New Academic Council to Be Formed at HSE University in March

On February 28, 2024, HSE University's Academic Council held the final meeting with its current members: their term of office is expiring. On March 19, HSE University will host a conference for its employees and students, at which elections will take place, and, by the end of the month, a new composition of the Academic Council will be formed for a five-year term.

Over the past two months, the university has held department meetings and integrated division conferences, at which 710 delegates were elected for the upcoming university-wide conference, Vice Rector Irina Martusevich said.

The list of elected delegates was approved by the Academic Council.

Another 123 delegates are currently members of HSE University's Academic Council. Thus, the total number of delegates is 833; all categories of employees, students, and graduates will be represented.

In addition, integrated division conferences nominated candidates for the elected part of the Academic Council, taking into account the quotas approved last December. All proposed employees were included in the list formed by the Academic Council for submission to the conference. The list can be found on the university conference website.

Besides the members elected by the conference, the Academic Council will also include a Rector, President, Academic Supervisor and their deputy, as well as Vice Rectors. If there is a proposal from the Rector, other colleagues (Campus Directors, Deans, Chairperson of the Trade Union, Senior Directors, and Area Directors) may also be included in its composition as decided by the Academic Council. The maximum number of members will be determined by the conference delegates; the current Academic Council recommended setting it at 150 people.

A conference of HSE University employees and students will be held at VDNKh on March 19 as part of the 'Russia' International Exhibition and Forum.

HSE University’s Academic Council also addressed other issues at the meeting on February 28.

HSE University President Alexander Shokhin reported to the Academic Council on his work from 2019 to 2024. As Rector Nikita Anisimov noted, such a report is provided for by the university charter. The President spoke about his participation in improving the educational, scientific, expert, analytical, and other activities of the university. He also commented on his work as Head of the Department of Business and Government Relations.

The Academic Council approved the Regulations on Student Self-Government at HSE University. The innovations appearing in this document were presented by Vice Rector Dmitry Zemtsov. For example, one of the sections is dedicated to HSE University’s Student and Postgraduate Student Ombudsman. The legal basis of this institute was previously the decision of the Student Council. Over the years of its existence, the institution of the Ombudsman has proven quite effective and therefore was enshrined in the position. Another significant innovation was the inclusion of a section on the Unified Appeals Centre in the text. This is a new body created in order to quickly respond to requests from students and ensure stability in protecting student rights and interests in emergency situations. The creation of this body was the result of the work of HSE University’s Situation Centre in 2022–2023.

At the meeting, a competition for filling teaching staff positions was held in the form of a secret ballot. Before voting took place, Vladimir Shadrikov, Head of the Personnel Commission of the Academic Council, spoke about the results of the commission’s work, and First Vice Rector Vadim Radaev presented an analytical report on the dynamics of competitive selection indicators for teaching staff positions. In particular, he noted that the number of HSE University teachers who received criticism for inflating students’ grades has decreased significantly over the past three years, so the fight against ‘grade inflation’ is bringing tangible results.

Marina Borovskaya

© HSE University

The meeting was attended by Marina Borovskaya, President of Southern Federal University, who, as Chairperson of the Council of University Rectors in the South of Russia, is working in new Russian regions. 'In the South, we need help and support from the professional community, and it is great that, along with HSE University, we are keeping pace,’ she noted.

Rector Nikita Anisimov, President Alexander Shokhin and Academic Supervisor of the university Yaroslav Kuzminov presented university awards to their colleagues. HSE University professors Valentina Dybskaya, Ekaterina Entina and Fuad Aleskerov received medals of recognition.

Summing up the meeting, Nikita Anisimov thanked the members of the Academic Council for their fruitful joint work, specifically noting the commissions of the Academic Council that carried out a high-quality examination of all issues and documents under consideration.

March 06