AUI in Brief

Founded in 1993 by Royal Dahir (charter), Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) opened its doors to students in January 1995. Based on the principles of diversity and an international outlook, the university's mission is driven by values of human solidarity and tolerance. AUI has modeled its administrative, pedagogical, and academic organization on the American university system, and English is the language of instruction.  Still in its infancy, this university has already developed a reputation for its unique identity and potential.

The 40-hectare campus is located in the oak forest on the north side of the resort town of Ifrane. Facilities include 16 student residence buildings with a bathroom in each room. There is a gymnasium, an indoor regulation Olympic swimming pool next to the soccer field and track, and three regulation tennis courts. All classroom buildings are situated next to each other, and faculty offices are distributed throughout the campus. The main auditorium seats 600, and is the site for concerts and special events while the smaller auditoriums accommodate guest lecturers.

A beautiful and popular tourist destination, the town of Ifrane has a regular population of 12,000 that expands to nearly 100,000 on weekends, holidays, and summers. With an elevation of 1600 meters (5250 feet), Ifrane is nestled in the Middle Atlas Mountains. The province of Ifrane is home the largest cedar forest in North Africa, and is the most biologically diverse area in Morocco. There are many exciting places to visit outside of Ifrane; most of them can be reached within 1 day. The ski slopes of Michlifin and Hebri are about 25 minutes from campus, and the imperial cities of Meknes and Fez are an hour (65 kilometers) from Ifrane. The capital city of Rabat on the Atlantic coast is about 2 hours away, and the Sahara desert is just a 6-hour drive to the south.

There are numerous weekly activities and over 40 clubs to appeal to nearly any interest: sporting, artistic, cultural, or academic. In addition to the several inter-mural teams and tournaments, there are official men's and women's teams representing AUI in national university leagues in volleyball, soccer, basketball, and tennis. The sports facilities and altitude have attracted the national swim teams of Egypt, Algeria, and Syria to train at AUI in addition to the various Moroccan national tennis, soccer, and track teams.

There were just over 1300 students enrolled at AUI last fall, the majority of which were full-time and living on campus. The opening of a new off campus residence in late 2009 has allowed the student body to expand to almost 1500. Over the last 10 years, there has been a consistently balanced student population of fifty percent female and fifty percent male. There is an increasingly international character to the student body, with over 160 students of 28 different nationalities on campus, in study abroad and exchange programs during the regular semester, or attending the intensive Arabic and North African Studies summer program.

Academic life is rigorous but highly personalized: the student faculty ratio is 12 students for each full time faculty member. All faculty members maintain a minimum of nine office hours per week for easy access by students. Because there is an average of 17 students per class, there are many opportunities to question, respond, and interact with the professor and classmates.

The resources of the Mohamed VI Library are among the best in Morocco, and the region. The number of titles in print is 65,000 and growing, and subscriptions to electronic collections are rapidly increasing. At present, there are over 1 million full-text articles in over 4500 journals, which are available to students, faculty, and staff. Services include a multimedia center, individual and group study areas, and reference assistance, which are all housed in one of the most striking buildings on campus. His Majesty, Mohamed IV, honored the library by giving it his name, an unprecedented distinction in the Moroccan academy.

Composed of 83 full-time and 12 are part-time exceptionally qualified professionals, most faculty members hold PhD’s or doctorates, and are highly international. Fifty percent of faculty members are Moroccan, a number of which have dual citizenship, and the other fifty percent represent over 15 different nationalities.

AUI students are encouraged to spend a semester or two as an exchange student at one of over 30 highly respected partner universities and colleges in Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and the USA. In 10 years, AUI has established 50 formal academic agreements with institutions in 13 countries, primarily in the USA and Europe due largely to the personal links of faculty. In the last 2 years, more links have been established in the Mediterranean region, and several links among other Universities in North Africa and the Middle East are in development. AUI recently signed an agreement with the Lebanese International University for the exchange of students and faculty. In a Health Care Quality Management training program funded but the European Union , AUI is currently working with Alexandria University, October 6th University of Egypt, Yarmouk University in Jordan, as well as Swedish and Greek institutions. AUI enjoys a solid relationship with the South African Institute of International Studies, and recently began talks with the leading universities of Nigeria following the visit of the Nigerian Ambassador to Morocco.

Each semester there is an average of 30 exchange and study abroad students at AUI, while the special programs of summer attract nearly 100 foreign students from the USA and around the world. Increasingly, many European and North American students come to AUI because of their North African cultural heritage. These students seek to learn or improve their level of Arabic, and to discover more about the region and culture in order to build upon the fragmented knowledge acquired from parents and grandparents.

The increasingly internationalized character of the student body has not yet matched the highly diverse faculty, but it has led to wide participation in inter-religious dialogue in both formal and informal settings. A central concern in the founding vision of His Late Majesty Hassan II was the importance of AUI as an intellectual and spiritual space where the three religions of the book (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) could co-exist in harmony, and affirm common heritage and values. Tolerance – the capacity to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others – has enjoyed a long tradition in Morocco; this tradition continues to be promoted in the University Common Core curriculum, and through the numerous activities on campus. Every year a period of recognition is devoted to various countries and cultures on campus; these include Palestine Day, Egypt Day, Korea Day, German Week, Japan Day, Thailand Day, and Amazigh and Native American Week.

To support cultural and academic endeavors, the technology and computing support at AUI are a priority. AUI is currently increasing its internet bandwidth to 155 megabits per second, and now has the fastest connection among all institutions of higher education in Morocco and North Africa. There are three ISDN lines dedicated for video teleconferencing, which is an easy way to connect classes around the world. The fully wired campus has just over 2000 connection ports with one in every classroom and every student room. Over fifty percent of students have personal computers and laptops. The University community uses Lotus Notes for an integrated email and productivity system that may be accessed from the AUI web site www.aui.ma, which has been fitted with a class 3 digital certificate providing 128-bit encryption to secure all its communications and applications such as admissions on-line and on-line registration.