For almost a century now, the pride of the Ukrainian diaspora — the Ukrainian Free University in Munich — has been proudly flying in the center of Europe for the glory of Ukraine. Yes, I was not mistaken - it is the pride of the Ukrainian diaspora. And what is the position of the Ukrainian State in the matter of the Ukrainian State University? I will try to answer this question later.
Since its establishment, UVU has always been in the process of searching for the continuity of the process of its scientific and teaching work. History itself dictated the conditions for implementing the necessary changes for the sake of the future. And that is why today the management of the University understands that, without paying enough attention to reforms and improving both internally and externally, one may not have time to keep up with the changes of the times.
During the period of its glorious long-term activity, the University, without a doubt, played a great role in the unification of Ukrainian scientific thought scattered all over the world. Here, at the University, already after the declaration of State Independence, famous scientists and historians of Ukraine processed hundreds of volumes of historically important information for their research works.
But first, after all, about the reforms that await UVU. As in any business, and at UVU, the most pressing issue is always its financing. In order for the University to successfully compete with other European universities, an annual budget of at least 500,000 dollars is required. Throughout its 37-year history, the UVU Foundation in New York has served as the cornerstone of the University's financial stability. Hundreds, or rather, thousands of funders and donors in North America made their donations and bequests through the Foundation for the successful work of this holy symbol of Ukrainian foreign science. Time has changed. Today, it is impossible to rely only on voluntary donations. Even more active guests — representatives from Ukrainian universities — took the initiative to collect donations for universities and academies of Ukraine.
Quite often you can hear the question: "Does independent Ukraine and the Western diaspora need the Ukrainian Free University in Munich?". This question can be answered by asking the second question: "And why does the United States of America need the American InterContinental University in Great Britain and the American University in Dubai, or the American University of Paris and the American University Center of Provence in France and other American universities in many countries of the world?". If America cares about the influence of its science on world opinion, then Ukraine should also care about it.
The administration of UVU and public organizations in America and Europe, which take care of the activities of the University today, are seriously and loudly discussing the ways of reforming the activities of UVU in order to preserve it for future generations. After all, in the field of vision are not only financial issues, but also ways to bring the educational and scientific process to a higher European and world level. The university management's repeated trips to Ukraine in order to find funds have so far not been successful. Still, I would like to believe that the Government of Ukraine will find an opportunity to support the University not only in words, but also in deed, and the status of discussions and negotiations between UVU and Ukrainian government officials in 2007 will move from the level of conversations to the practical implementation and implementation of the discussed proposals. In a telephone conversation, the former rector of the university, Professor Leonid Rudnytskyi, noted: "If there is no help from the Ukrainian state, we will have to talk with private, new Ukrainian patrons and entrepreneurs. Although, of course, in America it would be worthwhile to more actively continue collecting donations at UVU, and perhaps organize a lottery drawing of works of art in the university's collection. The diaspora has no right to execute what was acquired for almost a hundred years. It is a pity that Ukraine underestimates the strategic location of the university in the center of Europe".
It is worth paying attention to one more possible direction of cooperation between UVU and the owners of powerful Ukrainian enterprises, organizations or banks. An example of such cooperation can be the involvement by the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, of the latest Ukrainian millionaire donors to finance the project of the historical complex "Arsenal" in Kyiv. As a result of such a partnership, UVU could become the western Ukrainian university that would train highly educated personnel of modern managers and financiers for private organizations and banks of Ukraine. And on the other hand, such cooperation would become an excellent example of how the capital acquired in Ukraine can serve both for the good of Ukrainian science and the whole nation, as well as manifest itself as a new type of partnership of the modern Ukrainian business elite and the diaspora. Perhaps one should not draw an analogy between the histories of the two countries, but at one time the dynasties of American billionaires Rockefellers, Morgans and others played a prominent role as donors of American science, which gave the opportunity for American society to change its attitude towards the most odious capitalists. Perhaps today's situation with UVU gives many so-called Ukrainian oligarchs a chance to go down in history as the biggest donors of Ukrainian world science.
