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End-of-Year Message: Celebrating Success

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End-of-Year Message: Celebrating Success

June 1, 2023

Dear AUC Community,

This academic year has not been without challenges. Before I get to those, I want to start by thanking all of the members of the AUC community who continued to forge ahead in making our University standout on the national and regional stage. I am proud of all of your accomplishments and honored to be part of a community dedicated to striving for excellence in everything we do. The examples are far too many to list here, but I will share three key achievements this academic year.

#AUCClimateChange: AUC’s outstanding participation in COP27 brought to the forefront our commitment to combating climate change and allowed us to contribute a large number of research projects, papers and practical ideas to global efforts. Not only did this bring together faculty from across the University to find interdisciplinary approaches, but it also provided a model for others to emulate. Our role in COP27 was an early activity in AUC’s Climate Change Initiative launched a year ago as an area of institutional focus in our research, program offerings and outreach. It is a salient reminder of the role leading universities like AUC must play in addressing the global challenges of our time in a locally relevant context. 

Largest Grants in AUC History: The second major achievement this year demonstrates both our international reputation and stature in Egypt. We secured an $86 million Egyptian Pioneers program grant from USAID — the largest competitive grant in AUC history. This also makes AUC one of the largest institutional recipients of USAID grants in higher education. The grant will fund an AUC-led consortium of local and international partners, including 11 Egyptian universities, 35 private-sector companies and associations, and 22 prominent US universities. Together, we will develop a more inclusive and capable workforce to support Egypt’s economic growth with a focus on the country’s climate change goals. In addition, in April, we received another $85 million grant in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, to support the ministry’s transformative vision for higher education in Egypt. 

AUC Road to College: Thirdly, AUC launched the Road to College program, becoming the first educational institution in the Middle East to offer free, English-language online courses designed specifically for high school students in Egypt. The courses, which are academically and culturally tailored, will enable Egyptian high school students to compete for admission to English-language universities, including AUC and other institutions in Egypt or abroad. Shortly after its launch, the program had reached more than 200,000 learners in every governorate in Egypt and 90 countries.

These significant achievements would not have been possible without the contributions of hundreds of faculty members and staff across the University. In addition to these institutional achievements, this year saw many examples of individual recognition on the national and global stage of our faculty members and students who competed in international competitions and won numerous prestigious awards.

Commitment to Our Community 

These achievements are all the more impressive against the backdrop of the challenges we faced this year due to the impact of the devaluation. Our strategy remains focused on supporting those most impacted on the short-term, primarily students and staff. 

For Our Students:

We will not be increasing tuition in USD terms for the 2023-2024 academic year. Nonetheless, we realize that the devaluation has caused a significant increase in EGP terms. In light of this, we have allocated an additional $8 million in financial assistance in next year’s budget, above our regular support, to ensure we are able to meet the needs of our current students. As of Spring 2023, more than 3,700 students or roughly 58% of all students at AUC do not pay full tuition and receive financial support. Of that number, around 1,200 receive full-tuition coverage. We remain committed to ensuring all of our current students can complete their degree at AUC. Starting Fall 2023, the Excellence Scholarship Program, which is based on both merit and need, will ensure AUC is accessible to the top students from Egypt and from around the world.

For Our Staff and Faculty:

In addition to interventions for students, we were able to make an allocation in next year’s budget for salary increases for all employees starting with the July payroll. The increases for staff who are paid fully in EGP will range from 12% to 22% based on job level and performance with the highest increments going to those at the lowest end of the pay scale. Faculty members, US-based staff and employees whose salaries are USD denominated will receive salary increases averaging 1.5% based on performance. HR and the provost’s office will be issuing individual letters to staff and faculty, respectively.

Beyond mitigating some of the immediate impacts of the devaluation on our community and our operation, we are engaging in longer term planning exercises to protect our financial sustainability in the long run. The work we have begun this year to realize efficiencies, eliminate waste and optimize our operations across the board will pick up momentum and continue next year. 

Strategic Priorities 

Our rising recognition on the national and international front, while successfully navigating through the devaluation, gives confidence in our capability to fully realize AUC’s ambitions that we formulated this year in the Strategic Priorities Roadmap. We have made significant progress on many of the items we identified as strategic priorities. From imagining the academic programs of the future and serving our students to impactful research and building capacity of Egypt’s workforce, we have meaningful initiatives underway. To support these strategic priorities, we are moving ahead with several campus development projects after successfully securing the necessary approvals to move ahead. 

Over the summer, we will be preparing for the next academic year and the many milestones we expect to advance. As we wrap up the year and look to the graduate and undergraduate commencement ceremonies this month, I invite you to our last Campus Conversation and ice-cream social on June 8 at 1 pm to celebrate the end of a remarkable year and discuss some of our plans for next year. 

I hope the summer gives you an opportunity to relax and recharge, and look forward to welcoming you back to campus in the fall. 

Sincerely,

Ahmad Dallal
President