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HSE University Student Council and Its Work
© Daniil Prokofyev
The HSE University Student Council has started recruiting for its committees. Any student can join and get involved in student governance. Below, we look at some cases that the committees tackled last academic year.
International students are invited to join International Student Association
Syeda Ulya Ehsen Kazmi, Chair of the Council of International Students Association
The International Students Association is a student self-government body at HSE University. Every year during the elections of student government at HSE, international students elect the Council of International Students Association (CISA). CISA is responsible for representing the interests of international students within the student self-government system of HSE. Like the dorm and faculty councils, CISA also has its representation in the HSE Student Council through delegates.
At present, CISA consists of nine international students. This year, the core issues that CISA has dealt with are border closures, vaccination of international students, and creation of information channels for international students. CISA is actively working for disseminating information and can be reached in the following ways:
Case
After the first round of vaccination ended at HSE University, the international students had nowhere to go for vaccination in Moscow as the law at that time did not permit the vaccination of foreigners.
Solution
CISA raised the issue with the administration and collected the data for international students at HSE University who were in Moscow and wanted to get vaccinated. After discussions that took more than a month, vaccination was finally arranged for international students and is still being offered for free.
Igor Prokudin, second-year student of Political Science, Deputy Chair of the Social Committee
Social Committee
The Social Committee deals with students’ supply problems, monitors the quality of catering and oversees the modernization of university venues. The committee consists of four specialized departments: the feedback department, the catering quality department, the venue development department, and the social media marketing (SMM) department. Each department is responsible for a specific area of the committee’s activities.
Case
We needed to find out whether students have enough room for study and leisure in their buildings and if not, to rectify the situation.
Solution
In order to understand students’ demands and identify the HSE buildings that need co-working spaces, the venue development department conducted a university-wide survey. As a result, the committee found rooms in the buildings that would be suitable for co-working areas, discussed the issue with the administration, and developed a budget. In the end, a co-working area was created for the Faculty of Social Sciences, giving students a space where they can spend time comfortably.
Diana Began-Bogatskaya, second-year student of Law, Chair of the Legal Committee
Legal Committee
The Legal Committee has several areas of operations. First of all, it deals with disciplinary proceedings. An important part of the committee’s work is analyzing bylaws, providing legal support for the Student Council’s activities, and advising students on legal matters.
Case
A student (let’s call him Alex) was accused of cheating because earphones were connected to his laptop during an exam, which is prohibited in accordance with the proctored exam regulations. Alex’s exam result was made void, and he was facing disciplinary punishment. Our task was to protect the student’s rights during the disciplinary proceedings.
Solution
First of all, we contacted Alex to hear his side of the story. He said that he was using the earphones not to get external assistance during the exam, but because his laptop didn’t have a microphone: without the earphones, the proctoring system simply wouldn’t have allowed him to pass the exam.
When we studied the HSE bylaws and analysed the situation, we concluded that the presence of earphones is not a reason for disciplinary action, since there is no proof of cheating. The law committee wrote its legal opinion, in which it explained why the student did not deserve punishment, and sent it to the faculty administration. The administration agreed with us, and Alex was not punished.
Ekaterina Vaseneva, fifth-year student of Asian Studies, Chair of the Education Quality Committee
Education Quality Committee
The work of the Education Quality Committee (EQC) is aimed at improving the educational process. The committee’s work includes the development of educational projects: monitoring projects, traditional projects (such as analyzing and submitting proposals on university regulations, providing information to students, and student relations), and current projects. The EQC is also engaged in improving existing educational practices and defending students’ education-related interests.
Case
Sometimes before an exam, a teacher informs their students that the upcoming exam is a ‘blocking’ one and will count towards 90% of the final grade. This means that if a student fails the exam, they will fail the course and must retake the exam. The committee’s task is to minimize the chances of such a situation occurring.
Solution
The committee regularly checks course syllabi for compliance with internal HSE University regulations. For example, a recent inspection analyzed whether students have access to all subject syllabi, identified syllabi where exam retakes count for 30% or more, and recorded the number of proper blocking elements of assessment.
Anastasia Artyushina, third-year student of Sociology, Chair of the External Communications Committee
External Communications Committee
The External Communications Committee deals with such important issues as international student support, as well as communications and cooperation with international student councils and international associations.
