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The Internationalization of IAU

IAU Branch in Oxford 6

Upgrading Postgraduate Programs in Afghanistan 2

New Year, New Outlook

New IAU Branches in Islamic & Persian Speaking Neighboring Countries 3

Page 2

ISSUE 23 JUNE 2014

In line with the guidelines from the Head of Board of Trustees and

Founding Board of the University, His Excellency Ayatollah Hashemi

Rafsanjani, regarding the vital role of internationalization for Islamic

Azad University in securing a strong global presence, it is essential to

outline a comprehensive internationalization strategic plan for the

University. This of course requires to be in agreement with the overall

University strategic plan. It is therefore essential to strengthen and

enhance the activities of the University overseas and international

branches (campuses) as a top priority.

As the president of Is-lamic Azad University (IAU), I would like to extend my warm and sincere greetings to you. Life is all about making choices, and the choice you are about to make will influence your fu-ture in many aspects. What we offer you is the opportunity to study in a challenging environ-ment, through providing outstanding facilities as well as excellent re-search and education. Full-time or part-time, our courses are of the highest quality. They are designed to be directly relevant to industry, commerce and business in various fields. Meet-ing people from many different backgrounds

will put you in an inter-national atmosphere, in which your time would be made more reward-ing. The reasonable tui-tion and outstanding support you will receive, will make you sure of a challenging and ful-filling study experience here at the IAU. I am confident that the IAU will pave the way for its students, who are well equipped with proven knowledge to take the best places in different aspects of science, busi-ness and etc. I hope to welcome all of you as our students in the forth-coming year.

Prof. Hamid Mirzadeh

The Chairman of the Expend-

ing Discernment Council,

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanja-

ni in his meeting with Af-

ghanistan’s Higher Education

Studies Minister, restated on

cultural, civilizational, and

language mutual back-

grounds and asked the offi-

cial, to pave the ground for

the upcoming cooperation.

He also welcomed the current

security in Afghanistan. In

response to the Afghanistan’s

Higher Education Minister’s

request for more activities of

the IAU in this country, Aya-

tollah Hashemi Promised that

the University, According to

Islamic directions, develop

its activities in Afghanistan.

He also emphasized that the

IAU will upgrade level of

postgraduate programs in Af-

ghanistan for all applicants.

The minister of Afghani-

stan’s higher education at this

meeting asked the chairman

of the IAU Board of Trus-

tees, Ayatollah Hashemi, to

increase the cooperation with

the Islamic Azad University

as a well-known University

in the World.

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The IAU tuition for non-Fellowship and foreign students (both medicine and other majors) is as follows: 1. Associate: same as Iranian students

tuition (Rial) 2. B.A: same as Iranian students tui-

tion (Rial) 3. M.A: double of Iranian students

tuition (Rial) 4. Doctorate: double of Iranian stu-

dents tuition (Rial)

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As far as the students are concerned, we un-

derstand that there is a great demand for en-

riching existing English language programs

at Bachelor’s and Master’s levels through

providing up-to-date content, online materi-

als, short study abroad programs, summer

courses and preparatory courses for English

entry exams such as IELTS.

Additionally, as a matter of University policy

across disciplines and particularly at re-

search level, it is now mandatory for students

and academics to produce scientific articles

in international journals. This is a difficult

task and requires editorial and methodical

support if they wish to succeed in their un-

dertakings. Our newly established English

Language College (OLC) will be able to offer

all these areas of support to the students and

academics, and discussion and coordination

is underway with a number of branches to

make the necessary preparation for offering

these services from Oxford in the near fu-

ture. We urge the students and academics of

the University to follow the news in this re-

gard. From a different perspective, now that

the University is committed to international-

ise itself, it will be inevitable that it will need

to put more emphasize on English language

as a medium for communication, particularly

when the programs and projects are ex-

pected to be run jointly with other universi-

ties and institutions worldwide. We at AUO

are primed to help the University to prepare

for such an important venture in its quest for

internationalisation.

