AUCA President Timothy O'Connor's Speech at the Open House Day

February 12, 2024

The American University of Central Asia held an Open House Day on Saturday, February 10. University President Timothy Edward O'Connor addressed the applicants and their parents:

– Good afternoon, dear guests, applicants and parents!

Let me welcome you to the American University of Central Asia, a real international university that implements the mission of training highly qualified, universally educated personnel. Today, my colleagues will happily tell you about the admission rules, educational programs, and much more. You will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of the university and imagine what it is like to be an AUCA student!

Now, I would like to share some thoughts about why admission to the American University in Central Asia is an excellent solution for professional and personal development.

The first reason is that every freshman at our university receives support and guidance. Why is this so important? The fact is that when you graduate from school, you are on the threshold of a new stage in your life. This transitional moment can bring a lot of excitement and anxiety, and the university takes it upon itself to care for our newly arrived students. In this regard, the staff assists not only in educational matters but also in administrative matters.

So, a new stage in life provides an opportunity for rethinking what was laid down in school, as well as for defining one's goals, aspirations, and values. For this purpose, the AUCA educational process is based on the model of liberal arts and sciences. What does this mean for the student? This means that the principles of freedom of thought and academic freedom, creativity, and critical thinking are valued at the university. AUCA strives to provide students with an education based on multifaceted approaches to studying the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and exact sciences. This helps prepare students for a rapidly changing world where an integrative holistic approach to knowledge that overcomes the limitations of narrow specialization is increasingly appreciated.

Thanks to this approach, our graduates demonstrate a high level of versatile knowledge and competencies. We are proud that our students receive a high-quality education, which allows them to make a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country and the region as a whole. In this context, it is essential that admission to AUCA requires good and persistent preparation, especially in three subjects – mathematics, English, and Russian. This ensures that at the beginning of the school year, we will meet with some of the most talented, intelligent, and active young people. Such students, thanks, first of all, of course, to their upbringing (and for this, I would like to thank the parents who are with us today!), strive for positive changes in the world, and want to change their environment for the better. Our university aims to support students in their quest to change the world. For example, the program "Environmental Sustainability and Climatology" aims directly at this.

We also support students on their way to self-development and success. We believe every student has unique abilities that can be revealed and developed in our educational environment. AUCA pays special attention not only to academic knowledge but also to the personal growth of each student. It is crucial that students feel confident and can show their full potential, and the university's task is to create all the conditions for this.

In turn, we expect students to take full advantage of the opportunities provided. In this context, it seems to me that the term "social contract" is appropriate, which, of course, is not formally prescribed but defines the responsibilities and expectations of all parties. This contract includes not only university staff and students but also parents since cooperation between the university and parents is one of the most important parts of educational success. In this regard, in my opinion, the task of parents is to support the initiatives and decisions of their children. Psychological support from your side will help our future students to consciously approach not only the choice of the field of study, but also their further professional activities in general. Thus, the university and parents pursue a common goal – to ensure the well-being of our wards.

When we talk about personal skills, in my opinion, one of the most important human skills is the ability to communicate. Considering the international atmosphere (about 40% of our students are foreigners!), students get the opportunity to speak in different languages, which also gives a tremendous competitive advantage.

By the way, communicating with yourself is also an important part. Despite the fact that the development of communication skills at AUCA is a cross-cutting principle in all programs, a lot of attention is paid to this in the Psychology program, which will be attractive to those interested in learning about the inner world of a person.

Thanks to the development of professional and personal competencies, students acquire and begin to show leadership qualities, by which we mean the ability to make informed choices and take responsibility for them.

But how do you become a real leader? Are leaders born from birth, or is this something that can be nurtured? Maybe leaders appear at times when local and global challenges arise when they are just vital. In my opinion, the answer lies in the perception of a real leader as a philosopher, because a philosopher (both by nature and by education) is always in search of truth. He is interested, curious, and ready for study and research. These qualities distinguish all AUCA graduates, regardless of their field of study.

Finally, AUCA strives to ensure that students live a happy and fulfilling life. This is, of course, one of the most difficult challenges for the university, but the answer is seen in the following. Being happy means being aware of your main values-guidelines and following them, living the life you want to live. Awareness, on the other hand, is a natural result of learning according to the model of liberal arts and sciences, which is implemented by AUCA.

Thank you for your attention! I hope that you will join our university community and we will see many of you again this year. We are happy to welcome you to the big family of the American University in Central Asia!

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