KIMEP

World-Class
Education Based
on World-Class
Values

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KIMEP

What is a World-Class University?

Since the day we first began working in Almaty, KIMEP has always
aspired to become ‘world-class’ in every aspect of our operations.
This term is often used but rarely defined. As we strive to enter the
ranks of the world’s elite universities in the near future, KIMEP will
base all its efforts on the following definition:

A world-class university should produce eminently qualified

graduates with the values, expertise, skills and knowledge
which are consistent with and relevant to, the society in which
they intend to serve 1.

In the next three years, KIMEP will have an internationally networked

campus, with active research, relevant teaching, demanding
programs and engaged students. This is simple to realize. We just
have to focus on doing it.

This was the task that President Nazarbayev entrusted to me in 1992. KIMEP is on the verge of fully
delivering on that trust and is ready to break into the top ranks of world universities.

Our strategy to deliver this focuses on five areas:

• Delivering a world-class student experience
• Building a world-class faculty
• Creating new knowledge
• Creating new programs
• Building global connections

We must be aware of the historic importance of our task and never forget our founding values which will
make this possible. KIMEP is not simply selling education. We are selling a culture. This culture is based on
openness, transparency and integrity. Respect and honesty is a prerequisite in all that we do, particularly in
our meticulous care for the well-being of students. Our students participate in every major decision in relation
to budgets, strategy, capital projects and even student discipline. They succeed in their programs on merit –
and only on merit.

This transparency and student focus is unique, not just in Kazakhstan, but in the world. KIMEP cannot
compete with Stanford or Harvard on research or reputation, but it can on culture. As the accreditation team
from NEASC stated in 2006, KIMEP was the most transparent institution they had ever visited. To have
achieved this in such a challenging environment is testament to our will and determination.

Our community must embrace our core values. The community will succeed or fail together over the next
three years. I hope that you will embrace this vision and join me in diligently implementing this plan. Everyone
has a key role to play in the creation of a genuinely world-class university. My honor is in your hands.

Chan Young Bang, Ph.D.,

President of KIMEP
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This definition draws on the work of the accreditation task force in Bang College of Business, led by Dr William Gissy. A further point of note here
is to understand that is not essential to be accredited to be world class. Nor is it always the case that accreditation by itself necessarily means world
class according to our definition. This view is shared by the BCB Accreditation Task Force.

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1. Delivering a World-Class Student Experience

Students matter. The core values of KIMEP are based on meticulous care for the well-being of our
students. We aim to guide our students through a world-class learning experience.

Recruiting Qualified Students
We will recruit qualified students whose values are
consistent with those of KIMEP. In the next academic
year we will institute changes to the admission
process which seek, through essays and interviews,
to identify those students who share our aspiration
to continue to modernize Kazakhstan and assist the
further development of a civil society

Providing support for excellence in We will attract students who are academically
qualified regardless of their financial means. Huge
Kazakhstan strides have been taken in this direction even in the
face of the global financial crisis. KIMEP will provide
over $2m of financial aid in 2010-2011, and external
support is projected to continue at around $1.8m.
However, we need to do more.

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Excellence in Central Asia

The International Office has begun a recruitment
campaign to attract up to 100 international students
from other Central Asian republics by offering full
scholarships. This will expand our reach into these
countries and reinforce our position as the leading
university in Central Asia.

Mentoring – A Student-Faculty
Partnership
Once students join us, we need to train them
effectively to become excellent graduates. Our
mentoring system next year will ensure that every
student has a faculty mentor who can guide them
through their studies and provide counseling on
their further development. This is about much
more than curriculum advising. Genuine mentoring
support will ensure that students produce their
best in and out of the classroom. To this end,
each faculty member will be allocated students to
support. Faculty will be asked to provide reports
each semester on the progress of their students.
In turn students will be asked their views on the
support provided. This will form a key part of the
evaluation process of faculty performance by
students in addition to teaching evaluations.

