Fall 2003

RACU secures accreditation by the Russian Ministry of Education. On Wednesday, November 12, the Russian-American Christian University was granted accreditation by the Accreditation Collegium, a review board comprising 42 members, including officials from the Russian Ministry of Education, 9 university presidents from Moscow, 10 university presidents from across the country, and other leading educational specialists. This approval comes after years of dedicated labor by RACU staff and faculty, the testing of RACU graduates, and the submission of hundreds of pages of documentation. Now all RACU graduates will be presented with diplomas stamped with the endorsement of the Ministry of Education.

RACU President Dr. John A. Bernbaum arrived in Moscow to join the celebration on campus of this historic event in the university's development. "We are thrilled with this news," says Dr. Bernbaum. "We have worked hard to develop a solid academic program and to win the approval of educational experts in Russia. RACU's accreditation is a great step forward for our university, and we believe this will open up new opportunities for our students, graduates and faculty. As far as we know, RACU is the first private faith-based liberal arts university to be accredited in Russia's entire history."

RACU's Accreditation Opens the Door for Male Applicants. Because of a change in educational laws in the late 1990s, male students attending unaccredited institutes and universities were no longer eligible for draft deferments. As a result, RACU, which had equal numbers of male and female students during its first five years, soon witnessed a dramatic decrease in male applicants and attendees. Now that it has been granted accreditation, RACU once again can become a school of choice for young male students. This change also means that acceptance at RACU will become increasingly competitive as the number of applications for the limited number of openings grows.

2003-2004 School Year KICKS OFF… David Broersma, RACU's Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, reports that RACU's 2003-2004 school year is underway and, so far, a great success. "I am very encouraged by the enthusiasm and hard work of the students," he says, "and by the ways that professors are actively engaging in trying to make RACU great." RACU is offering 58 courses this Fall semester, with 132 registered students - 42 of whom are incoming freshmen. This year, 15 students will graduate from RACU - nine Business and Economics students and six Social Work students.

RACU's Accreditation Process: an End in Sight. For the last 3 months, RACU staff have been aggressively working with the Russian Ministry of Education in order to finalize the results of the complex evaluation of the work of RACU for 1998-2003. This process included continuous contact with 6 different departments of the Ministry of Education and the Moscow Department of Education, gathering and processing information as related to various aspects of university life and programs, and compiling appropriate documents for the process of re-licensing, attestation and accreditation.

On September 12, the Ministry of Education issued an order approving the results of the re-licensing process and granted RACU a new educational license signed by Minister Vladimir Filippov, which will take the University through December 12, 2008. The Ministry of Education has also granted RACU a positive statement in regard to the completion of the process of attestation.

RACU has now moved into the process of accreditation - the third and final stage of the complex evaluation of the University. The Ministry of Education requires that RACU administrators complete a 60-page document in a software format, which will help the Ministry evaluate whether RACU meets all of the accreditation standards. This document, along with all of the appropriate documentation, has been submitted to the Ministry and is now being reviewed. The final step in the process of accreditation will take place in November, when RACU's case will be presented to the Ministry of Education Collegium, consisting of presidents of various Russian universities, who will vote on whether RACU should be granted accreditation.

RACU Alumni Return as RACU Staff! RACU welcomes two new staff members this fall, Andrey Timofeev and Evelina Petrenko. Andrey is special assistant to the Provost for business affairs, and Evelina is temporarily working in student development - and both are graduates of RACU! Dr. Broersma reports, "They have both been doing a great job. Evelina has helped to create a very warm and inviting environment for the students, and Andrey has already become invaluable to me in many business aspects of our operations." Both Timofeev and Petrenko are graduates of RACU and, according to Dr. Broesma, "excellent examples of the kind of student that RACU is graduating. We really have trained leaders who are flexible, teachable, and intelligent."

RACU Social Work Alum Find Positions in Leadership. In a recent statement to RACU's Board, Ruslan Nadiuk, Acting Chair of the SW Department, reports that the number of RACU social work alumni employed in the profession testifies "to the relevance of the profession in the contemporary society." Out of 14 graduates of 2003, 8 graduates (57%) are employed in the area of social work, 4 graduates work in other areas, and 2 graduates are continuing their education.

Several alumni are employed in leadership positions in social service organizations:

• Tatyana Lobachova, a graduate of 2002, works as a director of social programs in a children's arts center called Little Prince. She heads up such projects as Integration and Adaptation of Handicapped Children with their Peers and the Society. She received funding from the Moscow Foundation and two grants from United Way. She is currently working on a project for United Way aimed at providing the physically challenged with access to information technologies.
  
  
• Victoria Zherebtsova, a graduate of 2003, is the director of the Gagarin Children's and Family Center. The administration of the South-Eastern region of Moscow has awarded her with funding for a program aimed at fighting bad habits among the region's children and adolescents.
  
  
• Olga Pozdisheva, a RACU senior, works with the handicapped and the physically challenged. She has established a fund to help support handicapped members of her church and continues to be actively involved in this ministry.

