Let's live up to our new name

By Carol Ridder
Co-Editor

What's in a name? "Anglo-American University" is sweeter than "Anglo-American College" to many ears at our newly re-named institution. In the United States, college and university are almost interchangeable terms. "She's going to college," my friend said of her daughter at the University of North Carolina. "College," to most European minds, stands for an educational system below the university level. The word "university" gives AAU the weight it needs to grow in Central Europe.

Grow it must if it is to stay alive as a university in Prague. Mitchell Young, the academic director, recognizes this fact. He is revving AAU into third gear by looking for universities in the West that will offer partnership programs to help AAU grow. Kevin Capuder, chair of the School of Business Administration, is working to offer students a Master's in Business program by the spring of 2005 with the help of a Western institution. Michael Kodua, chair of the School of Legal Studies, is in the process of seeking validation -- a form of accreditation -- for Legal Studies through the University of Wales. If developed carefully, partnerships with foreign universities should bring higher academic standards and higher degrees for AAU students. Students will have also have the opportunity to study abroad at partner universities.

There's a role for students in the development of such partnerships. As AAU administrators progress in obtaining foreign affiliations and in developing other ideas to help the institution grow and improve, students should keep an eagle eye on how things are going. Is the quality of the educational product improving? Are there areas that the your university should be paying more attention to? Student voices, visions and actions should play a role in helping AAU to live up to its new name.


--Carol Ridder can be reached at ridford@terminal.cz.

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