Актуальное интервью

Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities in 3 years – Let it be so!

This year SMSUH -has won the project of the University strategic development state support. The three-year development programme of the University includes 26 projects. What kind of programme is it? What are the projects aimed at? How will the University change in 3 years?

Vladimir Dmitrievich Nechaev, rector of SMSUH, Doctor of Politics answered these and other questions.

Background. The 1990s’ model of «overall higher education»

In the 1990s, there was a rather specific model of higher education in Russia: the state could not provide the adequate financing of educational institutions, including the institutions of higher education, though the state gave universities a lot of low-paid state-funded places and allowed to enroll un-budgetary students in return.

The authorities acted this way not only to keep many universities afloat in the absence of state funding, but also to engage numerous young people who finished school in the 90s, those were generations born in the late 70’s and mid 80’s. Meanwhile work positions ran short in a recession of the 90s.

The model called overall higher education was formed this way in Russia. At present, Russia ranks second in the number of students per thousand people in this age group after the United States. However, in the U.S. it is due to the relatively high level of public or private funding of universities and, accordingly, to the high quality of education.

In Russia, due to the specific situation of the 90s, mentioned above, many people studied, but the funds for education were awfully small, and as a consequence the quality of education decreased. The situation got worse by the lack of teachers, low salaries, little money for research. Without these points higher education loses its essence, and universities can be compared to technical secondary schools.

And what comes next? The sieve of state support.

The government has currently realized, that this model is absolutely exhausted. The modernization of the economy is impossible without a fundamentally different quality of education.

The question is how to restructure the higher education system so that it could provide the update development of our country with highly qualified specialists.

Russia isn’t as rich as the U.S. to provide a huge number of vacances of higher education existing in our country by American standards. And the state has gone the way of resources concentration.

The government decided to mark out universities it stakes on the most. Firstly, as a basis two oldest universities of the country -were chosen. They were Moscow and St. Petersburg universities with their own history and facilities well-known abroad.

The second step was to create eight federal universities, whose two main goals are, firstly, to create high level educational environment in certain areas, mostly marginal ones (Vladivostok, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Yakutia, etc.). The second goal is to solve geopolitical problem and consolidate the space of our country with the help of universities.

The next step was the following: 26 or 27 research universities -were chosen for a quality scientific breakthrough. The universities focused on the development of certain areas.

The total number of universities provided with state support, will be approximately equal to 100-150 institutions. Nowadays there are 600 state universities (without branches). Prospective universities will be selected from those ones. The state will stake on them. These universities were not included in the list of federal and national research universities, but they have a significant potential for development.

Therefore a contest of development programs was announced. The universities, participated in the contest, showed their way to progress in the next 5-6 years, unique aims and unique mission they are going to fulfill, the projects they are going to implement and the result of the implementation of these projects for the country. We participated in this contest and won it among other 55 universities. -We ranked 18th in this contest. We ranked third among the category of universities for the humanities and pedagogical universities.

What is our special strong point? Why is our development program supported? —

Our program contains well-defined mission and strategy of the development of our University as a leading institute of higher education in the sphere of practical application of the knowledge for the humanities. Basing on the current profile of our University, the leading institution in the region of the state youth policy and the youth outreach either, we have shown in our program how we can make progress – becoming the university, where any research, development and educational program is designated for specialists training, who is able to develop the knowledge (about human and society, the relationships between human and nature or between human and equipment) in certain production method that can lead to implementation of humanitarian values, the progression of certain meanings, cultural values by cooperating with people by means of communication. —

What is technology for the humanities?

These are technologies of intangible values. Tangible values are cars, houses, etc. However there are intangible values such as education, self-belief, knowledge, respect, power. These technologies do not exceptionally include political technologies or marketing as some people think (though they are also sections of the technologies for the humanities). -Pedagogy is one of the classical spheres of applying technologies for the humanities where knowledge of a person is transformed into the value of the personal enhancement.

How do we differ from other universities for the humanities?

There is a great number of prestigious university for the humanities for example RSUH (Russian State University for the Humanities) and other universities. However they are mainly focused on the academic scientific result.

Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities lays an emphasis not only on studying the world, a person and society. It finds means of the improvement of the world, society, people’s relations, business and political system. Our University reaches it through the communication processes, through the processes of sense exchange, through the processes of more competent work with people, through the processes of deeper understanding of the person and the nature of his interaction with other people, through deeper understanding of those values which exist in the modern world in souls and minds of people.

Our strategic projects

1. The youth policy

It is the project connected with our current status of the leading institute of higher education in the country in the sphere of the state youth policy. It was recognized by the state and by the corresponding specialized ministries and departments.

Two basic aspects can be marked out:

1) The project of the Federal coordination center. This project is focused on the development of the youth policy staff -in the sphere of the state youth policy on the basis of our University.

2) The volunteer center. It is the preparation of volunteers to the Olympic Games in 2014. —

There is another important thing – the state uses the Olympic Games in Sochi, as a platform, a possibility for the development of the volunteer centers in the country in whole as this movement is very highly developed abroad. As the volunteering itself, its distribution and development, engaging young people in this activity is a kind of the self-dependent value.

