Excerpts from Rector Ilshat Gafurov’s big interview

As usual, the Rector spoke to UNIVER TV to outline the most important developments for the new academic year.

 

Here are some of the talking points of the conversation.

 

On the 2021 admission campaign

 

Over 12.3 thousand freshmen enrolled in KFU this year. International students are still being admitted, and the last enrolment order will probably be signed on 30 September.

Over 9 thousand individuals have already been placed at the University’s dormitories.

Overall, the student body this year exceeds 56 thousand persons, including students of vocational training and secondary education (the latter constitute 1,500 persons).

 

On We Are Together specialized kindergarten

 

On 1 September, a specialized institution for kids with autism spectrum disorders opened doors at KFU. President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Pyotr Kucherenko visited the ceremony. As of now, this is the only such kindergarten within a university structure in Russia.

The kindergarten will comprise 10 groups of 5 children each. Experts from KFU and their colleagues from Israel, USA, and some other countries are to be heavily involved in its work.

As is customary for the University, the kindergarten will also provide internships to students.

 

On international students

 

Russian authorities have allowed entry for all students, no matter their nationality. We have reserved places in dormitories for those who plan to arrive in October and November. We are in touch with all students and know when they are coming. Hopefully, we won’t have exigent circumstances, that is to say, new waves of the coronavirus.

Mass vaccination is in full swing. Over 60 percent of employees have been inoculated against COVID. With students, it’s a bit less. But we are glad that many overseas students apply for vaccination. We can provide this free of charge.

 

On employee remuneration

 

Our experience shows that you have to have a bit of a financial safety net, and we follow that. After Project 5-100 was closed, we were able to preserve almost all laboratories opened under the auspices of that program.

We plan, as usual, to raise standard salary across the University. I think we can discuss that later in the autumn.

Starting 1 September, we have already raised miscellaneous staff’s salaries by 5%. For teaching staff, a decision is pending in October. A special bonus of 15 thousand rubles was disbursed to every educator at the University to celebrate the academic year. We’ve worked well during the admission season. All our programs were accredited, and all the planned facilities are opened.

 

On educational tracks

 

During one of the nearest meetings of the Academic Board, we’ll discuss our educational priorities for the next five-six years.

The first metric, of course, is demand from students. We are looking at programs with low enrolment scores or low numbers of international students.

All decisions are to be made collectively after discussions with teams. The decisions must be clear and transparent. We do not have predetermined outcomes when we talk about closing some programs or departments.

As you know, this year we opened the Institute of Design and Spatial Arts. The demand is already very high, and from students with excellent graduation scores.

There is very competitive enrolment in IT, although only a few years ago such majors were much less popular than economics or law. The world is going to move to hydrogen energy, which is also our focus. Naturally, we will further expand our capacity for AI research.

 

On staff motivation

 

Our monthly and quarterly bonuses are a part of motivation for our employees to develop their careers. We have provided bonuses in the past for introducing digital educational resources, and such motivation proved fruitful. Our team is very creative and productive.

Our staff numbers are huge – 10 thousand people – and yet we provide one of the highest average remunerations in Tatarstan. We are the second biggest taxpayer in the city of Kazan – and that’s only counting direct taxes.

 

On overseas expansion

 

We have looked at the countries with the largest enrolment in the University. Just recently, the President of Uzbekistan issued an order to open a branch of Kazan Federal University in the city of Jizzakh in 2022. Uzbekistan provides all the infrastructure and campuses.

We are in the negotiation process to open branches in Kyrgyzstan; I have met with the Prime Minister and businesspersons during my visit there.

In the meantime, we have various double majors with both countries, such as in 3+1 or 2+2 formats, where the numbers stand for the years studied in another country and Russia respectively. We are in full control of the studies because we have to guarantee the quality of alumni.

We are also in talks to open our branch in Egypt. There is a preparatory program launching this year which will partly be offered in Egypt on our partner’s premises.

In Tajikistan, we have a cooperation agreement with a secondary school – we provide study material and help them prepare to enroll in KFU.

We have a large number of interested prospective students from Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and other countries. There is huge interest from them in medicine and IT specializations. We will expand our work in those areas.

 

Source text: Media Center

Translation: Yury Nurmeev