2012. vol. 7. No. 1

The paper sets out to analyse the need for better “transparency tools” which inform university stakeholders about the quality of universities. The authors stated that the lack of relevant information about the quality of services provided by the universities leads to informational bias between universities and community thus weakening the social value of higher education. The better transparency tools thus could serve effectiveness of higher education increasing social benefits and outputs from higher education for the society. The paper gives an overview of what is understood by the concept of transparency tools and those that are currently available. The analysis of recent research presented in the paper shows that the results of the league tables and rankings are not enough for correct comparison of different universities operating at regional, national, international and global level. Authors critique current transparency tools’ methodologies, looking in detail at the question of data sources, the risks involved in constructing league tables and the challenges in using composite indicators. Despite the endless debates on quality of modern rankings and their methodologies the authors doesn’t argue for total refuse from the publication of the rankings’ results. On the contrary they emphasized that different stakeholders have being of great concern about the data on quality of education, educational programmes and research activities provided by the universities. The universities’ classifications and rankings thus could contribute to the development of quality assurance and quality control instruments in higher education if ensure the quality of their own methodologies. Authors argue in favour of developing a new principle for transparency tools: that of multidimensional ranking currently grounded for the U-map and U-multirank global activities. 

The article provides a description of the project «Developing and Approbating a Template Methodology for National Ranking of Higher Education Institutions» which is being implemented by National Training Foundation collaboratively with International Organisations Research Institute of the National Research University Higher School of Economics on request of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. The paper presents conceptual aspects of comparative analysis of global, national and special rankings. These aspects are crucial for developing elements of a template methodology for national ranking of Russian higher education institutions. This template methodology will take into account international and Russian practice of universities’ rankings.

The results of comparative analysis of the well-known international rankings of higher education institutions are presented in the paper. The comparative analysis has been carried out in the framework of the project «Developing and Approbating a Template Methodology for National Ranking of Higher Education Institutions» which is being implemented by National Training Foundation collaboratively with International Organisations Research Institute of the National Research University Higher School of Economics on request of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. The methodology of the research project is based on the comparative analysis of methodologies and key indicators used in various ranking systems. The purpose of this analysis as a key tool for achieving project goals is to identify elements of a template methodology for ranking Russian higher education institutions. Application of 15 common parameters for comparative analysis ensured a common framework for the analysis and enabled to make a horizontal comparison of global, national, special rankings and classifications and helped to identify best practices. The common analytical framework also ensured basis for comparative analysis of ranking methodologies and their assessment against IREG criteria.

The paper presents a concept for ranking Russian higher education institutions developed in the framework of the project «Developing and Approbating a Template Methodology for National Ranking of Higher Education Institutions» which is being implemented by National Training Foundation collaboratively with International Organisations Research Institute of the National Research University Higher School of Economics on request of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. The article also provides a detailed description of the ranking methodology elements that are relevant for the Russian education system. By publishing this paper the authors hope to draw attention of Russian experts on higher education quality assessment and academic community to the proposed ranking methodology.

The paper discusses recent initiatives undertaken by the Russian Government that are aimed to attract highly qualified foreign academic specialists to Russian higher education institutions. It describes the initiatives in chronological order and reviews their first results. It reviews governmental legislations that are regulating various aspects of residence and employment of foreign academic employees in the Russian Federation, i.e. procedures for obtaining working visa and citizenship, country’s entry and exit regulations, migration registration etc. It also identifies difficulties faced by Russian universities and invited foreign academic specialists in the process of labor relations, traveling and living in Russia. The experience of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in organizing international recruiting of foreign academic specialists from the international labor market and organizing their work in Russia through providing them support and motivating them is described. The paper analyses the employment practices of academic specialists in the United States of America, Canada, the Chinese People's Republic, the South Korea and Turkey. Best practices of attracting highly qualified international academic specialists in foreign countries are identified.

Recommendations are made about necessary steps that should be undertaken by Russian government and universities to attract more highly qualified foreign academic specialists into Russian universities and provide them comfortable working and living conditions. It will permit not only attract, but also retain foreign experts through providing them with internationally competitive salaries, conditions for effective cultural adaptation and assimilation. Russian universities should develop international and open environment to facilitate the involvement of foreign experts in university’s activities and stimulate cooperation of Russian and foreign academics. 

There are increasing pressures for universities to commercialise their research and increase their contributions to their local and regional environments. For those institutions located in areas of low demand, this can lead to a low-impact equilibrium of universities working with external partners, and having relatively low impact. In such circumstances, universities have to “build up” local demand for their knowledge. But this is long-term, costly and volatile, and so partnership and collaborative models of capacity building may be one way for universities to maximise the benefits whilst minimising the risks. In this paper, the authors explore how capacity in such situations builds up, and whether university regional associations (URAs) can help universities to develop regional capacity in such situations. The case study demonstrates that URAs can become a focal point for a community of regionally engaged university actors. It is this community which can help universities to rationalise and make sense of local uncertainties, and thereby increase total university regional contributions.

The article explore the way in which one particular established knowledge transfer institution in one region has made the transition from a one-off project to established regional institution. The authors examine the case of the organisation “Knowledge House” in the North East of England, which built up a strong community of individuals providing the service of getting academics to answer business questions. This community has become important to the partner universities in demonstrating commitment to engagement, and embodies an attractive promise of further potential for commercialisation if external parties invest in the universities. 

The author analyses current forms and models of cooperation between universities and business established inRussiabased on the results of complex analysis of the universities’ role in regional development. Main barriers for developing mutually beneficial partnerships have been identified and reasons for their emerging have been analysed. The paper also discusses possible ways of tackling this problem in future. The problem of trust-based relationships between business and academy is examined in the context of the role of business in increasing contribution of federal universities in economic, social and innovation development of regions.

The article explores the problem of HEIs’ responsibility towards graduates, employers, society and region. Characteristic aspects of a university social responsibility in meeting the needs of oil and gas industry in Siberian region have been analysed. The authors discuss the case study of Tuymen State Oil and Gas University that demonstrates cooperation between the university and its regional partners in training graduates for the industry.

Nowadays it is clear that a new mechanism for collaboration between HEIs and labour market is needed. It seems relevant to focus efforts on improving coordination between various social agents involved in training and employing young graduates. Therefore a sociological research on graduate employment on regional labour market is important. The research helps to identify the role of state institutions and HEIs in graduate employment.

The article is prepared in the framework of monitoring employers’ opinion on quality of education of graduates, which provide by Tuymen State Oil and Gas University annually. The authors detailed describe the results of monitoring employers’ opinion conducted in 2011. 128 respondents took part in the expert survey, experts were the heads of industrial, oil and gas, transport, mechanical engineering companies, energy providers.

The authors examine the main trends and the key priorities in cooperation between the university and regional partners, analyze employers’ opinion on quality of graduates.

In the conclusion the authors provide recommendations on enhancing the social responsibility of HEIs. The results on survey show the necessity to create and realize the conception of social responsibility for Universities.