In preparation for its third decade of existence and as a part of its re-accreditation activities, AUA is conducting strategic planning involving all segments of the University. As a part of this process, a representative group of AUA faculty, students, alumni, staff and other stakeholders held a two-day strategy mapping session on July 22 and 23. The strategy mapping session was the second of three sub-phases of the deliberative phase of the AUA 2017 Strategic Plan. The deliberative phase launched with a community meeting on July 7, to which all members of the University community and external stakeholders were invited. The strategy mapping session on July 22-23 was an issue clarification and consensus building exercise. The entire community was invited to make suggestions for the mapping session and all important sectors within (students, faculty, staff) and outside the university (government, business, employers, alumni, NGOs, international organizations) were represented. Twenty five stakeholders took part in the event. The sessions were held with the assistance of Mr. Arthur G. Martirosyan, a Senior Consultant with CMPartners LLC and an expert in nonprofit organizational management, who introduced various strategy planning concepts and tools at the beginning of each day. The end result of the two-day session was a draft Strategy Map, around which the participants reached consensus.  The facilitated discussion was a good opportunity to air concerns, identify issues, build consultative decision-making capacity, team-building skills, and learn new deliberation tools. Additional information about the AUA strategic planning process can be found at https://ebulletin.aua.am/strategic-planning-2011-2017/.

 Mr. Arthur G. Martirosyan giving instructions at the Strategy Planning Session on July 22, 2011