Past Program

The Russian Higher Education Program is a joint program with the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

The topic for this session is prompted by the need for Russian university leadership to consider practical aspects of strategic planning in the context of universities' growing regional role. The first reason to address these issues is the impact of the former centralized state system, in which higher education institutions in Russia were managed by the state. University administrators at all levels had to implement state directives and there was no need for strategic planning experience at the institutional level. Second, the Russian transition period corresponded with a process of global transformation in higher education. In Russia, as in the rest of the world, universities face an imperative need to adapt to a series of profound changes. Thus, there is a strong need for Russian university leaders to examine new forms of institutional planning and management in order to remain effective and viable within their respective environments.

Participants

This session is designed to convene university leaders who are engaged in the strategic planning process, along with senior administrators who are in charge of higher education at the regional and national levels. Emphasis will be placed on three regions: the Central Region (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara), Siberia and the Urals (Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Tyumen, Khantymansyisk), and the South Region (Rostov, Sochi, Nalchik, Krasnodar). Current plans entail inviting nine participants per region as well as a group of senior administrators from the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Russian Duma. The above participation will be complemented by colleagues from North America, Western Europe, Central-Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation who are experienced in the design and operation of the strategic planning process at national, regional and institutional levels.

Symposium Themes

The symposium will focus on three principal themes:

(1) why strategic planning matters

(2) how to develop a strategic plan

(3) how to implement and benefit from a strategic plan.

In this context, the session will explore innovative ideas on setting a university's strategic direction within a regional context, and identifying international best practices of effective university strategic planning. The discussions will center on the practical issues of the strategic planning process as the key to improve institutional development via regional cooperation; institutional mission, positioning and identity in a diversified regional system; the relationship between governmental bodies and universities in terms of planning and institutional autonomy; the development of coherent and comprehensive university strategy that could serve as a sustainable platform for regional development; and how Russian universities can be pro-active and inter-active (rather than reactive) vis-á-vis the process of regionalization.

Significant support for the Russian Higher Education Program

is provided by The Eurasia Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Flora Family Foundation and others