partnership with Bard College located in New York State in the United States. The partnership allows students of American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, European Studies, International and Comparative Politics, Journalism and Mass Communications, Psychology, Sociology, and Software Engineering programs to receive liberal arts degrees fully accredited in the US.[3]
According to the USAID accreditation report, "AUCA is the first higher education institution in Central Asia that functions according to the American model, with a credit-hour system, an American-style liberal arts curriculum, and a commitment to democratic values, freedom of expression and inquiry, and academic integrity and honesty."[7]
The university is chartered in Kyrgyzstan and is authorized by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education to offer the Kyrgyz National Diploma in eleven undergraduate programs and one graduate program, an MBA. AUCA also offers American-style diplomas, and students are required to take courses in both Russian and English.
Portraits of Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels still hang in the conference hall of the old main building of AUCA, while the coat of arms of the Kirghiz SSR is kept on the facade of the building.[11]
In 2008 Ishak Masaliev, then a Kyrgyz parliament member from the Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstan, called to change the location of AUCA, because of the "historic value" of the current main building.[12]
New Campus
The new building, opened in 2015, has four stories and is centered around a forum that serves as the main meeting place. The main building uses geothermal heating and rainwater harvesting to reduce its environmental impact.[13] The building was designed by New York based architect Henry Myerberg and is located to the south of the central part of Bishkek.[14]
Academic programs
Preparatory programs
The university offers full-time and part-time programs to prepare students for university study. The programs include an intensive course of English language learning and university-level academic classes.[15]
Undergraduate programs
The university offers American-style Bachelor of Arts degrees in 15 undergraduate programs:[16]
AUCA Library provides information resources and services in support of teaching, learning and research. The library holds about 60,000 items in its print collection of books, textbooks, manuscripts and other materials. The library provides access to 24 online databases. The Library of AUCA partnered with Kyrgyz Libraries Information Consortium in 2006 to initiate Open Access in Kyrgyzstan. The American University of Central Asia acted as the pilot university for the Electronic Archive program.[17] Today, the library offers open access to 21 different resources, all listed on the website.[18]
Rankings
American University of Central Asia was ranked 236th among universities in Asia, 138th among universities from the emerging Europe and Central Asia region, and 9th in Central Asia in Quacquarelli Symonds EECA University Rankings.[19][20]
Governance
President
John Clark - 1997-1999[21]
David Huwiler - 1999-2004;[22] John D. Dreier - 2004-2005[23] - acting
Ellen Hurwitz - 2005-2010[24]
Andrew Wachtel - 2010-2018; Jonathan Becker - 2018-2019[25] - interim
Andrew Kuchins - 2019-2021;[26] Jonathan Becker - 2021-2023[27] - interim
^Relations, Bard Public. "Bard College Commemorates Second Anniversary of Evacuation and Resettlement Efforts for Students from Afghanistan". www.bard.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^"AUCA GRADUATION CEREMONY 2022 | AUCA GRADUATION CEREMONY 2022 | By American University of Central Asia | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^"Брюзжание старого ворчуна - АУЦА, АУК,…,ЦК Компартии – немножко истории". Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
^"AUCA: The Star Newspaper, May 22, 2008" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
^"И.Масалиев считает, что АУЦА должен освободить занимаемое университетом здание на Старой площади - Новости Кыргызстана".
^"Green Campus". www.auca.kg. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
^"American University of Central Asia by HMA2 Architects". Architizer. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
^"American University of Central Asia - AUCA - WELCOME TO NGA".
^ a b cAmerican University of Central Asia (AUCA). "Academics". auca.kg. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
^UNESCO (2021). Kyrgyzstan: United Nations Educational, scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved February 14, 2021, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/portals-and-platforms/goap/access-by-region/asia-and-the-pacific/kyrgyzstan/
^AUCA library. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://library.auca.kg/openaccess/
^Quacquarelli Symonds. "QS EECA University Rankings 2020". QS EECA University Rankings 2020.
^"American University of Central Asia". Top Universities. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^KUDRYAVTSEVA, Tatyana (2018-08-12). "American John Clark came to Kyrgyzstan as volunteer and stayed for 24 years -". 24.kg. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
^"Kyrgyzstan: Top University Rocked by Dispute". iwpr.net. Retrieved 2023-04-16.