"Reassembly" of Sports Universities: Expert Support from the Institute of Education at HSE for the Strategic Session for Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation.
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The aim of the session was to define the development priorities for sports universities until 2035, taking into account the current challenges in the field of physical culture and sports.
In the opening part, the Minister of Sports of Russia, Mikhail Degtyarev, emphasized important issues for higher education in the field of sports and physical culture:
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How can universities increase their contribution to mass sports and physical culture?
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What scientific and technological products from sports universities could be of interest in achieving technological sovereignty in other sectors and fields?
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How will the potential of sports universities change in terms of education export and the formation of "sports" diplomacy?
To focus on the current state of the sector, leaders of sports universities were presented with analytics from experts at the Institute of Education of the Higher School of Economics. It was noted during the session that, despite the significant contribution of sports universities to the training of specialists in the field of sports through higher education programs (66% of the total output in these areas), 122 non-sectoral universities also implement programs in similar fields. Thus, the scientific and educational agenda in the field of sports naturally exists beyond sectoral frameworks.
Expert presentations during the session also highlighted the importance of cooperation among sports universities and, importantly, with scientific and educational organizations and industrial partners from other sectors, given the lower resource base of sports universities (the average level of total income for sectoral universities is five times lower than the national average, and the average number of students is four times lower compared to other universities). Additionally, sports universities face the necessity of responding to common challenges within the education system, such as changing demand for higher and secondary vocational education programs (the number of graduates from higher education programs has decreased by 5%, while the number of graduates from secondary vocational programs has increased by 27%).
These conditions necessitate a fundamental transformation that will create opportunities to address the tasks set by the government. As Maxim Boev, Deputy Director of the Department of Education, Science, and International Relations of the Ministry of Sports of Russia, noted:
The actualization of fundamental target models for universities is a necessary condition for the further existence of sports universities.
The work at the project session was the first step towards "reassembly." The final result of the teams' efforts from the universities was a set of proposals for changes in their development strategies, based on the results of analysis, critical discussion, feedback from regulators and experts, and the formation of agreements for cooperation.
Evgeny Terentyev, Director of the Institute of Education, stated:
"We hope that the session held will be the first step towards the reassembly of higher education in the field of sports and physical culture. The system is facing significant challenges: internally, there is a need to improve the quality of educational programs, a shift in focus from elite sports to mass sports, and the search for new forms of cooperation between universities and industrial partners; externally, there are new contours of international cooperation and national goals, including the promotion of public health. These tasks require a change in target vision and new strategic priorities for sports universities. It is important for each university to find its place within this palette of tasks and define its trajectory for development."
The experts at the event included:
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Evgeny Terentyev, Director of the Institute of Education at HSE
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Semen Yankevich, Deputy Director of the Institute of Education at HSE
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Niyaz Gabdakhmanov, Head of the Research and Educational Laboratory for University Development
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Head of the Research and Educational Laboratory on the Effectiveness of State Educational Development Measures
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Alexander Klyagin, Deputy Head of the Research and Educational Laboratory for University Development
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Oleg Leshukov, Advisor to the Vice-Rector of HSE and Chief Expert of the Research and Educational Laboratory for University Development
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Vitaly Aleshchenko, Expert at the Socio-Center
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Anton Zagranichny, Researcher at the Laboratory of Innovations in Education
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Sergey Startsev, Leading Analyst at the HSE Internal Monitoring Center
The strategic session was also moderated by research interns from the Research and Educational Laboratory for University Development, Evgeny Zhiltsev and Vladimir Krestinin.
A significant contribution to the creation of analytical materials was made by Victoria Slepikh, Junior Researcher at the laboratory, and Amina Guseynova, Analyst at the laboratory.