Polytechnic University’s English-language website is in the top 5 of electronic internationalization ranking
The English-language website of the Polytechnic University moved up three positions and entered the top 5 English-language resources of Russian universities. These results were published by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in its fifth annual report “Electronic internationalization: English-language Internet resources of Russian universities.”
Altogether, the ranking includes 67 universities, including federal and national research universities, universities participating in the Project for Increasing the Competitiveness of Leading Russian Universities Among the World’s Leading Research and Educational Centers” and the “Project for the Development of the Export Potential of the Russian Education System.”
“We would like to note the successes of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which for the first time entered the group of “leaders” of the rating and took the fifth place. SPbPU demonstrates the best university practices of promoting educational services and the university’s brand using an Internet portal and social media accounts in English,” commented RIAC Director General Andrey KORTUNOV.
On the basis of their methodology, RIAC experts analyzed the English-language websites of Russian universities in terms of their content. Researchers have updated the “Index of electronic internationalization” of Russian universities and analyzed the dynamics of the development of Internet resources of domestic universities, including in comparison with leading foreign universities. According to the research results in 2020, Polytechnic University scored 75 points out of 100 possible. Thus, in comparison with the previous year, the dynamics amounted to +6 points, thanks to which the university rose in the ranking by three positions.
Experts of Polytechnic University regularly share their experience in the development of English-language electronic resources. So, at the beginning of 2020, an article was published on the RIAC website Use of English-language university websites and social media accounts in recruiting foreign applicants, authored by representatives of the SPbPU International Office. This topic was actively discussed at the round table held by the RIAC with the information support of the Accreditation in Education journal in mid-July. Boris ZHELEZOV, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, specifically emphasized that in the current situation one should not hope that the deficient presence of the university in the virtual space can be compensated by inviting students, experts and teachers to the university. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the development of the global educational market; in particular, the online education sector has experienced active growth.
“I believe that the coronavirus pandemic has forced all universities, to a greater or lesser extent, to reconsider the existing mechanisms for recruiting foreign applicants. Many methods that have been used for years lost their effectiveness at one point. We do not stand still; we actively monitor global trends and implement them in the process of attracting foreign students to the university. Distance education received a powerful impetus for development, and the attendance of students on the electronic resources of the university increased tenfold. In this situation, we can only optimize all processes in order to maintain the traditionally high level of education of Polytechnic University,” commented Dmitry ARSENIEV, SPbPU Vice-Rector for International Relations.
Prepared by the SPbPU International Office