The regular Board of Trustees meeting discussed past year’s university developments, strategic plan priorities, the Center for Democratic Citizenship, and the Search for a new Provost, among other topics. Chair of the Board Michael D. Marvin sent a community update on the meeting which took place Feb. 4-6.
“This past year AUBG faced many challenges caused by COVID-19 but also enjoyed numerous accomplishments that you – students, faculty, staff, and alumni – achieved despite the difficult circumstances,” he said. “We had a strong beginning of the Fall Semester, welcoming many new and returning students in late August.
We also celebrated our anniversary with a myriad of events, most prominently the awarding of Doctor of Humane Letters to Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF. Once again, the university scored high in the Bulgarian Ranking System released in December 2021 with two number one spots and three second places. None of this would have been possible without your commitment, high spirit, resilience, and love for AUBG – thank you!”
“Unfortunately, we also received some deeply sad news,” Marvin said. “We tragically lost one of our students and our beloved AUBG Professor Sergey Ivanov. They will forever remain a part of our family.”
The in-person Board of Trustees Meeting that was planned for New York once again had to take place entirely online due to the pandemic situation. Last weekend, the Board held its regular committee meetings and received updates on various aspects of university life – admissions, student life, academics, marketing, development, and finance, among others. The trustees were pleased to see that the Development target for the America for Bulgaria match was surpassed with a collected amount of $535,750, and total donations for the FY close to $2 million.
AUBG has launched a search for a new Provost and the Board has selected a search firm to assist in the process of identifying and recruiting candidates with the aim to have a new Provost in place during the summer. “On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Interim Provost and Dean of Faculty Robert White for his exceptional work and leadership during such turbulent times,” the Chair of the Board said. “We are looking forward to continuing to work with Robert in his capacity as Dean of Faculty.”
The trustees extensively discussed many aspects of the AUBG strategic plan and related activities. While the process is taking longer than hoped, the overall goal is to create an actionable plan for growth that builds AUBG’s strengths and moves the university thoughtfully into additional areas to enhance its mission and impact, and create opportunities for student success. The next step of the planning process is to structure the strategic goals into measurable action plans and identify and define the key institutional performance indicators which will help AUBG on the way to implementation of the strategy.
President Evans and Vice President for Strategy and Institutional Effectiveness Karina Ulucheva will soon be meeting with faculty on a variety of matters related to how to move the strategy from idea to action, and they, along with Dean of Students Sabina Wien, will also be working with SG and other student leaders to gather student input.
A key point of the board meeting was the strategic initiative to form a Democratic Citizenship Center. Recent threats to democracy demonstrate the urgency of AUBG’s founding mission, and the critical need to educate leaders who understand and advocate for democratic values.
Core initiatives being discussed for the Center include topics such as the digital world and its impact on democracy: social media, cybersecurity, “fake news,” electoral manipulation, and the critical literacy required to thrive in a digital society; civic engagement across sectors: governmental and non-governmental organizations, cultural institutions, social-service agencies, civil-society groups, etc.; and entrepreneurship and innovation as a source of democratic prosperity.
“Thank you once again for your extraordinary efforts and superb accomplishments during the past months, the Board and I are proud to be a part of such an amazing community and are looking forward to many more successes that symbolize the true AUBG spirit,” Marvin said.
