AUK

American University in Kosovo (AUK) organized a forum on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. The keynote speaker at this event was Mrs. Nezafete Sejdiu, the First Lady of the Republic of Kosovo.
Mrs. Sejdiu addressed the audience and she called on the AUK female students to take on the challenge and the opportunity to bring women issues to the next level. “The women in Kosovar society and culture have been the cornerstone of not only survival and preservation of our culture but have played a crucial role in getting where we are today, Mrs. Sejdiu said.”

On behalf of AUK spoke Ambassador Walker, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AUK. Ambassador Walker revealed some of his memories when Kosovars where in the darkest hours, during the NATO bombing campaign, a time when hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians were forced to flee their homes. “It was the women of Kosovo who managed to get things in order and continue the life, even in refugee camps. Having seen what these women are capable of, I have no doubt that you will continue to play a crucial role in building the new country, Ambassador Walker said.

The two panelists invited on this occasion, Dr. Flora Brovina, a Member of Parliament and a long time women’s activist, and Sanija Murati, the Executive Director of the NGO “Lady”, offered their perspectives on the role women play in today’s society in Kosovo and about the challenges but also opportunities.
“There has been a lot of progress made in women’s place in our society but there is a lot to do still. We should not stop for a minute in advancing our role and our place in society because we have proven throughout the centuries that we deserve more, Dr. Brovina said.

Mrs. Murati from the NGO “Lady”, who came to live in Kosovo from Bosnia and Hercegovina, offered the students some of her experiences in the new country which she claims it home, and said that “with hard work, everything is possible, and women of Kosovo have proven that are hard workers over and over again.”

Both speakers encouraged the AUK students to become active and not be shy to take their place in the society.

The event was followed by a small reception on this occasion where participants continued their discussion with students and other guests.

A delegation from Spain sponsored by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS) is visiting Kosovo in a fact finding mission. One of the places the Spanish delegation visited during their visit was also the AUK campus.

Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, Madrid Director of European Council on Foreign Relations, who offered a lecture at AUK auditorium engaged in a discussion with our students on the outstanding issues between Spain and Kosovo. Professor Torreblanca elaborated on the reasons why Spain has not recognized the independence of Kosovo, and also gave some suggestions how the public opinion in Spain could be positively influenced.

Jesús López Medel, Popular Party, Former Member of Parliament and, Member of Parliament, from the Convergence and Union Catalan Party also engaged in the discussion.

He said that they were surprised how different Kosovo was from what they had thought and suggested that similar visits, especially for the youth should be encouraged.

“AUK is a good example of this progress made in Kosovo, and students should reach out to their peers from around the world to educate them about this new country, Member of the Spanish Parliament Jordi Xucla i Costa, said in his address to the students.

“We wanted this delegation to get to see and talk among others with the youth of Kosovo, and AUK offers the best venue for this occasion. The AUK students, being multilingual and multiethnic can offer the best perspective for anyone visiting Kosovo, Mr. Luan Shllaku, Executive Director of KFOS said.

The Spanish delegation is the second of this kind visiting Kosovo, organized by KFOS with the aim to increase the positive attitudes of Spanish public opinion towards Kosovo.

The renowned historian James Pettifer offered a lecture at the monthly history seminar of the American University in Kosovo.

The presentation of Dr. Pettifer drew a great attention for this by a wide audience of AUK community and the public.

The seminar offered by Dr. Pettifer was titled “Kosova: Independence and Institutional Development” where he offered a comprehensive analysis.

James Pettifer is the author of numerous books on Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. Dr Pettifer is a Fellow of St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, and professor at the United Kingdom Defense Academy and at South East Europe University, Tetovo.

