Analysis of s in Caucasus countries Authors: Juraj Nemec, Slovak Republic György Gajduschek, Hungary David Špaček, Czech Republic
Copyright 2015 by NISPAcee The Network of Institutes and Schools of in Central and Eastern Europe http://www.nispa.org Analysis of s in Caucasus countries Analysis of s in Caucasus countries was developed within the framework of V4EaP Extended Standard project No. 21370078: Capacity Building of Caucasus Academic PA Programmes the basis of EU ve Principles jointly implemented by project partners: NISPAcee - The Network of Institutes and Schools of in Central and Eastern Europe, Slovak Republic LTD "Caucasus, Georgia Russian-Armenian (Slavic), Armenia Khazar, Azerbaijan Juraj Nemec, Slovak Republic Gyorgy Gajduschek, Hungary Patrycja Suwaj, Poland David Spacek, Czech Republic with the support of Internatial Visegrad Fund (www.visegradfund.org). Authors: Juraj Nemec, Slovak Republic György Gajduschek, Hungary David Špaček, Czech Republic Reviewers: Marina Mikeladze, Georgia Nino Kakubava, Georgia Sergi Kapanadze, Georgia Irena Melua, Georgia Mariam Voskanyan, Armenia Edward Sandoyan, Armenia Raziya Isayeva, Azerbaijan Nagi Bayramli, Azerbaijan Patrycja Suwaj, Poland The opinis of the authors and reiewers do not necessarily reflect the views of project partners and Internatial Visegrad Fund. NISPAcee is an internatial associati focused public administrati. Its missi is to promote and strengthen the effective and democratic governance and modernisati of public administrati and policy throughout the NISPAcee regi. 2 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Introducti This analysis is e of the core outputs from the project Capacity Building of Caucasus Academic PA Programs the basis of EU ve Principles supported by the Internatial Visegrad Fund. The analysis will be supplemented by a secd document Recommendatis. The primary aim of the project is to share the knowledge and experience of V4 and Caucasus in public administrati teaching, training and research for institutial and administrative capacity building, based EU administrative principles. This analysis is delivered the basis of the prepared and agreed project guidelines for the mitoring and analysis of existing PA s in the Caucasus area. The guidelines were prepared by all participating experts, discussed -line and during the project meeting in Budapest in May, 2014 and approved by all the project partners. The guidelines set down the rules for analysing and evaluating PA s in the Caucasus Universities and were developed the basis of an internatially accepted set of evaluati criteria. The guidelines distinguish between two levels of analysis: 1. Mitoring of PA s in the Caucasus area: collecting basic data about the situati and its analysis. 2. Evaluati of PA s in the Caucasus area: preliminary or comprehensive evaluati of the quality of a given, based the experience gained from two important public administrati accreditati systems the system of CIAPA (Commissi of Internatial Accreditati of, United Natis and Internatial Associati of Schools and Institutes of initiative) and the accreditati criteria of EAPAA (European Associati for Accreditati). Both levels of our investigatis are based informati ccerning PA s in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, provided by partners and respective schools during the project period and also during the workshop and cference organised in March, 2015 in Tbilisi, Georgia. 3 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
PA s in the Caucasus area basic informati Following the guidelines prepared for mitoring PA s, we were able to identify basic informati PA educati in the Caucasus regi. The summary of what PA s are offered in the three countries of the regi can be seen in the following Table. Table 1 - PA s in the Caucasus area summary Coun try Faculty Program Level Head of the Respsible pers, ctact Web page ARMENIA Russian- Armenian (RAU) European in Armenia / European Educatial Regial Academy Academy of the Republic of Armenia Armenian of Ecomics Institute of Ecomi cs and Business Ecom y and Manage ment PUBLIC ADMINIS TRATION AND PUBLIC FINANCE CHAIR OF NAGE MENT ti ti PA Program PA Program Master of Arts in Managem ent Bachelor of Arts in Managem ent Master of Arts in Managem ent, Suvaryan Arzik Doctor of Ecomics, Professor H. Marzpanyan, Narine Kirakosyan, Chair of the Management in the European Educatial Regial Academy Grisha Gspoyan, Head of the Chair: candidate of geographical sciences, Associate Professor Yuri Suvaryan Full member of Natial Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Ecomic Sciences, Professor Mariam Voskanyan, PhD, Associate Professor Head of Chair of Ecomic theory and issues of transiti ecomy voskanyanm@gmail.co m H. Marzpanyan Narine Kirakosyan, Chair of the Management in the European Educatial Regial Academy E-mail kirakosyannarine@yah oo.com Tereza Khechoyan, Vice-Rector for Internatial Relatis, Associate Professor; Department of PA & Finance Khechoyantereza@yah oo.com Yuri Suvaryan Full member of Natial Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Ecomic Sciences, Professor http://www.rau.a m/eng http://www.eriict a.am/ www.paara.am http://www.asue. am/ru 4 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
