How to develop a university? What approaches in the management of an educational institution guarantee success? Read the interview with Professor A.N. Bobryshev

How to develop a university? What approaches in the management of an educational institution guarantee success? Read the interview with Professor A.N. Bobryshev

Interview with Vice-Rector for Research Professor Alexei Bobryshev - about studying at the Skolkovo School, new approaches to education and development trends of modern universities.

For reference. At the end of November this year, a team of managers, teachers and activists of Stavropol State Agrarian University were trained at the Skolkovo school. With the help of the virtual university simulator, SSAU team learned strategic planning. The purpose of the training was to identify management decisions and measures that lead to the development of a modern university that meets the needs of the economy and applicants and to etermine fatal steps.

Alexey Bobryshev, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation of SSAU, Doctor of Economics, Professor, answered questions about studying at Skolkovo, trends in modern education and the transformation of universities.

Where did the idea to participate in the program come from?

Today the Moscow school "Skolkovo" is a leading center for training managers for various fields of activity. It has a separate area for training managers in the field of education. This year, the team of our university was trained in Skolkovo on the School of Rectors-21 program, within the framework of which we personally tested the methodology, were trained, and worked out on a simulator. We realized that this experience would be very useful for our university and decided to invite all SSAU employees to participate.

Who took part?

Of the 280 employees of the university, a hundred were chosen. Potential participants wrote motivational letters in which they told what basic processes in our university require transformation and what their personal motivation is. The most motivated, ready to participate in changes at the university were selected. They are tose on whom the university relies to some extent.

We immediately decided that the teams would not be faculty, but interdisciplinary. For us, it was a very important experience when people of different status, age and profile gather in one team. Each team included both students and deans of faculties, and some even had a vice-rector's corps. The task of the administration was to assess how productively representatives of various faculties and employees of different status can interact with each other, how they make decisions, whether they take the initiative and responsibility for making decisions.

How was the game?

The participants were divided into teams of 6 people. Each received a virtual university in its hands, which has a certain number of students, a budget and all the processes that universities are currently implementing: campus and youth policy, education, science, research, innovation, etc. The team performs management actions, hires employees, launches new educational products, opens research, new laboratories, launches employee incentive programs, etc.

So they have to develop the university for five years: 1.5-2 hours of work in the simulator is equal to a year of university life. After this time, the moderator displays the results on the screen, and everyone can see the progress of each virtual university. Then the results are analyzed, revealing how universities have advanced, what managerial actions they have taken to increase income from R&D, increase publication activity or increase the contingent of students. Mistakes were sorted out and during the passage of the simulator, team representatives came out and periodically commented, gave feedback on what decisions they make, what logic they follow and how they distribute roles among themselves.

What actions led teams to positive results?

All teams chose a different strategy: someone relied on online educational programs, someone on online courses, someone launched new research programs, someone became more successful financially.

There were examples when students or employees started to leave the university. The team hired good teachers, provided them with motivation, hired “star” scientists, and they quit after a year. Then it turns out that the participants forgot about the campus environment - the employees do not like the university from the point of view of the campus, and they leave. And the teacher begins to understand the diversity of all processes at the university, how important it is to harmoniously develop everything, create not only the material and technical base, but also a comfortable research, innovation or educational environment, and take the right consistent steps.

I saw an example when, for 2 hours, the participants of one of the teams practically did not exchange information with each other, managing one university. This often happens in life, for example, engineers do not always communicate well with the humanities. At the same time, strong management teams are usually interdisciplinary. Some teams divided powers: “You are the Vice-Rector for Science. You're the Vice-Rector for education, you're the Vice-Rector for campus. Study and conduct your own policy." Others, on the contrary, made decisions together.

Some immediately identified a leader with whom they consulted and delegated decision-making. In several teams, this role was taken by young employees, this was also very significant, they were accompanied by heads of departments who trusted young employees to make important decisions. The more advanced groups even started financial planning, deciding where to spend the money in the first place. It was very interesting to watch the teams in terms of how it will land on our university.

What is the purpose of the game?

The experts did not evaluate the virtual universities, but the participants themselves, and they did it quietly, many did not even understand that their actions were being analyzed. For each employee, today we have a clear and adequate assessment of how he behaves in the management of the university. In everyday life, we do a lot of routine and little strategy. The administration is more involved in this, but it is necessary that all employees stop, sit down and think about how they see the university in 10 years, how we need to go towards this. We rarely do this, especially with the whole team, it was also a very good experience.

