AUK Eyes US Accreditation

'Emphasis on Liberal arts' By Francis A. Clifford

Courtesy of Arab Times
19th March, 2006
Event was held on 18th March, 2006


KUWAIT CITY, March18: The American University of Kuwait (AUK) follows an American approach to higher education, as the US education system stresses the value of liberal arts-that is not very well understood in the Middle East and this calls for some confidence building measures, says Acting President and Dean of Arts and Sciences at the AUK, Marina Tolmacheva.

Addressing a pack of reporters at the AUK on Saturday, she added that, "Liberal arts means broader exposure to various disciplines. We place a lot of emphasis on general education such as teaching, thinking, knowledge retrieval and communication skills. The teaching of professional ethics is very important because it results in the education of a whole individual and therefore we put this as the conerstone of our academic programme."



Dr. Marina Tolmacheva
Photo courtesy of the AUK Public Relations & Marketing Department. (C)2006

"I am pleased to be part of AUK. To have an institution based on American model is a very interesting approach. AUK is not part of a network of American universities but a full-fledged Kuwaiti university started by Kuwaitis."

Tolmacheva went on to add that AUK and Dartmouth college have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the two institutions to bring about a series of advisory, consultative, and cooperative projects over the next five years, noting that a team of Dartmouth consultants recetly visited the AUK and exchanged views on varied subjects, while several AUK FACULTY members also visited Dartmouth and these visits are expected to continue.

Having served the WSU College of Liberal Arts as Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Tolmacheva received her undergraduate degree with Distinction from St Petersburg University and Ph.D. in History from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

She further noted that as a Dean of AUK, "I wanted to ensure that our academic programmes were built on American philosophy of higher education. As a president, I want to begin the process of American accreditation of AUK, and as soon as we achieve the Kuwaiti accreditation, we will start preparing for American accreditation which may take several years to realise."

"This is something our faculty members will work on for a number of years. It is a tall order, and we will have to keep up the momentum. AUK will work closely with the New England Schools and Colleges where we intend to apply for the accreditation. As for our graduates are concerned, this is going to be a very important advatage to them, Tolmacheva continued. Detailing the programmes of AUK, Tolmacheva said AUK offers nine major programmes in various disciplines, including Computer Sciences and Information Systems, English, Economics, Anthrobology and Sociology, History and International Studies, Business Studies among others.

She said AUK is considering establishing residential facilities and that several universities have approached AUK with an aim of signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) so that they can send their students to Kuwait on research-related assignments. We will host and render all assistannce to students, who have won Fullbright scholarships, she added.

"We are hoping to add Digital Design to our programmes in future. AUK as part of its mission prepares life long learners so that individuals can keep pace with the quickly changing world in addition to helping them build their careers. To succeed in business, one does not need a business degree but a broader level of education," she went on. She concluded by sayin that "All American universities spread across the Gulf are independent, but that does not mean that we cannot develop a Memorandum of Understanding in the future."

Copyright (C) 2006 Arab Times

Photography by the AUK Public Relations & Marketing Department (C)2006