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Raising Academic Standards
We cannot claim relevance if our graduates have
only the bare minimum of knowledge when they
graduate. We will raise the minimum GPA above
current levels in some areas, particularly in core
courses and majors. It is not acceptable for students
to graduate with low GPAs. Raising graduation
requirements is a fundamental requirement if we
are to produce world-class graduates.
Research-Based Teaching
Transparent, Relevant Learning
KIMEP
Building Critical Thinking
We seek to develop a questioning attitude in our
students. This spirit of inquiry is the greatest gift that
we can give our students. Faculty development is
focusing on building these skills into the teaching
process and into curricula across the degree
programs.
Research is central to the teaching process.
Research-active faculty provide a deeper classroom
experience, providing up-to-date knowledge about
the region in which our students live and work.
We will continue to work to improve the knowledge
base of our graduates. Assessment systems will
demonstrate relevance and qualification. Currently
we are open to accusations that we cannot back up
our claims about the quality of our graduates. How
can we claim relevance and quality without evidence?
More transparent assessment systems will inform
students what they will learn, when they will learn it
and demonstrate that they have learned.
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Relevant, Benchmarked Exit Tests Exit tests will be developed which are tailored to
each program to demonstrate that course, major
and program outcomes are being met and allow us
to demonstrate continuous improvement in outputs.
These will be designed to allow us to compare our
graduates with those of institutions in the USA which
use the same curricula.

Consultation with Stakeholders We will consult with stakeholders through advisory

councils to assess their perceptions of the relevance
of the skills and knowledge of our graduates. We
also need to gain their input to ensure continuing
relevance and continuous improvement

Research to Build the Evidence Our institutional research team will carry out a range
of surveys to assess external perceptions of the
Base quality of our graduates.

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2. Building a World-Class Faculty

The faculty are the heart of the Institute. In the next three years, we will develop a stable faculty
combining the best in the world with the best of Kazakhstan to deliver a relevant, thoughtful educational
experience to our students.

A Student-Centered Faculty
To train excellent students, we need more excellent
faculty. In August 2010, 28 new faculty and academic
administrators will join us. To ensure that they can
maximize their contribution, they need to be fully
oriented. A full orientation program will be put in place
to guarantee that our new colleagues fully understand
our core values and mission and are prepared from
day one to deliver a student-centered education.

An Optimum Faculty
A target has been set for a minimum net gain of 15
terminal degree holders a year for the next three
years in order to achieve an optimum number of
faculty to deliver on our mission. This will mean that
by 2013, KIMEP will be able to boast of over 100
terminal degree holders managing and delivering
our programs. This will account for over 80% of
faculty in the CSS and BCB and will be a remarkable
achievement given the operating environment.

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Stable Faculty with World-Class

Compensation
While new faculty are important, a stable faculty is
fundamental. We need to retain our best faculty.
The key to retention is a combination of a globally
competitive compensation and an attractive working
environment, which we will do everything in our power
to deliver. Despite the external challenges of the global
crisis and devaluation, KIMEP faculty salaries have
greatly increased in recent years. Combined with the
favorable tax regime in Kazakhstan, our salaries are
definitely internationally competitive. However, this
is not enough. We need to pay significantly more
than the best US and European institutions to attract
the best faculty to Kazakhstan. Over the next three
years, KIMEP will continue this process and increase
average salaries by a minimum of 15% per year.
This will mean average increases of over 50%. Our
average salaries will be among the highest in the
world.

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Rewarding Committed Faculty Fair evaluation of the performance of our faculty is
fundamental to ensuring that those who contribute
are adequately rewarded. An evaluation system
which does not reward high performers is contrary
to my vision of a world-class university. In effect,
such a system rewards underperformance and
demoralizes those who do contribute significantly.
Clear performance differentiation is essential. Those
who perform will be well rewarded with substantial
merit-based salary increases. Those who do not
contribute will be asked to leave. Underperformers
will not be allowed to remain.

Building our Kazakhstani Faculty

A fundamental part of our mission is to contribute to
the modernization of the higher education system
by developing Kazakhstani faculty to work at KIMEP
and by providing an attractive working environment
for those Kazakhstani citizens returning from doctoral
studies overseas. Kazakhstani terminal faculty
serve as role models for our students. They can
also contribute more to the development of faculty
stability than our international faculty can, as their
ties lie outside Kazakhstan. KIMEP currently has
sixteen faculty on study leave in Europe, the UK and
USA. When they rejoin us, they will boost the number
of Kazakhstani terminal faculty. We will continue to
support this process.

