This week’s highlights:
Conferences in Iraqi Kurdistan mark new
era of openness in higher education: Two
academic conferences held this week in Iraqi
Kurdistan mark another step forward in
Iraq’s journey out of academic isolation and
separation. In Dohuk, American scholars met
on Iraq soil for the first time with their Iraqi
counterparts to discuss innovative
approaches to developing conflict resolution
curricula. In Erbil, the technical institutes
and colleges of all Iraq came together to
discuss their shared future in a unified Iraq.
Both events were unimaginable just one year
ago.
Advisor Council Meets; Considers Post-
Graduate Admissions Reforms
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& & S Sa at tu ur rd da ay y, , 1 16 6 A Au ug gu us st t Buckland’s briefing highlighted both the
international community’s interest in
assisting Iraqi higher education, as well as
the need for Iraqi higher education
institutions to develop their own project
proposals for possible consideration by the
donor’s conference. The initial draft of the
report will be completed before the end of
the month.
Dr. Sami Mudhaffar of Baghdad University
then delivered the recommendations of the
Temporary Advisory Committee on Post-
Graduate Admissions.
The report stressed the need to preserve
academic standards and the autonomy of the
universities in making admissions decisions.
It also addressed the need to end
immediately policies that discriminated
against graduates from universities in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
The Advisory Council’s debate of the
report’s specific recommendations was
constructively critical. Highlighted was the
need to end the existing age limit of 45 years
for entering a Ph.D. program. Such an age
limitation is not only discriminatory in
principle, but also adversely impacts those
communities that have not been able to send
students for post-graduate study during the
past decade. The Senior Advisor concurred
that all such restrictions should be
eliminated; admissions should be based
upon individual merit.
The Senior Advisor again emphasized the
CPA’s commitment to preserve the
autonomy of the higher educational
institutions over academic matters as
establishing specific entrance standards for
particular post-graduate degree programs –
such as language requirements. He also
stressed the imperative to end immediately
all policies that discriminate against
applicants from Iraqi Kurdistan. Finally, Dr.
Erdmann stressed that the MHESR would
look favorably upon funding proposals
independently developed by the universities
to increase the number of post-graduate
students from Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Temporary Advisory Committees on
Curriculum Reform and External Relations
are scheduled to deliver their initial reports
S Sc ci ie en nt ti if fi ic c R Re es se ea ar rc ch h
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during the next meeting of the Advisory
Council on 18 August.
Representatives from the Iraqi higher
educational institutions lead all three
Temporary Advisory Committees.
(The establishment of these committee
and their objective were detailed in Iraq
Ministry of Higher Education &
Scientific Research Weekly Update,
Issue 1, 19 July 2003).
New Director General for Financial
and Administrative Affairs
The Advisory Council to the Senior Advisor
Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific
Research (MHESR) convened again at the
University of Technology in Baghdad on 11
August. All the higher educational institutions
of Iraq – including the universities and
technical institutes of Iraqi Kurdistan – are
represented in the Advisory Council, which
serves as the Senior Advisor’s main
consultative body for educational policy.
Dr. Andrew Erdmann, the CPA Senior Advisor
to the MHESR, briefed the Advisory Council
on his recent trip to Washington, DC. He
stressed the great interest in the United States,
and around the world, in helping Iraqi scholars
and students reconnect themselves to their
colleagues abroad. He also provided an
overview of the progress in the USAID Higher
Education Academic Development (HEAD)
program and reviewed critical administrative
matters, especially those related to budgeting.
A representative of the World Bank, Mr. Peter
Buckland, then briefed the Advisory Council
on the joint World Bank-United Nations (WB-
UN) needs assessment of the Iraqi education
sector currently being conducted. The CPA
higher education team is helping support this
effort by freely sharing its own assessments and
information from its database on Iraqi higher
education. The WB-UN needs assessment will
provide essential background information for
the international donors conference that will
meet in Madrid, Spain, in late October. Mr.
Dr. Mohammed Nasser was appointed
by the Senior Advisor to serve as the
MHESR’s new Acting Director
General for Financial and
Administrative Affairs. Dr. Ermann
was pleased to introduce Dr. Nassser
personally to the members of the
Advisory Council on 11 August.
Dr. Nasser previously served as the
dean of Baghdad Technical Institute
and has over two decades experience in
Iraqi higher education. He immediately
turned his energies and expertise to the
preparation of the critical 2004 budget.
The entire CPA higher education team
is delighted that he accepted this great
responsibility.
Senior Advisor Partecipates in
Conferences Marking New Era of
Openess
On 11-13 August, Dr. Erdmann and
members of the CPA higher education
team traveled to Dohuk and Erbil for
two seminal academic gatherings.
