by Ann M. Koenig of the AACRAO international staff
Were you planning to attend this session at the AACRAO Annual meeting in New Orleans this year? No need for disappointment! Thanks to our colleagues in the Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan, you can “attend” the presentation from your desk
as a free AACRAO Webinar on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 11:00 am ET.
Dr. Hasan Huseynli from Baku, Azerbaijan, and Dr. Chino Chinchaladze from Tbilisi, Georgia, will join AACRAO international staff member Ann Koenig to present a Webinar version of the session they were planning
to give at this year’s Annual Meeting. Both Dr. Huseynli and Dr. Chinchaladze are familiar faces in our international education community, through their work in the EducationUSA network and their long-time leadership in many national and international organizations. They have participated in previous AACRAO Annual Meetings, providing updates on their countries at the Annual Meetings in New Orleans in 2010 and Baltimore in 2015. It’s
time for another update.
If you evaluate credentials from these countries or are involved in student mobility or institutional relationship programs, you’ll be interested to know that internationalization continues to be a key focus of higher education in both countries.
Both countries have created a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) as a tool for international portability and recognition of credits and degrees. Institutions in both countries are establishing joint degree programs with institutions
in other countries, including the United States. In Georgia, the US government’s Millenium Challenge Corporation is supporting improvements in the quality
of STEM education, resulting in partnerships and degree programs between US and Georgian higher education institutions that include ABET accreditation goals.
International credential evaluators will benefit from up-to-date essentials for reviewing academic credentials presented by Ann Koenig of AACRAO. EducationUSA outreach is facilitated by the American Councils for International Education in Azerbaijan and the Center for International Education (CIE) in Georgia,
where colleagues welcome your questions about their educational systems and your interest in connecting with students and institutions, and Dr. Chinchaladze, Executive Director of the CIE in Tbilisi, will describe the CIE’s EducationUSA
advising centers and activities. Dr. Huseynli was the director of the EducationUSA center in Ganja, Azerbaijan, for more than 10 years. The presenters will also share information about the current environment in their countries due to COVID-19
closures and how they are affecting education.
The aim of this Webinar is to help colleagues gain knowledge and confidence in working with students and their documents from the South Caucasus region, and learn about the networks and resources provided by AACRAO, EducationUSA and official sources
in Azerbaijan and Georgia. The presenters look forward to “seeing” you online soon!