world-class education based on world-class values

8/7/2019 World-Class Education Based on World-Class Values

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KIMEP

World-Class

Education Based

on World-Class

Values



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KIMEP

What is a World-Class University?Since the day we rst began working in Almaty, KIMEP has always

aspired to become ‘world-class’ in every aspect of our operations.

This term is often used but rarely dened. As we strive to enter the

ranks of the world’s elite universities in the near future, KIMEP will

base all its efforts on the following denition:

A world-class university should produce eminently qualifed

graduates with the values, expertise, skills and knowledge

which are consistent with and relevant to, the society in which

they intend to serve 1.

In the next three years, KIMEP will have an internationally networked

campus, with active research, relevant teaching, demanding

programs and engaged students. This is simple to realize. We just

have to focus on doing it.

This was the task that President Nazarbayev entrusted to me in 1992. KIMEP is on the verge of fully

delivering on that trust and is ready to break into the top ranks of world universities.

Our strategy to deliver this focuses on ve areas:

• Delivering a world-class student experience

• Building a world-class faculty

• Creating new knowledge

• Creating new programs

• Building global connections

We must be aware of the historic importance of our task and never forget our founding values which will

make this possible. KIMEP is not simply selling education. We are selling a culture. This culture is based on

openness, transparency and integrity. Respect and honesty is a prerequisite in all that we do, particularly in

our meticulous care for the well-being of students. Our students participate in every major decision in relation

to budgets, strategy, capital projects and even student discipline. They succeed in their programs on merit –

and only on merit.

This transparency and student focus is unique, not just in Kazakhstan, but in the world. KIMEP cannot

compete with Stanford or Harvard on research or reputation, but it can on culture. As the accreditation team

from NEASC stated in 2006, KIMEP was the most transparent institution they had ever visited. To have

achieved this in such a challenging environment is testament to our will and determination.

Our community must embrace our core values. The community will succeed or fail together over the next

three years. I hope that you will embrace this vision and join me in diligently implementing this plan. Everyone

has a key role to play in the creation of a genuinely world-class university. My honor is in your hands.

Chan Young Bang, Ph.D.,President of KIMEP

1 This denition draws on the work of the accreditation task force in Bang College of Business, led by Dr William Gissy. A further point of note hereis to understand that is not essential to be accredited to be world class. Nor is it always the case that accreditation by itself necessarily means worldclass according to our denition. This view is shared by the BCB Accreditation Task Force.



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KIMEP

1. Delivering a World-Class Student Experience

Students matter. The core values of KIMEP are based on meticulous care for the well-being of our

students. We aim to guide our students through a world-class learning experience.

Recruiting Qualied Students We will recruit qualied students whose values areconsistent with those of KIMEP. In the next academicyear we will institute changes to the admissionprocess which seek, through essays and interviews,to identify those students who share our aspirationto continue to modernize Kazakhstan and assist thefurther development of a civil society

Providing support for excellence in

Kazakhstan

We will attract students who are academicallyqualied regardless of their nancial means. Hugestrides have been taken in this direction even in theface of the global nancial crisis. KIMEP will provideover $2m of nancial aid in 2010-2011, and externalsupport is projected to continue at around $1.8m.However, we need to do more.



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KIMEP

Excellence in Central Asia

The International Ofce has begun a recruitmentcampaign to attract up to 100 international studentsfrom other Central Asian republics by offering fullscholarships. This will expand our reach into thesecountries and reinforce our position as the leadinguniversity in Central Asia.

Mentoring – A Student-Faculty

Partnership

Once students join us, we need to train themeffectively to become excellent graduates. Our mentoring system next year will ensure that everystudent has a faculty mentor who can guide them

through their studies and provide counseling ontheir further development. This is about muchmore than curriculum advising. Genuine mentoringsupport will ensure that students produce their best in and out of the classroom. To this end,each faculty member will be allocated students tosupport. Faculty will be asked to provide reportseach semester on the progress of their students.In turn students will be asked their views on thesupport provided. This will form a key part of theevaluation process of faculty performance by

students in addition to teaching evaluations.



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KIMEP

Raising Academic Standards

We cannot claim relevance if our graduates haveonly the bare minimum of knowledge when theygraduate. We will raise the minimum GPA abovecurrent levels in some areas, particularly in corecourses and majors. It is not acceptable for studentsto graduate with low GPAs. Raising graduationrequirements is a fundamental requirement if weare to produce world-class graduates.

