HSE University Announces Winners of Boris Rudnik Award

The official awards ceremony for contest winners took place at the Pokrovka Cultural Centre on September 20.

Participants of the ceremony included the creators of projects that made it to the short list, as well as HSE administration (Rector Nikita Anisimov and Academic Supervisor Yaroslav Kuzminov) and members of the contest committee (Vice Rector Alexey Novoseltsev, HR Director Elena Molodykh and Deputy Director of MIEM HSE Victor Romanov). Pavel Rudnik, Director of the ISSEK Centre for Strategies and Programmes, was an honorary guest at the event.

The Boris Rudnik Award was founded in 2019. It aims to promote creative approaches among administrative staff in solving operational and project tasks, as well as to recognize successfully implemented initiatives that have led to positive changes in the work of HSE University.

The ceremony was opened by Yaroslav Kuzminov, who shared his memories of the late Boris Rudnik, the renowned scholar and HSE Vice Rector after whom the award was named: ‘Boris played a key role in the transformation of our university and the evolution of its back office. In his communications with colleagues and students, he always made sure our words lined up with our actions. He was a very smart and keen administrator who was kind to his colleagues, always took responsibility, and was a great pleasure to work with. We wish he was here with us, and we believe that this contest of administrative innovations named in his honour is the best way to remember him.’

A total of 26 applications from administrative teams were submitted for the contest, out of which the committee chose 11 finalists. They presented their projects, shared the key results of their team work, and outlined their plans for the future.

Award Short List:

• Digital Assistants / Unit for Strategic Digital Development and Partnerships, Office for Digital Transformation

• Mobile App Development Summer School for High School Students / Faculty of Computer Science

• Service for Instant Proof of Employment Certificates / HR Office

• Supply Requests / Office of Logistics Support

• Digitalization of Contract Paperwork as Part of the 2020 Admissions Campaign / Prospective Students Office; Undergraduate Admissions Unit; Legal Office; Office for Digitalization of Education; Unit for Information Systems Interaction Automation; Office for Universal Corporate Solutions; Office for Regulation and Business Analytics

• OneButton Self-Recording Studio / eLearning Office

• Contact Centre / Office for Marketing Communications, HSE University Campus in St. Petersburg

• Information Resource for Materially Liable Employees / Accounting Office

• HSE GSB Video Recording and Webinar Studio / HSE Graduate School of Business, Centre of Digital Educational Technologies

• Updates for Assessment Tools in HSE Online Courses on Coursera and the National Open Education Platform / eLearning Office, Centre for Computational Educational Sciences

• Exam Period in Modules 3 and 4, 2019/20 Academic Year and 2020/21 Admissions Campaign / eLearning Office

Winning Teams

The jury named the creators of the best projects based on their presentations. The three winning project teams were:

1st place: Service for Instant Proof of Employment Certificates;

2nd place: Digitalization of Contract Paperwork as Part of the 2020 Admissions Campaign;

3rd place: Digital Assistants

The team of the Internal Communications Unit won a special prize for their project ‘Informing Staff and Students of University Operations during the Pandemic’.

‘2020 was a unique year, and the need for prompt administrative changes in response to the pandemic promoted the implementation of a range of good projects,’ said Alexey Novoseltsev, chair of the contest committee. ‘The most important criterion for us was that the projects were realized as part of an initiative—that specific employees saw the opportunity to change something, came up with these suggestions, and defended their views on how things should be done. Initiative and energy in bringing the project to completion were important criteria in project selection and assessment. That’s why all 11 finalists are winners.’

Nikita Anisimov addressed the staff members and asked them to share their activities with their colleagues within the university and outside it: ‘Other universities learn from HSE as a leader in educational innovations, academic research, international rankings and everyday administrative practices. That’s why I believe that our contest will promote the dynamic development of administrative solutions in the higher education system and many other systems. Supporting our teams via a contest system is an important indicator that we pay attention to real achievements at the university and understand that they can break new ground for many other teams. Communicate your outcomes to your colleagues, share your experiences. We are leaders, and a leader’s responsibility is to lead.’

At the end of the ceremony, the organizers thanked all the participants and expressed their hope that the award would become a proud university tradition, bringing together colleagues from different HSE departments and campuses to exchange innovative ideas in administration for many years ahead.

September 23, 2021