In July 1989, a group of lecturers, scholars and entrepreneurs founded a Society for New Bulgarian University. Its elected chairman was Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov. The aim of the new society was to promote reform in Bulgarian university towards greater autonomy, mission-orientation, entrepreneurship, and freedom. A year later, the Society organized courses for people of all ages, on subjects going beyond the perimeter of Bulgarian university education. Admission to the courses was limited due to the capacity of the few lecturers prepared for the new time, and curricular requirements were dictated by practice. Higher education in Bulgaria now had an alternative and became to spread out, side by side with European traditions, while the Society itself became popular as the “free university”.

WHY ARE WE DIFFERENT?

“Why are we different?” is a description of what we are doing today in our university, an idea that we present as the future and which is strongly tied with our creation and our history, and namely the special world of freedom, which is unique to and ever - important for universities.

To the book

HISTORICAL FACTS

On 18 September 1991, the Society was granted the university statute following Decision of the Grand National Assembly. Its new name was going to be New Bulgarian University.
New Bulgarian University initiated the reform in Bulgarian higher education. Its direction: development of diverse forms of education and academic communication, diversification of funding, and achievement of high standards in the building up and functioning of the University’s resources. The University’s major task was to study the changing environment and develop new programs of study and new professions.

The first stage in NBU’s development, 1991/1993, had to do with the creation of the University’s framework and its identification in public space. Following the granting of the status of institution of higher education, on 17 October 1991 the Society’s General Assembly elected from among its members the ad interim Board of Trustees of New Bulgarian University. Its elected Chairman was the founder of the University, Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov, who was also acting as a Rector at that time. The ad interim Board of Trustees worked out the guidelines for the University’s development, and set its action plan. It also created the structures within the University, and adopted their internal elements and regulations. The Board would also be responsible for the carrying out of the University’s educational policy by adopting the programs and courses of study.

The development of the programs of study resulted in the introduction of Schools. Their management would consist of Deans and Councils of Schools, Directors of Schools and administration.

Two new major units operating as schools were established: the Free School (FS) and the Correspondence School (also called Radio University). There, courses, qualification programs and distance learning were available. Within the two units, the departments were also operating, which, although already defined as research units, for a long time had a status equal to that of the schools, and their activity was mostly focused on the process of study – the launching and development of courses and programs.
Courses had an unrestricted variety of subjects and lecturers, contents and teaching methods, as well as ways of attracting students. Students were free to combine the courses they had chosen within the programs of study. The principle of program formation – teams united by entrepreneurial individuals – set the beginning of self-governance within the University’s structures.

The programs of study were experimental in nature and professional in their orientation. Even then, however, the ambition was for them to be interdisciplinary and to offer a variety of forms of study. From the onset of program formation the credit system was introduced, based on principles most of which are still valid today. The accreditation of courses taken outside NBU encouraged student mobility and paved the road to NBU’s becoming part of the national, and later of the international academic community.

During the second stage of NBU’s development, 1993/1998, at the initiative of the ad interim Board the new Board of Trustees was formed (1998). It included representatives of local authorities, businesses, and NGOs. The Regulations on the Organization and Operation of NBU were adopted (14 March 1994), in which the structure of the University was set out in detail, and the forms of governance and self-governance were defined. The Academic Council was also introduced as an institution, which, together with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Rector, would become the major governing body of New Bulgarian University. In 1995, the functions of the Chairman and the Rector were separated, which was the beginning of the separation of the managerial from the academic authority at NBU. Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov remained Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Prof. Ivanka Apostolova was elected Rector of the University. Georgi Tekev was appointed Executive Director.

In 1994, at the British Parliament, Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov, D.Sc, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NBU, and Sir John Daniel, Rector of The Open University, signed a Cooperation Agreement on behalf of NBU and OU. This came as a consequence of the foundation of the School of Management at NBU, resulting from a joint project of New Bulgarian University and The Open University. Sir John Daniel was the first person to preach from the Westminster Abbey using a portable computer, as a preacher for the Church of England.