AZERIJAN Azerbaijan Ecomic The Academy of under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Naxchivan Qafqaz ADA Baku Business Ecomy and regulatio n of social sphere Administ rati manage ment, PA & manage ment Social Manage ment and Law Faculty of Ecomi c and Administ rative Sciences Ecomy and manage ment faculty, Industry Organiza ti and Municipa l manage ment PA / Standard approved by the Ministry of Educati of Azerbaijan Republic PA / Standard approved by the Ministry of Educati of Azerbaijan Republic PA / Standard approved by the Ministry of Educati of Azerbaijan Republic ti / Standard approved by the Ministry of Educati of Azerbaijan Republic Policy PA / Standard approved by the Ministry of Educati of Azerbaijan Republic,,, Prof. Alirzayev Ali Raqif Muallim Telephe: +994 12 465 28 73 +99450 320 72 27 050560 0920 Bayim Nabiyeva, Internatial Office b.a.nabiyeva@gmail.co m www.aseu.az/ind ex.php?opti=co m_k2&view=item &id=301:sosialsferan%c4%b1niqtisadiyyat%c4% B1-v%C9%99- idar%c9%99- olunmas%c4%b1 &Itemid=167&lan g=en Xatira Huseynova +99412 4978331 http://www.dia.e du.az/eldar.php Hafiz Huseynov 050 4423535 Zafar Hasanov, Head of Project Development and Technology Transfer Department Nakhchivan city, Nakhchivan campus, AZ 7012 Tel: (+99436) 544-07- 54 Roya Seferli royaseferli@hotmail.co m Khirdalan city, Hasan Aliyev str. 120,Baku,Absher,AZ 0101, Azerbaijan Telephe: +99412 4482862-66 Fax: 99412 4482861 pa-info@qu.edu.az Zafar Hasanov zhasanov@qu.edu.az PA, MPP Vener Qarayev Vener Qarayev vgarayev@ada.edu.az, Ibrahim Tel: (+99412) 4317951, Mammadov (+99412) 4319118 Fax: (+99412) 4300780 info@bbu.edu.az Address: 88a H. Zardabi St. Baku, Azerbaijan, AZ1011 Internatial relatis office +994 12 4317951 (132) http://ndu.edu.az /en/ctent/185/ http://pa.qu.edu. az/ www.ada.edu.az http://bbu.edu.az /az/about/32 5 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
GEORGIA Caucasus of Georgia, Business, Ecomics and Managemen t Ilia Javakhishvili Internatial Black Sea Grigol Robakidze Georgian Institute of Affairs (GIPA), Government Caucasus Governa nce Business, Ecomi cs and Manage ment Business, Ecomi cs and Manage ment Arts and Science Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Departm ent of Political Science Faculty of Social Sciences Administ rati and Politics Governm ent ti ti ti Policy and ti ti and Policy ti ti and Politics PA Policy Local Governanc e Sergi Kapanadze Dean of the School skapanadze@cu.e du.ge Nodar Kherkheulidze Head of PA 577987802 nkherkheulidze@ gmail.com Nodar Kherkheulidze Head of PA 577987802 nkherkheulidze@ gmail.com Archil Abashidze Head of the PA 599 45 10 52 archil_abashidze @illiauni.edu.ge Nana Macharashvili Head of PA 555575020 nana.macharashvi li@tsu.ge Ivanna Machitidze Internatial Relatis and Head 57136 36 40 imachitidze@ibsu.edu.ge Ana Partskhalashvili Head of the PA 595 22 77 30 annalaliani@hot mail.com Nino Dolidze Head of the PA 591 19 43 19; n.dolidze@gipa.g e Nino Kakubava nkakubava@gmail.com Nodar Kherkheulidze Head of PA 577987802 nkherkheulidze@gmail.com Nodar Kherkheulidze Head of PA 577987802 nkherkheulidze@gmail.com Archil Abashidze Head of the PA 599 45 10 52 archil_abashidze@illia uni.edu.ge Nana Macharashvili Head of PA 555575020 nana.macharashvili@ts u.ge Ivanna Machitidze Internatial Relatis and Program Head 57136 36 40 imachitidze@ibsu.edu. ge Ana Partskhalashvili Head of the PA 595 22 77 30 annalaliani@hotmail.c om Nino Dolidze Head of the PA 591 19 43 19; n.dolidze@gipa.ge www.cu.edu.ge www.ug.edu.ge http://www.iliaun i.edu.ge/ www.tsu.edu.ge www.ibsu.edu.ge www.gruni.edu.g e www.gipa.ge 6 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Samtskhe- Javakheti, Faculty of Law Tbeli Akaki Tsereteli, Kutaisi Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi Georgian Technical Free of Georgia Gori St. Tbel Abuseridze, Khulo/ Tbeli Sukhishvili s teaching Free of Tbilisi Governm ent Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Science Faculty of Business Administ rati Governa nce and Social Sciences Social Sciences Business and Law ti ti ti ti ti undergrad uate in Governanc e and Social Sciences ti ti ti Policy Analysis Malkhaz Lomsadze Dean of the Law 599 10 83 50 lomsadzem@gma il.com Razhden Putkaradze Head of PA David Gegechkori Head of Program 577 13 15 35 Irma Shioshvili Head of the PA 599 19 44 22 Shota Dogadze Program Director 577 405 677 shotad550@yaho o.com Malkhaz Lomsadze Dean of the Law 599 10 83 50 lomsadzem@gmail.co m Temur Tunadze Head of Quality Assurance Department 59943 03 68 David Gegechkori Head of Program 577 13 15 35 Irma Shioshvili Head of the PA 599 19 44 22 Shota Dogadze Program Director 577 405 677 shotad550@yahoo.co m N/A N/A N/A www.astu.edu.ge www.tbeli.ge www.atsu.edu.ge www.tesau.edu.g e http://www.gtu.g e http://www.gtu.g e N/A N/A www.gu.edu.ge N/A N/A N/A Thanks to the mitoring part of the project, we gathered particularly basic informati about the s (name, degree, university and faculty). In most cases we also obtained informati the missi of s and structure (list of compulsory and elective courses). Although required, we were not provided with graduate profiles in the vast majority of PA s identified. After the mitoring phase, the Caucasus project partners were asked to indicate which s from the regi would