AUSN vigorously defends and strives to maintain academic freedom for all its faculty and students and strives to attain and promote academic excellence and scholarly activities. In general, the academic policies, rules and regulations of AUSN are determined by the Provost in cooperation with the Dean, and approved by the President and Faculty Senate. The implementation of such policies, rules and regulations is the responsibility of the Provost assisted by various Faculty Committees. At the same time we engage with communities, who should be partners in knowledge production.
AUSN is organized into four schools, but due to the interdisciplinary nature of the courses and research of AUSN, the degrees and faculty are integrated between all Schools. Each faculty member has their own page on the AUSN site where links to their publications, some featured lectures and other information is found. AUSN is a registered research institution with the US Federal Government. AUSN also has specific country offices in some countries, as well as many collaborating institutions.
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We have brought together large networks of the persons globally, and invite further colleagues to join our research and community service projects. We have a growing number of collaborative agreements with other research and academic institutions around the world and have already co-organized and conducted a number of international conferences. Lists of the dissertation titles of the MPH, MBGPH, MS, MA and Ph.D. students and alumni also provide some idea of the breadth of the research undertaken at AUSN. AUSN also conducts many international conferences.
AUSN and adheres to the well recognized international standards for research which govern clinical and social research. No research or research applications shall prevail over respect for the human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity of individuals or groups of people, and AUSN has a recognized Institutional Review Board with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Office for Human Research Protections of the Department of Health and Human Services . Benefits from advances in medicine and research in general should be made available to all, with due regard for the dignity and human rights of each individual.
AUSN promotes community based participatory research, and the dissemination of the results of research to promote the health and well-being of all Peoples, while recognizing the sacred nature of knowledge, and international ethical standards at every stage of the research endeavor to protect the dignity of individuals and groups associated with the research. This is supported by the U.S. National Institute of Health,
“Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an applied collaborative approach that enables community residents to more actively participate in the full spectrum of research (from conception – design – conduct – analysis – interpretation – conclusions – communication of results) with a goal of influencing change in community health, systems, programs or policies. Community members and researchers partner to combine knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and often reduce health disparities.” …
“Advantages of community-based participatory research include:
- Joining partners with diverse expertise to address complex public health problems
- Improving intervention design and implementation by facilitating participant recruitment and retention
- Increasing the quality and validity of research
- Enhancing the relevance and use of data
- Increasing trust and bridging cultural gaps between partners
- Providing resources for the communities involved
- Benefiting the community and researchers alike through the knowledge gained and actions taken
- The potential to translate research findings to guide the development of further interventions and policy change.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) continues supporting this collaborative approach {Link}”