Role Of The Federal University In Formating Socio-Cultural Environment Of The Region

Abstract

Today, the role of world universities has transformed to embrace not only the mission to educate and conduct research but relatively there are more objectives. From 2006 till 2014 the Russian government has established ten federal universities in eight federal districts. Each university is established through incorporation of several regional higher education and research institutions. This paper focuses on summarizing strategies adopted as a cluster system in the Far Eastern Federal district of the Russian Federation on the example of the Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University. The study of cluster system implementation will contribute in defining demands and needs of the regional development in Russia’s Sakha Republic. The role of the NEFU in the formation of the socio-cultural environment in the region will allow the university to respond adequately to the challenges of the Russian education system, which include, first and foremost, growing educational failure, insufficient support for talent, discontinuities in the quality of vocational education and growing inequality. Global challenges determine the demand for personnel not only more prepared but also more flexible and capable of changes possessing such competencies that allow them to predict, model and plan their future.

Keywords: Cluster systemsociocultural environmentcooperationdevelopmenteducationpreservation

Introduction

Universities are increasingly becoming a driving force in the construction of the society, the region and the nation as a whole. The concepts are being developed to increase the efficiency of Russian universities for regional development as evidenced by comprehensive scientific researches in this area. The university is becoming an institution for the development of a society, a socio-cultural center and a "factory of thought". The traditional functions, i.e. the training of highly qualified personnel and research, should be complemented by new functions: the university becomes a key player in the development of the region, generates strategic ideas, initiates development programs, designs the necessary approaches and technologies for the development of the economy, social sphere, and culture (Mikhailova, Lapteva, & Efimov, 2014).

The socio-cultural cluster in the cluster system of the North-Eastern Federal University includes several centers in the areas of activity. The NEFU Center for the Humanitarization of Education is aimed at the priority development of general cultural components in the content of education and, thus, the formation of the personal maturity of trainees. Its communicative platform will introduce innovative pedagogical forms and technologies into the educational process of the regional general educational institutions, present a system of invariative education programs, i.e. "School of Self-actualization" (self-development, self-education, self-sufficiency, vocational guidance, principles of self-regulation and reflection), "Family Education School" (gender, sex education, responsible parenthood), "School of Wisdom" (inculcation and attachment to universal values and professional culture), conduct systematic monitoring of early detection of hidden problems in families and arrange further counselling and pedagogical support for disadvantaged families.

Several communicative platforms function in following units:

• modern methods of psychosocial rehabilitation support for children and youth by the NEFU Center for Practical Psychology. A pilot project of outsourcing counseling support services for schools, kindergartens, and secondary vocational schools is launched to prevent the anti-socialization of the society.

• free legal assistance to citizens who find themselves in a difficult life situation as well as to non-profit organizations provided at the NEFU Law Clinic. Instructors and students conduct Law Live outreach training seminars for local communities.

• display of archaeological and ethnographic collections and providing information to a wider population and archaeological, historical, ethnographic and paleontological researches are carried out by NEFU Museums (Mammoth Museum, Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, Museum of Higher School History and Student Picture Gallery).

• development of regional children organizations and associations to facilitate schoolchildren in exercising their civil and moral position and implement their interests and needs is led by the NEFU Pedagogical Units Union.

• support of innovative projects and activities aimed at the formation of artistic taste and spiritual development is arranged by the University Council for the Creative Development of Students.

• cooperation in the field of preserving the historical and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples of the northeast of the Russian Federation, raising awareness, search and support of gifted children and young people; organization of intercultural creative projects to discuss modern problems of national cultures development and social adaptation in the framework of industrial growth of the northeastern territories of the Russian Federation and progress of globalization processes are launched by the NEFU Institute of Languages ​​and Culture of the Peoples of the Russian Northeast.

The modeling of the cluster system of additional professional education in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is undertaken for the first time but it is based on the scientific approach and the results of the 2016-2017 comprehensive study of the current state of additional professional education in the region, the identification of strengths and weaknesses in the context of the relationship with features of economic development zones of Yakutia, planning the development prospects. The research outcomes reveal the features of the current state of additional professional education in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), which was elaborated in previous publications (Mikhailova, & Сhorosova, 2017a; Mikhailova, & Chorosova, 2017b; Сhorosova, Solomonova, & Gerasimova, 2017; Chorosova, & Solomonova, 2017).

Problem Statement

One of the main problems of the development of universities in the face of global challenges is competition and, accordingly, competitiveness, which is considered in two aspects: the competitiveness of universities and the competitiveness of graduates in the modern labor market.

In the recent past, universities in the constituent entities of Russia were regional, the quality of education and training of graduates should meet the needs of the regions. With the development of information and communication technologies and the transition to a post-industrial society and globalization processes, the world has begun to change rapidly, and today universities need to compete in the global knowledge market, the global research market, and the global labor market.

The new role of universities is that they become centers of regional development and the formation of competitive human capital in federal districts. The problematic field of research is determined in accordance with modern functions of vocational education, including additional professional education: providing the economy with qualified personnel; the guarantee of obtaining the necessary qualifications for students or raising its level in accordance with professional standards; ensuring the willingness of students to integrate into the labor market. These functions are provided by modern technologies of professional education, its interaction with the labor market, employers, state bodies and public organizations, which is embodied in the cluster approach in education.

Research Questions

Issues of the development of the federal university, its role and potential in the development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic are examined in the context of modernizing the nation, implementing large-scale innovation projects for the development of the macro-region, and also the formation of the university as the leading scientific, educational, innovative and expert-analytical center of the northeast of Russia (Mikhailova, Lapteva, & Efimov, 2014).