Student Activities Expand and Deepen at RACU. This semester, Konstantin and Eveline Petrenko, staff members working in Student Development, have planned a variety of activities that provide RACU students with opportunities for intellectual and spiritual growth as well as emotional support, recreation, and simple fellowship and interaction with one another:

• A weekly English Language Bible Study led by Karly Watson, instructor of English, allows students to study the Word of God and enhance their foreign language ability.
  
  
• A weekly Support Group for female students organized by Evelina Petrenko encourages free sharing and mutual support in an atmosphere of love and acceptance.
  
  
• English language Movie Nights - this special activity has become a real hit at RACU, averaging 20 students each Movie Night (a real full house - there is no room for more people!).
  
  
• Recreational activities such as trips to the Tretyakov Art Gallery, Moscow's Megamall, and a bus excursion to the historic city of Tver provide opportunities for socializing outside of classes. On October 28, RACU students will travel to a musical theater to watch Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky.
  
  
• Other special events planned include student parties, a Humor Competition (planned for November 26), and a semester-long game called "Secret Pal."

The Petrenkos have this to say about the students at RACU: "We have been impressed with the level of maturity and leadership displayed by the students in the first three months of the fall semester. It is a privilege and joy to work with such capable, courteous, and creative students. "

Winter - Spring 2003

RACU English Department Produces Delightful Performance of The Princess Bride. This year’s hilarious performance of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride has continued the tradition of spring productions by the RACU English Theater, which began last year with the staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A humorous tale of true love and adventure, The Princess Bride is filled with humor and action, which makes it a perfect plot for a theatrical performance. For the full story and pictures, click here ....

USAID Administrator to Address RACU's Third Class of Graduates. Dr. Kent Hill, the Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has accepted RACU's invitation to be the graduation speaker for the May 17th commencement service. Dr. Kent is responsible for the distribution of foreign aid to Europe and Eurasia and was sworn into office in November 2001, following his nomination by President George W. Bush.

Dr. Hill has agreed to address the graduates on a topic of significance to him in his role at USAID and has entitled his speech "Liberty is Not License: The Case for Responsible Citizenship." This speech will focus on the role of values in promoting democracy, a market system, and a compassionate society. For additional insights on Dr. Hill's approach to this topic, you can find his vision statement on the agency web site at www.usaid.gov/regions/europe_eurasia.

RACU's leadership is honored that Dr. Hill has accepted their invitation and are looking forward to this time with him. In the early stages of the planning and development of the university, Dr. Hill was actively involved as a member of the Board of Trustees and later the Board of Advisors. This will be his first visit to the campus since the school has started.

RACU Graduates Form an Alumni Association. On Friday, March 28th, more than half of the thirty RACU graduates living in Moscow came together for an alumni meeting. Many of them had not seen each other since their commencement service, and the meeting was a time of great fellowship as these young people caught each other up on their lives and accomplishments post-RACU. At the meeting, the group decided to organize a RACU Alumni Association. For the full story and some photos, click here.

The Head of Dow Chemical in Russia meets with RACU Business Students. RACU business students had the privilege of meeting with the General Manager of Dow Chemical at one of the university’s Business Forum. The meeting proved to be an important learning experience for all the participants. For a summary of the presentation made by Andriaan Van Den Berge, Dow’s General Manager in Russia, click here.

RACU Searches for a New Chief Business Officer. When the RACU Search Committee met and unanimously agreed to appoint Dr. David Broersma as RACU's new Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA), they also approved of the creation of a new staff position to share the leadership role. The committee has now initiated a new search process for a Vice President for Business Affairs. Click here for a copy of the position description. The committee agreed that it would prefer to have a Russian fill this role, but that foreign nationals would also be considered, including a retired American business leader who could train a Russian national for this position over 2-3 years. Please help us advertise this position to qualified people that you know.

A New Academic Leader in Moscow. RACU's search for a new vice president for academic affairs has ended after only two short months! The search, which began in Winter 2002, followed the announcement by Dr. Larry Ort that he would be returning to the States at the end of June 2003. Dr. David Broersma, Chair of the English Department, was unanimously chosen by the Search Committee to fill this position. Dr. Broersma has been a faculty member at RACU for six years and has built the English Department into the strongest of the university's academic divisions. Dr. Broersma's Ph.D. is from the University of Illinois in second language acquisition and these credentials will serve him well in this new post. He is also bilingual (English and Russian), a key factor for this critical position. David and his wife Cathy have four children and recently purchased an apartment in Moscow. The faculty, staff and Board of Trustees are unanimous in their support for Dr. Broersma; the transition will begin this Spring semester, allowing for a smooth and gradual transfer of leadership.

Educational License Renewed. RACU is pleased to announce that its educational license was renewed in early January for another five years. This license, which was signed by the Russian Minister of Education, Vladimir Filippov, gives RACU the authority to offer undergraduate and some graduate courses at its newly leased campus facility in Moscow. RACU staff will now direct their efforts toward securing the university's accreditation, a process that was temporarily put on hold until the license renewal was completed.

These achievements are no small feat: the amount of paperwork required for licensing and accreditation in Russia far surpasses anything in the States. RACU staff members spent many long hours preparing the appropriate documentation for licensing and now have an even greater task ahead of them as RACU applies for accreditation. But, for now, the bottom line is this: RACU has once again been given the authority to operate as a non-commercial (private) higher education institution in the Russian Federation.