Building Critical Thinking

We seek to develop a questioning attitude in our students. This spirit of inquiry is the greatest gift thatwe can give our students. Faculty development isfocusing on building these skills into the teachingprocess and into curricula across the degreeprograms.

Research-Based Teaching Research is central to the teaching process.Research-active faculty provide a deeper classroomexperience, providing up-to-date knowledge aboutthe region in which our students live and work.

Transparent, Relevant Learning We will continue to work to improve the knowledgebase of our graduates. Assessment systems willdemonstrate relevance and qualication. Currentlywe are open to accusations that we cannot back up

our claims about the quality of our graduates. Howcan we claim relevance and quality without evidence?More transparent assessment systems will informstudents what they will learn, when they will learn itand demonstrate that they have learned.



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KIMEP

Relevant, Benchmarked Exit Tests

Consultation with Stakeholders We will consult with stakeholders through advisorycouncils to assess their perceptions of the relevanceof the skills and knowledge of our graduates. Wealso need to gain their input to ensure continuingrelevance and continuous improvement

Research to Build the Evidence

Base

Our institutional research team will carry out a rangeof surveys to assess external perceptions of thequality of our graduates.

Exit tests will be developed which are tailored toeach program to demonstrate that course, major and program outcomes are being met and allow usto demonstrate continuous improvement in outputs.These will be designed to allow us to compare our graduates with those of institutions in the USA whichuse the same curricula.



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KIMEP

2. Building a World-Class Faculty

The faculty are the heart of the Institute. In the next three years, we will develop a stable faculty

combining the best in the world with the best of Kazakhstan to deliver a relevant, thoughtful educational

experience to our students.

An Optimum Faculty

A target has been set for a minimum net gain of 15terminal degree holders a year for the next threeyears in order to achieve an optimum number of faculty to deliver on our mission. This will mean thatby 2013, KIMEP will be able to boast of over 100terminal degree holders managing and delivering

our programs. This will account for over 80% of faculty in the CSS and BCB and will be a remarkableachievement given the operating environment.

A Student-Centered Faculty

To train excellent students, we need more excellentfaculty. In August 2010, 28 new faculty and academicadministrators will join us. To ensure that they canmaximize their contribution, they need to be fullyoriented. A full orientation program will be put in placeto guarantee that our new colleagues fully understandour core values and mission and are prepared fromday one to deliver a student-centered education.



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KIMEP

Stable Faculty with World-ClassCompensation

While new faculty are important, a stable faculty isfundamental. We need to retain our best faculty.The key to retention is a combination of a globallycompetitive compensation and an attractive workingenvironment, which we will do everything in our power to deliver. Despite the external challenges of the globalcrisis and devaluation, KIMEP faculty salaries havegreatly increased in recent years. Combined with thefavorable tax regime in Kazakhstan, our salaries are

denitely internationally competitive. However, thisis not enough. We need to pay signicantly morethan the best US and European institutions to attractthe best faculty to Kazakhstan. Over the next threeyears, KIMEP will continue this process and increaseaverage salaries by a minimum of 15% per year.This will mean average increases of over 50%. Our average salaries will be among the highest in theworld.



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KIMEP

Rewarding Committed Faculty

Building our Kazakhstani Faculty

A fundamental part of our mission is to contribute tothe modernization of the higher education systemby developing Kazakhstani faculty to work at KIMEPand by providing an attractive working environmentfor those Kazakhstani citizens returning from doctoralstudies overseas. Kazakhstani terminal facultyserve as role models for our students. They canalso contribute more to the development of facultystability than our international faculty can, as their ties lie outside Kazakhstan. KIMEP currently hassixteen faculty on study leave in Europe, the UK andUSA. When they rejoin us, they will boost the number

of Kazakhstani terminal faculty. We will continue tosupport this process.

Fair evaluation of the performance of our faculty isfundamental to ensuring that those who contributeare adequately rewarded. An evaluation systemwhich does not reward high performers is contraryto my vision of a world-class university. In effect,such a system rewards underperformance anddemoralizes those who do contribute signicantly.Clear performance differentiation is essential. Thosewho perform will be well rewarded with substantialmerit-based salary increases. Those who do notcontribute will be asked to leave. Underperformerswill not be allowed to remain.

