AUA Hosts HR Specialists from Various Universities for Tempus PEOPLE Training Sessions

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On May 27, 2015, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted the last of a series of five one-day training sessions for more than 25 human resources (HR) managers and specialists from various higher education institutions (HEIs) in Yerevan, Gyumri, and Gavar. This comprehensive HR training was carried out within the framework of the “Tempus PEOPLE – Enhancing Educational Organizations through People” project. The training series began in February 2015 and aimed at adding new knowledge and sharing experiences of most relevant issues related to the management of human resources.

The Armenian partners of the PEOPLE project and representatives from the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University and Armenian State Economic University were also invited to participate. Ms. Lana Karlova, Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ office in Armenia, and her staff also attended several sessions.

The topics of the five training sessions included HRM policies, structure, and procedures; recruitment processes and procedures; performance appraisals; communication, negotiation and persuasion; staff satisfaction surveys; conflict management in the workplace; team building; work ethics; change management; leadership and time management; and occupational health and safety. Topics were selected based on the earlier ‘Training of Trainers’’ conducted at the Instituto Superior Technico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona, Spain, October-November 2014.   Participants in the AUA training expressed superior enthusiasm and satisfaction in their evaluation of the trainings commenting that the topics were carefully selected and well delivered, interesting, informative, useful, and directly applicable to their jobs.

Dr. Arpie Balian, Director of AUA Extension, Anahit Ordyan, Director of Administration, and Arina Bekchyan, HR Manager, ran each of the five training sessions comprising presentations, discussions, and group activities. The training participants also benefited from presentations by field experts who were invited to share their experience. Among them were Hilda Grigorian, Lecturer in the AUA College of Business and Economics; Stepan Khzrtyan, AUA alumnus of 2010 and co-founder of the Center for Excellence in Negotiation: Yerevan; Anush Bezhanyan, AUA Institutional Research Manager; Dr. Mary Boghosian, Professor in the AUA College of Science and Engineering; and Armen Gharibyan, AUA Consultant in building management systems.

Each session was followed by an evaluation.

”We have attended multiple training sessions organized by various organizations, but the practical usefulness of these sessions made me impatient to attend each one, despite my extremely busy schedule,” said Anahit Farmanyan, Vice Rector of Gyumri State Pedagogical Institute.

In her remarks to training participants, Ms. Karlova noted, ”This is already an informal consortium in action. I urge you to foster future collaboration within the framework of Erasmus+ projects and develop new proposals in HRM as well as other related fields for applying to Erasmus+ grants.”

Mr. Ashot Ghazaryan, Vice President of Operations, who welcomed the participants on the first day, emphasized the importance of sharing knowledge and among AUA and other HEIs in Armenia.  In his closing remarks he iterated that the AUA HR department will continue to be available for consultation and cooperation. The participants received certificates of attendance, followed by a group photo and farewell reception.

AUA is an implementing partner of Tempus PEOPLE’s three-year project thanks to a 2013 grant agreement with the European Union’s Education, Audiovisual, and Cultural Agency (EACEA). The main goal of the project is to enhance educational institutions through improved Human Resource Management (HRM) systems and development of HR staff by addressing the unique challenges of each partner institution. The other institutions involved in this project include higher education institutions from Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Armenia.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.