Activities of Civil Engineering Institute to attract foreign students for training in civil engineering programs

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Activities of Civil Engineering Institute to attract foreign students for training in civil engineering programs"

Walter Tate
6 years ago
Views:

1 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols (2014) pp Submitted: (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Accepted: doi: / Activities of Civil Engineering Institute to attract foreign students for training in civil engineering programs Dmitriy Germanovich Arseniev 1, a, Alexander Vitalievich Rechinskiy 2,b, Konstantin Vladimirovich Shvetsov 3,c, Nikolay Ivanovich Vatin 4,d and Olga Sergeevna Gamayunova 5,e 1,2,3,4,5 St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Polytechnicheskaya, 29. St.Petersburg, , Russia a vicerector.int@spbstu.ru, b vicerector.edu@spbstu.ru, c vicerector.educ@spbstu.ru, d vatin@mail.ru, e gamayunova@inbox.ru Keywords: St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, National Research University, Civil Engineering Institute, QS World University Rankings, international master's program, share of foreign students, exhibition, Program Abstract: St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University - Russian and world leader in higher engineering education. In 2010 he received the status of a national research university. In 2013, the Polytechnical University among the 15 universities of Russia, who won the competitive selection for the right to obtain a grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia in order to increase their competitiveness among the world's leading research and education centers. Thanks to the activities of the Program St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University in 2020 should enter the top 100 QS World University Rankings. The article discusses one of the ranking criteria QS - the proportion of foreign students - on the basis of activities of the Program and activities Civil Engineering Institute of Polytechnical University on attracting foreign students. Considered activities such as increasing the number of international educational programs in English, participation Civil Engineering Institute in international educational exhibitions, partnerships with universities and abroad, primarily belonging to the rating of universities QS 500. Introduction In July 2013 St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University among the 15 Russian universities that have won the competitive selection of universities the right to receive a special grant for the implementation of measures that will contribute to the promotion of universities in international rankings [3]. The purpose of the Program by 2020, to the occurrence of at least five Russian universities in the top one hundred leading universities according QS World University Rankings. One of the important criteria in the QS ranking is the proportion of foreign students in the total number of students. In this connection it is necessary to evaluate the activities of the university in general and Civil Engineering Institute, in particular, to attract foreign students in order to assess the effectiveness of this work. Foreign students in Civil Engineering Institute, St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University Last year, the Center of Sociological Research under the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia published statistics on foreign students in higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation and the forecast of the number of students and the staff of the educational institutions of the Russian Federation until 2020 (with the assessment of trends to 2030) [10]. According to a statistical survey, the total number of foreign students on the daily offices in the universities of Russia increased by 5.7% (6808 people), mainly due to students from the All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, (ID: /09/14,06:22:19)

2 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols Commonwealth of Independent States (Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan). The largest contingent of foreign students in Russian universities have become citizens of Kazakhstan, second place belongs to the Chinese students. The most popular specialties for foreign students are engineering (their chosen 20.4%) and health (18.1%). Economics, finance, management were in third place (17.3%). Most notably, compared with the previous year, the number who studied architecture and construction (increased by 1560 pers.), Health care (increased by 1420 pers.), Agriculture, forestry and fishery (increased by 778 pers.), Geology, development and exploration minerals (increased by 626 pers.). But at the same time very significantly reduced the number who studied law (increased by 710 pers.), Computer Science and Engineering (increased by 516 pers.). In terms of the total number of foreign citizens of all programs / forms of full-time study leading Russian universities are Russian Peoples' Friendship University, Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University. Referring now to the figures, describing the international activities of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University [6], in particular concerning the attraction of foreign students (refer with: Fig. 1, Fig. 2). Students Fig. 1. The number of foreign students at the St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University (by region) 0 Region Asia, Middle East Africa Baltic countries Europe China Commonwealth of Independent States U.S., Latin America Students Fig. 2. The number of foreign students at the St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University (by years) Year For many years the Civil Engineering Institute of St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University is one of the leaders in admissions to the university. At the heart of the Institute's work - fundamental and polytechnical experience of construction education [3, 7]. Number of students Civil Engineering Institute in 2013 is given in Table 1 [3].