Growing our own Faculty

Our pioneering DBA program has yielded its rstgraduate this year. Over the next three years, twelveto fteen more will complete the program. The Collegeof Social Sciences is nalizing the development of aninter-disciplinary doctoral program in social sciences,which will produce up to twenty terminal degreeholders in the next three to ve years. Taken together,this adds up to a major institutional commitment todeveloping our Kazakhstani faculty. It also makes mytarget of a minimum of 30% of our terminal facultybeing Kazakhstani nationals eminently realizable.



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KIMEP

3. Creating New Knowledge

Our faculty will develop new research to improve the classroom experience and raise the global prole

of KIMEP to ensure that that our students gain from the rich knowledge of our global networks.

Focus on Applied Research

KIMEP was founded to provide applied relevantresearch to help shape the transition of the countryto a market economy and civil society. While someprogress has been made, there needs to be aclearer emphasis on what we expect our researchcontribution to be. To bring focus to this, a seriesof research centers will be created to support

the development of applied research agendas.In Bang College, research centers in leadership,currency and commodities, taxation, and tourismand hospitality will be created. In the College of Social Sciences, Eurasian and European studiescenters will be launched, as well as linguistics andpedagogy centers in the Language Center. Aninternational nancial law research center will alsobe assessed in the School of Law, which will be re-established in August 2010.

Internal Focus and External ProleThe creation of research centers will provide an internalfocus and also raise our external prole, positioningKIMEP as the place of choice for any internationalresearcher who wishes to pursue a research agendain Central Asia. Increased emphasis will be placedon the publication of journals highlighting researchacross KIMEP.

Research Means Relevant Teaching

Research is also integral to the teaching process.Active research improves the classroom experience,providing up-to-date knowledge about the region inwhich our students live and work. Over the next year,there will be a signicant increase in the amount of case study research on issues and organizations of regional relevance. These case studies will be taughtin the classroom and prepared for publication tobuild our prole and increase the relevance of our programs.



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KIMEP

4. Creating New Programs

KIMEP has a mission to serve the development of a civil society and market economy. To widen the

range of our service, we will create new programs where there is an indentied need.

Diversifying to deliver our mission

KIMEP has a sound foundation of programs. However,we need to be continually aware of changing marketneeds and new opportunities.

In the School of Law

The School of Law is in the preliminary stages of developing an undergraduate law program, blendingKazakhstani legal expertise with the Western learningmodel KIMEP is famous for.

In the College of Social Sciences

CSS has undergone major program reviews thisyear to improve the relevance of programs. Theforthcoming interdisciplinary Ph.D. program will addfurther depth to the college portfolio

In Bang College of Business

Currently in BCB, work is ongoing to introduce majorsin leadership at graduate and undergraduate level,as well as an undergraduate major in tourism andhospitality.

In BCB and CCE

A cross-college initiative between CCE and BCB isexploring the potential for a hybrid distance learningmodel to deliver an MBA for senior managers

without English skills, who KIMEP currently does notsupport.

And in the Language Center

The Language Center is actively consideringlaunching an undergraduate English program in2011.

All of these new initiatives are about nding newways to increase the scope and depth of our meansto deliver on our mission and maximize our impact byentering new markets.



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KIMEP

5. Building Global Connections

To be world-class, KIMEP needs to raise its prole as a member of the global academic community.

We will continue to bring the world to KIMEP in a variety of ways.

Global faculty

Our core faculty here in Almaty demonstrate our international credentials on a daily basis. We willcontinue to build on this .

Global research

The creation of research centers and increased researchoutput will play a key part in raising our global prole.

Global Summer School

In 2010, KIMEP will have a genuinely internationalsummer school. Twenty-two faculty have signedcontracts and will join us in July for the Summer IIsession. They are drawn from leading universitiesin the USA, UK, India, Europe and Korea. KIMEPis also advertising heavily with our partner universities to bring international students toKIMEP. The campus will be bustling in July withvisitors from around the world. KIMEP will cementfriendships with many faculty, students anduniversities during this session, which we will build

on in the years to come. At the same time, we willgive our own students a unique experience whichthey will never forget.



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KIMEP

When KIMEP achieves this strategy, we will be delivering a world- class student experience with a world-class faculty, who are actively

creating new knowledge. KIMEP will have developed a range of new

programs and will have global connections embedded throughout

our operations. When we achieve this, we will have delivered on the

mission set by President Nazarbayev. To deliver this, all members of

the KIMEP community must collaborate. Working together, we will make

it happen.



KIMEP

www.kimep.kz

world-class education based on world-class values

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