At Dohuk University, the CPA higher
education team joined the innovative
“Conflict Resolution Curriculum
Development Project”. This project is
the result of over 5 years of effort by the
Academic Consortium for Cooperation
and Conflict Resolution, which has
brought together representatives from
Columbia University, American
University, and Conflict Management

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a an nd d I In ni it ti ia at ti iv ve es s, , education.html
Group of the United States with the three
universities of Iraqi Kurdistan. By bringing
American and Iraqi scholars together to discuss
curriculum reform on Iraqi soil, this event
captures how the new era of academic relations
between the United States and Iraq has already
begun.
The CPA higher education team then traveled
to Erbil for the trailblazing “Conference on the
Status of Technical Education in Kurdistan
Region and Its Future Aspects for Federal Iraqi
States”. This conference was planned by the
joint efforts of the Foundation of Technical
Education headquartered in Baghdad.
UNESCO generously helped sponsor this
event, along with additional support provided
by the MHESR.
This event brought together for the firs time
representatives of all the technical institutes and
colleges in Iraq to map out a shared agenda for
the future. Dr. Erdmann was honored to deliver
the opening address to this historic gathering.
For many participants from Baghdad and the
south, the conference had a personal
significance because it marked the first time in
over a decade that they could travel freely to
Erbil. Families and friends are thus reunited as
the higher educational establishment seeks to
come together again.
The 101 Airborne supported this three-day
mission with helicopter transportation for each
leg of the journey. The CPA higher education
team extends its personal thanks to Col.
William Harrison, Major Mike Shenk ant their
crews for their efforts to make this trip a
success.
Deputy Senior Advisor to Assist USAID in
HEAD Review
Ambassador Bremer Meets Baghdad
Undergraduates
The evening of 15 August, Administrator of
the Coalition Provisional Authority
Ambassador Paul Bremer III met with a
small group of undergraduates from
Baghdad University, Al Nahrain University
and the University of Technology. The
students, male and female, represented the
spectrum of disciplines from engineering to
political science to dentistry. They shared
with Amb. Bremer their frustrations as well
as their hopes and ambitions for the future of
their families and Iraq. In particular, they
stressed their intense desire to move beyond
the restrictions of the past and to reconnect
themselves to the world outside of Iraq
through scholarships, exchanges, and
revitalized curricula.
Harish Rajguru of UK Departs
After two months serviced with the CPA
higher education team, Harish Rajguru of the
United Kingdom’s Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) returned to
London for a new position handling UK-
Iraqi affairs. Harish played a pivotal role in
establishing an effective office system for
the team, and tackled a range of critical
administrative and policy tasks. His
contributions to the team were many, and he
will be missed.
The UK FCO plans to commit another
officer to the CPA higher education team
within the next two weeks to assume
Harish’s responsibilities.
Dana Baschová of Czech Republic Joins
CPA Higher Education Team
The CPA higher education team welcomes
Dana Baschová of the Czech Republic’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dana comes to
Baghdad after extensive experience in
Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as
with NATO and the EU. Dana will assume
lead responsibility for our project to help
establish in every university in Iraq fully
functioning offices of external relations.
These offices will have the communications,
resources, and trained staff to assist Iraqi
students and scholars identify and apply for
opportunities to study and travel abroad. She
A Au ug gu us st t 2 20 00 03 3
will also be responsible for helping
cultivate academic relations between
Europe and Iraq.
With Dana’s arrival, the CPA higher
education team continues to become
more diverse. To date, citizens of the
Czech Republic, Iraq, Italy. The United
Kingdom, and the United States have
served as members of the team.
Columnist Tom Friedman Quotes
Imad al Tamini
CPA higher education team member
Imad al Tamini once again made news
–this time not just in Iraq, but around
the world. The dean of American
foreign affairs commentator, New York
Times columnist Tom Friedman, quoted
Imad in the “Power and Peril” column
on 13 August.
Events Calendar:
August 16-22 – USAID HEAD
program proposal review in
Washington, DC
August 18 – Advisory Council
Meeting, hosted by University of
Technology
August 20 – Ambassador Bremer’s
“town hall” meeting with Iraqi
undergraduates to discuss future of Iraq,
hosted by University of Technology
Please e-mail questions, comments, or
suggestions:
min_of_higher_edu@orha.centcom.mil
LTC Steve Curda, deputy senior advisor and
member of 352 Civil Affairs Command,
departed on 11 August for Washington, DC to
assist USAID in the review of Higher
Education Academic Development (HEAD)
program proposals. HEAD is a $20 million
dollar grant from USAID to foster universities
in US to develop academic relationship with
Iraqi universities. Dr. Curda brings to the
review his hard-earned, firsthand experience
with Iraqi higher education.