During the trip the staff of the leading Russian universities' PR-departments and press-services had the opportunity to get acquainted and get valuable experience of three large educational institutions located in Washington and around the city: The George Washington University, George Mason University and American University. Leaders of each of the universities prepared a business program for the Russian guests, which included seminars, tours of the campus and the live discussions; everything to demonstrate the formation of a full-fledged communication strategy, which is based on modern technologies.
"US are the birthplace of the specialists in communications and branding. American universities pay great attention to promoting the university through a variety of communication channels. The functions of marketing and promotion there are clearly lined up and reflected in the overall strategy. We have something to learn from them," Yulia Selyukova says, the head of the Project 5-100 university marketing and academic recruitment department.
From the Russian side there were the representatives of ITMO University, The National Research University Higher School of Economics, Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys.
Among the topics discussed by American universities representatives there were issues of interaction with the national and international media, work with social networks, scientific communication, crisis communication, as well as issues of building an effective system of corporate PR - including by means of graduates' consolidated community formation.
"Of course, all the higher education institutions, which we managed to visit during this trip and those where I've been before, are very different. However, if we talk about some general characteristics inherent in the system of communications at American universities, I've got the impression that the main object around which such a system works - is a student. The idea is that all universities have a comprehensive policy of applicants attracting and information support of students throughout their studies. In addition, this communications construction between students and employers is bearing fruit: students find a suitable job connected with their specialty and employer receives a specialist who maximally corresponds to its requirements. The role is played not only by knowledge, but also by motivational setting and even appearance. Equally important is to work with graduates who are the major donors for universities and they make a crucial contribution to building the reputation of the university as a whole. One way or another all Russian universities, which want to be competitive in a global world, will have to take this practise into account and implement it. Actually, in my opinion, this is already happening," Vadim Vorobyev comments, the head of the HSE press service.
Apart from visits to American universities, the activities program included the acquaintance with the editorial office of the American Association for the Advancement of Science which is well-known as the publisher of the largest scientific journal Science as well as with the editors of the newspaper The Chronicle of Higher Education, the most popular and respected publication covering global trends in the field of higher education. The journalists told the Russian colleagues in details about the intricacies of promoting the scientific and educational topics news at the international level. Members of the Russian delegation believe that western technologies may be adapted under the domestic realities in the future.