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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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
EducationUSA.state.gov

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. U.S. Sponsored Programs IREX – www.irex.ru
Fulbright –
American Councils –
U.S. Embassy Moscow –
EducationUSA Russia –
EducationUSA.state.gov

9. Contact Us
Inna Ustinova Higher Education Outreach Coordinator EducationUSA Russia
EducationUSA.state.gov