Director of International Office – Mrs. Olha O. Hlazova
The International Center of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University manages collaboration with our partner institutions abroad. The guiding principles for international collaboration at UACU are the internationalization of education and science, enhancing international research, and further integration in the global academic and research community through the following activities:
- establishing international partnerships and developing direct contacts with the leading educational centers and institutions of Central and Western Europe, Asia, Africa, the USA, Canada, and CIS states;
- attracting international students to UACU under enrollment agreements;
- developing and expanding international academic mobility through faculty, staff and student exchanges, and attracting foreign experts to teach at UACU;
- jointly with our foreign partners, setting up education centers in order to provide quality training in terms of background knowledge and skills;
- fostering international experiences for UACU faculty through participation in international academic forums;
- promoting and engaging in joint collaborative research programs with our international partners;
- pursuing international grants and funding opportunities;
- holding international research-to-practice conferences dedicated to furthering research, practice and policy within the academic goals of UACU.
The primary direction of UACU International Center caters for international admissions and the organization of the educational stay of foreign students at UACU. Ukrainian-American Concordia University provides education to foreign citizens and stateless persons relying upon the Laws of Ukraine “On Higher Education”, “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”, “On Foreign Ukrainians”, and other relevant regulations.
All international students are to pay the established tuition fees (payable by private individuals and legal entities with their own funds) and are to sign an enrollment agreement with UACU.
The fundamental values for education at UACU are:
- equality and intellectual independence;
- development of a wide breadth of knowledge;
- commitment to global human values.
The International Center’s activities and services for UACU’s international students are as follows:
- the organization, planning and control of their academic life;
- nurturing and guidance on a range of issues from their academic efficiency to better adaptation in Ukraine;
- orientation and counseling regarding their new environment, accepted norms of public behavior in Ukraine, Ukrainian legislation underpinning the stay of foreigners, and the UACU Code of Conduct;
- providing visa and registration support;
- facilitating medical plans and casualty insurance;
- informational and methodological support in foreign languages.
UACU International Center establishes and successfully maintains contacts with our partner universities abroad, incl. Concordia University Wisconsin (USA), the University of Minnesota Crookston (USA), East Central University (Oklahoma, США), Schiller International University (Florida, USA), Richmond American University (London, UK), Indiana Wesleyan University (Indiana, USA), the University College Plymouth St Mark and St John (or Plymouth Marjon University; Plymouth, UK), the University of Koblenz-Landau (Germany), the Trier University (in German: Hochschule Trier; Germany), the University of Applied Sciences Worms (in German: Fachhochschule Worms; Worms, Germany), the Ukrainian Free University (Munich, Germany), The Kazakh American Free University (Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan).
The language of instruction at UACU is English. International students are offered a two-year course in the Ukrainian language.
UACU attracts to the teaching process researchers, visiting scholars, and experts, who deliver lectures, conduct workshops, organize master classes and supervise our students’ academic papers and projects.
UACU actively collaborates with Peace Corps in Ukraine, the Fulbright Program for international exchange, the British Council, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Pearson Education (Longman) and Dinternal Education, which engage in soliciting scholars to teach at institutions of higher education, including UACU, in accordance with the requirements and standards set by the world’s leading universities.
We are constantly developing and establishing new international partnerships through collaborative
agreements in the following areas:
- the enhancement of the existing programs and curricula, development of perspective educational programs and courses, methodological support and innovative teaching strategies, methods and techniques, and their implementation in the teaching process;
- organization of and administering faculty exchanges aimed at their professional development;
- organization of undergraduate and graduate internships for UACU students in partner organizations, institutions, and enterprises;
- the involvement of students in workshops, tutorials, conferences, and summer/winter internships;
- mutual recognition of curricula, educational programs, and diplomas with an opportunity to continue education on other programs at our partner institutions.
International collaboration partnerships encourage the implementation of technological innovation in teaching and learning; enhances a broader depth of knowledge in UACU’s students and faculty; enables our students to deepen their foreign language competences; and provides for the professional development of our academic staff.
