Volodymyr Smolanka: "We are glad to welcome our entrants, who will spend fruitful, rich and interesting periods of their lives in our alma mater!"

Another year has begun and the issue of choosing higher educational institution is becoming more and more pressing for school leavers. We would like to present our conversation with the Rector of Uzhhorod National University Professor Volodymyr Smolanka about the benefits our alma mater can offer to its entrants.

 "Mr. Smolanka, UzhNU traditionally adheres to the principles of openness and transparency during the admission campaign, according to the rankings and the results of monitoring conducted by various public organizations. Could you please tell, what such approach of UzhNU to the work with entrants is based on?"

"In my election program, in 2014, I proclaimed adherence to the principles of democratic governance. Openness and transparency are the components that determine the effectiveness of the latter. I keep adhering to the same position at present and this is my deep, firm conviction. If the management’s actions are non-transparent in spite of making the right decisions, it may often raise doubts among colleagues. They suspect that there is something wrong, some information is unrevealed ... Therefore, we try to act as openly as possible. For example, anyone can read the information about all the spheres of activity of our institution, including the financial one, on the website of UzhNU. At the beginning of each year, we remind our colleagues about the possibility of controlling each purchase on the public procurement website. We are perhaps the first in the region who started using “Prozorro” procurement system. With the help of this system, we managed to reduce the expected expenditures of our special fund by a quarter. We are going to continue our present course."

 "Recently, you presented your report on the University's work in 2017. What information from your report might be important for the entrants and their parents?"

"When choosing a higher educational institution, people obviously would like to know what kind of institution it is and how it positions itself. We are pleased to state, that according to the consolidated rating, UzhNU is in top 20 among nearly 300 Ukrainian universities. We are not going to stop, on the contrary, we are moving to the top. It will be difficult to do, but we have resources for the improvement of our indicators. The ranking is not an end in itself, but it reflects the work of the whole university team consisting of 1270 scientific and pedagogical workers, including more than 700 candidates of science, associate professors and almost 150 doctors of sciences, professors. It will be difficult, but we still think we’Il get higher. UzhNU is an international university and not only because of foreign students. By the way, there are over 1100 of them from about 40 countries. We also carry out lots of scientific and academic mobility programs together with foreign partners. Last year, UzhNU was involved in 11 international projects. As part of Erasmus+ exchange program, we collaborate with 15 European universities. This program provides our students with the opportunity to study for free at European universities for one semester and get EU scholarships. Moreover, 74 foreigners including teachers, students and post-graduate students joined the academic mobility program in our university. As of December 26, 2017 there are 14,659 students at UzhNU. This is the highest number in history, despite an increasingly small number of school leavers (potential students), caused by low birth rate in the late 90's and the early 2000's. Education abroad is becoming more popular nowadays. However, the number of students in our university is increasing, unlike in many higher educational institutions in Ukraine."

 "You mentioned foreign countries. It has become really popular to study there. What are your counter arguments for such "fashion"?"

 "They go, because studying abroad is free for our school leavers, but it should be taken into account that students have to buy all the text-books, pay for the trip and the hostel, and that is a lot of money. The second counter argument is that Uzhhorod National University has a high position in the scientific environment not only in Ukraine. For example, during a conversation with one of our alumni who emigrated to Israel with his wife in 2000 and was employed by the world-renowned Weizmann Institute, I heard this story. The director of the institution noted that he was well aware of the achievements physicists of our alma-mater and hired the man without hesitation. Another example: 7 alumni of UzhNU work for the laboratories of the Faculty of Physics of Charles University. When talking to the head of one of the Slovak universities, I heard: "I’d rather hire or admit to post-graduate courses alumni of UzhNU than some other Slovak universities." Therefore, getting education at a university located in Europe does not always mean getting European quality education. Our diplomas are also recognized, because our educational programs meet the European requirements. The issue of their nostrification arises only in cases of medical education. However, foreign hospitals often agree to do this in order to hire good Ukrainian, in particular, Transcarpathian specialists. As for other specialties, there are no employment barriers at all, that is why the alumni of Uzhhorod National University can be found at the Central European Center for Laser Physics, at the European Center for Nuclear Research in Switzerland (where the world's largest particle accelerator, known as the hadron collider, has been created), in many scientific, medical and business institutions in Europe, North America, etc."

"Moreover, UzhNU offers double diplomas and exchange programs ..."

"That’s right. And there are also joint scientific projects. At present, UzhNU representatives are implementing 9 grant funded research programs. Cross-border cooperation programs are especially effective. Our physicists, in cooperation with foreign partners, have won one of the grants of the largest research and innovation program of the European Union "Horizon-2020". Only a few universities in Ukraine can boast of being involved in one of the projects of such a program. I also want to mention trainings and internships both in Ukraine and abroad, in particular, for students. For example, the representatives of the Faculty of Tourism and International Communications undergo practical training in Slovakia in winter and in Turkey, Thailand and some other countries in summer, where they can improve their language skills, professional skills, have the opportunity to earn extra money and get acquainted with the sights of these countries and the culture and customs of local people."

