The 1st EUSP Alumni Conference

 
13.02.2014
 
University

The Foundation’s executive director John Ernst (USA) participated in the conference along with Mr. Kenneth S. Kaufman. In his presentation, Mr. Kaufman emphasized the fact that there is a strong intellectual component at the core of all successful alumni associations. Mr. Kaufman also described how alumni associations function in the U.S.:

• They are allowed to sustain an intellectual dialogue;
• They practice a cross-cultural exchange of best practices;
• They describe a changing environment (invite relevant experts);
• They organize group off-site seminars and retreats (very popular in the U.S.)

Dr. Klaus Segbers, Free University of Berlin professor and program director at the Center for Global Policy, discussed the ways in which the principle of intellectual dialogue is accomplished at the Center. Each year it conducts paid summer schools for its graduates in the most interesting countries for following up on alumni activities.

Also present at the conference were graduates of the International Master of Arts in Russian Studies (IMARS) program, who came to St. Petersburg to participate in the first alumni conference and to celebrate the end of the school year. They were joined by the director of the IMARS program, representatives from the American and Finnish consulates, N. B. Vakhtin, and Department of Political Science and Sociology professors Oleg Kharkhordin and Vadim Volkov.

Students from the EUSP’s Russian and International programs participated as well. They spoke to conference attendees about the events of the February-March 2008 crisis. A chronology of events of the EUSP’s defense campaign could be seen in an exhibit prepared by the EUSP’s student council to celebrate the end of the school year.

Resolutions of the First Conference of EUSP Alumni

1. For Russian and foreign graduates, the decision was made not to register the EUSP Alumni Association as a social organization in accordance with federal law at this stage.

Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 82-May 19, 1995 “On Social Associations” says that social organizations may be considered established if a group of citizens comes to a decision about its creation. The law does not specify the number of such citizens or the form of the decision. Unregistered social organizations do not have the right to 1) engage in business activities (such as publishing) 2) posses their own printing organ. Otherwise, the formal rights of registered and unregistered public organizations do not differ.

Participants of the First Conference decided to not register the EUSP Alumni Organization as a non-governmental or non-profit organization, as a pressing need for this was not expressed.

1.1 Joining the EUSP Alumni Association is considered valid after registering in the Alumni database at the site http://www.eu.spb.ru/alum. Registration is done either by site administrators or alumni themselves.

1.2 At this stage membership does not require payment of membership dues.

2. Conference participants decided to establish European and American sections of the alumni association. The purpose of their creation was to establish and maintain personal, professional, and scholarly ties between alumni of different generations as well as alumni ties to the university.