South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University

South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky
ABOUT UNIVERSITY
South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky is one of the oldest educational institutions of Ukraine and the first teaching one on the northern Black Sea coast.
South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky started as a Pedagogical Institute which was established pursuant to the Decree of the Emperor Oleksandr the First in Odesa on May, 2, 1817, as a separate structural unit at the Rishelievskyi lyceum.
During 200-year history South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky passed a complex way of repeated name changes (the Institute of Teachers, the Institute of People’s Education, Odesa State Pedagogical Institute named after K. D. Ushynsky, South Ukrainian State Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky, South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after K. Ushynsky), liquidations and updates.

The modern South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky is the flagship of pedagogical education in the South of Ukraine, where students, post-graduate students and doctors have been successfully training in 47 specialties and specializations.
Since its establishment more than 100,000 specialists for the educational system of our country and thirty other countries have been trained within its walls. Among its graduates and pedagogues are ministers, deputies of different levels, mayors, heads of large institutions, famous scientists and educators, directors of research institutes, schools, rectors of higher educational institutions, trainers and masters of sports, winners of Olympiads, recognized artists who made an invaluable contribution to the development of education and science worldwide.
South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky is composed of 38 departments that are headed by doctors and professors – recognized experts in their fields. About five hundred teachers and twenty foreign specialists work at its departments.
The most important scientific studies at South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky  were carried out in the framework of seventeen internationally recognized scientific schools.

The results of South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky are reflected in printed works – more than two thousand scientific papers are annually published at home and foreign editing houses.  Numerous monographs are published in different languages and in    cooperation with the scholars of the USA, Israel, China, Great Britain, Lithuania and other countries.

Every year the University supports organizations of more than thirty international and Ukrainian scientific conferences. South Ukrainian national pedagogical university named after Kostiantyn Dmytrovych Ushynsky is a founder of scientific journals in philosophy, political science, sociology, psychology, pedagogy, philology and others.

The University offers seven specialized Doctoral and Candidate Thesis Committees in twelve majors. Each year more than seventy theses are passed. Three hundred Ukrainian and foreign students from fifteen countries take postgraduate and doctorate courses as well as individual academic programs.

Almost three thousand students are involved in scientific work, the results of which are reflected in thousands of articles published every year. The participants of the educational process are winners of almost seventy contests, competitions and various Olympiads of national and international levels.

According to SCOPUS database the University ranks first among pedagogical universities of Ukraine.

The University collaborates with eighty educational and scientific institutions around the world.

There is an International Centre for Distance Learning functioning in association with the University; educational scientific information and culture offices of the State of Israel, the USA, Lithuania, China and Korea develop their work under the support of the University.  The establishment is a coordinator of project studies by international programs Tempus, Vyshehrad Fund, the “Ukraine-Norway“ Fund and others).

The University is constantly developing. In recent years there was a significant increase in number of majors and specializations of training graduate, postgraduate and doctoral students. The University has an extensive system of material resources for providing educational process and scientific work. Thus, a modern scientific library was put into operation.

The University provides all necessary conditions for artistic, creative and sports activities of its students who can participate in forty sections and hobby groups.

Significant sporting achievements of the University students and graduates of different years are represented with twenty five Olympic champions, eighty three winners of world and European championships, twenty-eight honoured coaches and masters of sports of Ukraine.

Amateur creative collectives take part in many prestigious competitions and festivals in Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, China, the United States and other countries where they annually win prizes and get the Grand Prix.

Currently, according to different ratings the University is among the leaders of pedagogical and humanities universities and is presented with high awards, namely those of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and others.

Faculties

The Faculty of Philology
The Faculty of Philology of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University unites three subdivisions:

·      the Department of Slavonic Linguistics;

·      the Department of Ukrainian Philology and Methodology of Professional Studies;

·      the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Literature.

The Institute of Postgraduate Education and Certification 

Currently, The Institute of Postgraduate Education and Certification of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University has 2 divisions:

·      the Division of Further Training,

·      Preparatory Division for Foreigners.

Besides, one of the divisions of the Institute offers preparation of foreign citizens for admission into higher educational institutions of Ukraine to study Humanities, Natural Sciences, etc. Pre-university training is carried out by the Department of General Subjects and Language Training of Foreign Citizens.

The Faculty of Foreign Languages

The Faculty consists of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University:

·      the Department of Germanic Philology and

·      Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages;

·      Translation, Theoretical and Applied Linguistics;

·      Western and Oriental Languages and Methods of their Teaching.

