About the University of Central Asia (UCA)

Background
The fall of the Soviet Union brought with it both the withdrawal of much-needed resources invested in education in Central Asia, and new opportunities to create innovative institutions that could respond to the needs of communities in the region.

In 1994, President Rakhmonov of Tajikistan and His Highness the Aga Khan conceived the idea of a new university designed to address the unique educational, economic and cultural needs of mountain communities. In December 1995, an international Commission was established to study the idea and come up with relevant recommendations. The Commission on the Establishment of an International Institution of Higher Education was made up of fourteen distinguished academics, advocates and programme administrators from around the region and the world. It was supported by an additional nineteen experts who made up various sub-committees to study curricula, planning, finances, facilities development and recruitment. The Commission and its Sub-Committees met thirteen times over eighteen months, made frequent visits to the region and commissioned or received 78 papers. In 1998, the Commission endorsed the idea of a regional university to promote sustainable economic and social development within mountain communities. It included the recommendation that three main academic programmes be developed - continuing education, undergraduate and graduate programmes - and also included several recommendations regarding teaching and learning approaches, facilities and technology and student and faculty recruitment. These recommendations created the foundation for the planning of UCA.

UCA is Created
UCA was founded in 2000 by the governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and His Highness the Aga Khan. It is the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher education. The International Treaty and Charter establishing this secular and private University was signed by His Highness the Aga Khan and the Presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, ratified by the respective parliaments and registered with the United Nations. The Presidents are the Patrons and His Highness the Aga Khan is the Founding Patron and Chancellor of UCA. UCA is a private, independent, self-governing institution which will be governed by an independent Board of Trustees and led by a Rector. It will have three campuses of equal size and stature in each of the founding countries. Currently, the Director General of UCA is in charge of operations and planning at the Central Administration office in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

Vision
UCA was created to offer an internationally recognized standard of higher education in Central Asia and create knowledgeable, skilled and creative graduates who will contribute leadership, ideas and innovations to the transitioning economies and communities of the region.

Mission & Objectives
The mission of UCA is to promote the socio-economic development of Central Asia’s mountain societies, while at the same time helping the diverse peoples of the region to preserve and draw upon their rich cultural traditions and heritages as assets for the future.

Focus
With the understanding that education is central to development, UCA programmes are geared towards addressing key social and economic issues facing the region and particularly, mountain communities.

To reach the broadest spectrum of learners possible, UCA will offer a range of internationally recognized academic programmes, including undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree courses, non-degree preparatory courses for incoming degree candidates, and vocational, professional development and distance education courses for students and professionals beyond the three UCA campuses.

Values
UCA operates within a framework of values that espouses academic excellence, individual rights and security, responsibility to community and public service, and ethical and transparent operations of government and business.

Challenges and Opportunities: The Central Asian Context
Transitioning Economies: Mountain regions and transitioning economies face considerable challenges. The Soviet economic system directed economies in the republics towards interdependence on suppliers and markets within the Soviet Union. Today, post-Soviet Central Asian communities often find themselves poorly equipped to engage in the global economy. Communities within the region face profound poverty, isolation, shortages of capital and business skills, and a deteriorating physical and socio-educational infrastructure. There is an urgent need for educational programmes to prepare Central Asian students for the critical thinking, innovative approaches, rigorous international standards, and fast-changing information and technologies required for these transitioning economies to be competitive in the broader global economy.

Neglected Cultures & Communities: Seventy years of russification in the region has made it difficult to revive or preserve some cultural practices and traditions that were neglected or altered during Soviet times. Emigration from these isolated mountain regions after the post-Soviet economic collapse is compounding the problem of creating the next generation of caretakers for these cultures and communities. There is a need to revive and preserve these valuable traditions and cultures before they - and the communities that practice them - are lost forever.

Unique Resources: UCA recognizes mountain regions as a source of opportunity. They provide most of the world’s fresh water and have vast hydropower reserves; possess much of the world’s mineral wealth; have immense potential for agriculture and tourism; and play an important role in preserving the planet’s biodiversity. Above all, mountain regions are home to vigorous and capable men and women who are the bearers of diverse and rich cultures.

The challenges mountain communities in Central Asia face are not unique. They exist in mountain regions across the world, including the Himalayas, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Atlas and the Andes regions. In developing resources to better understand and address these challenges, UCA will contribute to the study and preservation of mountain cultures around the world.

An Unprecedented Endeavor: UCA will provide the people of Central Asia, particularly in mountain regions, with international, regional and local resources for them to address their own economic and cultural challenges. It will provide opportunities to generate income and create jobs, and develop skills and leadership to enable communities to participate fully in the global community. It will also help them preserve and benefit from the environment of which they are the guardians. All these changes will bring benefits that extend far beyond specific communities to societies as a whole.

UCA will link one of the world’s most isolated areas with the global intellectual community to provide student-centered, innovative teaching and learning methods, and encourage critical thinking and leadership in its graduates. UCA will also provide unprecedented opportunities for research, dialogue and inquiry on the economic and social development of Central Asia.

In the tradition of the ancient Silk Road that crossed Central Asia, UCA will create important dialogue across cultures and effective information highways to bring the latest academic pedagogies and technologies to Central Asia, while conveying the rich and diverse cultures and traditions of Central Asia to the rest of the world.

The Role of His Highness the Aga Khan
The Founding Patron and Chancellor of UCA, His Highness the Aga Khan, a direct lineal descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, through his daughter Fatima and her husband Ali bin Abu Talib, the Prophet’s cousin, is the 49th hereditary Imam, or spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community. The Ismailis are a culturally diverse community spread across the globe, including South and Central Asia, China, the Middle East, Iran, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe and North America.

A statesman and philanthropist, His Highness the Aga Khan represents a centuries-old tradition of leadership associated with his office to encourage human development, through individual self-fulfillment, as the key to social harmony and progress. He is the founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private, non-denominational development agencies that addresses a range of development issues including health, education, architecture, rural development and the promotion of civil society and private sector initiatives. The AKDN’s agencies collaborate in working towards a common goal - building institutions and programmes that respond to the dynamic challenges of social, economic and cultural change. Active in over 30 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, the Network’s institutions work for the common good of all citizens, regardless of origin, gender or religion. UCA is an active member in this network.

The Aga Khan is also the founder and Chancellor of The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, the first private university in the country. Founded in 1983, The Aga Khan University is now a thriving academic and training institution with a range of facilities and programmes, including a University hospital, Medical College, School of Nursing, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, and Institute for Educational Development.