“Oh, relax, that’s just Balkan mentality,” my roommate said.

The reason could well be a deadline for a paper or a project, an approaching exam or maybe a date. No matter which, the result is clear: faculty and staff were about five times more than students at last Thursday’s Town Hall Strategic Plan Meeting. The meeting aimed to discuss the draft report of the study group on Liberal Education and Demand for “Knowledge Workers” based on the September campus-wide survey. The participants gathered around five tables in a NAB basement classroom and for an hour and a half discussed the report in groups, after which shared impressions and suggestions for improvement.

The five groups discussed housing faculty on campus to improve student-faculty communication, organizing internships on institutional basis, introducing more interdisciplinary courses and majors, and happiness as an essential part of effective education. They also emphasized the importance of defining liberal education and American values at AUBG. 

What Is It All About?

According to the official design, the three strategic planning study groups “convene to examine challenges and opportunities.”  Then each study group prepares a report, 4 to 8 pages long, discussing the designated issues and providing recommendations for the five-year plan of development.
The planning process started with an e-mail survey by the Institutional Research Office, with a response rate of 40% among faculty, 17% among staff, 13% among students, and 9.3%—alumni. A special section of the AUBG website is dedicated to the five-year plan (read more here).

“Liberal Arts Education and Demand for ‘Knowledge Workers’” envisioned employment needs, monitored curriculum and teaching trends at top-ranked liberal arts institutions, and analyzed the role of practice and living-learning experience in education outcomes.

“Environmental Forces Affecting Our Future” examined demographic and socio- economic trends in Bulgaria and the region, relations with major recruiting regions, the effect of Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and its neighbors, and changes in the global economy.

“Technology, Information Resources, and Facilities” focused on determining the changes in student expectations for IT-related services and evaluating strategic investments in information resources.
According to Christozov, co-chair of the IT group, everyone besides the heads of the groups participated voluntarily, responding to the invitation sent out at the beginning of the year. The study groups started work right before Fall Break and only two students worked in each committee.

Student (Dis)Interest

According to President Huwiler, the reason for the low number of student participants is students’ heavy workload and the feeling that their views were already represented. He said that the two students per study group had considerable influence on the final reports. “And, of course, there are a few students who probably do not fully understand just how important and far-reaching this process will be.” 

“I do think there is still quite a lot of student interest in the planning process. I am very often asked about the process by students, and most have pretty strong opinions about the mission and about what kind of University AUBG should become,” said Huwiler. The president also said he was pleased with the interest from faculty, staff, alumni and trustees.

Provost Ann Ferren said that the co-chairs wanted to have small groups to effectively work on reports that would later be open to larger discussion. On the Thursday meeting, however, less than ten students were present.

Why Would You Care?

One of the issues on the agenda of the “Technology, Information Resources, and Facilities” study group is the quality of the Internet in the dormitories, Christozov said. “For example, the wireless Internet provided by mobile telecoms is quite reasonable in quality and [price],” so the university has to decide whether to seriously invest in the Internet connection in the dorm rooms, he explained.

“Instead of introducing a wireless system in the lobbies, they would better introduce better internet in the rooms to begin with,” said sophomore Marius Nicolescu. Nicolescu started a group “Petition Against OCC’s Internet” on Facebook with over a hundred member as of now. These members, according to Nicolescu, by joining the group accepted the fact that they are trying to change something. “I am sorry to say that I have no idea what the environmental study groups are,” Nicolescu said.

140 AUBG students joined another Facebook group, "OCC Resistance."

Junior Vassil Borislavov Stoitsev was one of the two students in the IT study group.“It is something concerning the students, so the students have to be involved,” he said. He said that improving the quality of the connection is more sophisticated than just requesting better internet.

“Strategic planning is the most important thing an institution can do,” said Lucia Miree who has a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Communication. According to Miree, the excitement of a planning process that unites everyone is more important than the plan itself. 

A member of the “Liberal Arts Education and Demand for ‘Knowledge Workers’” study group, Miree said their report has good insights and that students had a lot of input as well. But group reports are “only the beginning talking points for a larger discussion,” she said.

“Students were given the opportunity to sign up for it . . . you can’t wait for larger interest if it is not there,” Miree said.