try to obtain pre-evaluati and comprehensive evaluati. In the case of s asking for pre-evaluati, the project guidelines required their representatives (in cooperati with 7 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Caucasus project partners) to provide our project team, in particular, with the following informati: structure (if not provided during the mitoring), mechanisms in place for ctinual evaluati, syllabi and CVs of academic staff involved in the. We also anticipated that syllabi and CVs would be standardised according to the template prepared for the purposes of the project. In case of a comprehensive evaluati, the aim was to evaluate s according to EAPAA accreditati (particularly the basis of peer-reviewed self-evaluati reports that would be prepared by representatives of the ). For the purposes of the workshop organised in March 2015 in Tbilisi, Caucasus project partners were also required to summarise the background informati their countries, namely informati the PA system and applied requirements the educati of civil servants, history of PA educati, current situati in PA educati (including the accreditati mechanisms) and current situati in PA research. In the following text we outline the main findings natial ctexts and the s which were evaluated. PA s in the Caucasus area: Evaluati of the existing situati On the basis of informati provided by the partners we can formulate the main cclusis about the current situati of PA academic educati in the Caucasus regi. The first group of comments is valid for the entire regi and the secd and third are country/ specific. Unfortunately, our report cannot be too positive much has to be de to reach real internatial standards (especially in a situati with limited local resources and top down motivati). A: Comm issues 1. The first very important (negative) finding is that there is very limited - almost n-existent - cooperati between PA s within the country and also in the regi. During the mapping of the structure of existing s several schools refused to provide any informati to their peers from project partners institutis. There is no natial or regial associati helping to improve and promote PA educati and training. This issue is not part of the internatial quality standards used for the evaluati of PA s, but harms any progress (and also indicates that s may be rather weak). Surprisingly, more internatial than local and regial cooperati is the feature of this regi (some schools have highly ranked internatial partners in developed countries). 2. The secd core set of findings is cnected with the core quality standard Faculty. The following core problems are identified: a. In no country did the staff, even professors, publish in any relevant peer reviewed internatial journals (we checked dozens of CVs, but did not find e paper in the WoS journal in the discipline). The quality of publicatis is the main issue that will be addressed. b. The involvement in main internatial PA organisatis is also rather limited ly a few teachers participate in NISPAcee cferences and almost all other cference outputs by the staff have a local or regial character. c. Only in a few Georgian schools did a significant proporti of staff have an educati or training from developed countries or speak fluent English. In most cases, the majority of 8 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
staff speaks local languages (and Russian) which is not sufficient to be in ctact with the discipline s progress. High quality experts from practice or English speaking scholars are sometimes hired a part-time basis (Azerbaijan, Georgia). d. Because of limited resources, some s rely too small a group of core own fulltime staff and most educati is delivered by part-time staff. e. A positive finding is the substantial involvement of practitiers (people with practical experience) in the educatial process, especially in Georgia; however, some schools indicate that the interest of public administrati practice to cooperate with universities is rather limited (especially Azerbaijan). 3. Weak library resources: this issue is a typical feature of all transitial countries and the main reass are a lack of finance to purchase internatial textbooks and journals and to produce a local resource base, but also the issue of teaching style (focusing ctact hours and not the individual work of students). Improved cooperati may create ecomies of scale with the potential for creating local resources that are crucial. US textbooks that are frequently used for teaching in most courses do not really suit local cditis. 4. Mismatch between what is demanded in the market and what is offered by higher educati: supply based curricula. It is evident from most curricula that there is a rather limited or almost no link between missi, visi, profile of the graduate and the curricula (most s do not have a clear opini of what their product is). The quality of curricula also significantly differs. Few s have relatively well-developed (by internatial such as EAPAA standards) curricula, but many provide s which are not well structured. In many cases, the levels of and are not well reflected in the curricula structure. The specific issues are the natial standards, which are discussed below. The curricula especially lack policy analysis and research methods courses. 