Salaries Increased for Not Only the Rector but Also 330 University Staff Members: Rector Responds to Marukyan

In total, more than 300 employees' salaries have been raised at the Agricultural University. Rector Vardan Urutyan has issued a statement regarding this.

The statement reads:

“During a session of the National Assembly, Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the ‘Enlightened Armenia’ faction, addressed Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan regarding the Armenian National Agrarian University. We find it necessary to note that taking the opportunity to address the Minister from the high podium of parliament, Mr. Marukyan attempted, deliberately or inadvertently, to mislead his colleagues in the National Assembly and the public by making claims about alleged corrupt practices at the Agricultural University.

Marukyan first stated that the minister had ‘appointed’ one of his close associates as the rector of the Agricultural University with a salary set at 855,000 drams. We must remind the deputy that the rector of the university is not appointed by the minister, but elected by the university’s Board of Trustees. Secondly, the unanimously elected rector Vardan Urutyan is not a close associate of the Minister and has never been. Concerning the salary, the mentioned amount reflects the rector's salary, including taxes. Furthermore, not only the rector's salary but also those of an additional 330 university staff members have been raised in this process, and it has been done with minimal expenses.

Is an increase in salary considered corruption for Mr. Marukyan, who is ‘tempered’ in law and parliamentary work? By the way, the mentioned amount is hardly high for the leader of such a large institution as the Agricultural University, especially when compared to the salaries of rectors of other state universities of comparable size. The circumstances or sources that led to Mr. Marukyan's misunderstanding evidently lacked sufficient insight when evaluating the work of ‘a division with one employee and one head’ simply because there is no such division at the university with one employee. The two newly created divisions—Marketing and Development Division and Scientific Program Coordination Division—are not only not divisions with one employee, but currently also have one vacant leading specialist position each. For example, the MZ division has managed to establish partnerships with international donor organizations and has submitted several investment project proposals related to educational and research activities and has received agreements for their implementation.

We already have an agreement worth 80,000 USD for the purpose of acquiring classroom furnishings and computer technology. By the way, the monthly salary of the department head is 200,000 drams, including taxes, and we leave the assessment of work efficiency to the reader.

The structural reforms initiated at the university, particularly optimization, could have been presented as a situation in the ‘classical’ Marukyan style, almost as a tragicomedy, but it would have been prudent to inquire and learn that the university offers staff opportunities to enhance their professional qualifications and competitiveness through free software training courses. Over 300 students and faculty participate enthusiastically in the courses. Moreover, more than 100 faculty members are involved in teaching English at various levels. The demand for qualification improvement and the opportunities provided by the new university leadership are entirely adequate. By the way, although faculty salaries have not yet increased nominally, this has been achieved indirectly by reducing the classroom load while keeping the salary at the same level.

Significant salary increases for the teaching staff are also expected by September, which will be another important outcome of the structural reforms. Educational programs are currently under review; this implies an update to the subject list and, yes, also the removal of outdated subjects from the curriculum. Mr. Marukyan's ‘principled’ stance, unfortunately, has reached the wrong address. We do not believe Mr. Marukyan has more interesting pursuits than engaging in ‘idle’ shots towards the Agricultural University with blank bullets. Nevertheless, we can suggest engaging topics, for example, regarding the radical positive changes occurring at the Agricultural University. Moreover, we would gladly do this in the spirit of partnership, in a style characteristic of the new Board of Trustees and leadership of the Agricultural University, which is marked by openness, transparency, and high professional standards.