Student Participation in University Governance: Experience of Ukraine

Abstract

The article analyses the management structures and studying the experience of involving students into governance in Ukraine's universities. The processes of democratization in higher education have led to an increased student voice in university governance. Therefore, student participation is considered as an important and necessary condition (as stated in the official documents of the Bologna Process) of effective governance in higher education. This article considers student participation in university governance in the context of higher education development in Ukraine, namely as one of the mechanisms for improving university governance. In the public consciousness there is a gradual change in the understanding of the role of students in the educational process. The «subject-object» paradigm in the relationship between student and university, in which students are assigned the role of passive «object», is transferring to «subject-subject» relations where students are considered as a full partner in the educational field. The article conceptually clarifies the key concepts used by European researchers when studying the topic of student participation. First of all, these are such terms as: «student engagement» and «voise student». The official documents posted on the official sites of Ukrainian universities such as: University Development Strategies, Charters, Regulations, Teaching and Teaching Strategies, Student Self-Government Pages, etc., i.e. all those documents that can specify the idea of partnering with students within the university environment and whether student partnership is  formulated in the university-level policies.  To construct the scheme of the analysed materials on the websites of the universities, we have distinguished directions of student involvement: partnership with students in the university environment and involvement of students in the processes of governance; mechanisms for responding to student voice; the decision-making process at the university (transparency, accessibility, openness); mechanisms and tools aimed at intensifying student participation (information work, education, etc.).