“All changes will be preceded by a thorough audit”

In June 2022, the rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Vladimir Mau was placed under house arrest on charges of embezzling university funds. Already in October 2022, it became known that the criminal case against him was closed. And on January 23, 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin freed Mau, who led the RANEPA since 2002, from his post. Instead of him, acting Vice-rector Alexei Komissarov, director of the Higher School of Public Administration of the RANEPA (the so-called “school of governors”) and the general director of the “Russia – Land of Opportunities” platform, under whose auspices the authorities hold personnel competitions, became the head of the university.

The new head of the academy answered several questions from Vedomosti about the fact that a university that trains government officials is waiting under his leadership.

– Why did the leadership of the RANEPA change?

– This is due to Vladimir Mau’s own request to be relieved of his post due to health reasons. For me, RANEPA is my native university. From 2001 to 2003 I studied at the Academy on the MBA program, since 2009 I started working as a teacher of an entrepreneurship course as part of the MBA program, founded the academy’s business incubator, and in 2017 took the position of Vice-Rector – Director of the Higher School of Public Administration (GSSU) of the RANEPA. For me, taking office. Rector of the RANEPA under the President is a great honor and great responsibility. I will also continue to work as CEO of the Presidential Platform “Russia – Land of Opportunities”.

– What tasks do you see as the rector of the RANEPA? What needs to be changed and what needs to be preserved?

– I plan to take a balanced approach to all changes, discussing them with the faculty, trustees and scientific councils of the academy. All changes will be preceded by a thorough audit, which we will conduct. The main person in the university will always be a student. Therefore, any of our actions will be aimed at raising the level of learning conditions and interest in educational programs by applicants and current students. We will preserve all the key developments of our university, continue to strengthen existing programs and consider the need to introduce new relevant programs that meet the needs of both employers and students themselves.

– Will Mau be offered some kind of honorary position – by analogy with Yaroslav Kuzminov at the Higher School of Economics?

– Vladimir Alexandrovich Mau was the first and permanent rector of the academy for over 20 years. Together with his team, he and his team made the academy the largest university in Russia and the leader of domestic business education with 47 branches from Kaliningrad to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, more than 4,500 study programs, more than 235,000 students annually. Among the RANEPA graduates are Russian government ministers, heads of regions, company presidents and many top-level executives. We will do our best to preserve and increase this heritage, and I really hope that Vladimir Mau will continue to participate in the life of the university as an expert. We will certainly discuss the issue of the position offer with Vladimir Mau himself and will proceed from his wishes.

– How will GSSU develop now? Who will be responsible for the “school of governors”?

– Now GSSU has the honorary status of a forge of managerial personnel, it implements a large number of educational programs for managers. Since 2017, among the graduates of four streams and students of the fifth stream of the personnel management reserve program, 46 people have become heads of Russian regions, three have become federal ministers, and 34 people have become deputy federal ministers. At the moment, I will continue to supervise the work of GSSU, and in the future the decision on the director will be made.

– What new things can appear in RANEPA?

– We will continue to respond to requests from students, managers and civil servants studying at the university. We plan to invite leading teachers and improve the university’s position in domestic and foreign educational rankings.

Our main vector will be aimed at ensuring that RANEPA graduates are in demand in the public sector and in business both at the federal and regional levels. At the same time, it is important that the students themselves are satisfied with the quality of education, and that the teaching staff come to work at the university with joy and inspiration. There are many tasks ahead, but I am sure we will cope with them.

– How will the university interact with the government?

– At the moment, many programs for the training and retraining of managerial personnel are already being implemented, including the program of the Higher Reserve of Managerial Personnel, which GSSU is implementing on behalf of the Russian government. The presidential administration and the government are our key customers. I invite authorities, business and public organizations to partnership and cooperation to work together to develop an effective personnel reserve in our country.