On November 23, the members of the Young Managers School presented their graduation projects at the Government of Saratov Region. The meeting of the graduation commission was attended by representatives of executive authorities, ministries, departments, and scientific supervisors of the school graduates. The event was opened by First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Governor of Saratov Region – Head of the Department of Personnel Policy and Public Service of the regional government Anton Proletkin. The meeting of the commission was held by Director of the Institute of Continuing Professional Education, SSU, Yurii Golub.
The participants and guests were welcomed by SSU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Igor Malinskii. ‘Solving the common task with colleagues of professional re-training of young people within the course on state and local management, Saratov University has developed the module on psychological technologies of leadership and management. Today, not only professional, but also psychological competencies and relevant personal qualities are important for managers: the ability to understand people, influence their behaviour, motivate subordinates to effectively solve official tasks, provide leadership and high authority, and manage their emotions and behaviour. I hope we have succeeded, and this cohort of managers will be another step towards a new generation of managers in the region and will make our region more attractive for socially active youth,’ Igor Malinskii stressed.
The students of the school presented seven projects supervised by representatives of regional ministries and professors of Saratov University.
The first project, the League of Young Guides, is focused on creating a community of tour guides engaged in the development of unique routes in Saratov Region. It is aimed at re-training specialists in this field, as well as the development of new skills and competencies. Its authors had monitored popular types of tourism among Russian consumers. In the rating of the regions of the Russian Federation, Saratov Region is on the 25th place. The project group proposed the development of cultural and educational or sightseeing tourism as one of the key ones in the region.
The supervisor of the project, Head of the Office for Cultural Policy of the Ministry of Culture of the region, Elena Poznyakova, estimated the idea. ‘The relevance of the project is determined by the potential and demand for domestic tourism. However, there is still a lack of competent specialists in this industry, which the developers have paid special attention to. Of course, the new suggestions that we have heard today are important both for testing new excursion routes and for the development of regional culture in general.’
The second group of participants proposed a concept for the improvement of the Volga Fairy Tale city beach in the 7th microdistrict of Balakovo, Saratov Region. The main objectives of the project include the organisation of safe recreation for residents, the creation of comfortable conditions for leisure activities for children and adults on the beach, the placement of shopping facilities and equipment rental units, as well as holding sports and cultural events.
‘In our region there is such a unique object as the Volga. The Volga landscape is our pride and heritage. This is a place of attraction for guests and residents of the region. Therefore, it is extremely important that recreation areas must be properly managed, attract attention not only with their environmental friendliness and safety, but also with modern infrastructure aimed at all age categories,’ First Deputy Minister for Territorial Entities of Saratov Region Alik Sabriga pointed out.
The participants of the third group shared their suggestions how to form the image of a political leader based on the preferences of citizens. The study was based on election campaigns and the characteristics of candidates, which made it possible to design an appropriate image of the political elite.
Advisor to the Minister of Internal Policy and Public Relations of the region, the supervisor of the project Nikolai Semyonov believes that due to the research studying how various groups consider the we will be able to predict the development of the political situation in the country and the region.
The audience also proposed measures to support talented youth during the summer wellness campaign. The main objective of the project is to develop the creative potential of young people from 7 to 17 years old and from 18 to 25 years old. To this end, it is planned to increase the employment and involvement of brigades, focus on the training of teaching staff, organise a school of counsellors, and develop sports, cultural, and educational events for the brigades members.
According to Oleg Vasilenkov, a consultant of the Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the region, the supervisor of the project, Kumiss Meadow, as a unique natural complex and a place of suburban recreation, has long been in need of improvement. ‘It is gratifying that young managers have taken up this issue and offered their best ways to implement their idea,’ he added.
The development of the Governor Situation Centre as an Effective Information and Analytical Management Tool includes work with information resources of the entire apparatus of the local government using a mobile application. It is supposed to moderate the portals of regional administration, as well as executive authorities.
The supervisor of the project, First Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the region Anastasia Cherepanova believes that the development of tools capable of regulating the information resources of the local government apparatus will be a good basis for the work that is already underway in this direction. ‘The participants reacted just at the moment when this issue was particularly acute for us, and quickly joined in solving the task,’ she noted.
As a final project, the students of the school proposed to establish a new theatre based on the principle of off-stage space – The Theatre Outside the Walls. Its task is the creative self-fulfilment of the youth of the region who do not have a professional drama education and attracting everyone to co-creative activity.
‘The extraordinary approaches that you demonstrate need to be continued and developed. The history of this project began five years ago at the IVolga forum, and today we see the real results. The work of the team members has long gained popularity not only among residents, but also guests of our city. This is a real immersion into the world of art and creativity,’ Deputy Minister of Youth Policy of Sports of the region Angelina Belovitskaya commented on projects.
In conclusion, Anton. Proletkin addressed the participants. ‘Dear students, we have listened to your presentations and answers to the questions, the members of the commission have given their assessment and come to the following decision: to recognise you as having successfully presented your graduation projects and graduated from the Young Managers School of the Saratov region.’
To remind, 100 people have been enrolled in the Young Managers "School of the Saratov region this year. The YMS project is implemented by Saratov State University, Povolzhsky Institute of Management named after P.A. Stolypin, and Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov.
At the Institute of Continuing Professional Education, Saratov University, the school members took the re-training course on state and local management (the psychological technologies of leadership and management profile). Future managers passed such modules as psychological technologies of leadership and management, the development of manager competencies, the development of personal competencies, and state and local management.
The distinguished participants will receive reference letters to be included into the personnel pool of the executive authorities of Saratov Region and local self-government bodies, as well as in the Governor's manager personnel pool.
