US Higher Education Perspectives for Partnership Development Katherine Scodova Russia Country Coordinator for Advising, EducationUSA EducationUSA.state.gov

About EducationUSA Accurate, comprehensive, current information 400 centers world-wide Foster mutual understanding and cooperation Support public diplomacy mission EducationUSA advising centers are available to assist you throughout the US college & university admissions process These centers are supported by the US State Department and the information they provide is provide is accurate, comprehensive and current. This is a worldwide network with hundreds of EducationUSA advising centers in 170 countries. EducationUSA.state.gov

EducationUSA in Russia 9 Advising Centers, 20 Resource Centers Russians have access to our free resources throughout the country. We have 9 full advising centers: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok, Voronezh and Kaliningrad. Through the American Corners, students can access basic advising materials and receive contact information for the nearest advisers. EducationUSA.state.gov

Support for Academic Institutions Education Fairs Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok and online Outreach events to local academic institutions Lectures, workshops and webinars Training and information sessions for faculty and administrators In additional with providing information to students U.S. higher education, we also work with U.S. and Russian education institutions, so that they better understand each other and continue to foster mutual understanding between out countries by supporting educational partnerships. We host our own education fairs, where we invited representatives from accredited U.S. programs to meet with students, parents and local education partners. We are getting ready to start our spring tour, and we have 9 US universities who will travel with us to Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok March 10-16. EducationUSA.state.gov

U.S. Higher Education Trends 4000 academic institutions Increased focus on internationalization: 764,495 students* New technologies Massive open online courses Online degrees Evolution of study materials, teaching methods and learning environment *IIE Open Doors Report, 2012 Evolution of study materials, teaching methods and learning environment: From text-books to video-games and e-content programs. Teaching in class becomes art merged with digital technology EducationUSA.state.gov

Trends in Russian-U.S. Partnerships Student/Faculty exchanges Humanities, educational administration, curricula development Joint program development Summer courses, Master’s degree programs, business incubators Russian universities take on leading role Attract foreign professors Focus on strengths Develop programming in English Traditionally partnership between Russian and US universities has been in the form of student and faculty exchanges and mainly in the fields of humanities, educational administration and curricula development. This was also mostly to the U.S., now joint programs where US and Russian universities take on equal responsibility in their mutual exchange of experience and knowledge. Some successful models include short term summer programs in Russia, dual degree Master’s programs and business incubators. Business incubators are relatively new and focus on connecting technology transfer and universities-industries to economic development of the region. Also where the partnerships have been success are when the Russian universities see themselves as equal partners and build relationships based on their strengths and not solely as a means to improve their weaknesses. Also, partnerships that start small and aim for modest goals and build from there tend to be more success. This would include attracting professors from U.S. universities to for short term semester to year projects. Also, developing courses with English language context is a good way to attract students from the U.S. who will rarely have a level of Russian proficient enough to engage with non-English speaking peers. EducationUSA.state.gov

Advice for Initiating Partnerships 1) Develop Strategy Identify priority region, disciplines, institutional interest 2) Identify Potential Partners Conference, cultural visits, web research, faculty ties 3) Face-to-Face Meetings Discuss priorities, institutional challenges, opportunities 4) Initial MOU or MOA - Formulate concrete activities, identify the player, specify outcomes* *IIE Institutional International Partnerships, 2012 1) Key questions: What partnership activities are feasible for my institution What are my top 3 partnership goals? What could my institution offer a partner? 2) What are my top 3 criteria for a partner What type of financial commitment would this entail? Does the potential partner have similar or complementary areas of strength? 3) Key Questions: Are the right faculty and decision makers available? Did you check the academic calendar? Who from your institution will go? 4) Key Questions: What are our potential synergies? What is our timeframe? EducationUSA.state.gov

U.S. Sponsored Programs IREX – www.irex.ru Fulbright – www.fulbright.ru American Councils – www.americancouncils.ru U.S. Embassy Moscow – www.moscow.usembassy.gov EducationUSA Russia – www.useic.ru EducationUSA.state.gov

Contact Us Inna Ustinova Higher Education Outreach Coordinator iustinova@useic.ru EducationUSA Russia www.useic.ru EducationUSA.state.gov