1. ‘ Alumni Relations at EUSP (2002-2008)’ The 1 st EUSP Alumni Conference June 19-20, 2008 Presented by Ekaterina Bartik (EUSP Alumni Relations Officer, 2006-2008)

2. EUSP Alumni population in numbers:  around 600 Russian graduates  over 200 international students took Russian Studies courses within the framework of IMARS program; over 70 MA degrees are awarded

3. EUSP Alumni represent:  Thirty three regions of the Russian Federation  Six Countries of the former Soviet Union: Belarus, Tadjikistan, Estonia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova.  Over fifteen overseas countries: USA, Germany, Norway, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Sweden, Peru, Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria and others.

4. Occupational Dimension Russian Alumni teach at:  Twenty six leading institutions of higher education in St.-Petersburg (including St.- Petersburg State, Higher School of Economics and the Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences);  Ten leading institutions of higher education throughout Russia: Moscow, Kazan, Volgograd, Novgorod, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Tver, Tomsk, Cherepovets, Samara.  Oxford University (Great Britain).

5. Overseas Alumni teach at and study at:  Sciences Po-CERI, Paris;  University of Bristol;  The University of California, Berkeley;  Free University Berlin;  University of Göttingen;  The University of Jena, Germany;  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;  University of Mannheim;  University of Copenhagen and many others.

6. EUSP Alumni in Private Sector:  World Bank, Washington DC;  Alfa-Bank;  Vneshtorgbank;  European Bank of Reconstruction and Development;  NAUFOR;  Novatek and many others.

7. EUSP Alumni in State Agencies and NGOs:  Alumni in State Agencies: The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation; US Department of Energy; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peru; US Department of State and others.  Alumni in NGOs: International Organization for Migration; Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); United Nations Headquarters, New York; Eurasia Foundation; East-West Foundation; Peace Corps; Doctors to Children; European Commission and others.

8. Alumni Relations at EUSP in diachrony: In 2002  EUSP Alumni Association Charter designed, however never adopted;  The 1st EUSP Alumni Directory established (Excel files and Access – later on) In 2003  All EUSP Self-examination conducted, including Alumni relations In 2006  The tradition of “Alumni Reunions” is (re)invented In 2007  Part-time Alumni Affairs office established by the University Administration (namely, Development office), urged by networking needs. Under this banner online EUSP Alumni directory created (available at http://www.eu.spb.ru/alum);http://www.eu.spb.ru/alum  Alumni Survey launched by Alumni Affairs office, with 73 Russian alumni taking part in it. In 2008  First EUSP Alumni Conference took place with alumni from seven countries taking part in it.  EUSP Alumni Association created, under the Russian Law, however, not registered at the state agencies at this point.

9. ALUMNI SURVEYS (2003: the first survey) In 2003 all EUSP self-examination conducted:  The portrait of a successful alumnus/alumna, reconstructed through the interviews with the Russian EUSP alumni of all the five departments: Defended his/her “kandidatskaya” dissertation; Has been teaching, doing research; Makes money.

10. Alumni Strategies for job placement (the first survey results, 2003) An appropriate individual strategy is to take up a teaching post at an institution of higher education, so that to have an opportunity to apply for funding of your current research projects and to have an opportunity to work somewhere else simultaneously (part-time) - to make ends meet.

11. The Economics department alumni job placement strategies (the first alumni survey results)  To continue one’s studies abroad;  To take up a teaching post at an institution of higher education;  To find a job as an analyst in a bank or a financial company.

12. Political Science and Sociology department job placement strategies (the first alumni survey results)  Researcher at a partner institution “The Center for Independent Social Research”;  Lecturer at the Higher School of Economics (St.-Petersburg branch);  Work in projects;  Enrolling in overseas PhD programs.

13. The Second Round: A Brainstorming session 2007 (March) Representatives of the four departments, mostly those, employed by EUSP, took part in the brainstorming session: The major topic, which actualized in the course of the session:  EUSP should help alumni in job hunting, i.e.: To create EUSP alumni directory, so that alumni could locate one another, establish and maintain connections. Perhaps, Careers Center should be established with an opportunity to subscribe to academic, business vacancies and, say, internships; To publish the information about current research projects of EUSP professors and alumni and vacancies in these projects;

14. Educational dimension: (the results of 2007 brainstorming session) The idea of continuous education; i. e. - to update alumni on how to:  Write grant applications;  Find a job if you are an over-qualified EUSP graduate. Connections with EUSP  To arrange meetings of EUSP alumni population with the Rectorate on a regular basis;  To arrange meetings with the faculty (by departments).

15. Russian Alumni body would be interested in the following services to be delivered by the University:  Use the library and electronic resources in the same mode as EUSP students;  present the results of their scholarly work and discuss it with the academic community, which can be found at EUSP;  To attend public lectures and seminars at EUSP.

16. Overseas Alumni body would be interested in the following services to be delivered by EUSP (Alumni Conference, 2008):  IMARES diploma should be validated by a Western reputable university and it should be included in national/international rankings.  It is advisable to create networks that would enable IMARS students to study in partner institutions during the period of their studies at EUSP.  Recently, it has become a widespread practice for IMARS alumni to stay/return to work in Russia. Therefore, the level of instruction of the Russian language should be very high. As many of IMARS alumni have stressed, Russian should be graded seriously – then it will become a serious subject to learn.  Teaching process at EUSP requires much library work, including the resources in the Russian language. Foreign students sometimes have difficulties surfing the Russian archives, and some of the alumni stressed that it would be much appreciated if the university could assist alumni in this very practical matter.

17. Overseas Alumni body would be interested in the following services on the part of the University (Alumni Conference, 2008) - 2  To create a quality alumni directory, regularly updated;  To create opportunities for academic mobility for overseas alumni, enabling them to discuss their research projects with Russian peers on the base of EUSP;  To inform EUSP alumni four times a year about EUSP events, new courses, student activities;  To provide EUSP alumni with the conference site and visa support (for Alumni Conferences);  To supply with the transcripts in a quick and efficient manner.

18. Long-term Perspectives for development of EUSP Alumni Relations  To strengthen connections between Russian and overseas alumni;  To work on EUSP online Alumni directory (currently 210 alumni registered);  To create more networking opportunities through EUSP Alumni Conferences.

19. Short-term Perspectives:  To establish the European chapter of EUSP Alumni Association (the establishing assembly will take place in London, on the 14-16 th of November, 2008;  To form the international Board of EUSP Alumni Association.