5. Inadequate mitoring and evaluati policies/procedures by natial governments. During the project meetings we discussed natial accreditati systems all of which are state dominated, with an almost zero level of internatializati and without clear transparent qualifying criteria to become eligible to deliver a PA. 6. Insufficient implementatis of tools to fight rampant plagiarism student works are not screened for plagiarism and many of the existing books and articles written by staff are not really original. 7. Problems with the commitment from practitiers to higher educati: several universities make efforts to recruit those who work in public administrati, the political sphere which have benefits in terms of experience-sharing practitiers and students, but the academic impact is insufficient, because practitiers are not well-tuned to academic credentials, and especially not ready to deliver real academic work. 9 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
B: Country and specific issues 1. From the point of view of the size of the regi and of participating countries, there exist many s (the number of s in the country per number of inhabitants) in Georgia. Thirteen institutis delivering PA educati in such a small country is very interesting. We discussed this issue during the project meetings and there are some possible explanatis: a. PA studies are relatively popular for citizens and there is a demand for the high number of s (however, not all graduates work in PA). b. The natial accreditati system does not check the real quality of staff respsible for a proposed. c. The n-existence of a natial standard leads to delivering supply based curricula, cstructed the base of existing local capacities. 2. Limited access to informati a very surprising and almost comm negative finding is the fact that most s hide the necessary informati regarding the curricula, syllabi and staff. Not ly in English for the internatial audience, but also in the local language most web pages provide a basic descripti of the, but do not ctain more detailed info about the curriculum and staff. The experts do not really understand how future applicants can learn about the pre-selected and compare optis. 3. The comm feature for many s is very limited internatialisati and internatial cooperati. 4. Natial standards - s in Azerbaijan and Armenia are restricted by the system of natial (Azerbaijan, Armenian and Russian) standards for PA curricula. In particular, the Azerbaijan natial curricula do not follow internatial practice, neglecting many important courses see their structure: Bachelor Degree Program Standards Azerbaijan According to the Standard, approved by the Ministry of Educati of the Azerbaijan Republic, the bachelor degree will cover a 4-year study and students will have to gather 240 ECTS to graduate. The comprises three parts: Humanities 30 ECTS 1. History of Azerbaijan 7 2. Azerbaijan Language 5 3. Foreign Language 12 4. Elective courses 6 10 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Major 180 ECTS 1. Theories of Management 5 2. Microecomics 7 3. Macroecomics 6 4. Linear Algebra and Mathematical Analysis 7 5. Statistical analysis 5 6. Ecometrics 7 7. World Ecomy 5 8. Azerbaijan Ecomy 5 9. Accounting 5 10. Audit 5 11. Finance 5 12. Banking 5 13. Marketing 5 14. Human Resource Management 5 15. Informati Technology Applicatis 5 16. Informati Communicati Technologies 5 17. Business Communicati 3 18. Envirmental Ecomy 5 19. Regulatis of Ecomy 5 20. Civil Service 5 21. Law 5 22. Relatis 4 23. Municipal Management 5 24. Theory 5 25. Ethics of Civil Service 5 26. Civil Defense 3 27. Electives 34 Practicum and Final Assessment - 30 ECTS According to expert knowledge, Russian standards are the best because they provide a certain freedom for adapting the curricula to the graduate s profile. This type of freedom should be utilised more. 5. The course syllabi, in many cases, indicate many comm problems for most of the existing s: a. lack of local literature, even for the main courses (the use of classic US books is not the best opti for countries with a different envirment), b. the lists of required readings differ significantly for some courses ly e book is recommended, for others, too many, c. the methods of examining differ significantly; in some cases oral examinatis or even multiple choice testing are the main forms, but for other s a mix of forms is used, d. the methods for calculating workload are not really clear, 11 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
