AUA College of Health Sciences Accepted Into Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region

Hortobágy, Hungary — 23 September 2001

The membership of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) unanimously voted to admit the College of Health Sciences of the American University of Armenia into full membership during its 23rd Annual Meeting in Hortobágy, Hungary this weekend. ASPHER represents over 50 schools and training programs in public health and healthcare management throughout the wider European region in the furthering of professional education and professional practice efforts. (http://www.ensp.fr/aspher/ )

The College of Health Sciences began in 1995 by offering a one-year Certificate in Public Health program with financial support from the Lincy foundation and technical assistance from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. In 1997, the program was expanded to a full two-year Master of Public Health Degree. To date, AUA has awarded over 35 MPH degrees, with an additional 14 expected at AUA’s 10th Anniversary graduation exercises on October 7, 2001. According to Michael Thompson, Associate Director of AUA’s Master of Public Health Program, “We are humbled and honored that ASPHER deems us worthy of membership so early in our evolution. Acceptance into ASPHER is a testament to the quality of our program and our graduates and our increasing international recognition.”

AUA’s participation in ASPHER has been supported by the Open Society Institute’s initiative to strengthen public health and health care management training in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States. AUA is also competing with other programs in the region for additional OSI funds to support programmatic development and quality assurance assessments. University President and Dean of the College of Health Sciences, Dr. Haroutune Armenian, remarked, “The leadership of OSI and ASPHER are to be commended for their vision in seeking to strengthen professional training in public health sciences within emerging schools and programs at this critical phase in their development. AUA is pleased to be among those selected for this honor.”