3 2078 Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technology IV Table 1. Number of students Civil Engineering Institute Total Form of study number Full-time Part-time Correspondence All students (pers.) Foreign students (pers.) Foreign students (%) Consider the activities of Civil Engineering Institute to increase the proportion of foreign students in the total number of students in order to improve the position of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University in QS World University Rankings. Civil Engineering Institute in Russian and international educational exhibitions Universities to attract students use a variety of means: special events (exhibitions, open days, meeting targets), new media advertising (subway, ground transportation), electronic media, etc. Participation in educational exhibitions - is an effective tool that allows educational institutions to promote their services in the field of education and research activities, meet with competitors and attract partners, to assess the market of education in general, as well as to form a positive perception of the educational institution and programs. Over the past several years Civil Engineering Institute in one form or another participated in several international educational exhibitions (Istanbul and Ankara (Turkey), Tallinn (Estonia), Sharjah (UAE), etc.) Every year in St. Petersburg hosts about 25 educational exhibits different levels, mainly aimed at high school students, as well as those who would like to get a second degree or further education. Civil Engineering Institute takes part in these exhibitions too. New international educational programs Today St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University implements international educational programs for bachelors, specialists and masters programs and additional education in the areas: information technologies, construction, metallurgy, electricity, physics, economics, human sciences. Increase the share of foreign students may develop new international educational programs, mainly in English. So, in 2013 Civil Engineering Institute of St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University opened new International Master's program Civil Engineering (in English). The program is aimed at developing graduates the knowledge, skills and abilities in the field of construction, management and organization of construction and investment projects, designing buildings and structures. Classes are conducted as St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University teachers and teachers of leading European universities. Training is conducted entirely in English. This year St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University opened another master's program in English Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Building. The program goal is the formation of the graduates the knowledge and skills in the design, construction and operation of energy-efficient buildings. Received a master's degree will be the key to a successful future career in the construction industry. Partner's relations Civil Engineering Institute with foreign universities A big role in attracting foreign students plays a collaboration with foreign universities [19], as well as personal meetings with students of foreign universities. Thus, in March 2013 in Almaty (Kazakhstan) there were working meetings with students, faculty and university leadership: Kazakh National Technical University and Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Construction. During the meetings, representatives of Civil Engineering Institute spoke about the existing master's programs, rules of entry, as well as the life of kazakh students in St. Petersburg. In addition,

4 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols during business meetings discussed the development of partnerships between universities with access to joint publications, as well as optimization of student exchanges, joint educational programs, internships and short-term training. In 2014, Civil Engineering Institute decided to go to the next level in collaboration with foreign universities. In May this year delegation of Institute held talks on cooperation with the Ecole Polytechnique (included in the ranking of universities QS 500), as well as with MINES ParisTech. During the meetings with representatives of the Paris universities Director of Civil Engineering Institute told about the Polytechnical University, the directions in educational and research activities, degree programs, and first of all about the Master's programs in English (Civil Engineering, Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Building). Special attention was paid to the interest in the joint publications in journals indexed in WoS and Scopus. The results of only the first meeting with the leadership of Ecole Polytechnique and MINES ParisTech was agreed to conduct joint research work, as well as on joint governance of master's thesis. Resume According to the performance indicators of the Program by 2020 the share of foreign students should be increased from 10.5% (result of 2013) to 15% [6]. Reality reaching it confirmed by the annual increase in the number of foreign students studying at the university (refer with: Fig. 2), demographic and migration processes [5], as well as forecast the total number of foreign nationals studying in the Russian Federation. According to data released by the Center for Sociological Research, increase the number of foreign students in all Russian universities in 2020 will amount to 49-67% [10]. To achieve these goals the Polytechnical University to increase the proportion of foreign students important contribution to this figure each institute who is part of the university. Continuing to increase their achievements in attracting foreign students, Civil Engineering Institute will continue as the main activities in this area focus on increasing the number of international educational programs in English, involvement in international educational exhibitions, the development of partnerships with universities and abroad primarily belonging to the university rankings QS 500. Development and implementation of the educational process of e-learning courses may also serve as the attractiveness point for foreign students [11, 17, 18]. For teachers will also be interesting to establish an electronic system for the analysis of student performance [13-15]. Nevertheless, it is important not only to increase the absolute number of foreigners, but also important to remember that market conditions and competition in the labor market dictate the need for engineering personnel capable not only to analyze the situation in theory, but can apply the theoretical knowledge in practice [12, 16]. Therefore, you should be very attentive to the content of curricula and programs of disciplines so that students always receive the best knowledge. References [1] Arseniev D.G., Vatin N.I. International relations in construction education and science (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 2, pp (rus) [2] Arseniev D.G., Vatin N.I., Vysotskiy A.E. International Polytechnical Summer School Civil Engineering and Design in SPbSPU (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 5, pp (rus) [3] Arseniev D.G., Rechinskiy A.V., Vatin N.I., Gamayunova O.S. QS criteria as a basis for evaluation of the Institute of Civil Engineering of the Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnical University (2014) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 2 (17), pp (rus) [4] Gamayunova O.S., Yershov V.V., Ilin A.A., Li S.I., Sokolov B.V. Education in construction safety area (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 5, pp (rus)

