Qafqaz University

Qafqaz University
Qafqaz Universiteti
Active 1993–2014
Type Private
Location Baku, Azerbaijan
Campus Urban
Website www.qu.edu.az

Qafqaz University (Azerbaijani: Qafqaz Universiteti; the name translates as Caucasus University) was a private university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was founded in 1993 and was the first and the only foreign private university in the country.

Foundation

Qafqaz University was founded in 1993 with the approval of Council of Ministers. This way, Turkish businessmen started their voluntary contributions to educational services through Cag Educational in Azerbaijan after its independence.

Mission

The university states that its mission is to give students a university education at international standards and infuse them with enthusiasm to constantly reach for new horizons. Great care is also taken to endow them with a respect for national and universal humane values. The university also aims to play an active role in promoting cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Combining an eighty-year experience of law, administration and technical know-how of Turkey and positive sides of a completely different political and administrative background Azerbaijan comes from, the University has undertaken a role of being an educational bridge between Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Campus

Qafqaz University operated in two temporary service buildings in Baku from the day it was founded until the 2003-2004 academic year. However, these buildings of 4000 m2 were not sufficient as they were not large enough or technically satisfactory.

The Xırdalan campus area was given to the university with the efforts of the late President Heydar Aliyev. The university relocated to the new premises in the 2003-2004 academic year. The new service building where all the classrooms are situated has a 10500 m2 indoor area. This spatial factor is a major contributory element that has enabled the university to make a lot of progress ever since. As a result of this, the number of the departments doubled and reached twenty. Student population rose dramatically to 2200. A dormitory building for male students was built in the 2005–2006 academic year. Currently, the construction of the building for the Coordinating Unit for Language Teaching and the dormitory for female students is underway.

Educational System

The university is the first and the only educational institution authorized by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education to have a ‘Distinguished Status’ in applying its own curriculum. Accordingly the programs of Turkish and western universities have been taken as a model in preparing the curriculum. In doing so, a ‘credit system’ was put into practice for the first time in Azerbaijan.

The University offers B.A, M.A., M.Sc., MBA and doctoral programs.

According to Azerbaijani State Student Admission Committee, the university has been the most preferred private university since 1996. Qafqaz University comes first among the private universities in filling the student quota given by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education. In the journal published by the State Student Admission Committee, it is stated that:

Qafqaz University has acquired the best place among the private universities. Also in previous years, it was seen that this educational institution deserved the best rank among all the private universities. At this university there is good organization, students receive close attention, and students who entered the university with high scores benefit from discounts in educational fees. Besides they are granted scholarships. The university always tries to help its graduates find jobs. As a result of these incentives, this university is generally preferred by brilliant and hardworking students who get high scores in the university entrance exam. Four of the students who are granted Presidential Scholarship are from Qafqaz University.

TOEFL Examinations

Qafqaz University is the first institution in Azerbaijan where the TOEFL IBT, new generation TOEFL test, can be taken thanks to its high speed Internet connection.

International Quality Management Certificate

Qafqaz University is the first higher educational institution in Azerbaijan which received the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Certificate.

Gülen movement

In June 2014, it was announced Azerbaijan's parliament has shut down private 11 high schools, 13 university-exam preparation centres, as well as Qafqaz University, all of them which are run by influential preacher Fethullah Gulen.[1][2]

Sport

Football

Qafqaz University participated in the 2008–09 Azerbaijan First Division, finishing 5th in a league of 8.[3]

Affiliations

The university is a member of the Caucasus University Association.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Lomsadze, Giorgi. "Azerbaijan Shuts Down Gülen-Schools". www.eurasianet.org. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Fatullayev, Eynulla. В Азербайджане закрыли все школы Фетхуллаха Гюлена. haqqin.az (in Russian). Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Birinci divizion - 2008/09" (PDF). http://www.pfl.az/. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Tüm Uyeler. kunib.com

See also

Coordinates: 40°28′33.77″N 49°43′35.08″E / 40.4760472°N 49.7264111°E