The Ministry of Education decided to join the Odesa State Environmental University to the Odesa National University named after Mechnikova. This led to a scandal and widespread public outcry, because unique specialties were threatened with extinction; while making such a decision. The Ministry of Education did not even consult with the higher education administration. ElitExpert looked into the situation.
Information about the ministry's decision appeared on January 5 after the publication of the relevant decree by the Cabinet of Ministers. The document refers to the "reorganization of ODEkU by joining it to the Mechnikov National University", which will become the legal successor of its property.
Representatives of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine substantiated their initiative with plans to create "a more powerful and effective network of educational institutions for the new strategy for the development of higher education in the country."
However, the main problem is that this decision was made "behind the scenes", secretly; the reorganization process was not coordinated with the labor team, and the administration and employees of the university were simply confronted with the fact after the publication of the decree.
According to the administration of the educational institution, it is this that most infuriates the ODEC staff - this is the attitude of the Ministry of Education towards Odessa. After all, in similar cases - in Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Lviv - the minister and his specialized deputy previously met with academic councils of universities, explained their position, convinced the team, and thought about common ways to solve problems. In the case of the Odesa university, none of this was done — the teachers found out about what happened from the Internet.
After talking with the university staff, ElitExpert collected several arguments that testify to the haste of such a decision without discussing the problem with the university staff.
Loss of specialization
ODEkU is the only highly specialized environmental higher education institution in Ukraine. It trains specialists for both Ukraine and foreign countries, it has a large percentage of foreign students. The university has specialties unique to Ukraine - from military hydrometeorologists (the university has a military department) to "polar meteorology", where experts are trained every year to work at the Ukrainian polar station "Akademik Vernadskyi". Absorption can lead to the loss of unique specialization.
Impact on the quality of education
ODEkU has always offered its own, individual approach to learning, which is related to the specifics of the university. When it merges with Mechnikov National University, this approach will be lost and "averaged" for the general National University, as has already happened with the absorption of other universities, and unique programs may be closed or changed, which will have a very bad effect on the quality of education.
Job loss and brain drain
The structure of ODEKU includes Kherson Hydrometeorological Professional College, Kharkiv Environmental Protection College and Odesa College of Computer Technologies, educational and scientific hydrometeorological institute, postgraduate education center, etc. It is obvious that the colleges will also be included in the structure of Mechnikov, while the bodies and faculties that are duplicated from the point of view of ONU, which are already in ONU, will, of course, be abolished. This threatens with a massive loss of jobs for teachers and a reduction in scientific work.
We are talking about four hundred people who may end up on the street, because in ONU named after Mechnikova has enough teaching staff. The result of such an ill-conceived merger will be one - university scientists, as high-class specialists, will simply go abroad, where they will be gladly accepted at any foreign university. Thus, Odesa is threatened with another "brain drain".
The question is about a "weak" university
Opponents explain the merger by the fact that the university is weak. This is not the case - for the past ten years, in all rankings of Odessa higher education institutions, the ecological university has been in the middle of the list and has never been on the last lines.
Another argument of the Ministry of Education regarding the joining of the ecological university to the ONU named after Mechnikov was that ODEK had a small number of students — currently 1208 students are studying at the institution, which is determined by the specifics of the majors at the university.
However, as the rector of ODEkU Volodymyr Kovalchuk noted, the number of students with all three colleges that are part of the university's structure should be counted. In this case, the number will reach more than two thousand people. This, the rector noted, is commensurate with other educational institutions of Odesa.
Land issue
ODEkU owns land plots located in the "golden" recreational zone on the coast of Odessa and its suburbs, as well as in Kherson and Zmiiv, Kharkiv region.
For example, in Odesa, higher education institutions own bases on the shores of the Black Sea - in the "Vidrady" area and above the "Dolphin" beach, a base on the Dniester River in Mayaky, a base in Chornomorka.
It is not a fact that after the absorption they will not be closed and sold - under the pretext that they duplicate the already existing bases of the Mechnikov National University.
After all, Odessa residents, unfortunately, know such examples - you can only look at the new high-rise buildings on French Boulevard. They are located on the land that was recently owned by ONU named after Mechnikova...
"Our main position is to preserve the unique specialties that are available at our university. We will strive for our preservation," said the rector of ODEKU, Volodymyr Kovalchuk.
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