The team of Kherson State University, consisting of First Vice-Rector Serhii Omelchuk, Deans Kateryna Melnykova and Ihor Holovchenko, Heads of Departments Kateryna Drobot and Nataliia Tereshko, Head of the Department for Working with Gifted Youth Yuliia Yurina, and the Executive Secretary of the Admissions Committee Yurii Yurchuk, presented their own Institutional Project of Change – a holistic vision for the university's development in the logic of strategic transformation, digitalization, internationalization, and strengthening interaction with the community. At the center of the project – the university as an open innovative ecosystem that combines an inclusive digital educational environment, applied science for the restoration of the Kherson region, and the function of a socio-cultural hub.
The presented project accumulates not only management decisions but also value orientations: preserving the identity of the Kherson region, developing human potential, and forming a modern institutional digital culture. A key emphasis was the idea of transitioning from fragmentary changes to systemic management of transformations – through the institutionalization of a digital vertical, the development of corporate AI tools, and new approaches to professional staff development.
The KSU team was congratulated by Rector Oleksandr Spivakovskyi:
«This is a team that was able to look at the university and the higher education system from the outside. A different scale, a different perspective, as if from space: when you stand on the ground, you see a plane, but from a distance - integrity, form, interconnections. I congratulated the representatives of Kherson State University, who for six months participated in the Academic Managers Professional Development Program - a unique initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, implemented by the British Council within the framework of the joint project of the MES of Ukraine and the World Bank «Improving Higher Education in Ukraine for Results». In person and online - but the photo is shared. Just like our values, goals, and aspirations. Today, the final international conference of the Program took place. The KSU team, consisting of First Vice-Rector Serhii Omelchuk, Deans Kateryna Melnykova and Ihor Holovchenko, Heads of Departments Kateryna Drobot and Nataliia Tereshko, Head of the Department for Working with Gifted Youth Yuliia Yurina, and the Executive Secretary of the Admissions Committee Yurii Yurchuk, presented their own Institutional Project of Change. This is not just a set of ideas - it is a holistic vision for the university's development in the logic of strategic transformation, digitalization, internationalization, and strengthening interaction with the Kherson community. At the center of the project - the university as an open innovative ecosystem: with an inclusive digital educational environment, applied science for the restoration of the Kherson region, and a powerful role as a socio-cultural hub. The value of the Academic Managers Professional Development Program lies not only in new knowledge or international experience. It changes the way management teams think. It allows one to see the university not as a collection of processes, but as a system that can flexibly respond to challenges and shape the future. Our task is not to stop at the level of ideas. To transform this «outside view» into concrete management decisions and actions that will strengthen Kherson State University starting today».
Participation in the program and the final presentation of the project provided the university team with an opportunity to present their own developments, exchange experience, and rethink the role of the university in the context of social transformations.
The participants thanked the Academic Managers Professional Development Program — a unique initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, implemented by the British Council within the framework of the joint project of the MES and the World Bank «Improving Higher Education in Ukraine for Results» — for creating an environment where not just ideas are born – but solutions are formed that are capable of influencing the future of universities and communities.
KSU Press Center
