Duty Calls The new President of the American University in Bulgaria Stratsi Kulinski is so connected to the institution that if he cannot provide it with stability, no one else could. Head of the family: At the beginning of 2016 Stratsi Kulinski from the first graduating class of the American University in Bulgaria became President of AUBG. In the conversations with Stratsi Kulinski the word "sacrifice" appears twice - at the beginning of his two biggest ventures related to the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG). In 1991 he was a student from the first graduating class of the university and at the end of 2015 - president of AUBG. "To this day I feel like I am about to cry whenever I think of the sacrifice my parents made to finance my first semester at the university," says Kulinski, takes a long sip of soda and does not utter another word for half a minute. In 1991 the salaries of his parents in Pleven amounted to 700 dollars, while the annual tuition fee at AUBG was 10,000 dollars. His father sold the car and all savings were withdrawn. Yet that wasn't enough to pay for the first semester. Kulinski also took a student's loan. 24 years later has had a successful career in the USA and has worked in the Silicon Valley for TiVo - the company that invented the digital video recorder. As part of the Board of Trustees of AUBG he faced the resignation of Kevin Aspegren who had taken the presidential position in the summer of 2014 to announce his based on personal reasons resignation a year later. The Board's idea that he should take the lead of the university came as a surprise for Kulinski. "My plans were a bit different. I had to think of the sacrifices I had to make in terms of both personal life and career," he says. He loves the university, would give
everything for it, but to commit for a long time... Kulinski thought about it for a few days and in the end accepted this career decision. However, "a step in his career" is not what he would call it. "For me this is a way to thank the university for what I have received." During the last few years at AUBG there have been some good but temporary solutions. Kevin Aspegren was elected after a long process and arrived in Blagoevgrad with the perfect business card and visage. In a Forbes interview from April 2015, he said, "Our aim is to transform the university into a 21st century educational institution." He officially announced his resignation to be based on personal reasons. However, it is unofficially claimed that he couldn't get along with AUBG's administration. Stratsi Kulinski does not comment but the task to rise the level of the university now falls on him. AUBG is definitely in need of security and stability and if a person with Kulinski's profile cannot provide it, then no one could. He comes from the heart of the university, his international business experience is remarkable, and because of his engagement in the Board of Trustees he also holds positions in Bulgaria. In 1991 Stratsi Kulinski heard from a friend that an American University was opening in Blagoevgrad. He took the train to Sofia and wandered for two hours before he found the Open Community office where he found more information. Then he managed to find a sample of a TOEFL exam but his first encounter with SAT was in the moment he was taking the exam. In the end, he was surprised to be accepted at AUBG. The first year of the university was filled with "enthusiasm and euphoria," according to Kulinski's memories. Everything was still in an organizational stage. There were no computers, course registration happened on paper. The "risk and lottery" element, however, drew all students together (there was only one foreigner in the whole class). "The environment which inspired me to think critically, the discussion of ideas through different perspectives, the constructive conflict - all of this was completely new for the
students," says Stratsi Kulinski today. Then he adds that those are characteristics that distinguish AUBG even today. "Then, we were moving away from an educational system that taught the opposite." (He ignored with a smile the comment of Forbes that this is also valid nowadays). For the current AUBG President this environment was "a window to the world." But none of the students knew how to study. Kulinski still remembers how in his second semester he came across one of the new students in the residence hall lobby at midnight. Without naming her, he says that "poor she tried to memorize the Sociology textbook. The student, who is nowadays "very popular in Bulgaria," was desperate but he, "the old dog," explained to her that she has to read twice the beginning of every paragraph and then go to sleep. Stratsi Kulinski studied Public Administration, then Journalism, and in the end graduated in Business Administration. Parallel to that he took part in many extracurricular activities. He was active in the Student Government and represented the students' side at the AUBG Board. To this can be added the activities connected to the student-run Radio AURA which Kulinski co-founded in 1993. His experience in the radio, about which he says that even then was commercially managed, created a good image for him in the just coming into existence private media environment in Bulgaria. In fact, after he graduated, Stratsi Kulinski wanted to create a private radio station in Pleven but met a lot of administrative problems. Then he was hired by the American company Metromedia which wanted to establish a radio chain in Bulgaria. The plan failed and that was why in 1995 Kulinski ended up in the former Soviet republics, creating or transforming radio stations for the same company. He worked in the region for four years. At that time, hyperinflation had hit Bulgaria. This is important for the current AUBG President's history, because his interest-free student loan was in levs. That way the 30,000 dollars became about 400 ("I don't remember
