International Research & Exchanges Board in Armenia                                        ARM

Overview of the IREX University Administration Support Program

With primary support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, IREX has designed the University Administration Support Program (UASP) to contribute to improving administration in a selected number of public universities in the following countries: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Ukraine. Program elements include:

Fellowships in University Administration. IREX provides competitively awarded short-term fellowships for mid and senior-level university administrators to spend approximately eight weeks with counterparts at respected US public universities to research and build a case study in a specific area of university management. The case studies are used to guide participants and their colleagues in implementing sustainable reforms at their home institutions. The results are published and disseminated to the academic community.

Pilot Project Grants. Fellows in university administration will be eligible to compete for grants to support pilot reform projects at their home universities upon their return home.

Eligibility Requirements for the Fellowships in University Administration

Applicants must:

Be a citizen of and reside in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda or Ukraine at the time of application and participation in the program;

Submit a complete application with all required documents by the application deadline;

Have a level of proficiency in written and spoken English sufficient to work independently in the United States and engage colleagues;

Be able to receive and maintain a J-1 visa;

Be able to participate in fellowships for approximately eight weeks in Fall 2012, or Winter 2013;

Be committed to producing a case study on a topic of university administration while in the United States; and

Hold a full-time position with the title of Vice-Rector, Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Vice-Dean, Department Chair, or equivalent at one of the eligible universities or working in an equivalent management position focusing on higher education reform in the Ministry of Education and Science. Please see below for the list of eligible universities.

Applications not meeting the above eligibility requirements will not be forwarded to the selection committee.

Current IREX employees and consultants and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, and siblings) are not eligible to compete in any IREX-administered grant programs, either as individuals or as the responsible party representing an institutional applicant.

Program  Dates

May 1, 2012: Application deadline
June 2012: Semi-finalists interviews and Finalist notification
Mid September – Mid November 2012: Cohort I Fellowship in the United States
Late January – Late March 2013: Cohort II Fellowship in the United States

 Selection Criteria

Submitted applications for the Fellowships in University Administration Program will be reviewed against the following criteria (listed in order of importance):

1. Appropriateness of the applicant's position within the university or ministry to influence management practices in the selected topic.
2. Relevance of the selected managerial topic to the university's or ministry’s priorities.
3. Prior management experience of the applicant.
4. Thoroughness and relevance of applicants answers to application questions.
5. Ability to converse independently in English.

  Finalists and semi-finalists may be called for a telephone or in-person interview.

Financial and Professional Provisions of the Grant

The program provides the following:

J-1 visa support for the period of the program

Round-trip travel from fellows’ home cities to the US host institutions

Accident and sickness insurance

Housing and $40/day daily allowance for meals and incidentals

Professional development allowance of $1000 for educational materials, professional conferences and membership in U.S. professional associations

Opening and closing workshops in Washington, DC.

LIST OF ELIGIBLE ARMENIAN UNIVERSITIES

Armenian State Pedagogical University

Gavar State University

Gyumri State Pedagogical Institute after Nalbandyan

Vanadzor State Pedagogical Institute after Tumanyan

Yerevan State Linguistic University after Bryusov

Yerevan State University