James Pettifer’s books on South-East Europe include:

• Blue Guide Greece: The Mainland (with Sherry Marker)
• Blue Guide Albania and Kosovo
• Blue Guide Bulgaria
• Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity (with Miranda Vickers)
• The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans (with Miranda Vickers)
• The Greeks: the Land and People Since the War
• Turkish Labyrinth
• Kosova Express: A Journey in Wartime
• The New Macedonian Question
• Dialogue with Hashim Thaci
• The Ahtisaari report: Totem and Taboo

The AUK History Seminar is held monthly where Kosovar and International scholars offer a presentation on a chosen topic and that topic is debated and discussed. The aim of this seminar is to offer a platform of debate for the recent history of Kosovo, with a scholarly approach.

Five AUK graduates who are attending their postgraduate studies at RIT have made the AUK a household name on the campus of our partner University.

Nita Abrashi, Rafet Bojaj, Etida Zeka and Diellza Gashi are pursuing their MBA at the Saunders College of Business at RIT and Edita Isufi is pursuing an   M.S. in Human Resources.

During his last visit to RIT, President Hall met with our graduates and had a lengthy discussion about their experience at this campus.

“It is a great feeling when we see the success of our students and seeing this five graduates doing so well at RIT, definitely makes us very proud. RIT has been a crucial partner in this success and I am glad to see that AUK is an integral part of this great university.”

The students say that they found a very warm and welcoming environment at RIT and they already feel like home. Students have been involved in many activities at RIT and also offered presentations about Kosovo to students who are more and more interested to learn about AUK.

Recently AUK agreed with RIT to make possible for our students to be able to attend a semester at RIT for the same fee that they would pay at AUK. This is a great opportunity for the students to get a different perspective in a different campus.  The same will be offered also to RIT students who want to study for a semester in Kosovo.

In a featured article on the second anniversary of Kosovo’s Independence, the renowned US magazine Time published an analysis about Kosovo. The article presents some of the challenges this new state is facing and some changes that have taken place in these two years. The article is mainly focused on the youth of Kosovo and opportunities they are given in this new country.

AUK student Besiana Musmurati was one of the people quoted in this article of the Time Magazine.

To read the full article, follow the link: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1964625,00.html

In the last Friday Forum, the topic of discussion was the issue of poverty. According to some statistical data, poverty rate in Kosovo currently stands at around 43 percent, making it the poorest country in Europe.

Invited panelists for this discussion, Professor Xhevat Shkodra from the Kosovo Red Cross and Zef Shala from the Mother Theresa Charity Foundation, offered their perspectives on this issue, which as they said “ it’s one sad story because almost half of the population is poor, but the issue is not getting the necessary attention.”

“Not only we have a poverty rate of around 43 percent, but of those 17 percent live in extreme poverty, which means with less than 96 cents a day. While we can help a few, it is impossible for a charity organization to help this large number of poor without the help of many, Zef Shala from the Mother Theresa Foundation said.

A presentation in this forum was also given by Mrika Aliu, a 3^rd student at AUK and also head of the AUK Charity Club. AUK Charity Club, which is established in January of 2010 and currently has 28 members. The Club has planned activities in several fields and representatives of both organizations, Kosovo Red Cross and Mother Theresa Foundation, offered their full support and cooperation.

The panelists also answered many questions from students and attendants, and offered suggestions how they can help and assist.

RIT/AUK and CENR

Request for proposals

Topics such as:

1. Energy efficiency projects and especially projects involving energy and the environment as it relates to the AUK campus.
2. Projects with an energy or natural resources emphasis in collaboration with the wider community of Gërmia or Prishtina.

Application form at:
http://www.aukonline.org/doc/other/Application.doc

Any enquiries contact:
Ariana Kadriu- Center for Energy and Natural Resources
At ahaxhiu@aukonline.org

Submission dates:
February 8 to February 22, 2010

Email completed applications to:
Ariana Kadriu- Center for Energy and Natural Resources
At ahaxhiu@aukonline.org

Student Involvement Fund Program 

Introduction

• The American University in Kosovo and Rochester Institute of Technology  Center for Energy and Natural Resources is happy to announce a fund for supporting student projects, the Student Involvement Fund (SIF).
• The purpose of the fund is to provide financial assistance for projects and activities that engage AUK students, AUK faculty and also the community.
• The next round of project(s) will start in February 2010.
• The fund is dedicated to projects that are prepared by students or student and faculty and/or staff collaboration.