The Institute of Physical Education, Sports and Rehabilitation 

There are 7 departments at the Institute:

·      the Department of Defectology and Physical Rehabilitation;

·      the Department of Theory and Methods of Physical Culture and Sports Subjects; the Department of Biology and Health Care;

·      the Department of Theory and Methods of Physical Education, Rehabilitation Exercises and Sports Medicine;

·      Sport Games; Gymnastics;

·      the Department of Physical Education.

The Faculty of Music and Choreography

 There are four departments at the Faculty of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University:

·      the Department of Music Art and Choreography;

·      Musical and Vocal Theory;

·      Music and Instrumental Training;

·      Conductor and Choral Training.

 The Faculty of Physics and Mathematics

Teaching process is provided by the Departments of:

·      Algebra and Geometry;

·      Advanced Mathematics;

·      Applied Mathematics and Computer Science;

·      Physical and Mathematic Modelling, and the Department of Physics.

13 Doctors of Sciences and professors, 40 Candidates of Sciences and associate professors, Honoured Workers of Education of Ukraine, Laureates of State Prizes are working at these departments.

The Subfaculty of History and Philosophy

There are the following departments at the Subfaculty:

·      the Department of Philosophy, Social Studies and Sociocultural Activity Management;

·      World History and Methodology of Science;

·      The Department of Ukrainian History

 The Faculty of Arts and Graphics

There are three departments at the Faculty:

·      the Department of Fine Arts, Theory and Methods of Applied and Decorative Arts and Graphics;

·      Art Technology;

·      Professional Education.

 The Faculty of Primary Education

 There are four departments providing educational process of the Faculty:

·      the Department of Educational Technologies of Primary Education;

·      Social Pedagogy, Psychology and Pedagogical Innovations;

·      Mathematics and Methods of its Teaching;

·      the Department of Pedagogy.

 The Faculty of Preschool Pedagogy and Psychology

 The educational process is provided by three departments:

·      the Department of Preschool Education;

·      Theory and Methods of Preschool Education;

·      the Department of Family and Aesthetic Education.

 The Faculty of Social Studies and Humanities

The Faculty of Social Studies and Humanities includes:

·      the Department of Theory and Methods of Practical Psychology;

·      General and Differential Psychology;

·      Developmental Psychology and Social Communications;

·      Educational Institution Administration and Civil Service;

·      Political Sciences and Law.

Conditions of Study and Residence for Foreigners and Stateless Persons

Efficient work of the University is provided by its teaching staff, established traditions, the updating and implementation of advanced teaching technology.
There are almost 500 lecturers including foreign professors working at 38 departments. Scholar schools established at the University are well-known in Ukraine and abroad for their achievements in the sphere of Pedagogy, Psychology, Physics and Mathematics. There are 7 Specialized Academic Councils for defending candidate’s and doctor’s theses in 12 specialties. Postgraduate training programmes are offered in 31 specialties, one can take a doctoral training programme in 11 specialties. The University facilitates holding more than 30 international and all-Ukraine research conferences every year and publishing 6 scholarly journals on a regular basis.
The University is well-known far beyond the country; it collaborates with educational and research institutions of various countries. There is International Distance Learning Centre, which is the only one in the South of Ukraine; educational research, information and cultural centres of Israel, the People’s Republic of China (Confucius Institute), the USA, Lithuania, Korea. Lecturers and students participate in more than 40 international projects. The University is a coordinator of project studies according to the international programmes TEMPUS, Erasmus+, Visegrad Fund, Fund “Ukraine-Norway”, etc.
The University is proud of its outstanding educators-scholars, students and graduates, who have contributed a lot to the development of science and education at the global level.

UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

The University is located in the central part of Odesa, it has 9 specially constructed buildings and 5 hostels.
The University uses educational and material resources to provide high-quality educational support, in particular, educational premises with a total area of 73345 m², 56947 m² of them are provided for student occupations, 3192 m² are for computer classes and laboratories; sports halls (2457 m²); premises for scientific and pedagogical workers (2720 m²); office space (11,307 m²); library (2151.19 m²), including reading rooms (151.5 m²); student hostels (16398 m²); medical items (80.1 m²); canteens, buffets (716.6 m²); dispensaries, recreation centres (2288 m²).
Educational premises, where foreign students will be trained, are provided with unobstructed access to classrooms, laboratories and other infrastructure. The University has necessary conditions for accessibility to the educational facilities and hostels for disabled persons and other less-mobile groups of the population which are constantly expanding. Thus, all educational buildings and hostels, yard slots, bathrooms are brought in accordance with the requirements of the state building regulations regarding the needs of the specified population group. In most educational buildings, ramps are built at the entrance. All areas are equipped according to the above requirements.
The auditoria, educational, research and teaching laboratories, offices, libraries, reading rooms, sports halls, etc. are the main components of the educational and material base. The improvement of the material and technical base is in constant upgrade.
In general, the available training equipment, information and computer base provide the opportunity to successfully implement the teaching requirements and recommendations in the process of teaching, as well as to ensure the acquisition of relevant profession-centred knowledge and skills by foreign applicants of higher education.

