Magdalena Gaete, a representative of the University of Navarra, discusses the challenges that universities face today, and what Russian universities should do to join the ranks of the world's top institutions of higher education.
University reputation is synonymous with a university's ‘perceived quality’, which is a reflection of the public's opinion of its ‘objective quality’. The foundations of a good reputation lie in the quality of a university's education and research, as well as its contributions to society and sense of social responsibility. Universities should strive not to lose focus of its primary mission—providing high quality teaching and an excellent student experience. A challenge universities face is understanding that the condition of its reputation includes ‘tangibles’ as well as ‘intangible assets’ in the management of a university, and those ‘intangibles’ include university quality, relationships, transparency, work environment, student experience, and the understanding of the different ‘stakeholders’ of the institution. Reputation management requires a big deal of change, improvement and innovation. Hence, one of the main enemies of reputation is resistance to change—and that might be one of the problems that managers encounter when trying to innovate in their universities.
I would say that in every country they have their own challenges. For example, China has the challenge of providing education to millions of prospective students every year and not having enough universities to do so. In the UK, given the uncertainty of Brexit, universities are working on underlining the fact that they want to stay ‘global’ no matter what.
One of the challenges for Russian higher education is making the relationship between teachers and students of central focus. This would allow the institutional managers of the universities to have a reference that serves to guide the identity and mission of the University, and thus improve the reality—the objective dimension of reputation. The point of concentration should be the student and the ‘student experience’.
In this sense, I see in Russia a lack of understanding of the importance of career services centers and alumni offices. In addition, the greatest challenge is developing a focus on ‘social responsibility’, that is, making an effort to meet the demands of society, working for and with society, and changing the ‘way of being’ that permeates all activity of the university. For example, learning based on projects with social impact, research towards the solution of social problems, etc.
In Russia, the reputation or ‘perceived quality’ of the Russian education system is that it needs to become a ‘student-centered system’. And when it comes to internationalization, most of the focus is put on ‘internationalisation at home’.
Many Russian universities have been making strides in terms of student mobility programmes, which is a key component in international education—in particular, degree mobility for students. Hence, there is still work to be done in the area of ‘campus internationalisation’, syllabus internationalisation, innovation in teaching and joint programmes, intercultural and international competences and learning outcomes.
This year these and other vital topics will be discussed during the conference ‘Education and World Cities: New Horizons of University Reputation’ at HSE University. It will be held for the first time with support of the University of Navarra, a recognised centre on the subject of reputation.
Table of Contents
The HED magazine for applicants available in Arabic and Chinese
The fifth issue of the quarterly HED magazine has been published
Подведены итоги конкурса «HED-Scholarship»
International students in Russia can start studying without restrictions
The QS expert highly appreciates Valery Falkov's achievements as Rector of Tyumen State University
North-Eastern Federal University promotes Russian language and culture in China
Scholarships to study in Russia in 2020-2021
KazNU expands partnership with leading universities of Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan and Japan will move to a new level of scientific cooperation
EU allocates 8 million euros to support education in Kyrgyzstan
RUDN University has created an integrated space for digital cooperation
Russia and China have mapped out joint plans in the field of science and higher education
China promotes international education in space science and technology
TPU International Week 2019 held in Tomsk
Webinar schedule: Internationalization of higher education
Study shows which universities lead the way in promotion of summer schools
The National Aggregate Ranking of Russian Universities
The Accreditation in Education Journal and the Public Fund Edinstvo have become partners
Belarus and Nigeria are cooperating in the field of education
Russian and Chinese universities have agreed to establish the International Transport Academy
Summer schools attract international applicants to Russian universities
Russian and German experts discussed the issues of university and academic science
The 15th FICCI Higher Education Summit in India
Russia to create 50 Pre-University Training Centers abroad by 2024
More than 30 Russian Universities in the THE ranking
Russia will simplify work rights for international students
The First Russia-UK University Rectors Forum
Webinar 'How understanding neuroscience can help you transform your team and your organization'
RUDN and Rosatom will train staff for African projects
Is Africa the future for recruiting international students?
Danish Government Scholarships under the Cultural Agreements
Over 7,000 foreign students will study IT at Russian universities
European Universities Initiative – Chances and challenges
Belgian students demand free higher education
Uganda and Russia signed a Memorandum of cooperation in higher education
The 10th ENQA General Assembly took place in Yerevan
Call for participation – Webinars under the aegis of APQN devoted to Quality Assurance
Regional universities move up in QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe & Central Asia
New Model of State Control (Supervision) in Education
HED Webinar under the aegis of APQN took place on October 10, 2019
Joint Master's programs to be launched by RANEPA and University of London