Coworking, Sports, and Future Employers

 

The HSE Centre for Institutional Research is conducting its annual student life survey at HSE University. The results of the study may be used for instituting changes on campus. HSE Life shows how the survey helps to improve student life at the university.

Every year students of the Higher School of Economics take part in the Student Life Survey - an online survey that addresses all areas of academic and extracurricular life. The results of the survey allow us to better understand HSE students, their life, and what they expect from the university.

You can learn more about past survey results in the almanac, Typical HSE, issued by the Centre for Institutional Research. You can learn where HSE students work before and after graduation or which media sources they read.

However, the main aim of the survey is to suggest useful changes to the university life. HSE Life editors have collected several examples of how the Student Life Survey helps HSE University institute changes and improve student life.

New Educational Technologies

Many things that have become common for HSE did not exist before. ‘The results of the Student Life Survey show the administration how well various innovations are working in the educational process: right now, this is mostly things like online courses; four years ago it was minors; and 8-10 years ago it was a good measure for how the university’s online service (LMS) was doing,’ says Anna Korovko, Senior Director for Full Degree Programmes.

HSE students annually assess their teachers. At the same time, study office managers are also important people in students’ lives. Those who organize the study process, make schedules and help students in difficult situations, are often left behind.

The survey helps students assess their study offices and highlight the work of particular managers. According to Anna Korovko, the results of the student survey affect the bonus amounts for study office managers. ‘This is certainly not the only parameter, but an important one,’ she says.

More Coworking Spaces and Athletic Facilities

‘Every year students are dissatisfied with the facilities for leisure and communication, so one of the priorities for us is working on the arrangement of co-working spaces in all HSE buildings and creating multifunctional transit zones,’ says Dmitry Shminke, Director the Student Initiative Support Centre. Next year, a comprehensive programme aimed at the development of spaces for students will be adopted to solve this problem.

Another constant issue of the survey is student dissatisfaction with university athletics. According to Dmitry Shminke, in order to change the situation, the administration is considering the possibility of booking sites for various HSE sports associations on an equal basis.

Dialogue with Employers

Survey data is used for all reports related to student employment; it allows the administration to understand where students are looking for jobs and what areas are popular.

Surveys also help to create a portrait of the HSE student, which can be demonstrated to HSE partner companies. ‘Usually most companies want to hire 4th-year students. We explain to them, referring to the survey data, that our students start working during their 2nd and 3rd years of study, so it is necessary to start working with them as early as possible,’ says Ksenia Mardanova, Head of the Office for Alumni Relations and Career Development.

International Student Support

Survey data is used by the Centre for International Student Mobility in order to help international students to adapt to HSE University life. The International Student Support website is the most notable result of this work.

 ‘The site content was developed from scratch in 2014 and a lot of sections were created following the survey results: students told us what information they needed, what caused difficulties, and what they would still like to know during their study at HSE,’ says Sofia Sadykova, Director of the Centre for International Student Mobility.

At first, all sections of the site were intended for all international students, without differentiation. Later, the surveys made it clear that student life of international exchange students differs from student life of full-degree students, and they need different information and different sets of services. ‘Now there are two surveys, and they are held separately from each other. This helps to better understand what needs to be improved,’ says Sofia Sadykova.

A personal link to the survey has already been emailed to you. The survey will not take more than 20 minutes, but it will make HSE University more convenient and up-to-date. At the end of the questionnaire, you will find two contests where you can win a Yandex.Station, a Netflix subscription, gift certificates to OneTwoTrip, Ozon, and Skyeng, as well as other prizes.

November 15, 2019