The University is Preparing for a New Academic Year

2.7.2015

Prorector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work Dmytro Viktorovych Uzhchenko told how the university was preparing for a new academic year.

Academic year is going to the end. The graduates have passed the state examination. Now they are expecting receiving diplomas of higher education. What Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University came to summer holidays with, we learn from the Pro-rector for Scientific and Pedagogical work Dmytro Viktorovych Uzhchenko.

• Dmytro Viktorovych, the academic year is going to the end and the admission campaign is starting. Do we have all the necessary documents for the applicants can easily connect their fate with Luhansk National University?
• This is important and absolutely fair question. Really, during evacuation a part of documentation left in the buildings in occupied Luhansk. Now Luhansk citizens spread false information that in Starobilsk (where Luhansk National University is located temporary) there are no licenses for educational activity and certificates on specialties accreditation. In such a way they want to deceive Luhansk school leavers. But this has nothing common with reality. The university is officially registered and legally works in Starobilsk (with subdivisions in Kreminna, Lysychansk, Rubizhne) and starts its work in Poltava, where, first of all, subdivisions that work with foreign students will be located. With the assistance of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Accreditation Commission of Ukraine it has been restored all certificates of accreditation of specialties, they were extended, and it has been reissued the license for educational services. Thus, the university is fully ready to continue its work. To be clear, the university can not issue any diploma without a valid certificate of accreditation. Today we ordered diplomas from all specialties and wait for their confirmation and registration in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education.
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• By the way, it is known, that this year Ukrainian universities issue their own diplomas.
• This year, all state universities really make the diplomas of education on their own, but their form has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, universities only create a design. They do not lose their status of diplomas issued by the state. Their main difference from those papers which are issued in Luhansk, is that each diploma issued by us is registered in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education and at any moment can be checked by the employer on its legality. Soon we will ceremonially present all diplomas to the graduates..
• Now, if you don’t mind, a few words about the admission campaign. Will the university have state funding and what are the chances for the applicants to take budgetary places?
• The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine assured us that the university would have state financial support. We expect a size of state order at the level of 2013 (when the university received more than 700 places of state order), or close to it. The exact number of budget places we will know in the near future before the start of the admission of documents for full-time education (July 10). The university also participates in numerous state and private programs and grants that allows to raise additional funds for the organization of high-quality educational process at the European standards.
• And what will be the size of tuition fees for those who do not take the budget places? This is important because now the solvency of people in our region is quite low.
• We understand the situation in which residents of Luhansk region are, especially those ones who live in the occupied territories. So we consciously do not increase tuition and for some specialties even reduce it. All prices are available on the university website, where they can be found by anyone.
• Returning to the state funding. Do students get scholarships?
• Of course, the students studying at the expense of state budget, get a scholarship. Today it can be, depending on the specialty and academic performance from 730 to 983 UAH. The same applies to our colleges in Lysychansk and Starobilsk, where the students learn for junior specialist’s degree and receive a scholarship up to 675 UAH. In addition, the state takes care of the people with disabilities who receive almost 800 UAH and of the orphans, the size of their scholarship is 1760 UAH. This, of course, not a lot of money, but for many families in the occupied territories it is almost the only source of funding and the ability to survive in difficult conditions.
• How the educational process at the university in terms of evacuation is organized?
• The situation in which the university is, made us widely apply internationally recognized distance learning on the Moodle platform, successfully combining it with full-time training. Our specialists have been trained in the best European universities. And although next year we basically will return to full-time education, all tried and tested technologies will be saved. Today the university is a leader in distance education in Ukraine. In this regard, we invite the students from all regions of the country, who can study remotely and still get a quality education.