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Two Types of Preferred projects

1. Energy efficiency projects and especially projects involving energy and the environment as it relates to the AUK campus.
2. Projects with an energy or natural resources emphasis in collaboration with the wider community of Germia or Prishtina.

 Proposals will be accepted from February 8 to February 15, 2010

The Application for Funding Form is available at

http://www.aukonline.org/doc/other/Application.doc

SIF Board – Student Involvement Fund Board

The board members consist of:

• Two professors
• Two students and
• One staff member

The SIF Board is responsible for:

• Issuing requests for proposals
• Reviewing proposals
• Selecting proposals
• Awarding funding
• Accepting final reports

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Allowable costs/expenditures

Costs/ expenditures allowed during the life of a project:

• Direct cost materials and tools, i.e., photocopying material, advertising costs for different materials, tools.
• Labor cost. The student work will be paid by hours with a rate of 2 euro/hour. Maximum estimated amount is 400 Euros per Project.
• The hours worked may be used also as Co-Op time.

Maximum funding through this fund is 2,500. 00 Euros per project

Fund transfer and accountability policies

The project selection process will go through the short listing process according to the criteria defined by the SIF Board. After the selection of a project proposal by the SIF Board, a notification letter will be sent by email to the selected applicant.  The lead applicant should notify the board in writing within one week of receiving notice that they want to proceed with the project and also notify the SIF Board with starting and ending dates for the project.  The project applicant should make a request for funds release to the AUK Finance office, indicate to whom, in what account and in what amount should the money be paid. The project applicant is required to submit an invoice for every requested amount of money.

If there is any unspent amount of funds from the projects, it should be returned to the SIF Board.

Application and notification of project dates

The notice of request for proposals will be disseminated before each round by the SIF board.  Notice of Award will be sent by email and campus mail on the notification date, with request to the applicant to confirm the starting date of the project.

Round 1: 2010

Notification of Awards will be sent by February 26, 2010

Reports from the Project applicant should be submitted with final invoices at the end of the project

In order to be considered for admissions at AUK, a student must demonstrate their proficiency in English and math, as well as showing their successful completion of high school at a high standard.

Applicants may choose to come to Prishtina to take AUK’s entrance exam, or to submit internationally-recognized college entrance test scores (iBT, SAT or ACT).

Students from outside Kosovo who have completed high school in the English language do not need to take a further test of English proficiency, but do need to submit their high school transcripts and SAT or ACT results. Foreign students completing high school in a language other than English must also submit a completed TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test score.

There are four steps that every candidate needs to follow during the admissions process.

1. Apply online: http://www.aukonline.org/apply_online.php
2. Either: take a TOEFL and Math exam at AUK, or submit the official results of your TOEFL, SAT or ACT
3. Admission Interview (optional: only if admission office finds it necessary)
4. Submit your high school documents – proof of graduation and either Matura result or transcript (depending on country)

To reserve a place to take our required iBT TOEFL exam and AUK math exam, contact our admissions office by sending an email to info@aukonline.org or felshani@aukonline.org

AUK Admission Criteria 2010-11

1. For admission consideration all applicants must take:
1. TOEFL&AUK Math exam or
2. SAT or
3. ACT




2. iBT TOEFL test dates:                             AUK Mathematics exam test dates:
1. January 30, 2010                          February 05, 2010
2. February 27, 2010                        March 05, 2010
3. March 27, 2010                           April 02, 2010
4. April 24, 2010                              April 30, 2010
5. May 22, 2010                              May 28, 2010
6. June 26, 2010                              July 02, 2010