Dr. Seyed Javad Angaji, the Vice President for Interna-tional Affairs of IAU men-tioned to the future plans of the Vice Presidency for Int’l Affairs according to the Slo-gan of the Year by the Su-preme Leader, "The Year of Economy and Culture with National Determination and Jihadi Management". He re-

ferred to the three decades of Islamic Azad University’s life as the World's largest Attending University includ-ing Alumni, Students, Facul-ties and staff within over 450 branches around the country and in overseas which con-sidered as an determining factor in financial and eco-nomic matters. He empha-sized the development of overseas branches along with

admission of more interna-tional students as a power to the financial growth of the IAU. The IAU is a member of the seven internationally known Associations, and the matter is of overriding im-portance to the University in conducting research-based activities and aimed at inter-nationalizing internal abili-

ties via using the full poten-tial of the Iranians in abroad along with the localization of successful projects and uti-lizing the capacities of Int’l Organizations such as UNESCO, ISESCO and etc. He also mentioned to the close collaboration of indus-try and university and the role of Int’l branches in set-ting such relations especially in economical regions.

International Conference of International Association of Universities (2015) will take place on

28-30 October 2015, which will be organized by the University of Siena located in Siena, Italy and it

will focus on the theme: “Internationalization of Higher Education: Moving beyond mobility”

The 35th IATUL Conference will be held at the Aalto University in Espoo, Finland from 2nd

to 5th June 2014. The theme of the conference is “Measures for Success: Library Resources and Ef-

fectiveness under Scrutiny”. Continue to Page 7

Islamic Azad University as a member of the ASAIHL’s

Board of Directors participates in the 2014 ASAIHL’s

Conference on “Enhancing European and Asian Aca-

demic Systems Compatibility”. The conference was held

during 10-13 June 2014 in the University of Montpellier

2, in France. The subtitles of the conference come in the

following:

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Developing sustainable partnerships

* Developing international educational

programs

* Towards Asian-European durable fund-

ing programs

Europe-Asia Networking

* Networking in research

* Networking in academia

* Connecting existing European and

Asian

Making European and Asian

academic systems compatible

* The 2015 ASEAN academic integration

process

* Credit transfer systems in Europe and

Asia

* Making compatible the assessment pro-

cesses for students and curricula

* Institute of Botany. University

Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France

Enhancing European and Asian

Academic Systems Compatibility

10-13 June 2014

As one of the vital role of interna-

tionalization for the Islamic Azad Uni-

versity, it is a must to prepare the re-

quired bases for such matter. In this

view joint programs as the primary

concern for an international university

come to the field. The programs are

defined according to the regulations of

the two sides with the major function

of an educational program developed

and delivered by two educational insti-

tutions, resulting in both institutions

awarding credits.

The IAU is now rich enough in all

fields of study to develop such pro-

grams for a further scientific and cul-

tural cooperation with the internation-

ally known universities and it wel-

comes any sides for the expansion of

the programs within the regulations

of the country. The university enjoys a

high potential for academic coopera-

tion due to its experienced faculties

and professional academic staff in all

scientific departments including Agri-

culture, Engineering, Humanities,

Medicine, Art and Language as well as

other interdisciplinary fields at all lev-

els of studies.

The academic experience at IAU is

rich and diverse enough to make the

students of the programs the best re-

searchers and authorities of the field

and the university is ready to share

such experiences together with the lat-

est updates from other universities.

Mohammad Iman Askari (Expert in Charge, English Language of IAU)

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General Information (2014-2015) of IAU is now available at:

www.intl.iau.ir

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What roles could the overseas branches

(campuses) play in enhancing the overall

status of the University and its internation-

al image?

In general the

University over-

seas branches

are considered

as representa-

tives of the Uni-

versity outside

the country, bridging IAU and its likeminded

higher education institutions abroad. Many

universities around the world have now

opened overseas campuses for various rea-

sons, such as financial gains through student

recruitment, improving their international

outlook, carrying out joint degree programs in

host countries and so on. However this is not

every university ‘piece of cake’ as it is a cost-

ly game and may involve a lot of risks. Obvi-

ously IAU has had its own distinct reasons for

establishing overseas branches in various

countries. In some cases, such as in Afghani-

stan, the Branch seems to have been estab-

lished in response to a high demand for higher

education within the local community. In oth-

er cases, such as with the Oxford Branch, the

University seems to be looking for more stra-

tegic objectives like training its own faculty

members, collaborative relations with UK and

European institutions and knowledge transfer.

It is important however that the University

review their strategic plans for establishing

campuses outside the country every five years

to ensure that specific targets are achieved in

the respective countries.

What objective(s) would Oxford Branch

(AUO) follow in the new era under the new

management team at the University, and

has there been any new strategies devel-

oped for the future of the Branch?

There have been some important develop-

ments at AUO, particularly since the new

management team have come into office.

First of all, it was agreed for AUO to resume

its academic activities after a two-year halt.

