KGI Welcomes Russian Delegation of Senior University Officials
KGI welcomed a delegation of administrators from some of Russia’s largest universities and institutions of higher education on December 17. The visit was part of a U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission program that provides opportunities for Russian senior university administrators to develop their management expertise and to gain exposure to administrative management models at U.S. universities with multiple campuses.
The group, who were greeted by KGI President Sheldon Schuster, Jim Sterling, VP of academic affairs and dean of faculty, and Steve Casper, professor and associate dean for faculty development, was particularly interested in KGI as the newest member of the Claremont Colleges, and a relatively new graduate school, in general.
Topics for discussion included governance structures, fundraising and development, integration of teaching and research, research management, strategic planning, technology transfer, information systems, and collaborations with government agencies and other organizations involved in higher education, such as philanthropic foundations.
The visit, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is particularly timely as comprehensive structural reform of the Russian Federation’s higher education system is being touted as the cornerstone of Russia’s national education strategy. Nine newly merged, regional mega-universities-designated as the country’s “federal” universities-are in the process of developing infrastructure to incorporate the institution-wide campus management systems and facilities required to improve their educational capacity and to increase ties with local industry.
According to Dr. Igor Protsenko, the former head of the Ministry of Education and Science International Integration Department, Russian universities must adopt sophisticated operational management techniques similar to those practiced at leading U.S. universities and learn how these institutions have developed their networking structures and specific programs for enterprise development, including partnerships with industry.
“We were very excited to meet our Russian colleagues and to share with them some of our experience as an academic institution whose model is built on close collaboration with industry,” President Schuster said. “We’re very enthusiastic about finding new opportunities for collaboration with organizations from BRIC countries and hope to continue the dialogue with our Russian counterparts in the future.”
Members of the delegation included Anna Barsukova, department head, director and associate professor, International Relations Department, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University; Dr. Ilia Chumanov, vice rector for educational matters, Southern Ural State University; Dr. Dmitry Kaputkin, director, Institute of Elementary Education, National Research Technological University MISIS, Moscow; Dr. Mikhail Karyakin, dean, faculty of mathematics, mechanics and computer sciences, Southern Federal University; Dr. Ilgiz Kharisov; vice-rector of administration, Kazan National Research Technological University; Liudmila Kulikovskaya, division director, Northern European Open University, Petrozavodsk; Nikolay Lobov, associate professor and department head, International Relations Department, National Research Poly Technical University; and Dr. Vasily Savvinov, director, Institute of Prospective Technologies.