It is very pleasant that our volunteer center is officially recognized by the Olympic committee and the organizing committee as one of the best centers for training volunteers. And it was organized within the framework of our university only within a year. We constantly lead in the rating of the volunteer centers.

2. Creation of ‘the available environment’

Our volunteer center is, above all, the center which helps people with disabilities. The projects of transformation of the university infrastructure are closely bound to it. We plan to transform our University buildings to allow students and visitors with restricted possibilities to feel comfortable within the walls of our University.

3. Creation of the Social incubator

Many people know about business incubators. It is a system to create new businesses. —

We plan to create a social incubator at Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities. It is the center which helps to create noncommercial, public, youth projects, the organizations, etc.

When we do this work, we will be able to say that our infrastructure testifies to the fact that we are the leading institution in the region of the youth policy, we are innovating University.

This development program helps to take the following step and become the leading institute of higher education in the sphere technologies for the humanities.

There are two key projects:

1. To create the Centre of Social Computing or the Institute of Runet development -in the University.

-This structure will deal with research, development, implementation of educational programs related to the Internet, social networks and mobile telecommunication facilities.

The point is not about the technical aspects even though it can’t go without informatics and mathematics. We are interested in the Internet and social networks usage in various areas of human life: business, politics, education, mass media, journalism, etc. There is a shortage of specialists in this area in Russia today and the government understands it well. We observe that Russia often loses information wars. One of the reasons is the lack of specialists able to ensure the presence of the Russian national interests in the communicative space of the modern world. Therefore, the final cause is to prepare professionals for the new Russia, Russia’s era of the Internet and social networks.

To prepare teachers able to provide educational programs through the Internet, including social networks.

To prepare a political strategist, who can not only conduct election campaigns, engage in party-building but do it with the active usage of the Internet and social networks.

To prepare a businessman or simply a sales specialist who can work through the Internet.

To prepare a lawyer who is able to protect the rights of the people in the Internet, to develop legislation for the regulation of relations in the Internet, etc.

Today the Internet, as once printing, actively transforms the entire civilization, the whole world. People spend a lot of their time in the Internet and transfer a considerable part of their life to a virtual space of communications.

Today in Russia, no one seriously studies these processes, no one really models them, no one understands how they affect human relationships and, ultimately, the human nature itself.

For example, if a person positions himself under some accounts in social networks, he shows his identity. He can be anyone on the Internet, a virtual character. He expresses himself more freely and boldly because of anonymity. The question is: does it change the person’s identity? The answer to his question is: Who am I? He has been a «bunny» in all networks for a few years. Is he the same Vasya Petrov, whom he was before becoming a “bunny”, is his positioning the same after a few years? Has it all that line up around the «bunny» on the Internet become part of his inner self?

From the psychological point of view it should happen, because it is internalization. The constant manipulation of oneself and one’s accounts on the Internet, sooner or later leads to a change in human’s inner world.

Is he the same person as before using the Internet or another one? Is he a child who grows today in the Internet world, and another child who went to school ten years ago. Should the methods of their development, training and education be different?

There are plenty of interesting questions and we are trying to find out the answers here and to create a centre that will provide answers to everyone who is interested in it.

Three components are necessary to make this centre possible: 1) research, 2) development and 3) educational programmes.

A big international conference on social computing will take place on the basis of our University from June, 14 to June, 16. It will mark the start of this project. And I would like to invite everyone who sees his career and is interested in understanding what is happening in the Internet, what kind of changes the Internet brings to a person and the lives of others. We will implement this theme in the network of this project.

2. To create the Institute of Advanced Research and Technology for the Humanities

What is the essence of this institution? It will hold regular contests for appropriation of funds (large enough) to find young researchers in Russia, CIS and far abroad who are developing advanced topics in the field of technologies for the humanities. This project aims to support those who have the internal heat of the researcher.

Today teachers have no time for science. We want to create a Center where all researchers will interact with each other, generate ideas, develop them, check and, thus, new technologies will appear (up to the patents). Such centers exist in the world, but it will be the first center in Russia, and we hope it will become a part of the global network.

3. To create a «smart environment»

The creation of «smart environment» -in the University is another project connected with the above-described projects. It is necessary to have access to the proper Internet, WI-FI, the full-text electronic resources, our library is to stop being a library in paper form, and it is needed to make all the world’s publications in key areas accessible from any computer at University and in the University hostels. It is necessary to provide every student with the access to the best latest global information. The University automated system should contain schedules, timetables, the information about new lectures, changes and give out this data without delay. We want to create a «smart» environment in which the modern student could feel adequate and have the opportunity to move forward.

That is the essence of the main projects to be implemented. When we do it — we will create the basis for the next step. This goal is defined to us. It is– to become the national research university by 2020.

I invite everyone, who is interested in participating in this ambitious and a little bit adventurous project of development to our University. It won’t be boring, but fun and interesting with us — that’s for sure.

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