Strategic Initiative 6. “Transformation and Development of the University Management System ”

The ambitious task of enhancing the University’s competitiveness  and turning it into a global university, which is able to compete with the world’s leading research and educational centers, call for the transformation of the University’s management structure.

The activity of SI.6 is aimed at restructuring the management structure and bringing it to a position where it can provide the necessary conditions for achieving the SI aims and undertaking the Program tasks. It will be implemented in three stages:

Stage 1: 2013 – 2014:  formation of a project management system able to increase the University’s competitiveness including the setting up of management bodies (Coordination Council, strategic initiatives coordinators, Director’s office) and new administrative and service divisions necessary for the successful implementation of the Program

Key results of the first stage are the following:

·        the Program Management System has been formed, University structure re-organization has been started (20 administrative departments  created and/or re-organized)

·        the two main councils of ITMO University's development (Supervisory Council of ITMO University and International Council of ITMO University) have been set up

·        the Representative Office of ITMO University in Brussels, Belgium, has been opened

·        information infrastructure of the University as a complex system of internet, intranet and mobile solutions has been set up

Stage 2: 2015-2016: reforming the management structure by means of  business process optimization based on performance  work reviews, initiation of the University’s comprehensive development projects, implementation of de-centralization  and forming the University information eco-system;

Stage 3: 2017-2020:  forming of the new structures of research and education activities (Academies, joining SIE and Centers of Excellence, and providing creation and supervision of “research” Master’s programs, other Master's degree programs – technological andentrepreneurial – will be overseen by the Departments), active phase of  comprehensive development for our projects, information infrastructure intellectualization including implementation of semantic and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Within the framework of solving task 6.1. ‘ITMO – Efficiency: Improvement of the administration of the University's organization and increasing its productivity during the University transformation process’, the following activities are being carried out:

·        Organization assessment execution, detecting of the weak points in key business processes, responsible for effective solving of tasks of enhancing the competitiveness of ITMO University and business process optimization;

·        Project management-based operations for the tasks and measures in the  “5 to 100” Program implementation, formulating a risk-management system including managing of operation risks in Program implementation;

·        Upgrading  the University information infrastructure in order to create an information eco-system merging the information systems, resources and processes with personal and collective communication channels;

·        Implementing “shared governance” principles, organizing open forums, and academic, expert and public councils.

Key attention on the second stage will be given to business process analysis, optimization and adaptation to specific tasks to be addressed during Program implementation. Processes of search and recruitment of foreign specialists, organizing visits of institutional delegations, procurement logistics, etc. will be optimized. A key indicator for the success of the task implementation lies in releasing scientific and educational departments from admin functions and processes irrelevant to their core activities and functions.

Increasing the Program task-solving efficiency requires us to increase the University’s community involvement in order to address the University’s development and making relevant decisions. According to the plan, councils, strategic sessions, seminars, training for the University's community representatives and external partners on topics of development and implementation of the Program tasks will be launched and developed. In 2015 Councils for each of the University's main strategic directions in the SI framework will be organized: expert councils in the core teaching areas of ITMO University and the development of other research and educational departments. The Assembly of Directors of Partner Corporations will be set up with the main objective of acquiring mid-term and long-term targets for the University’s strategic development in research and staff training activity.

Within the framework of solving task 6.2 ‘ITMO – Change management: Transformation of the University's organizational structure and implementation of systemic change management’ the following activities are being carried out:

·        substantive  transformation of the University's organizational structure,  restructuring, creation, inter alia by means of re-organization, of the new management structures, scientific research divisions and service structure development:

·        launching and operation of ITMO University’s Representative offices abroad

            In 2015-2016 the following new departments will be set up and launched: the Institute of Translational Medicine, the Institute of Design and Urban Studies and the Faculty of Technology Management and Innovation will be re-structured and reorganized comprising 6 new departments.

       We shall continue the development of a network of master’s departments with programs based in hi-tech organizations and research centers providing a range of  innovation and practice-oriented programs leading to professional master’s and PhD awards. It is planned to create master’s programs in cooperation with transnational Russian companies (or Russian representative offices) or international R&D centers.

Special attention within the framework of Task 6.2 will be given to the process of setting up and running ITMO University’s representative offices abroad. The first ITMO representative office opened in Brussels in November 2014, which will add value to promoting ITMO University on the global educational market. It is planned in 2015 to open a representative office in Italy with the focus on promotion and commercialization of the University research output.

It is also planned to develop cooperation programs between ITMO University and the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) Institutes, in particular with the Institute of Silicate Chemistry of RAS and St. Petersburg Institute of Informatics and Automation of RAS.

The task 6.3. ‘ITMO – Transparency: Development system for financial self-sufficiency, proficiency and transparency”  is focused on implementing  measures to develop a financial and economic development model for the implementation of the Program, placing ITMO on a firm financial footing with the upgrading of  the budgetary system, a centralized resource management system; the development of and implementation of IFRS accounting system; an upgraded procurement and logistics system, increasing  resource management efficiency. 

One of the aspects of growing importance is task 6.4, “ITMO – Cutting-Edge projects:  the initiation and realization of comprehensive strategic projects in priority directions”. Examples of such projects are forming of the University’s technological initiatives as well as establishing of the city prognostic cluster (Appendix 15)

Key strategic projects in 2015 will be as follows:

·        the strategic project “Establishment of  the science and technology City “Innograd” located in the satellite town “Youzhnyi” (see Appendix 14)

·        launch of the project – the technology cluster  - “IT and Photonic technologies in art and culture” (see Appendix 15)

Key Emphasis

Key Instruments

Modernization of management system and improvement of its efficiency; provision of financial and economic sustainability.

Diagnostics of organizational systems, business-process optimization.

Transformation of the organization structure: re-organization of the Departments, implementation of the “single-window” service system.

Project management.

Information ecosystem.

Shared governance.

Representative offices of ITMO University in Belgium and Italy.

Initiation and implementation of comprehensive development projects

Innograd;

Cluster of IT and photonic technologies in culture and art;

Technology initiatives of the University.