The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU) together with VTB Bank has begun training experts from leading Russian companies for teaching as professors of practice. The first launch of the course "Toolkit for a Business School Professor of Practice", developed by the teams of GSOM SPbU, VTB and Moscow City Pedagogical University (MGPU), has been successfully completed. According to the developers, such courses are currently in great demand, as they provide, on the one hand, the opportunity for professionals to share their experience and try their hand at university-level teaching, while helping universities to form modern academic programs that contribute to improving the quality of national business education. 

The result of the program for each business practitioner is a detailed structure of a ready-to-launch course, individually developed by the individual professor of practice together with a team of experienced GSOM SPbU professors. The educational courses, developed by business professionals, are focused on solving practical problems in areas such as digital transformation management, risks in non-financial companies, marketing in retail business, and internal innovation in companies. In the future, these educational products will be included in the programs of GSOM SPbU.

 

Experts from VTB Bank, Rostelecom, Tele2 and Polyus, as well as experienced professors from Moscow State Pedagogical University, the Center for Academic Quality and Creative Pedagogy at Universal University and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) took part in the project.

“Employers traditionally complain about the lack of practical experience among business school graduates while universities need relevant educational materials based on real business cases. Along with academic knowledge, it is very important for students to understand how organizations are managed in the modern world, and to be able to discuss with practicing managers their successes and mistakes. That is why GSOM SPbU is launching a program for professionals who are ready to share their experience and try themselves at teaching,” said Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank, Director of GSOM SPbU.

“The name of the program contains the word “toolkit ”. It was important for us that the program was as applicable as possible. Creating it together with our colleagues from VTB and GSOM SPbU, we focused on the use of interactive formats. During the program, there was a lot of group work, as well as individual consultations. The participating teams studied modern pedagogical techniques and methods, and carried out project assignments, according to Rector Igor Remorenko, Moscow State Pedagogical University.

This new program for teachers or professors of practice will become part of the updated development strategy of GSOM SPbU, and a team of experts from VTB Banis actively involved in the development and implementation of this strategy.