"For many people university is often associated with learning. What would you say to those who have such point of view?"

"Five years spent at university are not just educational and academic activity. We have a great sports complex. Together with our Hungarian partners, we  built a modern artificial turf sports pitch near hostels #4 and #5, where one can engage in various team sports in the open air. I have already mentioned that students are offered various forms of practical training, internships. We partially renovated the building of our high-altitude biological base “Kolochava”. We want to resume the work of the youth resort "Skalka", which was very popular in the Soviet times. Some steps have already been taken and I want to thank the deans of several faculties who took the initiative to improve this student recreation center in Uzhhorod district. We are looking forward to attracting extra-budgetary funds from the European sources. The answer to the question, what UzhNU diploma gives and how to spend 5 years at UzhNU has many positive options."

"When choosing a higher educational institution, entrants are interested not only in the information about its scientific and pedagogical staff, they also pay attention to the material and technical base of the university."

"Absolutely, and we are also actively working on its improvement, because a modern university should have appropriate conditions for study and leisure. Last year we bought some equipment for all the faculties. For instance, we equipped three computer labs, including the language lab for the Faculty of Foreign Philology. Many classrooms and other premises were renovated and furnished. Constant attention is paid to students’ accommodation facilities, therefore, we continue major repairs of the university hostels in order to create truly European conditions for students. I really hope that in the next three years we will complete the reconstruction of the second biggest educational and laboratory building of UzhNU in Universytetska street."

"Meanwhile, the university managed to cope with the issue of heating the premises. The university administration reported that the second semester would start in time, although many Ukrainian universities including the biggest ones, save their money by turning off the heating. Accordingly, their students will return to classrooms later this semester."

"What concerns our university, its financial situation is stable. Moreover, in recent years we have been actively working on energy efficiency. We have built a modular boiler house, which provides hostels ##1, 2, 3 and the Faculty of Healthcare and Physical Education with hot and cold water. We attract extra budgetary funds, especially due to our cooperation with foreign partners."

"What are the employment opportunities for UzhNU graduates?"

"In 2016, the “Focus” magazine published a survey of employers representing the leading companies in various fields (IT, banking, power engineering, law, etc.), highlighting the top fifty Ukrainian universities in terms of educational attainment. According to the ranking (which is not completely objective, since the majority of surveyed respondents were representatives of Kyiv companies), we are in the 36^th place, five points behind the university which is in top thirty, with only 7 higher educational institutions from Western Ukraine with better results. As noted in this publication, the ranking does not reflect the quality of education in educational institutions, but only certain trends and, accordingly, the work of the staff. And we continue working hard to improve the situation. For example, the Career Center, which focuses on vocational guidance, organizes meetings of employers with our graduates. Most students find jobs easily, they are even employed by large companies and foreign institutions. We do our best to help our graduates."

"To summarize everything that has been said, what are the main advantages of UzhNU in comparison with many other higher educational institutions?"

"I respect all higher educational institutions, and answering this question, I would like to highlight the following aspects. Our first advantage is that our university is a powerful highly ranked institution. It provides its students with high quality education. The second advantage is that this is a university with a good international reputation, our students can spend some time studying abroad. The third advantage is that UzhNU offers a wide range of opportunities not only for studying, but also for leisure activities including participation in conferences, round tables, excursions, start-up competitions. Our students participate in professional contests, where they rank among the best. For example, students of UzhNU didn’t just win the National Programming Cup, but also achieved high results in the finals of the World Cup, having upstaged the teams of some famous domestic and foreign universities. The city of Uzhhorod is attractive, safe, calm, compact, cozy. There are a lot of different leisure centers and cafes, where young people can enjoy their time. They can take advantage of the opportunity to visit thermal pools, ski resorts, go hiking in the mountains or go to Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, which are not too far away and discover some of the most beautiful cities of Central Europe at weekends."

"To conclude our conversation, what are your wishes to the entrants and what advice would you give them?"

"Firstly, I wish them to enter our university, of course. Last year, 5,015 applicants benefited from this opportunity. It's about half a thousand more than in 2016. I believe that a lot of boys and girls will choose our university in 2018. Secondly, I advise them to study hard to make a serious step from secondary school to higher education. Pass your external successfully and choose our institution as a priority. We’re glad to welcome our entrants, who will spend fruitful, rich and interesting periods of their lives in our alma mater! Everything depends on you and on us!"

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