International Positioning of HSE
HSE has decided to place an extra emphasis not only on raising the quality of its academic programmes and research but also on increasing the international visibility of the university among the academic and expert community, as well as among potential students and employers.
HSE has decided to place an extra emphasis not only on raising the quality of its academic programmes and research but also on increasing the international visibility of the university among the academic and expert community, as well as among potential students and employers. Such an endeavor requires, on the one hand, a centralized focus on promoting HSE and its attractiveness globally through both academic and marketing instruments. On the other hand, it means that each faculty, school, laboratory and programme needs to pay attention to the message it wants to project into the world, and to share it with both internal and external partners. Making the existing strengths and academic relations a part of that message – through the website, promotion materials and publications - allows to present the unique advantages in a way that is tailored to different audiences.
While HSE has a strongly recognized “brand” within Russia – both in terms of quality and in terms of being a known name, it does not directly translate into an easily recognized global name. In order to draw from the best practices of other universities and learn from their mistakes, HSE enlisted the support of Francisco Marmolejo, a leading specialist in Tertiary Education of the World Bank Group who is also a coordinator of the Network of Tertiary Education Specialists. At the meeting in late July he gave a presentation on Institutional (Re)Branding in Higher Education and commented upon HSE’s initiatives.
First of all, Francisco Marmolejo emphasized that university’s brand should facilitate several functions: send a consistent message about the university, adequately represent its uniqueness globally and be a focus of positive attention. Certainly, attaining a high quality of education and research should precede the positioning efforts, but both of them should be underpinned by another crucial element – a system of support for the university’s international activity. This includes everything related to incoming and outgoing mobility of students and faculty, to the recruitment efforts and management and implementation of partnerships, the development of an English-speaking environment at the university. Without all this successful promotion of the institution may backfire because the University will not be ready to integrate the increased numbers of students, scholars or new partners.
Secondly, there are common pitfalls in all three areas – academic quality, support system and positioning - which should be taken into consideration and avoided. As far as the international component of academic programmes is concerned, it is important to remember that mobility alone does not make the classroom international. The majority of students never go for study abroad, and they should still receive the benefits of an international curriculum, both through course design and purposeful integration of diverse perspectives which students and faculty of different backgrounds bring. It also helps to address another likely challenge: to avoid the “bubble effect” of isolating “internationals” from the local university community, which can stem from a purely centralized provision of support services to them. Last but not the least, internationalization and promotion of the university should bring the university community closer together, not alienate it. It is vital to bring people aboard with the ability to take strategic decisions and, if any rebranding is considered, to approach it with caution and involve the university community into the decision-making process, so that the transition is well-thought through and supported.