[NYC-L] [Fwd: Funding Opportunities for Study and Research inEurope]

[aukf at aukf.org]

Press Release

	
7 October 2003

American University in Kosovo Opens for Classes


[Pristina, AUKF] -- The American University in Kosovo opened for classes
on Monday, October 6.  Approximately 60 students and their faculty
gathered for a convocation at the AUK's start-up facilities in the Sunny
Hill section of Pristina. 

Welcoming students to what he called the future first graduating class
Louis Sell, Executive Director of the American University in Kosovo
Foundation (AUKF), hailed the university's opening as a tangible sign of
the progress that Kosovo has made.  "Four years ago," said Mr. Sell, "in
the aftermath of the dark days of war and ethnic cleansing, who would
have dared to dream that an American university would arise here."
Describing the new university as a "trust on behalf of the people of
Kosovo," AUK Program Director Robert Curis outlined for students the
rules, procedures, and opportunities they could expect to experience
over the coming year.  

The American University in Kosovo is a joint project between the AUK
Foundation and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from
Rochester, New York.  RIT, one of America's premier institutions of
higher learning, provides the students in Kosovo with an American
curriculum, professors and educational methods.  Students attending AUK
will earn RIT course credits exactly as if they were in the United
States and ultimately a degree from RIT that is recognized around the
world.  

Students were particularly impressed with the computer resources at
their disposal. Visiting the AUK computer lab, the students learned how
to access and use the dozens of new, state-of-the art computers, which
form part of the AUK network.  When the computer labs are not being used
as classrooms, AUK students will have full access to these computers for
study and research.   AUK students will have at their disposal all of
the impressive on-line learning resources available through the RIT
system, including data bases, libraries, and interactive teaching tools.
This "Electronic Library" is the third largest electronic library in the
world and gives the students at the AUK access to a premier research
library.

In its first year of operation the AUK offers a two-year associates
degree focused on economics and small business development.  In their
first quarter AUK students will take such courses as Marketing, English
Writing and Literature, College Math for Business, and Managing Media
Presentations.  In the next two quarters of this first year of AUK's
operations, students will take such courses as Modern American History,
Statistics, Principles of Economics, Communicating in Business, and
Financial Accounting.       

In the future AUK, in cooperation with RIT, AUK will expand into a four
year university offering a broader range of concentrations and handling
a larger number of students.  AUK has signed an agreement with the
Kosovo Ministry of Education to take over the Grmija school complex
located on the outskirts of Pristina, which AUKF will renovate and open
for expanded educational programs over the next 12 to 18 months.

AUKF has also been able, thanks to the generosity of local donors, to
offer a limited amount of financial assistance to qualified students
already accepted to AUK.  Up to 10 students may be awarded partial
scholarships of $2,000 per year.  The university is also offering
approximately 10 students the opportunity to work part time in the
university functions such as the computer lab and student services.  In
addition, the Ministry of Finance of the Kosovo government has created a
William Jefferson Clinton scholarship program, which provides a stipend
covering full tuition and fees for a limited number of qualified
students already selected to attend the AUK.  After graduation, each
Clinton Scholar will serve in the Kosovo Government for a period of one
year for each year in which they received the scholarship.  All AUK
scholarships will be awarded on the basis of merit with awards being
determined by a committee consisting of representatives of AUK,
distinguished representatives of the Kosovo public, and in the case of
the Clinton fellowships, the Kosovo government.

"The dream of an American university right here in Kosovo is now
reality," said Mr. Sell.  Thanks to the hard work of a number of people
over the past three years and the strong financial and political support
of such supporters as the UFORK Foundation and the Ministry of
Education, we have been able to launch this project and give the youth
of Kosovo an educational program they could only dream of until today.
This is truly an exciting and historic day for Kosovo," concluded Mr.
Sell.

After the convocation, students assembled in the snack bar in the
university basement for a small reception prior to beginning classes in
the afternoon.  While waiting some of the students engaged in a game of
pick-up basketball in the courtyard, decorated in contemporary youth art
by a group of local artists.  Other students tried out the computers in
the second floor lab.  AUK has been launched!  

Mimoza Kusari M.B.A.
AUKF - Prishtine
tel:038-540196
fax:038-540198
www.rit.edu/aukadmin
 


-----Original Message-----
From: nyc-l-bounces at alb-net.com [mailto:nyc-l-bounces at alb-net.com] On
Behalf Of Erkanda Bujari
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 4:57 PM
To: albanian
Subject: [NYC-L] [Fwd: Funding Opportunities for Study and Research
inEurope]


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