Small tricks of the Great University

Despite its special status, Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov is more and more faced with a lack of money. This year is almost 500 million rubles. The university’s financing under the main article has decreased - state assignment for higher education, i.e., students' training. There are fewer budget places, and even want to study under a contract too. Demand for such services is also reduced along with the rest of the economy. At the same time, related expenses like paying heating are only growing. It is clear that the natural solution to this problem is to reduce wages. Actually, all this is explicitly indicated in the "Plan of financial and economic activities" posted on the university website. Regarding 2020, this year provides for a reduction in the costs of labor of personnel in Moscow State University by 1.2 billion rubles. (3%). But the reduction is not for everyone. The remuneration of administrative personnel has grown by almost 10%. The remuneration of the faculty of the faculty remained almost unchanged (an increase of less than 1%). But the costs of remuneration of teachers (teachers, methodologists, etc.) were almost doubled. The expenses for educational personnel have significantly decreased. So significant reductions are coming here, and associate professors and professors will have to work as teachers, methodologists, engineers and technicians. Technically, this reduction is not very difficult to execute, since for many years almost the entire auxiliary staff has been working on temporary contracts for 360 days. They simply will not extend the contract. But in addition to significant inconveniences for the educational process, the reduction of these posts will hit a lot of university. It is no secret that most often these positions at the departments were filled with talented graduates or promising employees from the part in which there was an interest. Over time, they became teachers or researchers. Now this personnel reserve will not be. By the way, by a separate order of the rector at Moscow State University, internal personnel movements to existing vacancies without coordination with the rector are prohibited before the special order. So even if there is a vacancy, it is now impossible to simply transfer a specialist from the post of engineer to the post of researcher at the faculty level, with all his publications and titles.

With the faculty, it will not work out so simply. They also have contracts for several years, and resonance can be obtained unnecessary. It is clear that you can just pay less. The reduction in income compared to 2018-2019 has already felt everything. It was easy to do, since the salaries themselves at Moscow State University are small (the associate professor, for example, is a little more than 30 thousand rubles “clean”). The rest is various kinds of incentive payments that are completely under the jurisdiction of the administration. But here the “May decrees” hang with a Damoklov sword. The averaging millionth salaries of the rector with ordinary associate professors, it is not entirely possible to juggle with numbers even in numbers even among the Academician-mathematician. So the problem of urgent reduction of the number of professors and associate professors faces the leadership of Moscow State University is very acute. Of course, there is always a “natural decline” of the faculty, it is very age-related at Moscow State University. And here is the Covid-19 epidemic. Over the past year, coronavirus and other reasons noticeably varished the ranks of the faculty. The official statistics of the PPS losses for the academic year during the epidemic in the Moscow State University are not published, but if we simply calculate the obituary in several large faculties and extrapolate these figures, then we can talk about dozens of professors and associate professors and associate professors who went into another world over the past year. And no one comes to replace them.

For the entire last academic year, not a single new professor or associate professor appeared among the employees of Moscow State University. Anyone can see the lists of newly assigned titles on the VAK website and find employees of various universities there, with the exception of the famous Moscow State University. The assignment of scientists at Moscow State University is completely blocked. Dozens of dossiers of applicants for the title of professors and associate professors are dusting in the rector. It must be understood that in the case of assigning scientific titles, the role of the Higher Attestation Commission is almost formal, since the university and the corresponding scientist council are responsible for the reliability of the documents and their compliance with the requirements.

Formal explanations come down to the fact that the stop occurred due to the implementation of the Federal Information System of State Scientific Certification (FIS GNA)-the information system for ensuring the processes of state scientific certification since 2020. For a year and a half, at Moscow State University they have not been able to solve the very technical issue of installing Army FIS GNA - in other words, purchases of a regular personal computer with a package of specialized, but quite affordable commercial programs and an electronic signature key. According to rumors, the computer has already been bought, and now they are going to write for him the regulations of use. Actually, this whole task for the average IT specialist for a couple of weeks is maximum, but at Moscow State University they have been unsuccessfully engaged in it for the second year. It is not difficult to assume that the most part of the applicants who have been waiting for the consideration of their case for the second year, when (and if) this system still earns, will receive a refusal to obtain a title. Just due to the fact that the documents are prepared according to the old requirements. Someone will gather strength and begin this path first, re-collecting documents and once again waiting for the statement of the presentation to the rank of scientific council, and someone just spits and leaves, tired of this mockery of people, common sense, and just from shame for the university.

Of course, all these judgments about the causes of what is happening are only the personal opinion of the author. But the assumption that everything that happens with the academic titles at the university is just part of the general policy of reducing costs is more believable than the idea that IT specialists simply do not at Moscow State University.

Felix Kryuchkov

From the editorial office: Our newspaper is ready to publish the response of representatives of Moscow State University, if any.