Hellenic American University MBA Student Laura Simoes has put her Capstone Consulting Project into practice and as a result has changed the live of several people in need. The University’s unique international MBA program educates its students to make a difference in both the business world as well as in the wider community.

When asked about her project, Laura explained “With skills learned through the MBA program, I undertook feasibility planning, worked on a detailed budget and sustainability plan, and wrote a marketing fundraising plan. Following this work, I believed I could design a project to make this vision a reality.”

In Laura Simoes’ case, she developed the innovative concept “Share Your Load”, a project that brings clean laundry, dignity, health, hygiene and supportive services such as counseling, education and financial assistance to the homeless community in Concord, New Hampshire and the surrounding areas. Laura explained that she had estimated an annual budget, but as she managed to raise more than required, the extra money was used to install showers for the homeless in the Center.

Her work has been highly appreciated by the local community and non-profit organizations, and as a result, she has been asked to join the Board of Directors of Concord Homeless Resource Center.

In May 2015 a new collaboration began between the Master of Arts in Translation & Master of Arts in Conference Interpreting and the Terminology Coordination Unit – TermCord of the European Parliament.

TermCoord collaborates with universities that teach Terminology courses as part of their Bachelor and Master programs on terminology research projects for IATE. Hellenic American University met all the criteria for collabotrating on the project and is now actively participating in the program for the academic year 2014-15.

Specifically, our students conduct terminology research under their professors' supervision. Afterwards, this newly created termbase is submitted to TermCoord where the terms are evaluated and are, finally, inserted into IATE's database. For their part to this important EU project, the students of the Master of Arts in Translation & Master of Arts in Conference Interpreting will receive a certificate for their contribution while at the same gaining hands-on experience in terminology work.

Upon completion of the research project and until the final incorporation of terms in IATE's database, our students will have the opportunity to view their glossary of terms on TermCoord's website, under the Blossaries section, where the names of Hellenic American University and our students will be visible.
Congratulations and best of luck in this new endeavor!

Dr. Themis Kaniklidou
Academic Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Translation

The Linguistics Department of the Hellenic American University has been invited by the Language Policy Unit of the Council of Europe to participate in a study related to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). The study, which began in March 2015, involves further development of the illustrative scales used to measure language proficiency in the area of mediation.  As Johanna Panthier, Head of the Language Unit Policy noted in her letter of invitation, this study is an “extremely valuable contribution for all professionals using the CEFR.”

The participants of the study include University faculty members, Christine Irvine-Niakaris and Charalambos Kollias, and fifteen graduate students studying in the Master of Arts program in Applied Linguistics (MAAL). All of the participants are involved in a series of activities conducted in workshops at the University and surveys administered online. The activities aim to finalize and validate a set of descriptors for mediation activities and mediation strategies used in a number of languages. According to Professor Irvine-Niakaris, the MAAL students participating in the project feel privileged to be part of this work for the CEFR, which has had such an impact on learning, teaching, and assessment of foreign languages in Europe and worldwide

ALCE, an examination designed for non-native speakers at advanced level took place at Southern New Hampshire University on December 5 and at Hellenic American University on December 6, 2014. The ALCE includes a listening section, a grammar, vocabulary and reading (GVR) section, a writing section and a speaking section. The total time for the written part was approximately three hours, with an extra fifteen minutes for the speaking section later the same day.

Successful candidates received a life-long, internationally recognized certificate which certifies their language ability.

For more information on the ALCE examination please visit the following link:
http://hauniv.edu/alce

Hellenic American University Faculty member, Barbara Kondilis, MSW, MPH, in collaboration with the European Health Literacy Project team members have a newly added publication in the European Journal of Public Health as of April 2015 titled, “Health literacy in Europe: comparative results of the European health literacy survey (HLS-EU).” 

The HLS-EU survey was part of European Health Literacy Project (2009-2012) providing first-time comparative data on health literacy across eight European countries including Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Taking her first career steps, psychology student Nikoleta Samara has been selected for an internship with Libra Group where she will work for the HR department in the company’s offices in London for the summer of 2015. The Libra internship program is an excellent example of a multinational company offering interns unique employment opportunities facilitating their professional and personal development. Nikoleta describes her experience below:

“When I got the news that I was selected for the first interview, I felt really glad and grateful to be given the opportunity to go ahead with the selection process. In the interviews that followed I had the chance to discover something new about both myself and the business world every time. Finally, all the preparation and anxiety paid off when I got the call saying that I was a successful candidate and will be joining the Libra team in summer 2015.

For me, this was a process of self-development and improvement that taught me that hard work, attention, honesty and an eye for detail are very important when it comes to applying and traveling through the business' world of applications and interviews. I feel grateful and honored to be given this opportunity…”

The Libra Group is a privately-owned international business group that controls 30 subsidiaries operating across five continents. It is primarily focused on five core sectors: shipping, aviation, real estate, hospitality and energy.

Hellenic American University Faculty member Dr. Evangelia Siachou together with the University Provost Dr. Triant Flouris participate in EURAM 2015 Annual Conference as co-organizers of an emerging Strategic Management track entitled Strategies for Air and Maritime Transportation.

This track aims to bring together scholars interested in strategies to reduce uncertainty and increase sustainable competitiveness in the context of air and sea transportation. Several, mutually related, research topics are addressed and include:

• Strategies to increase innovation and improve sustainable competitiveness;
• The role of organizational ambidexterity in boosting growth;
• Public-Private-Partnerships in airports and ports;
• CSR and green strategies: economic, social and environmental challenges;
• Stakeholder dialogue and conflict mitigation;
• Strategy of Airport and Port Authorities to face increased market volatility and risk;
• The impact of cruise tourism on the development of local communities.

The European Academy of Management (EURAM) is a professional cross-cultural community of engaged management scholars and reflective practitioners and aims at enhancing the quality of research and contribute to the social and political discourse on management.

EURAM 2015 Annual Conference is hosted in Kozminski University, Warsaw, 17-20 June with the theme Uncertainty is a great opportunity.