Roundtable "Reputation Management in Higher Education:the New Challenge for Universities"

Reputation is an intangible asset which, for a university, is at the intersection of communication, education, and management. What is reputation? What happens when a university does not care about cultivating it? Why is it even necessary to manage the reputation of the institution? How does it work? Why do national and international rankings matter and what use should be made of them?

The summer 2021 issue of Higher Education in Russia and Beyond focuses on university reputation from different perspectives. It covers topics from conceptualization to crisis management in pandemics, the logic of international rankings to reputation building in non-metropolitan universities, and the healthy relationship between the third mission of the university and reputation to the role of alumni, and the accreditations. Although reputation may seem an obvious asset when analyzing it and especially when managing it, we find ourselves juggling the complexity of interpersonal relationships with stakeholders, and different ways of understanding excellence and quality.

 

A preliminary agenda of the discussion is outlined below.

1. Why is necessary to build or cultivate the reputation in the strategic management of the university?
2. The social responsibility of the universities (Third Mission) does not include specific reference to reputation, but it is becoming clear that universities are more focused on demonstrating this impact to build a reputation profile with key audiences. Could you comment?
3. Why do national and international rankings matter and what use should universities make of them?

 

An online round table discussion covering these issues is scheduled on July 1, 2021, at 4 p.m. (Moscow time, GMT+3).Organizers: Center for Institutional Studies, Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education, HSE University.
Working language is English.

List of speakers:

• Alan Ferns, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Communication and Reputation, The Manchester University (UK)
• Elena Chernishkova, Trustee, European University at St.Petersburg
• Elena Shakina, Director of International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy, HSE University (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
• Aurora Díaz Soloaga, Senior lecturer: School of Management, Almaty Management University (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
• Santiago Fernández-Gubieda, deputy director Center for University Governance and Reputation
• Maria Yudkevich, Associate Professor, Director of the Center for Institutional Studies, Vice Rector of HSE University (Moscow, Russia)

Moderator:

• Magdalena Gaete, Head of the Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education, HSE University (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)

Target audience: experts in universities’ reputation management, vice-rectors, and directors of communication at universities, researchers of higher education with interest in universities’’ reputation.

To receive a Zoom-link please fill in the registration form.