e. some s rely too much external teachers (having visiting professors from practice is highly recommended, but any good quality should be based the core unit of full-time, -based academics with the required profile). PA s in the Caucasus area summary of findings The project also offered as a value add, a specific extra service to all PA s in the Caucasus area an evaluati, based requests and under the following cditis: Articulated willingness to participate with, collect and provide the project team with necessary informati. Existing persnel and technical capacities necessary to cooperate with evaluators. The Evaluati was expected to have two forms: (a) Pre-evaluati: For any applying for the pre-evaluati, two Visegrad experts were selected as evaluators and facilitators. Their main goal was to evaluate the basic features of the according to internatial benchmarks and provide recommendatis for improvement (especially the basis of the Standards of Excellence in PA educati and EAPAA standards). (b) Comprehensive evaluati: For any applying for the comprehensive evaluati, two Visegrad experts and e Caucasus expert were selected as evaluators and facilitators. Their main goal was to evaluate the according to internatial benchmarks (following EAPAA procedures), but without a site visit, if not requested and paid for by the relevant Caucasus university/. The aim would be to evaluate whether the could apply for EAPAA accreditati and provide recommendatis as to how the could reach internatial level. As indicated by Caucasus project partners, 2 s intended to obtain a comprehensive evaluati from the project (the offered by the Governance of the Caucasus, and the offered by the Arts and Science of the of Georgia); 3 s showed their willingness to be pre-evaluated ( offered by the Business, Ecomics and Management of the of Georgia; of the Arts and Science of Ilia, and the of the Javakhishvilli. Representatives of the remainder of the s expressed their willingness to receive pre-evaluati, but were unable to prepare the necessary informati in English. Due to issues related to the collecti of input from the analysis, according to the agreed time plan of the project, ly pre-evaluatis were carried out following EAPAA accreditati criteria in particular. We tried to identify and evaluate the link between the missi, structure, ctent and the faculty of the. We also looked at the teaching methods and examinatis in individual courses (if these were described in the syllabi received). We also tried to judge the relatiship between the s and practice. During the early phase of analysis it was discovered that no in the regi could apply today for full internatial (EAPAA, CIAPA) accreditati, so a comprehensive evaluati was not possible and all interested s received a pre-evaluati. 12 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
The following s were pre-evaluated 1. Caucasus Tbilisi, Georgia ( and s) 2. of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia ( ) 3. Ilia Tbilisi, Georgia ( ) 4. Academy of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia ( ) 5. Russian-Armenian, Yerevan, Armenia ( ) 6. European, European Educatial Regial Academy, Armenia ( and ) 7. ADA, Azerbaijan ( ) 8. Quafqaz, Azerbaijan ( ). In the following text we summarize the main findings of our analysis. Missi statements Missi statements are typically formulated in a very general way. Our impressi, based interviews with some managers, was that missi statements are csidered foreign and an exogenously expected formal exercise. A descripti should have a missi statement, so there is e. In other words: a missi statement does not have a real functi. It does not serve as a summary of the philosophy or the ultimate goal of the. Most importantly, missi statements are not based a needs assessment: neither the needs of the students are assessed 1 nor the needs of the government, more specifically the public administrati 2, Missi statements typically do not provide guidance which image of the executive is reflected in the. Seemingly, in most cases, the divide between major approaches 3 is not understood or csidered as relevant. In fact, as we will see later, an uncscious choice is made, as most s reveal an extreme management-type ctent. It is clear that there is a certain trade-off between the two types of needs, i.e. the present market need indicated by students applicatis and the real needs of government. Forming a curriculum that fits well to the ideal of a civil servant may not at all make the attractive for potential students, as most of them cannot and/or do not want to find a positi in public administrati. Furthermore, the ideal of civil servant is quite vague in these countries as the government has not yet formed e. Curriculum The most striking fact is that in most cases, the curricula of the PA s were not available to the public, presumably not even for students applying for admittance. We were told this is kept cfidential 1 In fact most universities, especially in Georgia, where there is large competiti between very many s, react to market (future students ) demand needs. They need to do so, as the tertiary educati is run almost solely by market forces. Beginning the relatively popular PA s and putting together their curricula in a similar manner to a business management reflects this fact. This is, however, de intuitively, reacting to needs, instead of pro-acting based a cscious understanding of the situati. 2 We learned that the curricula hardly reflect the needs of public administrati. Most importantly, it seems that somee who successfully obtains a and/or an degree still needs to learn a lot to be able to pass the civil service entry exam. Such exams exist in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also, government agencies prefer law students to PA students in most generalist positis. 3 For the sake of simplicity, these images may be differentiated: (a) public administrati, with more emphasis law, and cstitutial arrangements (polity); (b) public management, with the emphasis management skills; or (c) public policy with more emphasis research and analytic skills, handling complex and n-structured policy problems, etc. 13 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
