“What is the most important in the future of our university is our will to be more integrated in Lithuanian academic community and Lithuanian society as well,” Sergei Ignatov told BNS as he visited the Lithuanian government.
Ignatov, a former Bulgarian minister for education, youth and science who has been at the helm of EHU since March, agrees that the university, which has been negatively assessed by experts recently, needs changes.
EHU in late 2017 received a negative assessment from the Lithuanian Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC) and its current license expires in July 2019. It is planned that it could apply for a new license after strengthening its academic and scientific potential.
The rector says that EHU expects to attract professors from other Lithuanian higher education institutions as part of its revamping efforts.
“The new programs will be presented there. We started procedure of evaluation of the stuff, because maybe starting from September or October, the first Lithuanian fellows professors will be invited at EHU,” he said.
According to the rector, another other key direction of changes will be toward increasing internationalization by attracting both students and lecturers from other countries.
Ignatov underlined the importance of political support for EHU, but added that it is also important for the university to comply with the SKVC requirements.
Ignatov, an Egyptologist, served as Bulgaria’s minister for education, youth and science between 2009 and 2013.
EHU is a private university that was established in Minsk in 1992 and operated in Belarus’ capital until its closure by the authorities in 2004. It reopened in Vilnius in 2005 at the Lithuanian government’s invitation.
EHU enrolls almost 800 students, 95 percent of whom are from Belarus.