Growing our own Faculty

Our pioneering DBA program has yielded its first
graduate this year. Over the next three years, twelve
to fifteen more will complete the program. The College
of Social Sciences is finalizing the development of an
inter-disciplinary doctoral program in social sciences,
which will produce up to twenty terminal degree
holders in the next three to five years. Taken together,
this adds up to a major institutional commitment to
developing our Kazakhstani faculty. It also makes my
target of a minimum of 30% of our terminal faculty
being Kazakhstani nationals eminently realizable.

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3. Creating New Knowledge

Our faculty will develop new research to improve the classroom experience and raise the global profile
of KIMEP to ensure that that our students gain from the rich knowledge of our global networks.

Focus on Applied Research

KIMEP was founded to provide applied relevant
research to help shape the transition of the country
to a market economy and civil society. While some
progress has been made, there needs to be a
clearer emphasis on what we expect our research
contribution to be. To bring focus to this, a series
of research centers will be created to support
the development of applied research agendas.
Internal Focus and External Profile
In Bang College, research centers in leadership, The creation of research centers will provide an internal
currency and commodities, taxation, and tourism focus and also raise our external profile, positioning
and hospitality will be created. In the College of KIMEP as the place of choice for any international
Social Sciences, Eurasian and European studies researcher who wishes to pursue a research agenda
centers will be launched, as well as linguistics and in Central Asia. Increased emphasis will be placed
pedagogy centers in the Language Center. An on the publication of journals highlighting research
international financial law research center will also across KIMEP.
be assessed in the School of Law, which will be re-
established in August 2010.

Research Means Relevant Teaching

Research is also integral to the teaching process.
Active research improves the classroom experience,
providing up-to-date knowledge about the region in
which our students live and work. Over the next year,
there will be a significant increase in the amount of
case study research on issues and organizations of
regional relevance. These case studies will be taught
in the classroom and prepared for publication to
build our profile and increase the relevance of our
programs.

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4. Creating New Programs
KIMEP has a mission to serve the development of a civil society and market economy. To widen the
range of our service, we will create new programs where there is an indentified need.
Diversifying to deliver our mission
KIMEP has a sound foundation of programs. However,
we need to be continually aware of changing market
needs and new opportunities.
In the College of Social Sciences
CSS has undergone major program reviews this
year to improve the relevance of programs. The
forthcoming interdisciplinary Ph.D. program will add
further depth to the college portfolio
In BCB and CCE
A cross-college initiative between CCE and BCB is
exploring the potential for a hybrid distance learning
model to deliver an MBA for senior managers
without English skills, who KIMEP currently does not
support.
KIMEP
In the School of Law
The School of Law is in the preliminary stages of
developing an undergraduate law program, blending
Kazakhstani legal expertise with the Western learning
model KIMEP is famous for.
In Bang College of Business
Currently in BCB, work is ongoing to introduce majors
in leadership at graduate and undergraduate level,
as well as an undergraduate major in tourism and
hospitality.
And in the Language Center
The Language Center is actively considering
launching an undergraduate English program in
2011.
All of these new initiatives are about finding new
ways to increase the scope and depth of our means
to deliver on our mission and maximize our impact by
entering new markets.
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5. Building Global Connections

To be world-class, KIMEP needs to raise its profile as a member of the global academic community.
We will continue to bring the world to KIMEP in a variety of ways.

Global faculty Global Summer School

Our core faculty here in Almaty demonstrate our
international credentials on a daily basis. We will
continue to build on this .
Global research
The creation of research centers and increased research
output will play a key part in raising our global profile.
In 2010, KIMEP will have a genuinely international
summer school. Twenty-two faculty have signed
contracts and will join us in July for the Summer II
session. They are drawn from leading universities
in the USA, UK, India, Europe and Korea. KIMEP
is also advertising heavily with our partner
universities to bring international students to
KIMEP. The campus will be bustling in July with
visitors from around the world. KIMEP will cement
friendships with many faculty, students and
universities during this session, which we will build
on in the years to come. At the same time, we will
give our own students a unique experience which
they will never forget.

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When KIMEP achieves this strategy, we will be delivering a world-

class student experience with a world-class faculty, who are actively
creating new knowledge. KIMEP will have developed a range of new
programs and will have global connections embedded throughout
our operations. When we achieve this, we will have delivered on the
mission set by President Nazarbayev. To deliver this, all members of
the KIMEP community must collaborate. Working together, we will make
it happen.

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KIMEP

www.kimep.kz

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