by universities, as a kind of secret know-how. It is not clear if this stems from the culture (secrecy, lack of trust, etc.) or hiding the weaknesses of the s. In Azerbaijan, Armenia (and Russia) there is a compulsory curriculum set up by the government for bachelor PA s that largely limits the individualizati of the university curriculum. As interviews revealed, the curriculum has been influenced more by supply than demand, i.e. what can we teach and what kind of instructors do we have? and is crucial instead of what is needed. This is highly understandable as, in a business arrangement, e may ecomize relying available resources as lg as demand is not striking and due to the lack of a clear image of a PA, such demand does not exist. Regarding available curricula, apparently there is no relatively stable and clear idea what exactly should be included in a PA curriculum. In certain s, quite surprising courses (e.g. two pedagogy courses in a 16-course curriculum) are included. Quite typically, in all three countries, a large part of the curriculum, sometimes about half of all courses, include ecomics-related topics and management also plays a major role. Another, relatively large part of the curricula is devoted to management. However, most management courses have no reference to the specificity of n-profit management, or more specifically, public management (typically ly about 10-30% of all courses). Reading the syllabi of these management courses we frequently find no reference to public administrati. It is quite evident in cases of human resources management (without reference to civil service laws), IT (without reference to privacy rules, cstraints using persnel data; state secret rules and the opposite of transparency of public informati), or financial management without reference to budgeting. The Azeri obligatory curriculum has an HRM course and another civil service without any reference to e another. At the same time, public-specific, and especially PA-specific courses are rare, sometimes ly 10-20% of all courses are devoted specifically to PA. The choice of these courses seems to be quite accidental. For instance the Azeri obligatory curriculum ctains ly two such courses (outside the civil service), Municipal Management and Theory (sic!). However, we found similar arrangements in other universities curricula, including both state and private universities. The sporadic presence of government and/or PA-specific courses is so prevalent that sometimes it is not clear after reading the curriculum and course syllabi how the students would learn about the most basic issues of polity or cstitutial framework of the country, such as the structure of government, the major divisi of respsibilities between various parties (president, Cabinet, Ministers, agencies, local agency units, municipalities), the administrative structure of the executive or basic procedural rules, etc. Law, (public and/or administrative) was, in several cases, not included in the curriculum, whereas in other cases a course was devoted to this topic. We found ly e out of the nine curricula analysed in-depth that had more classes devoted to law. This fact is in sharp ctrast to the fact that in practice and, to some degree also reflected in the civil service exam, law is csidered as a major competency for civil servants. In most countries law graduates usually take preference over PA graduates when filling vacant civil service positis. The dominant ecomic-management approach, as opposed to the public administrati approach, may be due to several factors and we are not able to gauge the importance of these. This could simply reflect market needs, as students look for a diploma that may be useful in several fields and not e that ties them strgly to government. Government employment may not be attractive, with its low salaries in most cases, or they may not obtain employment in government. The present curricula leaves all fields (public, NGO and business) of opportunities open for them. Another explanati may be that this is an impact of the Anglo-American approach, reinforced by transiti, the NPM and the foreign typically US financed advice, largely promoting the idea that public and private management are fundamentally alike. Indeed, in a few cases, PA s were elaborated 14 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
