Newsletter - March 2024

NECHE visited AUK to evaluate efforts towards U.S. Accreditation

From February 25 to 28, 2024, the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) was the subject of an extensive evaluation visit by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

The NECHE team engaged in multiple individual and group discussions with AUK's faculty and staff throughout their visit in order to assess the progress made by the institution since it became eligible to submit its candidacy application in the spring of 2022.

When the team completes its report, the AUK will have a chance to review. The full Commission will vote on Candidacy at its meeting in September.

Dutch Consul General Visits AUK

AUK welcomed the Dutch Consul General, Jaco Beerends, and the Second Secretary and Political Affairs Representative, Jelle Jochem Duits. The delegation from the Dutch Consulate in Erbil met with AUK’s President, Dr. Randall Rhodes, VP of Administration and Finance, Omed Zawity, and Director of AUK’s Center for Academic and Professional Advancement (CAPA), Loucine Hayes. Topics discussed included support for programs on start-up culture and entrepreneurship, youth employment, programming for IPDs and refugees, capacity building among public sector employees (including school teachers), and faculty and student exchanges with Dutch universities.

AUK Giving Day 2024 Sparks Philanthropic Spirit

AUK Giving Day, held on March 7, 2024, celebrated an initiative that brought together students, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the community. Now in its second year, AUK Giving Day has become a seminal event at AUK, epitomizing the institution’s commitment to cultivating community engagement for philanthropy and thereby in line with the institutional theme for the month of March, dedicated to the patriotic building of Kurdistan, as part of AUK’s 10th anniversary.

Central to the festivities was a concert by international artist Dashni Morad; proceeds were directed towards financial aid for AUK student scholars. The event also provided a platform to showcase AUK alumni businesses.

Alumni supported the event through sponsorship and in-kind donations; this evidences the growing sense of community engagement, student involvement, and giving back to the communities that are integral to the University. As we commemorate our 10th anniversary, March is dedicated to the patriotic building of Kurdistan, shaping a better future for all.

AUK and Kurdistan Private Hospital Provide Practicum Opportunities

AUK and Kurdistan Private Hospital in Duhok signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide AUK’s third-year nursing students with clinical internships, with a particular emphasis on the hands-on elements of Child Health Nursing and Reproductive Health Nursing.

AUK’s theme for the month, "Achieving a Stronger Kurdistan," aligns with the institution's objective of partnering with the industry’s leading institutions like The Kurdistan Private Hospital to produce graduates who are well-rounded and ready to enter the nursing profession and emerge as future leaders in their field.

AUK Students Hold a Workshop on Arduino Technology at the DBIS

The student campus club, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), in collaboration with the Electronic and Telecommunications Department, hosted an Arduino technology workshop for students at the Duhok British International School (DBIS).

The workshop aimed to provide 12th-grade students at DBIS with a crash course in electronics and programming, prioritizing practical learning over theoretical knowledge.

The Student Club intends to hold similar seminars at high schools in Duhok, with an overall objective of igniting students' interest in electronics and programming, and thereby contributing to AUK's institutional theme of the month, "Achieving a Stronger Kurdistan".