Ukrainian governance reforms aim to boost universities’ autonomy

A Ukrainian government initiative that has seen external advisers elected to assist universities is being seen as a “logical step” towards improving quality in the sector and decentralising management structures.

Under the project run by the Ministry of Education, three universities – Zaporizhzhia National University, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University and the State University Kyiv Aviation Institute – have elected supervisory boards, incorporating key figures from the regional business and public sectors.

Over an initial two-year period, the universities will draft and enact new management strategies, with guidance from international experts in governance. The initiative is part of a broader set of reforms focused on improving quality, efficiency and integration into the European Education Area.

“Supervisory boards will help strengthen the autonomy of universities, develop their strategic directions, ensure transparency in decision-making, and attract investment,” the ministry said in a statement.

Speaking to Times Higher Education, Anastasiia Hrytsak, lead specialist in the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University’s international relations office, called participation in the project “a logical step in the university’s development”.

The initiative, Hrytsak said, will help the university to “enhance management efficiency and financial transparency”, while “strengthening partnerships with businesses, international organisations and research institutions” and enable the institution “to adapt its educational programmes to labour market needs”.

Increased autonomy, she added, will “facilitate the expansion of international cooperation and participation in grant programmes”, while boosting the university’s national and international competitiveness.

Olena Tupakhina, Zaporizhzhia National University’s vice-rector for international affairs and projects, said Ukraine’s current national reform reflected a need for a “structural change” rather than “just some cosmetic interferences”.

Previously, Tupakhina said, the Ukrainian higher education system “was heavily centralised, with everything dependent on decisions from the ministry, which made universities less able to develop their own ways of dealing with rising challenges”.

Her university’s location on the frontline of the current war with Russia, she said, played a significant role in the decision to join the autonomy initiative, due to “unprecedented challenges” including “demographic shifts and the restructuring of the whole regional economy”.

“Under such circumstances, we needed to reframe our governance system and make the university more flexible and agile, which is why we decided to join the experiment.”

Typically, Tupakhina explained, Ukrainian rectors have been elected by academic staff, under the purview of the ministry of education. “This system kept universities isolated from external stakeholders like industry and the public sector. They only had to report to the ministry, and they were not really interested in expanding their networks and establishing productive cooperation on a regional level.”

Today, Tupakhina said, universities “need to be very flexible and fast, and possess good analytical thinking”, qualities she believes can be instilled through the new supervisory boards.

Some staff may be hesitant to work with a supervisory board comprising experts from outside the academic sector, Tupakhina said. “This is a communication issue we need to deal with. We need to show good practices and explain that the university will play an active role.”

“The university will not simply execute what the supervisory board has decided. The university will form its own agenda and discuss it with the board.”

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com