by the intensive assistance, participati or rather lead of US universities (such as the New York for Ilia, Georgia.) In other words, the typical compositi of the curricula would most likely be csidered too managerial even in the most management-oriented US universities, and thus highly inadequate for the needs of the PA system of the countries in the regi. Syllabi In several cases, the basic issues are not addressed. The expected learning outcomes are rarely defined or if they are (as per the accreditati rule in Georgia) the impressi is, similar to that of missi statements, that it is csidered to be a foreign exercise requested for formal reass. Very rarely does it serve as the starting point at which the course is based. A relatively detailed descripti of topics/issues, discussed and processed, typically a weekly basis, is part, perhaps even the central part of most curricula. Readings are also indicated, though this seems to be somewhat unrealistic in some cases. The way students are evaluated is frequently missing, as we learned, because the written exam is almost solely applied. It seems it is a legal requirement in some countries. Training material The major problem in all three countries was that there are no endogenous course books practically any of the necessary major fields in PA educati. There is no book presenting the cstitutial-structural arrangement in the country to be used as a course book, not e theory of public administrati, or public finance, etc. We learned that currently, attempts are being made to formulate such books in Georgia. Instead, in several cases, US-based books are used, most of all in the field of public administrati (as a general, introductory course book) and several other fields. These books may be quite difficult and expensive to obtain. Furthermore, they may be very difficult for students to read (generally and especially at level). If there are 3-4 courses in a semester, reading e such book (and nothing else) still means that students have to read, understand and process well over 50 pages per week in a foreign language (written with different letters), and learning and understanding terminology (which they may not be aware of in their native language), etc. This requires an enormous effort, which the average student will find difficult to make. This, in turn, raises questis about the reliability of course requirements. Most importantly, however, the validity of these US books to the post-socialist countries reality, in fact, even to European reality, is highly questiable. In several cases they could even be seriously misleading, especially if they are not ctrasted with the country s reality. Faculty As we learned at least in the case of private universities most of the instructors (from professors to assistant professors) are part-time employees of the universities. They work in various positis, in some cases for the government, but frequently in other jobs. For this reas they may not feel so strgly linked to the university and their evaluati in their main job is most likely based other than academic achievements. Qualificati In ly three cases have we received informati the professial compositi and qualities of the faculty (i.e. CVs of faculty members). In these cases, which are presumably amgst the better es, we found the following major characteristics: 15 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
In several cases we could not identify at all the level of degree instructors hold.4 In most cases and at most universities, instructors respsible for a given course do not hold a PhD. This is due to the fact that PA s have existed for less than two decades and PhD s in this field for an even shorter period.5 In fact, a PhD requirement is a somewhat alien and irrelevant cditi as educati at the level in a foreign university (which some instructors hold, especially in Azerbaijan) may require more effort and indicate more achievements than a local PhD. Academic achievements Research activity is rarely indicated in CVs. atis and other indicators of academic achievements are not included in the overwhelming majority of CVs. There was ly e CV out of approximately e hundred which provided basic informati in this regard. We could not identify anye with an acceptable record of publicatis in a foreign language or references. Actually, there were less than half a dozen mentiing a publicati in English, typically from some sort of cference proceedings. We could not identify any publicati in a double blind peer-reviewed journal, let ale a periodical with an impact factor. However, in several cases, the instructors allegedly have never published any scholarly paper during their university career. The reas is due to the fact that universities have not traditially been respsible for research (it is thus not in the organizatial culture) and also because several instructors are ly part-time persnel and their reference group may be that of another positi and not at all from academia. Other characteristics Certain universities have instructors who have strg practical experience. Some of them previously worked in high level government positis, whilst others currently work elsewhere (as we indicated above). At a few universities, instructors have intensive foreign experience (both practical and academic). This could be a good basis for practice-oriented educati, which is greatly reduced by the given culture and belief about the role of a university. In the case of some universities, a number of courses and the literature used indicate that s, to a large extent, follow a socialist style of educati (they ccentrate theory and knowledge, rather than skills etc.). Also, a relatiship between and level is not clear for most universities. The s may repeat courses etc. We will go back to some of the issues outlined in the document Recommendatis in more detail. Cclusis Unfortunately, all existing s in the Caucasus regi need to be developed before becoming eligible for standard internatial accreditati. As clearly shown by our analysis, the core issue is qualitative staff development. This issue can be addressed ly via internatialisati and NISPAcee is ready to support all s willing to progress (NISPAcee cferences, PhD courses and possible scholarships organised via member institutis, publishing houses and Journals are already existing important optis). 