KAFU opens 30th Anniversary Celebration Week
The staff of the Kazakh-American Free University and invited guests held the opening ceremony of the week of celebrations in honor of the 30th anniversary of the educational institution, as well as the 40th anniversary of the rector’s activity of the university president Erezhep Mambetkaziyev, reports the correspondent of Altainews.kz .
During the ceremony, outstanding representatives of the staff and foreign partners of the university were awarded. During the short history of the university, its staff created and successfully developed a unique technology for training a new generation of professionals capable of providing Kazakhstan with reliable competitiveness in the conditions of a rapidly developing innovative world. With this, KAFU received the right to a full-fledged existence and was assessed as a model for a new type of university.Over 30 years, under the leadership of the university, 3 academic buildings, a gym, a hotel, and a dormitory for students were built. The university has undergone a number of accreditations, one of the first to undergo ACBSP – this is the accreditation of the United States of America for economic education programs, as well as ACQUIN in Germany and IQAA Kazakhstan, – said the first vice-president of KAFU Zhasulan Baikenov.
According to him, today the university trains specialists in various fields, including under the state grants program for densely populated regions.More than 70 of our foreign partners are taking part in the event, and in the future we plan to sign new memorandums with American universities. Every year, several dozen foreign teachers are involved in our educational process, conducting guest lectures and seminars. As part of the unique opportunities for students, there is a program for creating leaders and industrial practice abroad. That is, every year, under the mentorship of our official partners, they undergo training in the basic principles of leadership in large companies, for example, in the USA, – added Zhasulan Baikenov.
A key component of the university’s existence is the international partnership model, through which students and faculty can share concepts, ideas, resources, and experiences to improve the quality of education.I have been at this university since its first day in 1994, and as someone who has seen KASU grow over the decades, I want to express my pride in it. We started with a small classroom of 25 students, with 4 American teachers, and today we have almost 4,000 students, and another 2,000 are studying in our college, and the number of foreign teachers, not only from America, has increased to 30. Over all these years, about 800 students have been sent on an exchange program, and about 700 foreign teachers have worked with us, – said Daniel Ballast, Vice President for International Programs and Cooperation at KASU.
An important emphasis during the event was placed on the presentation of the university’s achievements, where key moments in its history were demonstrated. A quarter of a century ago, the university was a kind of “experimental platform” for testing a unique educational technology for training specialists who, in addition to their chosen specialty, also possess English and computer technologies. Subsequently, a significant part of the innovations that received support from the country’s government and were implemented in university practice were initiated and tested there.It would seem that 30 years is not a long date, but the very fact that such a university has appeared in Kazakhstan is a joy for me. After participating in the creation of several universities, the Bolashak innovation and the introduction of the trilingual policy, I wanted to found an elite university for children, and in the future for Kazakhstani specialists. At first, I paid attention to linguistics so that our students knew several languages. Many years later, my colleagues, representatives of universities from dozens of countries tell me that they simply have no analogues to our university. They are especially surprised by the fact that it is not in the capital, but in a regional city. In the future, we plan to open representative offices of the embassies of many countries here, at KAFU, in order to train specialists in Kazakhstan together with foreign universities. So that our children and children of other countries can jointly help in the development of the republic, – noted the President of KAFU Erezhep Mambetkaziyev.
The most touching moment of the ceremony for Erezhep Mambetkaziyev were the warm words of graduates of his university, who found refuge after studying in different parts of the world, from America to Singapore, where they now work and live.
In honor of the anniversary, for further scientific and educational integration and continuing the tradition of exchanging experience, KASU employees will hold a series of entertainment, scientific and sports events during the week – from September 23 to 30.
Kharlamov Alexander
Source: Altainews.kz