The second direction of finding ways to solve the Munich issue in Ukraine lies in the plane of studying the prospects of creating a joint university with one of the leading state universities of Ukraine. However, the complexity of the issue lies in the fact that state budget universities, according to the laws of Ukraine, cannot invest in foreign educational institutions. Although a certain part of the funds that Ukrainian universities receive from private donors of both the West and Ukraine could be used to finance joint projects with UVU. The problem of such a partnership for Ukrainian universities lies in the rather high taxation by the government of Ukraine of funds that could be designated for investments in the activities of UVU in Munich. And there is no need to create or copy a 100 percent typical Ukrainian university on the basis of UVU with all the "best" traditions of the Soviet higher school in Germany.
A way out of the situation may be close cooperation with powerful private Ukrainian higher schools, which are not burdened by the burden of the state bureaucratic machine. Nevertheless, even today there are problems with obtaining German entry visas for the period of study, even for a small number of Ukrainian students.
Another area of reform that is being considered by the administration of UVU is, at the suggestion of Professor of Economics from Minnesota, Dr. Bohdan Kramarchuk, the expansion of the University's educational programs with the addition of the currently popular Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, a doctorate in economics and business administration ( DBA) and the MA in European Studies, popular in Europe. Although this also requires the prompt implementation of a distance learning program with extensive use of the Internet in online mode. But is the university able to make a breakthrough in new technologies on its own in today's harsh conditions on the science market?
Therefore, the direction of reforming UVU in the direction of cooperation and partnership with Western universities looks the most realistic. Of course, the implementation of this idea would allow UVU to become more attractive to foreign students and Ukrainians of the Western diaspora, and there would be no problems with student visas if UVU created a joint educational process with a European or North American university. This is, in the opinion of some specialists, the most practical way to solve ripe problems. This step could solve the problem:
1. Increasing the prestige of UVU in the eyes of potential students;
2. Improvement of the information technology system to bring the university to a higher world level in the educational process;
3. Reduction of obligations of the UVU Foundation regarding financial assistance to the University and release of the available resources of the Foundation for other educational and community projects of the diaspora.
The Ukrainian Free University in Munich has always adequately represented and defended the interests of Ukraine in Europe. But today there is a question: will Ukraine be able to defend and protect the interests of the University. A few days ago, UVU Rector Professor Albert Kipa and Dean of the Faculty of Political and Economic Sciences Professor Ivan Mygul returned from another trip to Ukraine. We can conclude that hope is not lost and the negotiation process continues. Rector Kipa is convinced of the irreversibility of the process of cooperation between UVU and Ukraine and declares that "although the current law of Ukraine prohibits direct aid to educational institutions outside of Ukraine, President V. Yushchenko instructed the government to find alternative ways of specific assistance to UVU. In addition, a number of options for saving UVU from private and public sources are being considered. Therefore, I believe that more favorable weather will come for UVU, which has made a significant contribution to science and education and the nurturing and election of Ukrainian statehood."
Also, one cannot help but rejoice that Dean Mygul is firmly convinced that the work of UVU will continue successfully: "As long as the educational process exists, the Ukrainian Free University in Munich will also exist." The program of the spring-summer semester has already been formed. Master's and doctoral students are preparing for the session to sit down at the textbooks again. The teaching staff has been formed, and the educational premises of the University are ready to receive students for their work on the defense of master's and doctoral theses within the deadlines set by the curriculum."
Of course, there are a number of other real ways to solve the matured issues of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich today. But it is believed that the delegates of the Annual Meeting of the UVU Foundation, which will be held on Saturday, April 28, in New York, will try to give answers to the questions of the time.
Mykola Megets,
Doctoral student of the Faculty of Political and Economic Sciences
megits@augsburg.edu