CSR
Companies | Categories | Questionnaire
|
CSR PROFILE BOOK
Questionnaire
1. How does the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility correspond with the mission and heritage of your company?
The American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) is an American-style academic institution offering liberal education which is fully accredited in the United States, Bulgaria, and Europe. Since January 2003, AUBG offers graduate education through its Executive MBA Program. In September 2004, AUBG started an undergraduate programme in Business Administration in Sofia, through the AUBG College of Business.
AUBG's mission is to educate future leaders committed to servicing the needs of the region by promoting the values of an open democratic society. The skills of a leader, among many, require also awareness and willingness to help with social problems. The environment at AUBG provides that awareness so that short-term social service projects have long-term results as they shape the worldview of students.
CSR CATEGORIES
2. What is your company's CSR involvement with the COMMUNITY?
Since its establishment in 1991, the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) has participated in and implemented a number of community service projects and activities. The enthusiasm and self-motivation of the staff members, students and faculty invested are the major factors that establish AUBG as an organisation of social responsibility.
The AUBG Released Military Retraining Project (2001-2003) was a good example of a successful programme that brings practical benefit to a specific social group. It aimed at providing a smoother transition to civilian life to retired military officers. AUBG co-funded the project with USAID and the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense. It offered participants the opportunity to choose among three retraining programs - CISCO Networking Academy, English language courses and Entrepreneurship training. The courses took place at AUBG in Blagoevgrad, at the AUBG Elieff Centre for Education in Sofia and in four other cities in Bulgaria - Sliven, Varna, Veliko Turnovo and Pleven. The trainees in Sofia and Blagoevgrad used the AUBG computer resources. AUBG professors from the Business Administration Department taught the Entrepreneurship courses.
In a questionnaire which the trainees filled after the end of the courses, the majority stated that the programme had been useful to them and had provided them with valuable knowledge and competitive advantage. Toma Sandukchiev, a graduate from the course in Entrepreneurship from Petrich, said: "The courses we took here are a good basis for starting up our new lives."
For seven years (1993-2000) the English Language Institute of AUBG offered one-year intensive courses to 113 minority students under a project sponsored by the Open Society Foundation. The project offered participants full access to all AUBG facilities. After finishing the courses, 14 of the minority students applied and were accepted at AUBG, 37 studied at Bulgarian universities, and some more currently work as English language teachers in their communities.
Another programme targeted at minorities that was recently completed at the AUBG Elieff Center for Education and Culture in Sofia was an IT Training Course for the Roma. It was provided in conjunction with the Partners Foundation, Bulgaria. Young Roma, primarily from Vidin and Lom, who exhibited leadership and advocacy potential, received training in computer skills and English. They were offered a course consisting of three modules: Business IT skills, CISCO English terminology and CISCO Networking Academy. Five of the trainees received instructors' certificates and will be able to teach the course in the future. After the end of the project, the trainees also went through two-week practical internships with recognized IT companies in Sofia - ProSoft; Net Is Sat and Paraflow. Four of the Roma trainees who spent their internships with ProSoft, were invited to work for the Company as sales agents. For the successful completion of the project, on June 8, 2004, the AUBG Regional Cisco Networking Academy was nominated and awarded a Certificate of Excellence at the Cisco Networking Academies Conference. In April 2004 the project won the Successful Story of the Month of Cisco.uk and was published on the Cisco.com site.
3. What is your company's CSR involvement with the ENVIRONMENT?
-
4. What is your company's CSR attitude towards your EMPLOYEES?
AUBG is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity in all of its endeavours and affirms a commitment to diversity in both its employees and its student body. AUBG also invests in assisting employees in their professional development through training and educational courses and programmes.
5. What is your company's CSR involvement with YOUNG PEOPLE and EDUCATION?
AUBG has been involved in implementing a series of community service projects and activities since its establishment in 1991. As an academic institution, AUBG creates numerous opportunities for its students and encourages them to participate in community service activities.
AUBG offers its students opportunities to participate in community service programmes since their first day on campus. It is a tradition for incoming freshmen to start their studies at AUBG with an orientation week during which they get to know each other and their professors, and adapt to student life. A community service event is always a part of that orientation week - students paint benches in the parks of Blagoevgrad, clean up a specific area of the city, etc. The event is usually coordinated with the Blagoevgrad municipality. It is a symbolic start for new students who may later get involved in various other programs.
In the fall of 2003, AUBG students founded a Community Service Club. Though social service activities had been regular before, the Club aims to make the process even more sustained. Club members provide support for and visit two Blagoevgrad orphanages. They also participated in a project of the Habitat for Humanity organisation which builds homes for families who cannot afford to buy a living place. AUBG students volunteer as construction workers.
AUBG students also participate every year in the national campaigns of the Generous Heart Foundation. They raise funds as volunteers in the streets for research on multiple sclerosis.
In the summer of 2003, AUBG Professor Ben DeDominicis combined community service with a course of the Political Science Department. He took the idea from the University of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh is the headquarters of Amizade Global Learning Center, a NGO which facilitates American students going to other countries to do community service work that would result in additional credits at their home universities. Professor DeDominicis adapted the course called ‘International Development through Service Learning' to Bulgarian conditions. In May 2003, students from AUBG and the University of Pittsburgh spent three weeks together in Blagoevgrad working with the children from a local orphanage. The students taught the children how to use the computers donated to them by the local Rotary club, and gave them English lessons or just played games.
In June 2004, the AUBG College of Business joined the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Global Compact network and Saatchi & Saatchi in their joint ‘Love Bridge' Project. Through the common initiative, AUBG College of Business now offers one 4-year full-tuition scholarship to a physically disabled youth. By giving an equal opportunity to a physically disadvantaged qualified applicant, the College of Business hopes to set an example to other institutions of higher education to take into consideration the special needs of youths with differences.
The Elieff Centre for Education and Culture is the only educational facility in Bulgaria adapted to the needs of disabled people.
6. What is your company's practice of BUSINESS ETHICS?
--
Download file
Business News Today
© 1999-2010 BBLF. All rights reserved.
Web design and development by M3 Communications Group, Inc.