The classrooms and laboratories at the University are equipped with audiovisual equipment, video equipment and all necessary technical means of training. Constant attention is paid to diagnostics, repair, modernization and upgrading of the equipment. In the auditoria where foreigners are trained, there are all necessary conditions for multimedia support for conducting lectures, seminars, approbation of scientific studies, conferences; the equipment of the classrooms supplied with the means of multimedia meets the current norms.
The optimization of inter-departmental cooperation is provided by the use of equipment and technical means to facilitate the educational process at the University; some faculties implement studying on a double-shift basis.
The University has 934 units of computer and office equipment for high-quality training. The total number of computers is 532 units, 404 of them are used in the educational process.
The University has installed and intensively used 7 interactive whiteboards, 29 projectors; it operates a corporate Internet network with more than 514 PCs connected through 6 servers. The corporate network of the University is connected to the scientific and educational network “URAN”. Software and hardware complex support is provided through the creation of a department of new information technologies; a continuous access for students, postgraduates, doctoral students and employees to the Internet resources, an automated library and information system are organized in all buildings.
The University buildings, library and hostels have Wi-Fi coverage, which allows Internet users to work with different web-resources
The University IT infrastructure provides the opportunity for free use of the “cloud” services Office 365, as well as the optimization of administration of the technical support and software of the classrooms.

The Library Fund of the University consists of: scientific, educational literature, periodicals, documents on electronic media, rare and valuable publications, dissertations, abstracts. The total library fund contains 331,374 documents; in particular, textbooks account for 21,220 units. In 2011, the Museum of rare books was opened; its fund is 16589 units. The Library Fund contains literature on: health, pedagogy, psychology, philosophy, history, foreign languages, political science, jurisprudence, management, economics and other fields of knowledge, rare early printed publications. The main part of it comprises study guides and textbooks, collections of scientific works and researches, multi-volume academic publications of figures of national and foreign science, culture, serials, reference books, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, fiction, rare and valuable publications.

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
General book provision at South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University complies with regulatory requirements.
In the context of innovative transformations, the University Library actively implements information technology, focusing on the demands and needs of all participants of the educational process. The whole area of library rooms has Wi-Fi coverage that allows all users to work in the Internet, with the electronic catalogue and various web-resources, to be more precise.
Particular attention is paid to the accumulation of modern scientific full-text literature on electronic media. The general fund of the electronic library consists of materials necessary for the educational process, scientific activity of teachers and applicants of higher education.
In order to support the policy of open access to intellectual products of the scientific community at Ushynsky University, there is the Electronic Archive (repository). At present, the active filling of the archive with full-text electronic copies of scientific-methodical and educational works of university scientists is taking place. The library’s web-site presents such important information and bibliographic services as: an electronic catalogue, scientific resources, web-resources, periodicals, new acquisitions, etc.

The University Library has access to other libraries in Ukraine and the world.

 ACCOMMODATION
South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University has a well-established social infrastructure. Applicants and employees are provided with modern hostels, catering complexes, medical centres, sports complexes (including specialized gyms, a rifle shooting range, equipped stadiums and sports grounds). In particular, social infrastructure of the University comprises 5 student hostels (the living space per student is 10 m2, which corresponds to the established standards), 7 canteens and buffets that meet the requirements for catering facilities, 3 assembly halls, 6 gyms, 7 sports grounds, 2 stadiums, 4 tennis courts.
There are two medical centers at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University. In hostel No. 1, there is an office of ambulatory reception, a procedural office, physiotherapy offices, an insulator, a dentist’s office. The items are equipped with the necessary equipment, inventory, equipment, tools, which allows us to provide the requisite medical aid if necessary. The medical centers are the structural subdivisions of Student City Polyclinic No. 12, in which university applicants can also receive qualified medical assistance.
All the University buildings, including the hostels, are equipped with central energy, water and heat supply from the city networks. In the sphere of utilization, new control devices are introduced, in particular, gas, water, heat and power supply accounting devices. Due to the installation of luminaires with LED and energy-saving lamps, the reduction of electricity consumption is ensured.
In all the University buildings, there are cafes, buffets, 2 canteens.

