From agreements to real projects: Rector of KRSU Sergey Volkov on university partnerships

Rector of KRSU Sergey Volkov spoke at the panel session «Partnership in education: exchange of experience and best practices». In his report, he presented the results of the development of interuniversity cooperation KRSU and outlined the key principles on which the university builds partnerships.«For us, an interstate university —is not a bridge between two countries, but a single educational platform», — emphasized Sergei Volkov.One of the main points of the speech — the effectiveness of the partnership is determined not by the number of signed documents, but by the real opportunities it creates for students.Today KRSU has 232 cooperation agreements, 159 of them — with Russian partners. At the same time, the rector emphasized that it is fundamentally important for the university that agreements are transformed into specific projects — academic mobility programs, internships, joint research and advanced training.«Real agreements are important to us, which should become projects and programs with measurable results for students», — the rector noted.Sergei Volkov called academic mobility and internships one of the most effective formats for such interaction. KRSU is already implementing them together with leading Russian universities, including MGIMO and St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Today, 133 KRSU students participate in network programs, and the university aims to expand these opportunities.A separate block of the report was devoted to the internationalization of the educational environment. KRSU has students from 25 countries. At the same time, attracting foreign students — is only one of the components of this work.«Internationalization for us — is not a set of external activities, but internal improvement of quality. International activities are becoming a resource for the development of the university», — emphasized Sergei Volkov.Speaking about the role of the Russian language, the rector noted the importance of modern approaches to its promotion — from the development of educational materials to the introduction of digital solutions and the development of professional communication.In his speech, Sergei Volkov also touched upon the influence of artificial intelligence on education. According to him, the task of universities is to learn how to effectively use new technologies.«I think there is no threat in this. You need to learn to live and work with artificial intelligence», — noted the rector.Another direction of development of KRSU will be a new campus. As Sergei Volkov noted, the university is working in detail on its future educational infrastructure — laboratories, classrooms and educational spaces, taking into account the real needs of educational programs.The key principle identified in the rector's report: the value of interuniversity partnerships lies primarily in their practical results — new educational opportunities, academic mobility, internships, research and professional development of students.