Higher School of Business Intends to Further Internationalize Curricula

The School's International Board of Trustees convened on 12th March.

First to report after the introduction by Rector Ilshat Gafurov was Timothy Mescon, Vice-President of AACSB. He presented his view on business education in the world today. Dr. Mescon noted that new players have good chances to thrive today – there is a decrease in international enrolment in recognized global destinations like the USA and the UK. Russia, and KFU HSB in particular, is able to redirect this influx to their benefit.

Park Sung-Joo, KAIST Honorary Professor, joined this line of thought, “Judging by the composition of this Board of Trustees, your school is international. There is a topic of program practices and students’ participation in overseas internships. For this, you have to establish a partnership network to give double diplomas and partake in international research projects. Of course, you also have to make effort in English studies. The ratio of instruction in English must grow. Whether we like it or not, English is the language of international business.”

The question of financial independence of the School's projects was raised during the ensuing discussion. Virginijus Kundrotas, Dean of Adizes Graduate School, Vice President for West Europe & Baltics of Adizes Institute, presented his experience of the development of business education and noted similarities between his current workplace and HSB. However, the speaker advised to not lean exclusively on internationalization – if enough effort is invested in internal growth, international awareness will come. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the School should discard its international curricula at all.

The Rector asked the experts about the effectiveness of hybrid programs for the general population of foreign students, where a part of the curriculum is given as a set of additional modules. Most of them arrive to study natural sciences, so business knowledge may prove very beneficial.

The participants responded that everything depends on the objectives. If international awareness is the primary goal, then the global market should know about KFU’s projects of this type. Director of HSB Alsu Akhmetshina joined the interlocution, “The School’s strategy includes internationalization, and, in particular, international conferences, meetings of the International Board of Trustees, and participation in international accreditation and associations. We have cases in English, and we have real experience. Still, we now only have 7% of international students.”

As a specific instrument of improvement, Graduway platform was proposed to enhance the activities of the School graduates and help them establish an international network. A conference is planned for June as a part of this work (“Modern business schools in the time of breakthrough technologies”, 14th – 15th June 2018).

The next meeting will be held in fall 2018.