What trends do you see in higher education?

First of all, the reduction of training time. Many have a stereotype that students have become bad because we moved from a specialty to a bachelor's degree.

But even with this simulator, it is clear that there are intensive forms of learning and they work. We could call specialists and ask how to develop the university. They would tell us the same thing, but in a traditional format, give lectures, show presentations and say what science, education and personnel policy should be like. But, thanks to the virtual simulator, employees received all this knowledge in a shorter period of time, acquired new competencies through practice. I can’t even imagine how many lectures would have to be given and what they should be like so that people can develop these skills in themselves.

Today, the reduction of training periods should suggest the use of new educational technologies. And the transition to a bachelor's degree should also be accompanied by the use of other forms of education. Previously, in the specialty, a student received a lot of practice in 5 years. Today, reality is pushing us to try to saturate 4 years of education with interactive modern forms, that is, change not the amount of time, but the approach to its use.

Also, individualization is now taking place in all processes. We don't want to buy the same cars like everyone else. We need certain equipment for ourselves, we want to choose what is important to us. The same is true in education: a student should not fall into the educational tube, where from the first day of study at the university until the last day, everything was determined for them, an educational program was drawn for them. They should have a choice.

We are witnessing the massization of higher education - all 100% of the population should have it. Previously, the selection system was completely different. Only half of all graduates entered universities. There was a competition - another selection. And not everyone graduated from university. Today, the speed of change in the economy is such that the educational program often becomes outdated while the student is studying. There should be higher education programs and elite educational programs where we select and train very strong specialists. When we understand this, realize it and take managerial actions, then the transformation of universities will take place.

What are the challenges that modern universities face?

We must understand that we need to separate the concepts of "learning" and "education". The classical system of education was aimed at preparing a specialist for a specific job, who knew exactly his tasks for a particular profession. She was brilliant, the best in the world. Today, students often do not know where they will work, and technologies in the industry will change during their studies. Today you cannot come to an employer and ask: “What competencies will be relevant in 5 years?” He doesn't understand it himself. We need to make such specialists who are ready to learn and be educated in the broadest sense of the word, to lay a solid foundation of knowledge and skills for them.

What steps should universities take on the path to transformation?

Today, each faculty should have its own development strategy. It should not be let down by the leadership, but lived through by the collective, discussed, fixed, and the faculty, each for itself, should begin with problematization. We need to be honest and open about what the problems are. To do this, we need to get together, devote time to this and understand what we want to have in 10 years, what educational programs to have and what kind of students. Find out what is needed for this and what hinders. When this is worked out, it is possible to come up with initiatives to the leadership and receive certain resources, launch new educational programs, create new laboratories, and so on.

What did the participants take away from the event?

The main idea: strategic planning should not be in words, but in deeds. It is necessary to make managerial decisions in all the variety of processes: campus policy, youth policy, not to mention scientific and educational. Everything needs to be paid attention to, because often people enter the university for various reasons: this is a quality campus, a well-developed student environment, and the presence of social elevators - all this is motivation.

I received a lot of feedback, the team noticeably perked up. The organizers noted the very strong involvement of the team from the first hours in comparison with other universities.

128 people from among the teaching staff, administrative workers, and students took part in the work of the Skolkovo computer simulator from SSAU. All participants were divided into 20 game teams and 2 LEAGUES.

Within 2 in-game days, the teams worked for 5 in-game years, developing their virtual universities using modern practices of management decisions in the field of scientific research, education, economics, personnel processes, building a modern campus, and improving networking.

The winner was the game team No. 4 from the First LEAGUE. It included Chernobay E.N. (Faculty of Biotechnology, Head of the Basic Department of Private Zootechnics, Selection and Breeding of Animals, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor), Godneva E.A. (Advanced Training Center, Institute of Additional Personal Education, Manager), Taranova E.V. (project office, leading specialist, candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor), Pavlyuk R.V. (Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Technical Service, Standardization and Metrology), Steklova T.N. (Faculty of Accounting and Finance, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Analysis and Audit), Lyubaya S.I. (Faculty of Electrical Power Engineering, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Physics).

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