4 It is our understanding that this is because it is difficult to translate previous Soviet degrees to current English degrees. We believe that the previous College (or Technicum) type degrees with a 3-4 year learning period are identical to a. degrees require typically 5 or even 6 years to, and Kandidate Nauk goes to PhD degree. 5 For instance, in Georgia, there is ly e university that can issue a PhD in PA. 16 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
As indicated in the introductory secti, this document is supplemented by Report 2 Recommendatis. 17 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Table 1 - Availability data PA s in the Caucasus area - summary COUNTRY UNIVERSITY PA PROGRAM ARMENIA 1. Russian- Armenian (RAU) 2. European in Armenia 3. Academy of the Republic of Armenia 4. Armenian Master of Arts in Managemen t, Specializatio n of the Bachelor of Arts in Managemen t Specializatio n of the Bachelor of Arts in Managemen t administrati administrati http://www.rau.am/eng WWW AVAILABLE DATA Basic informati Master; Armenian, Russian and European Level. Missi Only (aims). http://www.eriicta.am/ Only partial (aims and objective s, learning outcome s). http://www.eriicta.am/ Only partial (aims and objective s, learning outcome. Graduate profile Partial informati (abilities + skills). Program structure 10 Core + 11 Elective Courses, number of ECTS. Study plan, 18 core and 16 elective, number of ECTS. Study plan, 2 core courses, 18 elective, number of ECTS. Syllabi Staff What evaluati they want? Yes (learning outcomes, structure, literature, NO INFO ON EXAMINATIO N) No (ly a few). No (ly a few). CVs, but very limited informati research outputs Only e CV. Only e CV Comprehensi ve Comprehensi ve Comprehensi ve www.paara.am No. No. No. Yes. No. Comprehensi ve http://www.asue.am/ru No interest. They have 18 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
of Ecomics their own internatial ctacts with American and European universities. COUNTRY UNIVERSITY PA PROGRAM WWW Basic informati Missi Graduate profile Program structure Syllabi Staff What evaluati do they want? AZERIJ AN 1. Azerbaijan Ecomic www.aseu.az/index.php?opti=com_k2&view=item&id= 301:sosial-sferan%C4%B1n-iqtisadiyyat%C4%B1- v%c9%99-idar%c9%99- olunmas%c4%b1&itemid=167&lang=en 2. The Academy of under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, http://www.dia.edu.az/eldar.php 3. Naxchivan, http://ndu.edu.az/en/ctent/185/ 4. Qafqaz 5. Khazar, http://pa.qu.edu.az Only a list of courses without any info core/electi ve. 19 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
6. ADA 7. Baku Business Master of Policy at ADA, COUNTRY UNIVERSITY PA PROGRAM GEORGIA 1. Caucasus Governance 2. of Georgia, Business, Ecomics and Managemen t 3. Ilia, Arts and Science 4. Javakhishvili 5. Internatia in in in in in and Policy in http://www.ada.edu.az/en-us/pages/mpp_curriculum.aspx Only general aims the website. http://bbu.edu.az/az/about/32 WWW Basic informati Missi www.cu.edu.ge Only (aims) Only (aims) Not available the website. Graduate profile No. No. 15 Core + 8 Elective. Program structure Only list of courses. Only list of courses. www.ug.edu.ge Yes. No. Only list of courses. Only. http://www.iliauni.edu.ge/ Only. No. No. Only list of courses. Only list of courses. www.tsu.edu.ge Only list of courses. www.ibsu.edu.ge No, ly e paragraph of basic informati courses available the website. Not available the website. Syllabi Staff What evaluati they want? Yes, partially. Yes, partially. Yes, partially. Yes, partially. Yes, CVs, Partially. CVs, Partially. CVs, Partially. CVs, Partially. CVs, Partially. Comprehensi ve Comprehensi ve No, being revised. Preevaluati Preevaluati Pre- Evaluati 20 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
l Black Sea (IBSU) 6. Grigol Robakidze, and Politics in and Politics www.gruni.edu.ge Only (aims) Only core courses and their list. Not interested. 7. Georgian Institute of Affairs (GIPA), Government in www.gipa.ge Only (aims) Not interested. 8. Samtskhe- Javakheti, Faculty of Law in www.astu.edu.ge Only (aims) Only list of courses. Interest, but no EN informati. 9. Tbeli, Faculty of Social Sciences in www.tbeli.ge Only (aims) Only list of courses. Interest, but no EN informati. 10. Akaki Tsereteli, in in www.atsu.edu.ge Only (aims) Only (aims) Only list of courses. Only list of courses. Interest, but no EN informati. Interest, but no EN informati. 11. Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi, in www.tesau.edu.ge Only (aims) Only list of courses. Interest, but no EN informati. 21 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries
Faculty of Social Science 12. Georgian Technical in http://www.gtu.ge Only (aims) Only core courses and their list. Interest, but no EN informati. in Only (aims) Only core courses and their list. Interest, but no EN informati. 22 Analysis of s in Caucasus countries