American University of Armenia
Diana Manukyan AUA PR Coordinator
40 Marshal Baghramian
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia, 0019=9A=9A
Phone: [+37410] 51-25-22
E-mail: diana@aua.am
American University of Armenia: 20 Years of Advancement

May 18, 2012
Contact: Diana Manukyan (Diana@aua.am)

AUA Restructures the Organization of Its Academic Units

On April 23, Interim Provost Der Kiureghian announced a major
restructuring of the organization of academic and research units of
the American University of Armenia (AUA). The new organizational
structure is a result of extensive discussions involving a broad
spectrum of the University community, starting during the strategic
planning meetings in the summer of 2011 and continuing through the
fall and winter quarters of the current academic year. The details of
the new organizational structure were worked out during a series of
meetings of the university administration including the president, the
provost and vice presidents of finance and operations.
The Board of Trustees of the University has endorsed the
reorganization plan, which will become effective July 1, 2012, in
anticipation of the start of three new undergraduate programs and one
graduate program in the fall of 2013.

The new organizational structure collects the academic units of the
University in three Colleges: The College of Business and Economics
(CBE), the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), and the
College of Science and Engineering (CSE). The CBE will house the
existing MBA programs, the planned MS program in Economics, the
planned BA program in Business, as well as the Center for Business
Research and Development (CBRD). The CHSS will house the existing
master’s programs in Law, Political Science and International Affairs,
and Teaching English as a Foreign Language, the planned undergraduate
program in English and Communications, as well as three research
centers: the Legal Resource Center (LRC), the Turpanjian Center for
Policy Analysis (TCPA), and the Center for Research in Applied
Linguistics (CRAL). The CHSS will also oversee General Education
courses of the undergraduate programs. The CSE will house the existing
master’s programs in Industrial Engineering and Systems Management and
in Computer and Information Science, the planned undergraduate program
in Computational Sciences, and the Engineering Research Center
(ERC). The disposition of the master’s program in Public Health as
well as the Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR)
and the Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE) is still under
discussion. One possibility is that an expanded Public Health program
together with the two centers will form a fourth college, tentatively
named the College of Health and Environmental Sciences.

The new organizational structure offers significant advantages. First,
it is a scalable model that will allow the University to grow as it
introduces new programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate
levels. Second, having multiple academic programs within the umbrella
of a single college will enhance interdisciplinary teaching and
research, which are keys to high-quality education and scholarship. In
fact, to further encourage interdisciplinary interactions, artificial
boundaries between the disciplines will be avoided by not creating
departments for the degree programs. Rather, the faculty within each
college will “belong” to the college and not to the specific degree
programs. However, each degree program will have a “Program Chair,”
who will work with the dean of the college to administer the teaching
and curricular activities of the program. This structure will foster
interactions among the faculty with diverse backgrounds and create an
environment that encourages collaborative teaching and
research. Third, the new structure will enhance the diversity of the
teaching programs. The present “silo-like” organizational structure of
the degree programs into separate departments and colleges does not
allow recruitment of full-time faculty. This is because programs are
small and no individual instructor can teach more than a few of the
diverse set of courses within the program; furthermore, it is not
desirable for students to take too many courses from the same
instructor. Collecting a set of degree programs into a single college
will allow sharing of faculty resources. As a result, students will
benefit by experiencing a more diverse set of faculty expertise and
teaching styles. No doubt, the new organizational structure will also
enhance interactions among students with diverse backgrounds.
Finally, the new structure will allow sharing of human and material
resources for both degree programs and research centers, thus
permitting economies of scale and growth.

In his April 23 letter, the Provost also announced the following
appointments effective July 1, 2012:
Dr. Tom Samuelian as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social
Sciences,
Dr. Aram Hajian as the Dean of the College of Science and Engineering,
Dr. Catherine Buon as the Associate Dean of CHSS for General Education.

A search for the Dean of the College of Business and Economics is
currently underway. Program Chairs for each of the degree programs
will be appointed in due time. All these academic leaders will serve
in residence.

“We strongly believe that the new organizational structure will
significantly enhance the quality of our teaching and research
programs and improve our academic administrative operations,” says
Interim Provost Der Kiureghian. President Boghosian adds, “Our
strategic plan calls for a fourfold increase in our student population
and a threefold increase in the number of our faculty by 2017. It was
important to put in place an organizational structure that could scale
with that kind of growth. At the same time, it is important for all
to realize that none of our existing degree programs are changing. We
will continue to offer all of the master’s degrees we do now, and
more. The changes are designed to ensure that the students in those
programs are exposed to more faculty, and more interdisciplinary
scholarship. The goal is to create a richer educational experience
for all our students.”

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, nonsectarian,
independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Founded in 1991,
AUA is affiliated with the University of California. Through
teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the
region by supplying high-quality education in seven different major
fields, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting
Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100,
Alameda, CA 94501, 510-748-9001.

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From: Baghdasarian