The Department of Academic Affairs is the primary structural unit responsible for planning, organizing, and improving the educational process, as well as monitoring the quality of specialist training.
Department of Academic Affairs
The main tasks of the Department of Academic Affairs
- Determining the strategic priorities for the development of the university's educational activities and ensuring the integration of education, science, and innovation.
- Planning, organizing, coordinating, and monitoring the educational process.
- Coordinating the work of faculties and structural units in developing and implementing the university's academic policy.
- Forming and regularly updating the portfolio of the university’s educational programs.
- Developing and implementing micro‑qualification programs and additional education programs in accordance with labor market and employer demands.
- Coordinating the development and implementation of joint and dual-degree programs with national and international partners.
- Ensuring stakeholder participation in the design, expertise, and quality assessment of educational programs.
- Developing an educational analytics system, including monitoring, forecasting, and managing the quality of education based on data analysis.
- Participating in forming and developing human resources, including professional development of faculty and implementation of modern educational technologies.
- Developing key approaches to teaching and instructional support of academic disciplines.
- Coordinating student recruitment and organizing career guidance activities.
- Coordinating faculty efforts in organizing professional internships, placements, and supporting graduate employment, including developing career counseling.
- Ensuring the operation of collegial bodies, committees, and faculty author teams in academic matters; representing the university in national collegial bodies, and establishing cooperation with higher education institutions and other organizations.
- Defining key requirements for the organization and material‑technical support of the educational process.
- Organizing and introducing academic and digital innovations into the educational process to improve learning effectiveness.
- Maintaining records and monitoring the movement of the student population based on document flow and data analytics.
- Organizing student engagement, admissions, and orientation within the educational process.
- Organizing advisory and consultative activities on educational and methodological issues at the level of the Republican Educational and Methodological Council.
In its activities, the Department is guided by the legislative and regulatory acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Charter of Al‑Farabi KazNU, the principles of the Bologna Process, and the rules of credit‑based learning.
▶ Academic Quality Assurance Division
The Division performs the following functions:
- Developing and implementing educational analytics for monitoring, forecasting, and managing the quality of education based on data.
- Organizing the integration of academic and digital innovations into the educational process, including the development of the university’s distance, open, and online education systems.
- Conducting comprehensive analysis of educational program implementation and assessing the quality of applicants, students, graduates, and teaching staff.
- Organizing, coordinating, and providing methodological leadership for Academic Committees on Teaching and Learning Quality, including course content review, UMKD quality assurance, and examination task auditing.
- Providing methodological, technological, informational, and expert support for the university’s open, distance, and online learning systems.
- Monitoring student and staff testing and coordinating external educational activities and regulatory assessments.
The Division includes two offices:
➤ Academic Analytics and Quality Control Office
- Developing a unified educational analytics system for monitoring, forecasting, and managing education quality.
- Assessing the quality of applicants, students, graduates, and faculty to develop recommendations for improvement.
- Conducting comprehensive analysis of educational program quality.
- Providing methodological support for academic committees on teaching and learning quality.
- Monitoring testing of students and staff, as well as external educational and regulatory activities.
➤ Academic and Digital Innovation Office
- Defining priority directions for the university’s development in open and distance learning.
- Organizing and implementing academic and digital innovations to improve learning efficiency in accordance with university regulations.
- Developing online and distance learning platforms of the university.
- Providing consulting, training, and other services related to academic and digital innovation for external organizations on a paid basis.
▶ Academic Planning and Administration Division
The Division performs the following functions:
- Organizing and administering the university’s educational process.
- Planning and coordinating faculty educational activities.
- Managing student population formation and movement.
- Organizing admissions and supporting the admissions campaign.
The Division includes three offices:
➤ Admissions Office
- Coordinating and supervising career guidance work in faculties.
- Attracting applicants, providing consultations, and assisting with program selection.
- Receiving and processing documents for bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs.
- Providing informational support during the admissions campaign and consulting applicants and parents.
- Ensuring documentation flow, reporting, and analytics based on admissions results.
- Managing information systems and digital services used during admissions.
➤ Student Office
- Maintaining records and documentation support for the student population, including creating and storing student files.
- Maintaining statistical records of students according to established forms (3‑NK, 1‑NK).
- Processing orders related to all forms of study (withdrawal, transfer, reinstatement, academic leave, educational/scientific foreign trips).
- Preparing archival certificates and diploma duplicates.
- Registering and distributing student personnel orders.
➤ Academic Operations Office
- Organizing and coordinating planning principles to ensure the educational process meets modern requirements.
- Coordinating faculty and department activities on academic policy implementation.
- Developing and approving planning documentation: academic calendar, workload calculation norms, workload data (student population), service agreements, and final assessment rules.
- Calculating teaching loads and approving the staff schedule for teaching personnel.
- Monitoring the distribution and fulfillment of teaching workload, approving faculty individual plans.
- Monitoring and analyzing the results of midterm and final assessments.
▶ Competency Development Centre
The Centre performs the following functions:
- Providing organizational and methodological support and introducing the national qualifications system.
- Implementing tools for interaction with potential customers of educational and scientific services.
- Retraining specialists in high‑demand occupations in the labor market.
- Cooperating with enterprises and professional associations in the field of professional qualifications.
The Centre includes two offices:
➤ Educational Program Design Office
- Coordinating academic committees in developing new and updating existing educational programs and micro‑qualification programs across all levels of education.
- Organizing the development, review, and updating of educational and micro‑qualification programs and providing methodological support to departments.
- Managing dual‑degree and joint educational programs.
- Conducting training seminars, webinars, and workshops for teaching staff on educational program design and updates.
- Providing documentation support for the University Methodological Council.
- Organizing and conducting the university’s annual Expert Strategic Session.
- Providing methodological support for educational and micro‑qualification programs.
➤ Professional Development and Career Office
- Organizing career events (job fairs, masterclasses, training sessions, company presentations, internships).
- Maintaining and updating the internship database, employer lists, and vacancy listings.
- Developing partnerships with employers, government agencies, and professional associations.
- Providing consulting services on career planning, interview preparation, etc.
▶ Continuing Education Centers
- Developing and implementing modern educational courses and training programs that meet labor market and learner needs.
- Organizing practice‑oriented courses and seminars using modern technologies and teaching methods.
- Forming professional competencies of learners through certification programs and modules.
- Monitoring the educational needs of learners and promptly updating programs considering current trends.
- Supporting learners’ professional development and career growth through relevant knowledge and skills.
- Providing consulting services and individual support during the learning process.
- Ensuring a high level of service and feedback to improve the quality of educational services.
▶ Institute for Professional Development and Continuing Education
- Carrying out educational, scientific, certification, accreditation, production, and administrative activities in the field of professional development, training, and retraining, and providing additional educational services to various categories of citizens and other entities both domestically and abroad.
- Implementing professional development programs for specialists.
- Organizing additional education programs.
- Conducting professional development programs.