Student Report outlines problems, developments

Georgieva will report to the BoT meeting in Blagoevgrad, May 14-16. (Photo from defacto archives)

Student Representative (Stud Rep) to the Board of Trustees (BoT) Nora Georgieva wrote the third and final report she will present at the BoT meeting on May 16. The document outlines positive developments at AUBG, as well as the problems the administration and the student body faced throughout the academic year.

"I think that the issues presented in my report are worthy of the Board's attention. I did not include the problems which were discussed on the local level," Georgieva said. "I gathered the data for the report from student e-mails, SG members - Filip Taseski helped with data from SG committees," Georgieva added.

The low number of elective courses offered per semester is the first problem Georgieva mentioned in the report, especially in the Business Administration, Computer Science and Journalism and Mass Communications departments. The problem is further worsened by the late hiring process of new staff. Professors are often approved right before the beginning of a new semester, the report reads.

The report provides information about a new regulation that does not allow students to pre-register for electives in the major towards which they have completed more than 45 credits. "While writing the report I consulted [...] Steve Sullivan, Ann Ferren and Latchezar Filtchev on various areas and their problems," Georgieva said.

"The students expect that the administration, in cooperation with the SG, will be able to design a permanent solution to the recurring pre-registration problems," the report reads.

The absence of a service agreement between the Office of Communications and Computing (OCC) and the students is an issue already mentioned by Georgieva in her previous report. "There was no such agreement since the beginning of the university's history," Georgieva said. "Such a document is meant to specify the parameters of the service delivered by the OCC such as what hardware, software, and level of support the office provides to the students," Georgieva mentioned in her report. Another OCC-related problem Georgieva included in the report is the inaccessibility of the Registrar's Office website (reg.aubg.bg) from outside the AUBG network. "The solution to this problem is to buy an Integrated Academic Information System. I know that the university's funds are limited but the benefits from this purchase will positively affect everybody," Georgieva said.

The positive developments of this year include awards won by AUBG students and their participation in international events. The Internet access speed increased shortly after the OCC renegotiated their agreement with the Internet service provider without incurring any additional cost. This year the AUBG community attended a variety of lectures by prominent professors and experts in certain academic areas. Furthermore, university clubs proved to be highly organized and devoted, as they created numerous events such as plays, presentations and sport competitions.