HSE Strengthens Position on Global Education Market

At the HSE Staff and Student Conference on March 20, Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov presented a report on how the ‘HSE Development Programme for 2009–2015 and up to 2020’ has progressed since 2014.

In recent years, HSE University has made a ‘breakthrough, emerging from a national university to a university that is recognizable on the global market, which is a huge achievement of its staff,’ said HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov at the HSE Staff and Student Conference in Moscow.

The development programme was adopted in 2009 and has already been fulfilled for 75% of the target indicators. In some areas, progress has moved considerably beyond the goals,’ the rector emphasized.

Over the past decade, the total number of students has doubled to 40,000. Not only has their number grown, but so too has quality. The average USE grade of first-year students has risen, and the share of teachers with an advanced academic degree has also increased. International citations have also made impressive progress.

HSE’s rapidly growing position on the market represents organic growth. It doesn’t reflect environmental factors or immediate decisions made by the Rector’s Office, but rather the gradually improving reputation of our staff

According to Kuzminov, the university staff has had to leave its comfort zone by competing on the global market, publishing papers in English, and presenting research at international conferences.

‘HR policy has been the core of our work,’ said Kuzminov, noting that the university has consistently pursued a model aimed at incentivizing academic activity and raising standard requirements; this work has borne fruit, with growing citation indices and an increased number of publications in international journals.

At the conference, the HSE Rector also cited three of the university’s shortcomings over the past decade: slow growth rates in business education and continuing education, underdeveloped entrepreneurial and project learning, and poor capitalization of intellectual products.

Marina Borovskaya, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, commented on the Rector’s speech and said that HSE University has made ‘remarkable’ progress in terms of modernizing Russian education. She suggested considering the shortcomings noted by Kuzminov as opportunities for the next stage of the university’s development.

‘We have seen success, we have seen good results, and today, a whole set of tools has been created in the country that allow us to continue modernizing this system. Many new educational programmes have evolved, and a new approach to implementing them has taken shape. In this context, the role of the academic community is huge,’ the deputy minister emphasized.

The context of the digital economy and transition to a new level of technology requires new approaches to teaching experts in all fields, Borovskaya said. HSE is one of the universities that can teach such experts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are the conference delegates elected?

All University staff members (i.e., those for whom the University is their main source of employment) may participate in the vote for delegates.

Conference delegates are elected in several categories of staff and students according to representation quotas approved by the HSE Academic Council. The vote takes place at the general meetings of these categories of staff. The vote is held either online (staff members get an invitation via email to take part in candidate nomination), or at on-site meetings (which must be organized before February 22).

The online vote is organized into two stages. First, delegate candidates are nominated (until February 8), and then elections are held to elect the delegates (from February 13 – 20).

Other questions…