Pskov Free Institute

Creation

The concept of a future university was developed by V.V. Vagin, E. L. Moppel, L. M. Shlosberg . Pskov Free University was founded in 1992 on the civil initiative of the residents of Pskov. “The Free University has become an interesting example of a non-state university with a fairly clearly defined civil position at that time ^[1] .”

The founders were the Administration of the city of Pskov, the Department of Education of the city of Pskov, the Pskov State Pedagogical Institute, the Pskov Regional Institute for Advanced Studies of educators, the Pskov Regional Universal Scientific Library , as well as a number of enterprises and organizations of the city. Volny became the first non-state university in the Pskov region.

Classes began on October 1, 1992. Since then, this day began to be celebrated in Volny as "University Day."

The university conducted training in the specialties: psychology, sociology, economics, linguistics, applied mathematics, art history, jurisprudence.

From 1994 to 1998, Grigory Yavlinsky was the Honorary Rector of the Pskov Free University.

Since 2003, in accordance with the decision of the Pskov City Council and the agreement with the Pskov Administration, the Pskov Free Institute annually accepted 5 scholarship holders selected by the Pskov Administration for training on the lease of the premises on which the university worked ^[2] .

Participation in international projects

Together with the Swedish Institute of Management, the Free Institute was implementing the “Develop Your Business” program for enterprise managers ^[3] .

Licensing and state accreditation

In 2000, the Pskov Free University received state accreditation and the right to issue state diplomas of higher education . In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education, by the decision of the founders of May 30, 2000 Volny began to be called in accordance with his accreditation status - the institute .

In 2005, the Free Institute again underwent a comprehensive assessment of its activities by the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. As a result, the institute was accredited for the maximum possible period of 5 years. All 5 declared educational programs in the specialties were accredited: “Psychology”, “Sociology”, “Applied Mathematics and Computer Science”, “Translation and Translation Studies”, “Finance and Credit” ^[4] .

Crisis and Closure

Over the course of several years, the number of applicants to higher education programs at the Free Institute was reduced, and in the 2009/2010 academic year, less than 10 people, including city scholarship holders, started their first-year studies. Probable reasons for the decline in recruitment were the low marketing activity of the Free Institute in the educational services market and the deterioration of the demographic situation in the country.

The funds received from students became insufficient to cover the current expenses of the university ^[5] . In April 2010, the state accreditation expired and it was necessary to apply for a new accreditation ^[6] . The current situation, according to the leadership of the university, did not give the institute a chance to get accreditation for a new term. In this regard, it was decided to stop activities in the field of higher professional education and transfer all students to other universities. Students were relocated during the spring of 2010.

In August 2010, all university employees were dismissed. According to the plans of the Pskov City Administration, the Pskov business incubator will be opened in the building of the former Free Institute ^{[7] [8]} .