IAU, founded in 1950, is the UNESCO-based worldwide association of higher education institutions. It brings together institutions and organisations from some 120 countries for reflection and action on common concerns and collaborates with various international, regional and national bodies active in higher education. Its services are available on the priority basis to Members but also to organisations, institutions and authorities concerned with higher education, as well as to individual policy and decision-makers, specialists, administrators, teachers, researchers and students.
The Association aims at giving expression to the obligation of universities and other higher education institutions as social institutions to promote, through teaching, research and services, the principles of freedom and justice, of human dignity and solidarity, and contributes, through international cooperation, to the development of material and moral assistance for the strengthening of higher education generally.
As stated in its Founding Charter IAU's mission is based on the fundamental principles for which every university should stand:
The overall goals of IAU are both internal and external:
Both of these complementary goals are pursued through future oriented collective action, including conferences and meetings, information services, policy discussion, research and publications.
By encouraging Members to work together, IAU
Conscious of their high responsibility as guardians of the intellectual life;
Conscious of the fundamental principles for which every university should stand, namely: the right to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to follow wherever the search for truth may lead; the tolerance of divergent opinion and freedom from political interference;
Conscious of their obligation as social institutions to promote, through teaching and research, the principles of freedom and justice, of human dignity and solidarity; to develop mutually material and moral aid on an international level;
The universities of the world, through their representatives assembled in conference at Nice, hereby decide to create an international association of universities.
IAU is a global, dynamic organization. Its members are based in every part of the world. This implies to come up with precise, high-quality common documents to compensate for the physical distance. However, these documents are more than classic communication tools for members and collaborators. They are actually the Association's very pulse and repeating opportunities to claim its determination and commitment in achieving its mission and defending its values. They are meant to define and adapt the Association's role and mission, to set out the general line of its policy and its priorities according to the members' needs.
Chaired by the President of the IAU, the Administrative Board is made of twenty elected and two ex officio members as follows: eighteen executive heads of member institutions and two heads of member organizations, the immediate past President and the Secretary General. A number of deputy members, from different regions and both categories of members are also elected. The Administrative Board meets annually, ensures that decisions of the General Conference are implemented and guides the work of the International Universities Bureau. The term of tenure is four years.
President
Vice-Presidents
Immediate Past President
Full Board Members
Africa
Americas
Asia and The Pacific
Europe
Secretary-General
Deputy Members
Africa
Americas
Asia and The Pacific
Honorary Presidents
The Executive Committee is composed of the President and four Vice-Presidents. The Secretary General of the IAU serves as secretary to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee acts on behalf of the Administrative Board between meetings and guides the Association's action agenda and program of activities. It provides support to the President of the Association by preparing the meetings of the Administrative Board and the business sessions of the General Conference. One Vice-President, so designated, replaces the President of the Association should the need arise for whatever reason during the latter's term of office. One Vice-President, also so designated, acts as Treasurer and chairs the Finance Committee.
The Members of the Executive Committee are designated by the President from among the Members of the Administrative Board, elected at the IAU 13th General Conference, in July 2008.
President
Vice-Presidents
Terms of Reference: * Advise the Secretary-General on admission policy (issues of principle) in order to prepare for Board discussions, especially in case the IAU eligibility criteria may need revision; * Develop for discussion by the Board, general and/or specific membership development strategies and recruitment campaigns that may be carried out by the President, by the Secretariat, by the Membership Development Committee and by all Board Members; * Monitor membership recruitment campaigns and other membership development activities to assess successful and less successful approaches; * Propose how IAU may offer current services better or develop additional services to increase membership satisfaction, based first of all on current, on-going activities and later on activities that could be developed in the future.
Chair
Members
Secretariat
Chair
Members
Secretariat
The IAU President, Board Members, Secretary General and Staff are frequently invited to address various higher eduction topics by Member universities, international organizations and the media. Some of the recent presentations made are provided, in chronological order below:
Globalization, Internationalization and Regionalization in Higher Education: One and the same trend?, Eva Egron-Polak, Secretary General, IAU, International Congress on Higher Education, Universidad del Salvador, Argentina, September 2010
Education, Research & Innovation: Challenges Facing Higher Education in The Bahamas, Janyne M. Hodder, Past President, The College of The Bahamas, IAU Board Member, IMHE 2010 General Conference, Paris, 13-15 September 2010
Transparency in the International Context, Dr. Stephen Freedman, Vice-President, Fordham University, IAU Board Member, 13-14 September 2010, Château de Namur, Belgium
The higher education sector must create innovative partnerships for social construction, Prof. Juan Ramon de la Fuente, IAU President, Interview, May 26, 2010
UNESCO Executive Board, Meeting of the Committee on NGOs, Eva Egron-Polak, Secretary General, IAU, 31 March-1 April, 2010, UNESCO HQ, Paris
Building the Global Knowledge Society: Systemic and Institutional Change, Prof. Juan Ramon de la Fuente, IAU President, Bologna Policy Forum, Vienna, March 12, 2010
The International Universities Bureau is IAU's permanent Secretariat and its major instrument of program implementation - with support of the Working Groups. Created by UNESCO in 1949 as an international information centre on higher education, it was instrumental in preparing the International University Conference in Nice, 1950, at which IAU was founded. Today, being placed under the authority of IAU and in close cooperation with UNESCO, its prerogatives consist in:
Eva Egron-Polak - Secretary-General and Executive Director
Isabelle Turmaine - Director, Information Centre and Communication Services
Hilligje Van't Land - Director, Membership and Programme Development
Georgeta Sadlak - Manager, Information Systems
Christiane Oberlin - Office Manager
Amanda Sudic - Librarian/Documentalist
Élodie Boisfer - Programme Officer
Ross Hudson - Programme Officer
Trine Jensen - Executive Assistant
Nicholas Poulton - Administrative/Editorial Assistant
Christina Keyes - Assistant, Reference Publications
Samuel Pousson - Assistant, Reference Publications
Saholi Andriambololo-Nivo - Assistant, Reference Publications
Karine Bourgelas - Secretarial Assistant
Activity reports are snapshots of the Association, its activities and achievements. Featuring financial information, they contribute to the Association's total transparency.
IAU Activities and Finance Report 2000-2004 (rtf, 540 kb)
Written in the wake of IAU's 12th General Conference in Sao Paulo, this document provides an analytical account of the developments and initiatives undertaken by the Association from August 2000 to July 2004. Reporting major changes and achievements, it features six chapters: Memberships, IAU Governance, Activities, Partnerships and Networking, IAU Publications Programme, Finance and Administration.
Annual Report 2004 (pdf, 2.15 mb)
In addition to the covering the current thematic priorities and various actions implemented by IAU working groups, the report focused this year on the IAU 12th General Conference held in July 2004 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and its follow-up. The report offers also the opportunity to discover the new IAU President and Administrative Board elected in July 2004.
Annual Report 2003 (pdf, 2.07 mb)
Precious information concerning the IAU itself, its partnerships and recent publications, as well as major events that are to take place in 2004. It also offers data concerning the financial year 2004.