AUK Gears Up for the 9th Academic Year

After months of preparations for the new academic year 2012-2013, the American University of Kuwait opened its doors to new and returning students on the 16th of September, marking the official commencement of its 9th academic year.

In a general assembly for AUK faculty and staff, Dr. Winfred Thompson, AUK President, congratulated the AUK community for acquiring the Private University Council (PUC) accreditation for a 4-year period and urged everyone to continue "efforts to improve the academic quality of the institution generally and the academic programs in particular". "Our primary goal is to improve the overall experience that students have at AUK", said Thompson.

Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Nizar Hamzeh, announced that "This year AUK is welcoming 15 new fulltime faculty members, to have a total of 117 fulltime faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics and the Intensive English Program." He added, "the Academic Advising Center has spent the summer welcoming new freshman and transfer students to AUK in our new and improved SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration) event. "The Office of the Registrar has been busy facilitating student registrations", said Hamzeh.

Amal Al Binali, Assistant to the President for Admissions and Public Affairs, pointed out that the University has filled all offered places for the Fall Semester. "The office of admissions admitted 789 students out of which 560 have registered for the Fall 2012 classes, including 257 scholarship students", said Al-Binali. "The current admission cycle has brought in students with high academic standards. The average high school GPA of newly enrolled freshman students is 3.10 and 2.80 for Transfer Students".

The AUK Office of Student Affairs is organizing a variety of events to introduce new students to University life, and get them well acquainted with the different AUK activities and services including, student employment, recreational activities, and sports. The first week of the semester will witness the Annual Welcome Week, a yearly event organized by the Office of Student Life to celebrate the new academic year. The week will include several on-campus and off-campus recreational activities for students.

The different AUK departments have been running at full capacity to insure that all university functions and resources have been optimized to cater for the arriving students and faculty members. This year, AUK has initiated a campus renovation plan that includes the development and maintenance of facades, facilities, classrooms and laboratories. Campus enhancement plans have been implemented to insure that students have all the facilities necessary for a successful year.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 18th September 2012

Photography by the Office of Public Affairs (C) 2012