5 2080 Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technology IV [5] Zabelevskaya Yu.A., Chernogorskiy S.A., Shvetsov K.V. Analysis of international migration processes in the St. Petersburg (2012) St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University Journal. Economics, T. 6, 161 (161), pp (rus) [6] Information on [7] Rechinskiy A. V., Vatin N. I., Gamayunova O. S., Usanova K. Yu. Fundamental and polytechnical experience of construction education with using Moodle (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 2, pp (rus) [8] Rechinskiy A.V., Strelets K.I. Professional development for design and construction of especially dangerous, technically difficult and unique objects (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 1, pp (rus) [9] Rechinskiy A.V., Strelets K.I. Professional retraining of specialists in the construction industry in the light of the concept of Education through all life (2012) Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures, 1, pp (rus) [10] Number of students and staff of educational institutions of the Russian Federation. (Outlook 2020 and assessment of trends to 2030). Moscow: Center for Social Forecasting and Marketing (2013), p.170. [11] Gorbunovs, A., Kapenieks, A., Kudina, I. Competence development in a combined assessment and collaborative e-portfolio information system (2013) Procedia Computer Science, 26, pp [12] Kaklauskas, A., Daniunas, A., Amaratunga, D., Urbonas, V., Lill, I., Gudauskas, R., D'amato, M., Trinkunas, V., Jackute, I. Life cycle process model of a market-oriented and student centered higher education (2012) International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 16 (4), pp [13] Kaklauskas, A., Vlasenko, A., Raudonis, V., Zavadskas, E.K., Gudauskas, R., Seniut, M., Juozapaitis, A., Jackute, I., Kanapeckiene, L., Rimkuviene, S., Kaklauskas, G. Student progress assessment with the help of an intelligent pupil analysis system (2013) Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 26 (1), pp [14] Kaklauskas, A., Zavadskas, E.K., Seniut, M., Stankevic, V., Raistenskis, J., Simkevičius, C., Stankevic, T., Matuliauskaite, A., Bartkiene, L., Zemeckyte, L., Paliskiene, R., Cerkauskiene, R., Gribniak, V. Re-commender system to analyze student's academic performance (2013) Expert Systems with Applica-tions, 40 (15), pp [15] Kaklauskas, A., Zavadskas, E.K., Seniut, M., Vlasenko, A., Kaklauskas, G., Juozapaitis, A., Matuli-auskaite, A., Kaklauskas, G., Zemeckyte, L., Jackute, I., Naimaviciene, J., Cerkauskas, J. Biometric and intelligent student progress assessment system (2013) Studies in Computational Intelligence, 457, pp [16] Kalnins, S.N., Valtere, S., Gusca, J., Valters, K., Kass, K., Blumberga, D. Cooperative problem-based learning approach in environmental engineering studies (2014) Agronomy Research, 12 (2), pp [17] Petrovica, S. Adaptation of tutoring to students' emotions in emotionally intelligent tutoring systems (2013) nd International Conference on E-Learning and E-Technologies in Education, ICEEE 2013, art. no , pp [18] Vitolina, I., Kapenieks, A. E-inclusion measurement by e-learning course delivery (2013) Procedia Computer Science, 26, pp [19] Witt, E., Lill, I., Malalgoda, C., Siriwardena, M., Thayaparan, M., Amaratunga, D., Kaklauskas, A. Towards a framework for closer university-industry collaboration in educating built environment profes-sionals (2013) International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 17 (2), pp

New Models for Norwegian - Russian Education and Research Cooperation in the Field of Energy

New Models for Norwegian - Russian Education and Research Cooperation in the Field of Energy Frode Mellemvik High North Center for Business and Governance, Bodø Brussels, April 15th, 2010 1 The High North