SCA DAS FEIGENBAUM'S MEETING WITH AUCA IN BISHKEK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001490 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND SCA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO KG SUBJECT: SCA DAS FEIGENBAUM'S MEETING WITH AUCA IN BISHKEK BISHKEK 00001490 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: SCA DAS Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met with American University of Central Asia (AUCA) President Hurwitz and Vice President Beshimov on October 18 to discuss the state of AUCA and relations between the University and the Minister of Education. Though the disagreement regarding the accreditation of AUCA's law school has been temporarily resolved, AUCA faces a University-wide accreditation review by the Ministry of Education in April 2007. Dr. Hurwitz asked that the U.S. Government be creative in coming up with ways to express support for the university. Students participating in a roundtable with Feigenbaum and the Ambassador seemed untroubled by AUCA's future and preferred to focus on world events and HIPC. End summary. AUCA SEEKS USG ASSISTANCE -------------- ¶2. (C) SCA DAS Evan Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met with American University of Central Asia President Dr. Ellen Hurwitz and Vice President for Student Affairs Bakyt Beshimov at the university on October 18. AUCA, one of the premier private universities in Central Asia, has long been the standard bearer of an American-style liberal arts educational system, and has allowed students from across the region the opportunity to continue educations begun in the U.S. on exchange programs. Since July 2006, however, AUCA has been negotiating with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education over the status of its law program. The Ministry had closed several law programs -- including AUCA's -- for not meeting Kyrgyz educational standards. Through direct negotiations with the Ministry, and the active involvement of the Ambassador, AUCA was allowed temporarily to resume teaching law students. However, as a result of the compromise, the Ministry of Education will reevaluate the accreditation of all of AUCA's programs in April 2 ¶007. ¶3. (C) Hurwitz described the April 2007 accreditation process as an "existential threat" to the university. Beshimov added that the Kyrgyz government does not see the University as a symbol of cooperation, and said that there was a lack of understanding on the Kyrgyz Government side as to the role of the University and its unique teaching style. Done correctly, Beshimov added, AUCA could be a model for all the private universities in Kyrgyzstan. ¶4. (C) Turning to assistance from the United States Government, Hurwitz understood that any sort of bilateral agreement regarding the university between the two governments was not possible. However, she asked that the university's value to the United States and Kyrgyzstan be emphasized at every opportunity. Feigenbaum said that AUCA had been a topic in almost all of his official meetings during this visit and that the Embassy was actively engaged with the GOKG in representing AUCA interests. He said that he had been told by some GOKG interlocutors to expect a positive result to this disagreement and to the accreditation review. Beshimov asked if it would be possible for the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan to issue a joint statement outlining the benefits of AUCA. ¶5. (C) Hurwitz asked about U.S. assistance, such as possible funding for a new dormitory. The Ambassador emphasized that the first step was to solidify AUCA's legal basis. However, because of the enormous amount of support the United States has already invested in AUCA, the Ambassador emphasized that we very much wanted to see the Universities status normalized, and encouraged Hurwitz to engage legal counsel. She suggested that the University establish a working group with clear deadlines to provide several options on the way forward. Ambassador also suggested that the University consider ways to engage the present administration with AUCA, BISHKEK 00001490 002.2 OF 002 so the University is seen as a positive institution to educate Kyrgyz and Central Asian youth for future challenges, rather than an Akayev-era hold-over to be stripped of assets. AUCA STUDENT DISCUSSION -------------- ¶6. (C) Feigenbaum and the Ambassador met with a group of ten students from the International Relations, Business, and Psychology departments. The students were a mixture of Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Uzbek. Many of the students, the Turkmen in particular, were continuing their university studies after having been in the United States on a FLEX program. The students praised the quality of AUCA and seemed singularly untroubled by recent moves by the Ministry of Education. Students were far more interested in criticizing U.S. policy towards Ukraine, Belarus, and China. One student from Kyrgyzstan questioned the value of Kyrgyzstan joining the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program. Feigenbaum responded that joining HIPC is entirely up to Kyrgyzstan, and that reducing debt would draw investors and economic growth to Kyrgyzstan, and would not taint the Kyrgyz with the "poor country" label. ¶7. (C) Comment: AUCA does face long-term uncertainty. Until the March 2005 events, the university was a favorite institution of former President Akayev and his family. Blessed with this patronage, the university did not solidify its legal status with many formal agreements. While a portion of the dispute between AUCA and the Ministry of Education can be traced to personal grudges between Beshimov and Ministry officials (Beshimov is active in opposition politics),the majority of the problem can be traced to the murky legal history of the institution. The solution to this problem appears to be finding a way that would allow the Kyrgyz government to see past the technical issues, focus on the big picture, and find a creative way to establish the University as an international institution. By embracing AUCA, Kyrgyzstan can make itself a leader in education in Central Asia. We will continue to support AUCA and speak out about the importance of the institution. At the appropriate time, a joint statement cou ld reinforce this message. Yovanovitch YOVANOVITCH