The University began to develop quickly, and new units as well as a wide range of programs of study were introduced. The School of Regular Studies and the School of Doctoral Studies were founded. It was then that for the first time in a Bulgarian university the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees were introduced. This resulted in a further development of departments, which at that time had two major functions: to participate in the management of existing programs of study, and to propose new programs and courses. As regards their structure, departments would unite faculty members from the same subject area, which would further form expert councils for the specific disciplines. The local centers in Varna, Plovidv and Veliko Tarnovo were launched at that time, and later the ones in Vidin and Vratsa followed. The School of Management was separated from the Distance Learning Center and became autonomous. Two structures of the University – the Center for Social Practices and the Institute of Human Relations, the former established as a partnership outside of NBU, and the latter having evolved from one of the University’s departments – started operating within and on behalf of the University, with a focus on external activities.

By the middle of this same period (1993/1998), the University’s management took a course toward planned development. In 1997, NBU worked out its first business plan, entitled Self-Evaluation and Institutional Development Document, in which it analyzed the first years of its operation, and planned for the next five-year period. The working-out of the First Strategic Development Plan of NBU was possible with international support, in a series of seminars, working group sessions, and panuniversity conferences. One of the important changes following the 1998/2003 Plan was the formulation of the University’s mission and profile.

After 1998, NBU began to implement its mission by turning it into a structure and an educational policy. This project initiated the processes related to the re-structuring of the programs of study, consolidation of faculty communities, project-based fundraising, etc.

The effort toward alignment of mission, academic profile and educational philosophy, on the one hand, and NBU’s structure, on the other, created the conditions for the University’s success achieved within a very short period. This was the period when the University’s structures were already on the way to a united community with its own strategy for development.

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT

The structure and management of NBU follow the principle of separation of powers. The processes of strategic and financial management are within the powers of the Board of Trustees, its Chairman, the Strategic Development Commission, the Financial Commission, the Executive Director, and the Administration of the Board. Academic processes at a central level are the responsibility of the Academic Council, the Rector, the Extended Academic Council, the Conference of NBU, the Vice Rectors, and the central administrations. Educational processes are organized by the schools, the centers for continuing education, and the methodological centers, while research activities are the responsibility of departments and centers.

Board of Trustees
Academic Council

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The process of study within the schools is organized in Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degree programs. The programs are interdisciplinary, include courses offered by the departments, and place an emphasis on active forms of teaching, including distance learning. The educational system at NBU enables students to make individual programs according to their interests, provided they comply with the requirements of the credit system. Summaries of available programs are published every year in NBU’s Catalogue.

Programs
Life-long Learning

SCIENTIFIC LIFE

Research at NBU is organized by departmental faculty communities. They are responsible for the initiation, organization of and participation in national and international projects, seminars and conferences, scientific publications, and student and faculty exchange. Most NBU departments have year-round seminars.

Departments
University Publications

NBU TODAY

The book "Europe: Understood and Made" says that “the type of relation between trainees, trainers and administration, as well as the educational system of a university play a role in the formation of student personality.”

The first task of every administrator is the provision of quality service to students, and their key reposnsibilities involve the proper flow of communication, problem-solving skills, loyalty to the institution, and creation of good academic environment.

According to surveys of public attitudes towards NBU, the University’s national impact and international identifiablity are already a fact. It is regarded as a good partner, good publisher, and impressive participant in and organizer of national and international events, an institution which has drawn the attention of outstanding figures in Bulgarain and international public life, and one of considerable importance. Some of the University’s greatest opportunities include the close connection with practice, the creation of new partnerships, the involvement of practitioneers in the teaching process, the building up of project- or situation-based contacts with clients of the University.

Annual Report

---

LEARN MORE ABOUT NBU

http://www.nbu.bg/
University events
University complex
E - learning