Notes from the President

The APU Office of the President has been engaged in institutional research (IR) and discussions for the past several years. It has at long last entered the implementation stage at APU.

My interpretation of IR is to collect, monitor and analyze data, and ultimately to propose a set of measures for reform and improvement in the following five areas: 1) The degree to which students acquire generic skills such as critical and logical thinking, practical communication skills in both their mother tongue and additional languages, liberal arts knowledge in areas such as history, philosophy and also in their area of specialization. 2) The degree to which students are satisfied with the education, faculty and student life at APU. 3) The academic and research performance of faculty member and the degree to which they are satisfied with their educational and research environment and working conditions. 4) The performance of non-academic staff and the degree to which they are satisfied with their working conditions including SD opportunities, and 5) the level of our human, financial and intellectual resources at APU.

Regularly gathering and cross-analyzing information about our faculty, staff and students including students’ nationality, age, college affiliation, achievement record at high school and APU, scholarships being received, study abroad and other experiences, can ultimately inform concrete university policy and reform.

Implementing IR will require an enormous amount of effort and cooperation from the student and faculty body, however each and every member of the APU community should understand why IR is necessary and why it should be put into action. The IR process can be compared to a regular medical checkup that aims to monitor, through measuring your body temperature and blood pressure, how healthy one is physically and mentally. In the same sense, IR aims to monitor whether APU is functioning well and to see if there are any bugs in the system. And if bugs are discovered, APU will have to take actions to constantly remain one step ahead of them.