We are very grateful for this opportunity and

the support of the new SMT, and wish to turn

the AUO into a new educational and entrepre-

neurial vehicle for the University as a whole

to achieve its grand objectives in various

fields. To this end we have developed a new

five-year strategic plan, envisioning a new set

of missions for the Branch. Given its strategic

location at the heart of Oxford city, the cradle

of knowledge and innovation, we believe that

the Oxford Branch possess a great capacity to

offer various educational services to the Uni-

versity that are crucial for its future, should it

wish to enhance in particular its international

outlook. Over the next five years we will be

developing a number of crucial centres at

AUO that will hopefully bring about funda-

mental and positive changes across the Uni-

versity. These are the Oxford International

Collaboration Centre (OICC), the Oxford

Language College (OLC), the Centre for

Quality Enhancement, Centre for Internation-

alisation, the Centre for Research Training

and Innovation and, last but not least, a Cen-

tre for the Interactions of Iran and the World.

Our focus in 2014, however, will be on estab-

lishing the first two centres, i.e. OICC and

OLC.

What were the key activities of the Oxford

Branch over the past six months and which

plans have now become operational?

We have spent a lot of time over the past few

months developing a set of strategic plans in

consultation with a number of experts in the

field. These plans have now been approved by

the University Senior Management Team

(SMT), and in the first phase we have been

heavily involved in setting up the required

infrastructure for the OICC and OLC. These

two centres now have their designated web-

sites and are preparing to formally commence

their activities. As we speak, a call for mem-

bership to the OICC club is on its way to all

branches of the University, encouraging them

to use the services of OICC to promote them-

selves internationally and to improve the

quality of their programs and projects. Also,

having appointed the Director of our newly

established language college (OLC), we are

hoping to acquire the necessary accreditation

from the UK accrediting bodies over coming

months, enabling OLC to offer Study Abroad

Programs to IAU students of English at un-

dergraduate and post graduate levels for the

forthcoming academic year.

International Association of Universities offers

LEADHER (Leadership for Higher Education Reform) pro-

gram to provide opportunities for learning partnerships and

collaboration among IAU Member Institutions in good stand-

ing and enables participating institutions to tap into the wealth

of experiences around the world. The next LEADHER compe-

tition will be launched in early October 2014. The LEADHER

program awards grants (up to 10,000 Euros per project) to

applicants who have submitted a project proposal in collabora-

tion with a specific partner institutions.

Higher Education Policy as an international quarterly

journal is published in International Association of Universi-

ties for advancing scholarly understanding of the policy pro-

cess applied to higher education, both theoretical and practice-

based.

UNESCO-People's Republic of China (The Great Wall)

Fellowship:

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Ayatollah Hasehemi Rafsanjani, the

Head of IAU’s Board of Trustees,

visited the 9th

Int’l Robocup competi-

tion. Rafsanjani asked the officials to

make special emphasis on develop-

ment of robotic science as well as ro-

bocup. Ayatollah Hashemi, in his

visit, was accompanied by the IAU

president, Prof. Hamid Mirzadeh.

Prof. Mirzadeh told that the Univer-

sity improves its support in the field

of robotic research achievements and

asked the officials to bring the robot-

ic science in daily life and links it

with industrial and service sections.

MRL Qazvin RoboCup Team stands top at the Int’l RoboCup competitions. MRL Qazvin Team, could won 9 first titles in different leagues as rescue, 2 & 3 dimensional soccer, real rescue and etc. It is worth mentioning that many teams took part in this competition from Iran and other countries as like: the USA, China, UK, Germany and etc.

Continuation of Page 4

The ambassador of Austria in Iran accompanied by a

group of OEAD Institute had a meeting with the presi-

dent of IAU. During the meeting, Dr. Hamid Mirzadeh

emphasized on the long-lasting relations of both countries

and stressed that it will pave the way for development of

mutual scientific cooperation and joint academic pro-

grams. Dr. Friedrich Stift, the Austrian ambassador, also

promised to facilitate the process of visa issuance for the

IAU’s students. The Austrian group is considering the ca-

pabilities and facilities of Islamic Azad university to sign a

memorandum of understanding between IAU and Educa-

tional Ministry of Austria. In the meeting, Dr. Hamid

Mirzadeh granted the emblem of IAU to the ambassador

and head of OEAD institution.

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Seyed Javad Angaji

Executive Assiatants: M. Setoudeh — M. Maleknejad Creative Designer and Editor:

S. Razmi Translators:

H. Shadmani — M. I. Askari – Z. Alvandi

Collaborators