‘Degree Programmes to Carry on in Their Present Form’

The Higher School of Economics has started restructuring its three faculties. HSE Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin explained how these changes will affect the educational process.

Sergey Roshchin
HSE University, Vice Rector

Three HSE faculties are currently being reorganized, which means a restructuring of the university's activity as stipulated in the HSE Development Programme.

The Development Programme focuses on strengthening the project component in education and on the formation of applied and research competencies. For effective project work it is important that the students are engaged in the activity of HSE research fellow teams.

The current faculty structure, which unites employees in large departments or schools, is not suitable for this process, since it has the inherent problems of the departmental structure where colleagues are involved in teaching, rather than in research or project activities.

During this restructuring, we have to consider how it may affect HSE degree programmes.  All degree programmes will carry on in their present form. All the programmes open for admissions in 2020 are now accepting applications, and, I hope, will successfully start their activity at the beginning of the coming academic year.

Strengthening the ‘project’ component in the faculty structure, and uniting faculty and staff in research and project teams should also strengthen the project component in student training, as planned in the Development Programme. Apart from this, degree programmes will carry on in their present form. Programme academic supervisors are preparing or have already prepared curricula for the 2020/2021 academic year.

Of course, restructuring and organizational changes create additional workload for managers when planning the educational process, but this happens with any restructuring. Let me remind you that the Higher School of Economics conducted a major restructuring in 2013-2014, moving from small faculties to megafaculties, and at that time we faced similar problems concerning the sustainability of education planning during the restructuring. However, as the experience has shown, university staff successfully coped with this, and I am sure that this time we will also solve any problems.

July 03, 2020