UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1988-02_Page-015

President's Report Page 2 February, 1988 You c~n see from these statistics that AUC is continuing to progress satisfactorily, although the overall rate of statistical change has been slower over the last five years than in the previous five, contrary to the general impression we all probably have. Certainly the growth rate in students, though impressive, is not as large, either in academic work or adult education, as has seemed to be the case. And the budget, expressed in dollars, has increased only about 20%, principally due to the drop in value of the Egyptian pound. Research expenditures also have stabilized owing primarily to the reductions in funding for SRC. On the other hand the financial soundness of the University made substantially larger gains in the more recent period - due to the success of our fund-raising campaign and to prudent financial policies and practices. The u.s. trust fund in the Embassy was a further gain in this area. In this period, however, the statistical figures to some extent obscure the major qualitative changes that have taken place in the opening of the library, remodeling of Hill House, building of new engineering labs, rapid computerization of the campus both academically and administratively, the strengthening of our academic curriculum, and the shift of adult education from individual courses to a larger number of one year or two year long certificate programs. As a result of our detailed long-range planning the next five years should see a continued expansion of the academic and adult education student bodies, further strengthening of our programs in both areas, significant enlargement of our physical facilities, and a healthy though not affluent financial situation. ACCREDITATION The Middle States Accreditation team concluded that AUC was a "remarkable institution" that seems "like historical Egypt itself: a delicate balance, a fragile economy with an extraordinary power to endure." Its concrete conclusions included recommendations that future planning include: - a review of management/governance/decision structure s, noting current ones were cumbersome, sometimes poorly understood and often uncommunicativ