Implementation of the Professional Development Programme for Academic Managers results in NURE Strategy
On 29 October, after participating in the first module of the Professional Development Programme for Academic Managers in Dnipro, the NURE team, consisting of Andriy Yerokhin (captain), Yuriy Romanenkov, Oleg Zolotukhin, Vitaliy Martovytskyi, Diana Rudenko, and Nikita Zdorik, held an internal seminar. During the training and networking sessions at Dnipro Polytechnic, the primary focus was on rethinking the university’s third mission – its social role. Participants looked at cases of community-oriented universities, analysed their functions, and assessed their impact on public life and the development of local communities.
The seminar’s theme was to discuss and begin implementing key ideas and practices learned during the training into the NURE Strategy for 2026-2030.
The seminar aims to initiate updating the NURE Strategy by integrating the concept of the university’s “third mission” and the principles of a community-oriented university.
First Vice-Rector Andriy YEROKHIN delivered a report at the seminar. Drawing on the experience of European and leading Ukrainian universities, he proposed several specific changes.
Clearly formulate and implement the concept of social responsibility of NURE in the Strategy, not as a list of separate measures, but as a holistic ecosystem of interaction with society.
2. NURE as an integrator of local community development.
Position the university not only as an educational and scientific centre, but also as a “driver of economic and social development” in the Kharkiv region. Expand the partnership network with industrial enterprises, IT clusters, and regional business associations to jointly create educational programmes and research projects. Initiate regular “NURE Innovation Fairs”, where business and government representatives could familiarise themselves with the university’s developments and formulate their technological requests.
3. Internationalisation through social responsibility.
Use the theme of the ‘third mission’ as a powerful tool for internationalisation. Develop international educational and summer school programmes dedicated, for example, to ‘Tech for Social Good’ to attract foreign students and teachers. Participate in international projects and competitions aimed at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which will increase the visibility of NURE on the global stage.
4. Updating educational programmes.
Introduce project-oriented courses into curricula, where students work in teams to solve real social and technical problems. Introduce interdisciplinary studies (e.g., “Social Informatics”, “Biomedical Informatics”, “Technical Urbanistics”) for students of different specialities. Improve the course “Sustainable Development Goals: Ecology, Society, Management”.
The seminar became a productive platform for transforming the knowledge gained into specific strategic initiatives. The proposed changes aim to make NURE a more open, socially responsible and influential university that responds to the challenges of the times and shapes them. The management team is preparing a detailed report for the university’s Academic Council to incorporate these proposals into the updated NURE Strategy officially.
For more information: The Academic Managers Professional Development Programme is a unique initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, implemented by the British Council as part of a joint project between the Ministry of Education and Science and the World Bank, “Improving Higher Education in Ukraine for Results”. Teams from Ukrainian state higher education institutions under the management of the Ministry of Education and Science are participating in the Programme.
The aim of the Programme is to strengthen the institutional capacity of higher education institutions in Ukraine by developing the competence of academic managers in higher education transformation, good governance, strategic and financial management, human resource management, internationalisation and institutional change.
