History of IC
The history of CSU international co-operation started back in 1994 when the University first began acting as a member of the TEMPUS program. Back then it was the partnership with such respected European universities as Amsterdam University, University of Westminster, Metropolitan University, Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (University of Science and Technology, Lille) and Katholische Universitat Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Eichstatt-Ingolstadt Catholic University) that played the crucial role in the foundation and future successful functioning of the CSU international cooperation programme.
Аs a result of enhanced communication between the universities and the effective common work in the framework of TEMPUS project CSU lecturers, deans, and management got a clear impression of how the European educational process is organized. This knowledge constituted the basis of the plan of CSU development as an educational institution of the 21st century. The plan realization also presupposed solving certain problems such as availability of CSU education, its quality, and effectiveness.
It was back then that CSU made the first steps in inter-university student exchange programs. This opened new horizons not only for its students, who have visited other countries and got the priceless experience of plunging into a new cultural and educational environment. New wider prospects were open for CSU as well, as the quality of education given by the University was tested and later on acknowledged by the foreign partners. The proof of this was that CSU was invited to take part in the pilot DS-creation project.
Opening of Master programs marks the second step in international cooperation for CSU. Together with the CSU participation in the Diploma Supplement programme, this made CSU one of the important actors on the international, particularly European, educational arena. It set the direction for CSU development not only in terms of partnership with the universities located abroad, it also marked the root towards the improvement of CSU as the educational institution, making it possible to observe, analyze and employ the example and the experience of the European partners to further change of the University into the educational institution functioning in accordance with all the modern requirements.
The third part of CSU integration in the world educational community and its international cooperation history is marked by the revolutionary changes in the very approach to educating students and to the further estimation of their knowledge. The Credit-Module System was introduced in CSU on an experimental basis, while the Point-Rating System of student's knowledge estimation has become the usual instrument of control of their work. The University Management System was also improved and is further worked on at the moment.
Right now, CSU is the leading educational institution in the Region of South Urals, where the European experience and the Russian education traditions are successfully combined to give its students the fullest and the most state-of-the-art knowledge on the wide range of subjects. Being an active member of a wide range of international partnership programs, CSU is the university that grants its students and staff mobility and a chance to hone as well as to apply their professional skills in new cultural, educational and professional environments. As the list of active partnerships is constantly growing, CSU quest for perfection in terms of education is sure to continue.
