On October 28th, Voronezh State University held a press conference under the auspices of the information agency Interfaks dedicated to the development of Russian-French partnership in the sphere of education. The press-conference was held within the framework of the French delegation visit to VSU, and the participants were VSU rector Dmitry Endovitsky, the French Counsellor of International Economics, the president of the international commission MEDEF Philippe Verbert, the director of the MBA Management programme at the HEC Paris Charles Berger, and the manager of the Business Bridge project Natalia Lanceraux.
Dmitry Endovitsky started the conference by pointing out that the agreement between VSU and France marks a new stage of French-Russian relations in the sphere of education and science.
– “Our university has always been collaborating with French universities. For many years, we have been partners with Atos IT Solutions and Services – a French-Belgian company. Today we signed a Memorandum of understanding with the High Institute of Commerce of Paris and discussed some problematic issues of the MBA double degree programmes. This means that the top managers of the Central Black Earth Region studying at the VSU Business School will have a chance to acquire their degree both at VSU and at one of the leading French universities. We are also planning to develop double degree programmes in academic education and academic mobility”.
– “My job is to encourage French companies to work in Russia, and to guide them in the international markets. I also help them in finding universities with high education quality, so that the graduates of these universities could work at the companies and develop them further. Training new specialists is one of the key points for a company's success in the international market” – said Philippe Verbert.
Charles Berger focused in his speech on the importance of the MBA programme.
– People studying on the MBA programmes are eager for personal and professional development. And I am sure there are a lot of such people here, in Russia. The second important component is the quality of education. Today's meeting has demonstrated that the quality of education at VSU is very high. So, we've got the key components for success already - the audience and the teachers.
MBA is an international programme that will now become available for Russian students. The programme is aimed at improving the skills of organizational management. The target audience of the programme includes top managers and administrative workers. The programme consists of two parts. The first includes 20 theoretical courses determined according to the needs of a particular organisation. The parties also agreed on establishing a special Academic Council to coordinate the programme, determine the courses to be taught within the programme, and adapting them to the needs of the regional organisations. The teachers of the programme will be selected by competition. The second part of the programme presupposes performing certain tasks and assignments in practice. The tasks will be determined by the Academic Council and will be coordinated by the head of an organisation. The programme aims at improving the professional competence of the top managers, learning new skills and encouraging further development.
At the press-conference Dmitry Endovitsky told the audience what role the programme will play in the Voronezh Region.
– “A good university is like a magnet - it attracts talented students and generates innovative projects; It has the resources to commercialise its ideas and projects with the help of the business community. It also attracts investors to the Region. 11 years ago we were discussing the prospects of establishing a corporate education centre with Siemens. And when later the company had to decide where to locate its production facilities, they chose Voronezh, as we already had a staff training system. By this partnership, we aim at many things - larger income, intercultural communication and international collaboration. But we also want to attract French businessmen to our region by creating favourable conditions for staff training. The key points here are the intellectual resources and innovations. So our university plays a great role in enhancing the economic attractiveness of the region”.
At the end, Philippe Verbert also said that HEC Paris is taking part in the youth forum Ivolga.
– I am glad that our students have an opportunity to visit various countries. This year, HEC Paris decided to take part in the youth forum Ivolga as part of our motor rally from Paris to Samara, where the forum is to be held. The rally will be divided into several parts with visits to the cities of our partner-universities. And Voronezh is now one of them.