In this regard, there are many questions: how to withstand competition? What transformations must the university go through to occupy its niche in the market not only to exist but also to develop? How to attract talents - the best students and the best researchers? How to meet the requirements of today’s employers? How to meet changing requirements if not enough resources? How can the university guarantee its students not only the necessary qualification but also the readiness to integrate into the modern labor market, which also reacts quickly to the global challenges of our time? To solve these and many other issues that are urgent for the development of the university, a cluster approach is considered as one of the rational ways of solving. Today, the cluster approach is the most promising form of interaction between education, science and industry. Above research questions arising in the process of implementing the cluster approach in professional education including additional vocational education guide us to study the conceptual field of the term, NEFU cluster initiatives and the place of the vocational and educational cluster of additional education in the cluster system of the federal university.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is the establishment of a comprehensive university center of innovation, technological and social development of the macroregion on the basis of the NEFU, which will make a significant theoretical and practical contribution to the breakthrough development and global competitiveness of Russia. In the course of achieving this goal, the NEFU will accomplish the following tasks:

• The transformation of the NEFU into a university with a predominance of master's and graduate programs, the creation and implementation of new academic programs and technologies to ensure competitive personnel in the macro-regional economy based on a project-oriented approach to the implementation of academic programs in engineering, technology, healthcare, socio-economic, pedagogical, natural science and Arts areas of training and specialties.

• Formation of a world-class research and innovation center focused on solving strategic tasks for the development of human capital and scientific and technological development of Russia considering the socio-economic and climatic features of the territory of influence as well as key competencies of the university.

• Capitalization of university's scientific and educational potential through the creation of a cluster-innovative, technological and social development of the macroregion in cooperation with state and municipal government bodies interested in scientific and educational organizations, enterprises and companies that conduct economic activities in the macroregion and civil society institutions.

• Analysis of the conceptual field of the cluster system in the educational space of the federal university in relation to additional professional education; the study of statistical data, comparison of the indicators of additional education in the northeastern regions of the Russian Federation; a comparative study of clusters of NEFU and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) from the point of view of assessing the effectiveness of their activities and influence of the innovative, technological and social development of the region.

Research Methods

In the process of studying clusters and cluster systems, the following methodological principles are used: a systematic approach to the study of the economic development of the region with regard to the external and internal environment of the operation of clusters and cluster systems; diversity of research forms and integrated assessments considering regional features; information security; cluster systems; implementation of the results of modeling the activity of cluster systems. We applied methods of economic, functional, structural and statistical analysis, organizational modeling, expert assessments, planning and programming. In addition, the methodology of complex socio-economic monitoring of the region is used.

Thus, a set of research methods is used: theoretical (review scholarly literature and regulatory legal documents); ascertaining (study of the statistical data in the field of additional vocational training, social and economic state in the region and the country); experimental (various types of sociological surveys, mathematical methods of processing the collected material); comparative analysis (clusters of the university and the region, the development of additional vocational education in the northeastern regions of Russia (the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, and Magadan Oblast) in the context of its impact on their innovative, technological and social development.

Findings

The significance of the project lies in the planned study of the theoretical, methodological and applied aspects of the formation of a cluster system of additional professional education in the region, the definition of terminology, and the methodological substantiation of the cluster approach in professional and additional vocational education. In the process of the project implementation, regional features of the cluster approach in vocational education will be studied in the northeastern regions of Russia. A model of the regional cluster system of additional professional education will be developed and a comparative study of the clusters of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and NEFU clusters from the viewpoint of assessing the effectiveness of their activities and impact on innovative, technological and social development of the region; the parameters of effective interaction between the subjects of the vocational and educational cluster will be determined, theoretical bases for the development of the cluster system of additional professional education are developed: the essence and content, priority functions, basic characteristics of clusters, the purpose and strategies, development principles; concept and model of development of the cluster system of additional professional education in the region.

The socio-economic significance of the study is seen in the definition and creation of conditions for ensuring the accessibility and quality of additional professional education in Yakutia; the development of mechanisms for synchronizing the development trend of additional professional education with the need for a regional economy in labor cadres; development of the human potential of the region.

Conclusion

The role of the NEFU in the formation of the socio-cultural environment in the region will allow the university to respond adequately to the challenges of the Russian education system, which include, first and foremost, growing educational failure, insufficient support for talent, discontinuities in the quality of vocational education and growing inequality. Global challenges determine the demand for personnel not only more prepared but also more flexible and capable of changes possessing such competencies that allow them to predict, model and plan their future.

In the context of modern global challenges, universities need to be flexible, able to change, open, focus on the demands of the modern labor market and employers. The additional vocational education can perform functions determined by strategic development goals that are correlated with the mission of the federal university in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), one of the largest northeastern regions of Russia.

The study showed that following actions should be taken:

• training in the territory of the macroregion of highly qualified personnel in the strategic priority areas is of significant importance for the research and technological development of the Russian Federation;

• reduction of migration outflow of talented university entrants and graduates - the population of the macroregion;

• improvement of the quality of life indicators of the macroregion;

• introduction of a set of innovative academic programs in the field of technological and social entrepreneurship in strategic priority areas;

• formation of a stable cluster type partner network of the university for the implementation of joint programs and projects to develop the macro-region.

The NEFU cluster system will become a mechanism for partnership of unions and associations of employers and public organizations of the macroregion contributing to the timely satisfaction of the production and social needs of the economic zones of the macroregion; the coordination of the goals and interests of the most important governing entities in regard to the human capital of the region (the federal government, regional government, large business, the population of the region, innovative institutions of the social sphere), consolidation of administrative, financial resources (federal, regional and municipal budgets) to achieve a balance of interests of educational organizations.

References

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