AUBG’s New President on the Future




During the lengthy summer break, AUBG students received an unexpected email which informed them about the arrival of a new president of the university. Dr. Margee Ensign undertook the presidency on Sep. 1, replacing Dr. David R. Evans.

 

Since then, she has organized many events that featured students, faculty, and staff, and aimed to ease her integration into AUBG. During these events, Ensign was informed about the university’s current problems, such as the sudden increase in the number of incoming undergraduate students, the ongoing housing situation, and the uncertainty regarding campus planning.

 

Photo by Yenlik O’Neil for the American University in Bulgaria.

 

The new president has over 13 years of experience in this position at Dickinson College, the American University of Nigeria, and the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. “When I was asked to be a candidate for the presidency here in Bulgaria, frankly I was uncertain,” she said. 

 

What changed everything was a plaque next to Panitza Library which reads the statement: “the mission of this university is to prepare democratic and ethical leaders.” “I stopped, and I took a picture, and I reflected for a moment on what’s one of the critical challenges in the world right now.” 

 

“The declining support for democracy,” she stated, was one of said critical challenges, and democratic governments are “the best and what’s needed right now to create a better world.” President Ensign continued with “we’re the only university in the world that has the word democracy in its mission statement.”

 

The president stated her short-term goal is to “refocus and refine what’s up on the screen here which is our mission, our vision, and our strategic plan for five years.” 

 

President Ensign said that having a bigger impact in the region and Bulgaria is a long-term goal which means “new programs, both undergraduate and graduate.” She added that “using our Sofia center more” and “having a larger student body” are crucial in the pursuit of this goal.

 

Students have expressed their concerns with the increase in the number of incoming undergraduates, as this may lead to a decline in the average performance at AUBG. President Ensign said the university admissions team “have not at all reduced the standards.”

 

The president said “there are new tools that have emerged to do the evaluation of student performance.” For example, the applied English language proficiency tests “are used by thousands of universities around the world, including the Duolingo Yale is using.”

 

When asked about the possibility of a new Skaptopara III wing being built, President Ensign said that “the Board will make that decision because it’s a financial commitment,” but she is “quite sure we will move forward with that.” The president continued by saying: “we’re trying to commit to having as many students as possible on campus.”

 

She said that the Board is “looking at different scenarios and nothing has been decided” on the potential changes in the campus layout, including a new building on the ABF Lawn. President Ensign emphasized the importance of building an inclusive and unified campus.

 

The President said that together with the Board, they are looking at different options of where to put people who are in Main Building. President Ensign stated that the alternatives are one large building or three smaller buildings and there is a possibility to explore properties that are currently not a part of AUBG’s campus.