exactly how much it was but it was a sum I could withdraw from the ATM"). "That is a fact that makes me feel responsible towards the university," says Strasti Kulinski. In 1999 he departed for the USA, where he completed an MBA in the Wharton Business School of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After that he worked for six years for the Intelsat satellite services company. In the beginning of 2008 Kulinski took the lead of the international expansion of the abovementioned TiVo. He says that all his endeavours had a global scope and he has always "been fascinated by what is happening around the world." In Intelsat, for example, he worked with colleagues from 86 countries. While he was in TiVo, he travelled throughout the globe, luckily for him, in Europe as well, which allowed him to return to his homeland every 3-4 months. "I have always felt attached to Bulgaria," says Stratsi Kulinski. But perhaps even more to AUBG. His LinkedIn profile description is "Proud AUBG Family Member since 1991." Kulinski became a member of the Board of Trustees in May 2013, and at the beginning of 2016 he became the head of the AUBG family. Taking a walk with him in Blagoevgrad can be compared to driving in two lanes - of the past and of the future. We walk out of the Municipality building where Kulinski took part in a round table with the ambitious aim to turn AUBG into an IT hub for the region (AUBG is the biggest private employer in the city and is a wanted partner in various initiatives). Walking to the administrative building of the university, which is in front of us, Kulinski remembers how more than 20 years ago at this exact place he was setting up the connection for the live broadcast of Doni and Momchil on Radio AURA. Some current students meet him on the square on their way to a theatre performance. Others are preparing for the TEDxAUBG conference which is in the day after our interview and on which former classmates of Stratsi Kulinski will give talks. "On many levels I feel like I have come home. I had travelled so much throughout the years that I missed the sense of belonging and a friendly atmosphere. From this perspective I am very, very proud to be here," he says.
Professionally, his task is not easy. AUBG, which operates as an association and cannot allot profit, has a good financial foundation - more than 70 million dollars in cash and intangible assets. But throughout the last financial year, which ended in June 2015, AUBG lost from its capital. These are the financial dimensions of a more serious topic. The American University in Bulgaria has strong competition in the face of western quality institutions which, with the entering of Bulgaria in the EU, became much more accessible. AUBG also has to fill a serious financial hole for every students it has. Each of the 939 enrolled in the spring of 2016 at the university costs 10,000 dollars per year but the mean proceeds per person are between 6,000 and 7,000. To this moment the difference has been covered by scholarships from organizations like America for Bulgaria and Open Community but Stratsi Kulinski thinks this support may not last forever. Besides that, AUBG has the capacity to house on its campus 1,500 students but interest for the remaining 500 spots is so far lacking. That is why the new president put the growth of the number of accepted students with 20-30% on the top of his strategic list of tasks. Stratsi Kulinski wants to quickly renew the academic program of the university and he points the size of AUBG as an opportunity for flexible changes on academic level. Together with this he wants to diversify the ways to finance AUBG. One option is connected to the so called Executive programs which are aimed at middle and high class managers and are a lighter version of the MBA education (AUBG has an MBA program but in it are enrolled only 22 people). Executive programs can also be made on behalf of a company. Besides that companies are given the opportunity to give direct scholarships to students. That is something closely connected to the culture of the university on private individual level.
Kulinski himself says that he has been providing scholarships for years because he thinks that "the best investment is in education" and "changing the life of a young person that could otherwise not afford to study at a university, is an emotional pleasure that cannot be granted by any purchase or vacation." In his first months as the head of the AUBG family he worked on strategic goals but also found time to refresh the relations in the family. He met former graduates, including his classmates and friends (a typical characteristic of those who graduate from AUBG is that they personally and professionally stick to their university relations above everything else). A big part of them are people holding positions in the community, and Kulinski says that on his meetings he often hears that AUBG has detached from the environment. "We need to show how important we are to the public life in Bulgaria," he says. Stratsi Kulinski has to act quickly. It turns out that even the period of one semester is valuable for the university because he ended up in Blagoevgrad months before what was initially planned. The new AUBG President says that he already has some "quick victories." He changes the Provost and Dean of Faculty of the university. He examines the work environment and takes into account the "good news" that there are many things that could be improved. But the better news is that "there is a team that wants to work together. We just need to find the right mechanisms and projects that would make it even better and more effective." Kulinski thinks that he has as well quickly managed to interest many new new supporters of AUBG. Kulinski's role is really decisive. The university has been losing its luster for a long time and the message sent by the frequent changes in its leadership is extremely negative. At the same time AUBG continues to be among the most adequate higher educational institutions in Bulgaria, which has provided the country with quality young people for years.
Kulinski thinks he will be around for long and will contribute to the refreshment of AUBG. "I am not sure I'll come back to business. Here I have a wonderful challenge, even if that sounds like an oxymoron," he says. Every morning he is eager to go to work. Why? Well, it's very simple: "If I do a good deed today, I'll express my gratitude to the university."