Case
One of the committee’s tasks is to strengthen communications and experience exchange with the student councils of other universities. To this end, the committee organizes events and meetings with representatives of different higher education institutions.
Solution
The committee sent a Student Council diplomatic mission to the Far East of Russia, where they met and exchanged experiences with representatives of three universities: INRTU (Irkutsk National Research Technical University), NSU (Novosibirsk State University) and FEFU (Far Eastern Federal University). As part of this trip, we discussed various issues related to international student support—an area that the committee considers just as important as external communications (for example, the committee has already worked on projects concerning financial support, employment and improving conditions for international students). Our committee successfully establishes contacts with Russian and foreign universities and makes new friends across the country.
Andrey Mikhailovsky, fourth-year student of History, Chair of the Dorm Committee
Dorm Committee
The Dorm Committee is the HSE Student Council department responsible for monitoring students’ life in dorms, representing their interests at the university level, and helping to solve their problems in dorms.
Case
Due to COVID restrictions, students were not able to enter dorms if they did not live there. As the situation with the pandemic changed, this restriction was no longer necessary.
Solution
The committee assessed all the risks of lifting this restriction, shared its reasoning with the administration, presented its ideas to the university’s COVID Task Force, and was able to prove that this policy was no longer reasonable after the resumption of on-site learning. As a result, the Task Force decided to allow all students to enter dorms.
Matvey Svoisky, fourth-year student of History, Chair of the Science Committee
Science Committee
The Science Committee is one of the Student Council’s younger committees—we turned one year old in June. The Academic Committee’s mission is to provide comprehensive informational and practical support for students’ academic activities at the university. The committee’s work is particularly relevant during the transition to a project-based approach, since project activities at HSE University are often closely related to academic research.
Case
To implement a project, a student needs to file and submit an application properly. Often, students don’t know how to do it, so the committee helps them.
Solution
The Science Committee worked with the administration of the Faculty of Humanities to organize an educational event on how to put together project applications in May 2021. As a result of the competition, the organizing committee supported four project applications by students of the Faculty.
Nikita Prokudin, second-year student of Public Administration, writer for the Information Committee
Information Committee
The Information Committee is responsible for internal communications between the Student Council and students. We talk about the Student Council’s social media operations, and communicate with student associations and other media.
Case
A few days before the deadline for applications for academic mobility, the Information Committee was tasked with delivering all the necessary information on this topic to students.
Solution
First, the committee collected all the information from HSE University’s open resources on grants, the necessary papers, and useful services for living abroad. Then, it divided all the information into themed sections. To get more details about specific issues, we contacted the International Student Mobility Centre and interviewed its representatives. We then wrote a series of publications about academic mobility.
Alexander Kudryashov, third-year student of the HSE and Kyung Hee University Double Degree Programme in Economics and Politics in Asia, Chair of the Digitalization Committee
Digitalization Committee
The Digitalization Committee is a Student Council committee that deals with the digital environment. We solve issues with HSE’s digital services, develop apps and create solutions in university digitalization; we look for vulnerabilities in information security systems and eliminate them.
Case
We need to create a single system for applying to become a teaching assistant. Currently, each faculty implements the process in its own way—there is no streamlined or clear information, and many students are simply unaware of who to contact in order to become an assistant.
Solution
The committee is preparing a major project to develop such a system. First, the Digitalization Committee will collect students’ requirements of the service, their experiences and their opinions on the design. Then, it will choose a platform for implementation. After that, we’ll assemble a team of programmers to help the HSE Digital Office to implement the project.
Varvara Eremenko, third-year student of Asian Studies, Secretary
Administrative Support
Our main responsibility is handling the Student Council’s paperwork. For example, we keep the minutes of meetings and provide support for disciplinary proceedings that require the Student Council’s opinion.
Case
It is necessary to handle the paperwork and facilitate all administrative procedures for the Student Council’s activities.
Solution
Since January 2021, the Student Council has voted 357 times. When the Student Council makes a decision, the secretary’s tasks are to provide technical support for examining cases, managing deadlines and considering the opinions of all relevant committees and local student councils. The final decision is approved by HSE Student Council vote. In addition, we prepare and organize Student Council meetings.