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[eddean]

There is an earlier post on this topic but it is now some 4 years old. Can anyone share current information on KIMEP:
Work environment
Students
Life in Almaty
Administration
Financial stability
I am have experience in the country, not at KIMEP, but I am sure things have changed in 10 years. I am considering applying for a faculty position so any updates would be appreciated

[kimep_web]

Dear eddean,

Thanks for expressing interest in KIMEP. You are right, these have changed a lot here in Kazakhstan over the last 10 years. In fact, KIMEP itself is changing all of the time, but we'll do our best to answer your question.

Students - KIMEP has about 4000 students. http://www.kimep.kz/academics/registrar/statistics This number decreases throughout the year, due to attrition and graduation, but we should be adding about 1,000 more students by the end of the year.

Almaty is still a wonderful little city, but it is likely much more developed than when you last saw it. It remains a very multicultural and open place, but now there are considerably more professional opportunities as the economy is becoming more international and established. You can learn more about it here: http://new.kimep.kz/about/almaty/ and here: http://www.kimep.kz/academics/international/coming

Administration - KIMEP's president is Dr. Chan Young Bang, and it has three Vice Presidents (1 Scottish, 2 American). Operations are based on the North American model, with credit hours, research expectations, and so on. You can learn about KIMEP's management and governance here: http://www.kimep.kz/administration. Also, KIMEP's current three-year strategy can be found here: http://new.kimep.kz/wce/

Financial Stability - Three years ago, during the financial downturn, KIMEP undertook a major restructuring. It paid off, and KIMEP turned a significant deficit into a surplus http://www.kimep.kz/about/news/sept2009/prospects (more on the current budget, which is ending in a couple of months http://www.kimep.kz/about/news/jan2010/budget10-11) KIMEP now has a significant financial reserve (approximately 1/2 annual operating expenses) and is currently investing in developing it faculty as it prepares for program-based accreditation in the colleges. http://bulletin.kimep.kz/blog/2011/04/04/aacsb/

If you want to learn more about our institute, we would be happy to answer your questions here. You can also look through the KIMEP Bulletin, the largely student-run news website for KIMEP http://bulletin.kimep.kz/. You can also contact us at kimepweb@gmail.com or jobs@kimep.kz

All the best,
Michael Quinn
Strategic Analyst
Department of Planning and Development

[eddean]

Thank you for a rather complete answer and set of resources. Do you have a sense of how long a successful application process takes? For example, say my complete application arrives today, then how long might it take and what are the steps?

[kimep_web]

On the KIMEP side of things, it can take a couple weeks to a month, depending on the load of applications. This includes application screening, interviews, preparing offers and other similar procedures.

The big delay, unfortunately, comes after that. All professors working in Kazakhstan need to have their academic credentials nostrified and verified by the Kazakhstani National Accreditation Center. With this, KIMEP cannot prepare the materials to receive a work permit and visa for the professor.

For professors starting in the fall, we usually need to start this process at least three months in advance, but preferably four. The time depends on the nation of origin and the specific elements of the professor's academic credentials. The National Accreditation Center is very diligent about reducing academic fraud, and they go through many details to avoid professors coming to this country and teaching with fake diplomas.

For this reason, we usually start asking for applications in late December, early January, with the hope that we can have all of our offers made and accepted in March-April.

So if you place an application right away, it could be possible to consider joining in the Spring semester. This, of course, also depends on openings in different departments and your qualifications. If you send a CV and cover letter to jobs@kimep.kz, I can get you in contact with one of our deans, who would be able to give you a better picture of each college's staffing needs.