The areas near the University buildings and hostels are extremely developed in terms of providing social services and the availability of numerous food establishments and industrial institutions and cafes.

Certain individual 4-5-storey hostels are equipped for the residence of foreign students and stateless persons:
Hostel No. 1 (24, Dehtiarna Str., Odesa);
Hostel No. 2 (28, Manezhhna Str., Odesa);
Hostel No. 3 (71, Staroportofrankivska Str., Odesa);
Hostel No. 4 (19/21, Otaman Holovaty Str., Odesa);
Hostel No. 5 (12, Chornomorske Kozatstvo Str., Odesa).
The number of inhabitants in one room in South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University is 2-3. Hostels meet all the necessary communal needs of the inhabitants: a set-up Internet network, Wi-Fi coverage, equipped with places for self-preparation and rest, kitchens, shower rooms, bathrooms, etc. The hostels have well-developed health complexes, which include gyms and utility rooms, as well as sports facilities in the adjacent area.

Consequently, housing and living conditions for persons of foreign origin and stateless persons are fully in line with existing requirements.
In general, the state of the educational premises for applicants and premises for scientific and pedagogical workers, the available educational equipment, the computer base and social base of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University provide the opportunity to successfully implement teaching requirements and recommendations in the training process, as well as to provide a learning opportunity for applicants to gain relevant profession-centred knowledge and skills at the declared educational and scientific level. The University buildings (educational buildings, classrooms, hostels, etc.) due to timely and ongoing repairs are maintained in good condition.
At South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University and its structural subdivisions, there is a students’ self-government, which is an integral part of the public self-government.

Students’ self-government provides protection of rights and interests of persons studying at South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University, including foreign citizens, and their participation in the management of the higher education institution.
Bodies of students’ self-government: adopt acts regulating their organization and activities; conduct organizational, scientific, cultural-mass, sports, health-improving and other events; facilitate the employment of persons studying at the University; perform other functions.
Students’ self-government is carried out at the level of a student group, a faculty (institute), a hostel, a university. Decisions of student self-government bodies have an advisory character.
The highest body of students’ self-government is the general meeting (conference) of persons studying at the University.
The bodies of students’ self-government at the University are student councils of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University, institutes (faculties), hostels; students’ committees, councils of students’ scientific society.

About Odessa
Odessa is a beautiful city in the South of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast. Odessa is an administrative center of the Odessa Oblast, major seaport as well as economic, commercial, tourist and cultural center.
It is the third largest city in Ukraine after the nation’s capital, Kiev, and Kharkov, with a population of 1 012 277.

History

First settlements on the modern city territory were founded around the VI century B.C.  by the ancient Greek seafarers. The city as a Black Sea port, was founded in 1794  by the Russian Empire on the site of the Turkish fortress Khadzhibei.
Population
Odessa is traditionally multiethnic city. It hosts a number of nationalities, as a result Odessa is the most multinational city in Ukraine.
Architecture and remarkable sights
The multinational character of the city has influenced the architecture of public buildings, reflecting the Mediterranean style of classical architecture and in the planning of buildings and facade compositions, Italian and French decor is ubiquitous.
In 2009, the historical center of the port city of Odessa was officially listed in the preliminary World Heritagelist of UNESCO.

There are many theaters and museums in Odessa, a lot of them have a long and interesting history. The Odessa National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Opera house) is the biggest and the most famous theatre in Odessa. The building has unique and well known architecture. In 2011 the popular magazine «Forbes» included the Odessa Opera House into a list of the most important sights in Eastern Europe. The Odessa Opera House is not only interesting for its architecture, but it also has a rich creative biography. It has been visited by Tchaikovsky and other famous composers, musicians, singers, and dancers.

Odessa’s most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Stairs, is rightfully acknowledged as one of the most beautiful staircases in Europe. In July 2015 special ceremony has inaugurated “Treasure of European Film Culture” emblem next to the Potemkin Stairs. European Film Academy awarded the Potemkin Stairs in Odessa the title “Treasure of European Film Culture” as one of the world’s most famous historical film locations.

«Odessa Catacombs» is a gigantic complicated labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa. Stretching to an estimated total length of 2,500km, the Odessa Catacombs are perhaps the largest network of tunnels anywhere in the world. They’re significantly longer – and more complex – than the famous catacombs found beneath Rome (300km) and Paris (500 km) in fact, if these Odessa’s tunnels were stretched out to full length, they’d reach further than the distance between Odessa and Paris.