MGIMO Supervisory and Board of Trustees Approves Development Strategy for 2020–2025

31 January 2020

January 28th, a meeting of the MGIMO Supervisory and Board of Trustees was held at the University and chaired by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In his welcome speech, the Minister described the University’s past and present achievements, emphasizing the successful path of internationalization it has taken with the opening of a new MGIMO Branch in Tashkent, the creation of online educational programs together with Russian and foreign universities, and the launch of a joint MBA program with ADA University in Baku.

The Minister also remarked that MGIMO continues to train international experts for the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Russian agricultural export experts.

Sergey Lavrov praised MGIMO for its work in training staff for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conducting research for the foreign ministry, and acting as a platform for bilateral cooperation for the civil dialogues with France, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other countries.

The Speaker underlined the fact that MGIMO is serious centre of “academic diplomacy”, where ASEAN, SCO, and EAEU meetings regularly take place. He also remarked upon the excellent language training at the University and MGIMO’s progress and high position in different international rankings of universities and think tanks.

The main topic discussed during the meeting was MGIMO’s Development Strategy for 2020–2025.

MGIMO Rector, A.Torkunov, gave a detailed report, outlining the main directions of the strategy and the characteristics of the new financial and economic model of the University, which will require significant investments in infrastructure and the creation of a specific IT architecture.

The development strategy plans for significant changes in the content and format of MGIMO’s educational programs, which are guided by the new requirements of the labour market. The University will fundamentally restructure the system of advanced training of faculty members and recruit highly qualified lecturers and researchers in the international market.

The University plans to limit the number of programs taught on the central Moscow campus and ensure the growth of its other campuses: MGIMO-Odintsovo, MGIMO-Tashkent and its educational sites in Geneva and Baku. The campuses outside Moscow are already working on implementing pilot programs related to big data in the social sphere, the legal regulation of modern technologies, the use of artificial intelligence in market research and linguistics.

MGIMO will focus its efforts on several key spheres of scientific research in order to improve the quality of its publications.

The University will change the way it enrols new students, developing its cooperation with schools, particularly in the Russian regions.

While implementing the Strategy, the preservation and strengthening of MGIMO’s value model will remain a priority, as will be the development of a modern mentoring system. MGIMO intends to make significant efforts to improve the employability and professional development of its graduates by consolidating the network of its influential graduates the world over.

The Strategy uses as a basis for the future development of the University the collective efforts of the MGIMO community, its endowment, and its graduates and partners.

The new strategy was elaborated by MGIMO’s team together with the international consulting company BCG.

A.Torkunov’s presentation provoked a lively discussion among members of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Trustees.

The Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees, also President of Norilsk Nickel V.Potanin expressed his support for the new strategy, especially the part regarding economic education and shared his view on the project of transforming MGIMO’s Library based on the requests of students and professors.

The member of the Board of Trustees and Russian Minister of Agriculture D.Patrushev spoke about the network programs of MGIMO and Russian agricultural universities, which support the Russian agricultural sector and foreign economic activity. The speaker also emphasized the importance of working as a consolidated team in order to successfully implement the Strategy.

P.Chodiev, a member of the Board of Trustees and one of the founders of MGIMO Endowment spoke about issues related to the implementation of educational programs, employment and the career prospects of university graduates. He also focused on the new tasks and opportunities linked to the opening of the new branch of MGIMO in Tashkent.

The member of the Board of Trustees, President of VTB A.Kostin noted the importance of digital technology in the University Strategy and expressed himself in favour of the main provisions of the document.

A member of the Supervisory Board, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council I.Umakhanov spoke about the export of Russian education and the legal status of foreign students, interns and graduates at the University.

Academician A.Chubaryan, member of the Supervisory Board and Academic Adviser at the Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, underlined the important role played by MGIMO in the domestic historical and educational discourse and the new methods developed by MGIMO in its work with Russian and foreign schools.

The member of the Board of Trustees, also member of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory R.Paranyantz remarked upon the universality of the rules of forecasting and planning in the education economy as well as other modern industrial sectors and praised the new Strategy. He also noted that MGIMO has a unique financial model, as only a fifth of its funds are provided by the federal budget. A detailed presentation was made on how to finance talented applicants.

A member of the Supervisory Board, an Aide to the Mayor of Moscow L.Pechatnikov, a member of the Board of Trustees, Editor-in-chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta K.Remchukov and other participants in the meeting made some thought-provoking comments.

Various other issues were reviewed during the meeting, including the Plan for financial and economic activities, which was approved, and a promising project related to the development of school education under MGIMO’s guidance.

The MGIMO Supervisory and Board of Trustees adopted MGIMO’s new Development Strategy for 2020–2025 and entrusted MGIMO’s Rector A.Torkunov with its implementation.

You can download the Annual report for 2019 here.