AUPET: WE APPRECIATE THE PAST, BUILD THE FUTURE   

The interview of the rector of Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications named after Gumarbek Daukeyev, Saule Savetovna Sagintayeva was published in the republican journal "Modern Education"

The conversation was devoted to today's everyday life of the university, strategies and tactics of the university's activities in this difficult time. How does the university work in a pandemic? What is the level of those who come today to the first year at AUPET? How does the university build vocational guidance work? Are students' innovative ideas supported at the university? Is there an opportunity to implement student startups at the university? What is the dynamics of employment of graduates in recent years? Are there any problems with the adaptation of our students to manufacture? What was important in the outgoing year for the country as a whole and for AUPET in particular?

In particular, the rector of the university noted that the university is technically well equipped, but the transition to online training was not easy and required a prompt solution to emerging problems. It was necessary to change the format of the usual educational programs to digital, to develop online classes, lectures, webinars, databases of test tasks and much more. At the same time, both university students and teachers learned to work remotely. In the buildings, sanitary tunnels and sanitizers were installed in sufficient numbers. The fund of the the audiences was changed.

During a pandemic and quarantine, the slogan, relevant in time and consonant with the name of the university: “We keep our distance. We save energy. Improving Communication” was invented. The coronavirus pandemic has opened up new opportunities for us. We realized that all processes at the university need to be digitized, to develop our own educational platform with all its attributes. Therefore, we introduced the position of a digital officer, formed a team of programmers and started working towards a digital university.

A total of 75 educational and scientific laboratories operate at AUPET. In 2017, the strategy for transforming the university into a research university was adopted. The main reference point of the strategy is to conduct high-quality research with updating the educational process through solving specific production problems, with the participation of teachers, students, undergraduates and doctoral students. The transition from faculties to institutes made it possible to consolidate the priority areas of scientific and technological development for each industry separately and bring applied research closer to the real needs of customers. Our University actively participates in the program “Digital Kazakhstan.”

In the light of recent events in the spread of coronavirus, the research and development of our scientists to reduce the anthropogenic load on the environment are relevant. Last year our students successfully participated in the Shell Eco-marathon competition in Malaysia. The team of our university was included in the 30 best teams in the world out of 200 which participated in the international U-Multirank rating according to the parameter “Contact to work environment”.

AUPET is in the top 25 in the field of energy and information technologies. According to the results of the Kazakhstani rating of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken", confirmed by the data of the State Center for the Payment of Pensions, the employment rate of AUPET graduates is 83–95%. We are changing the focus of our curricula to students gaining entrepreneurial skills, enhancing their innovative competencies, and developing leadership qualities.

The thesis that competition is the engine of progress should also apply to the education sector as a branch of the national economy. And the unprecedented decision made by the Ministry of Education and Science to issue diplomas of their own type by universities, which comes into force in 2021, is a progressive step towards improving the quality of educational services and further socio-economic development of the country. From the very beginning of its existence, the university has set a high standard for the quality of education, and has established itself as a university free from corruption. We have never left this way, which is expressed in the AUPET slogan “We appreciate the past, build the future”.

Thus, in an interview, the rector explained the reason for the popularity of our university, its constantly growing authority. The rector of the university shared her experience and even the secrets of the team's activities, leadership of such a complex organism as a modern university.

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