You are the president of the university.

Write your university statutes.

You are a student of the Ural State Pedagogical University. What is your university renowned for?

PRIVATE AND STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Harvard College was established in 1636, with the principal purpose of providing a literate ministry for colonial churches. It was a small institution, enrolling only 20 students in 1642 and 60 in 1660. It soon became more than a theological training school and established itself as a liberal arts college. The next institution of higher learning established in the American colonies was the College of William and Mary, which opened in 1693 at Williamsburg, Virginia. Other colleges were founded in the next century, but all of them remained small schools for long periods. Students entered at the age of 14 and remained until they were 18, and the curriculum, while rigidly academic and classic, was by modern standards rather secondary in nature.

+ VOCABULARY:

literate ministry — грамотные священнослужители

to enroll — вносить в список, регистрировать

theological training school — школа богословия

TASK: Ask all types of questions about the text. Be ready to answer them. (Work in pairs)

СOLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Since its founding in 1754, Columbia University has attracted students interested in the issues of their times. Even before the revolution, King’s College, renamed Columbia College in 1787, began to develop the impressive curriculum that resulted in its designation, in 1912, as Columbia University. Instruction in engineering, law and medicine, as well as liberal arts was available before 1800. By the turn of the century, Barnard College for women, the Graduate Faculties of Philosophy and of Pure Science, the schools of Architecture and the Political Science, and Teachers College had been established. Since 1900, the University has grown to include more than 20 schools and programs for undergraduate and graduate study in disciplines as diverse as the arts, business, health sciences, international affairs, liberal arts, library service and social work.

Columbia University is a magnet for leaders in the arts and politics as well as for prominent scholars in all academic fields. Art exhibits, commercial and student-made films, poetry readings, concerts, dance recitals, and every other sort of musical experience are offered on the campus. Whether directly or indirectly related to the students course of study, participation in the City’s activities stimulates the individual and narrows the gap between learning and living.

TASK: Translate the text in written form.

HIGHER EDUCATION
IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees the right to higher education to all citizens, regardless of race, nationality, sex, property or social status, and religion, and that right is ensured by an extensively developed network of higher educational institutions.

After finishing the 11^th form of a secondary school, a lyceum, or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. Higher educational institutions admit persons up to the age of 35 who have completed secondary schooling. (There is no age limit for evening and correspondence students). All applicants must take competitive examinations in the subjects closest to the selected specialisation and in the Russian language and literature. Various kinds of reference materials and academic aids are published annually in mass editions to help applicants to higher educational institutions, and numerous preparatory groups and courses are offered at higher educational institutions.

Higher educational institutions, that is, institutes or universities, offer a 5-year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a graduate course. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives the candidate degree.

Higher educational institutions are headed by rectors (chancellors). Prorectors (vice-chancellors) are in charge of the academic and scientific work of higher educational institutions. Higher educational institutions are composed of departments (faculties) which train undergraduate and graduate students in one or several related specialisations, provide refresher courses for specialists, and also guide the scientific research of the subdepartments (chairs). The department is headed by a dean. Among the structural subdivisions of higher educational institutions are branches of higher educational institutions and academic consultation centres, which are organised to assist correspondence students at their places of work or residence.

A council of the higher educational institution (or department), organised by the office of the rector (dean), deals with the basic questons of the work of the department.

Higher educational institutions which have been granted the right by the Supreme Attestation Commission to hear the defence of candidate’s and doctoral thesis have specialised councils for conferring advanced academic degrees.

The following positions have been established for the professorial and the teaching staff of higher educational institutions: head of the subdepartment, professor, assistant professor, senior instructor, instructor, and assistant, all of whom are appointed or reappointed every five years.

Higher educational institutions organise the academic process according to curricula and syllabuses, developed by leading scholars, discussed by the councils of the given higher schools, and approved by the Ministry of Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

+ VOCABULARY:

1. secondary schooling, secondary education — среднее образование;

2. general secondary education — общее среднее образование.

3. competitive examinations — вступительные конкурсные экзамены

4. academic aids — учебные пособия

5. preparatory groups and courses — подготовительные отделения

6. rector, principal, chancellor — ректор

7. vice-chancellor, prorector — проректор

8. faculty, department — факультет

9. faculty — профессорско-преподавательский состав вуза

10. subdepartment, department, chair — кафедра

11. the Supreme Attestation Commission (Committee) — Высшая аттестационная комиссия