The history of the Joint Students’ Board of Voronezh State University began in 2014. The results of the organisation’s work can be presented in numbers: in the decade, it has held and supported hundreds of events of different level, from university to international ones. It has held over five thousand events and has attracted over 200 thousand students. It has interacted with many partners, received support from academic and other university staff, and created a friendly and reliable team with a strong desire to succeed. These are among the main achievements of the association.
Since 2020, the Joint Students’ Board has been headed by Matvey Mikhalsky, a second year master’s degree student from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, Informatics, and Mechanics of VSU. However, each of the chairs of the organisation made an invaluable contribution to the students’ lives. The activities of the Board cover the following areas: career guidance, patriotic, cultural, sports, public, and leisure events. The organisation consists of students’ boards from all university faculties and all university clubs whose work it coordinates efficiently.
“Students are the driving force of the university and the Joint Students’ Board is part of a large system that influences its development. It's nice to realise that you are a part of this story. We have become more than just an organisation, rather a single organism that has been functioning for 10 years. The previous chairs of the organisation got the ball rolling and set an example of effective leadership. I would also like to mention people who have provided tremendous support both to me personally and to the organisation as a whole. For example, Maxim Naumov, a second year master’s degree student from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, Informatics, and Mechanics, headed the media department of the Joint Students’ Board in 2021. During the post-Covid period, he did not give up and guided project activities. Nikita Shelopugin, a fourth year student from the Faculty of Computer Sciences, Deputy Chair of the Joint Students’ Board, and Ekaterina Burdovitsyna, a third year student from the Faculty of Chemistry, currently the Head of the VSU Career Student Club, and a representative of student media, also made an invaluable contribution to the development of the organisation. These people have been generating innovative ideas and implementing many projects that, under my leadership, have grown into something more important. They have also been helping to coordinate effective interaction with clubs and shape the right development strategy”, said Matvey Mikhalsky.
In the future, the Joint Students’ Board will launch a project student self-governance office. It also plans to create the ArtLab cluster, which will unite art projects, exhibitions, and festivals. This creative alliance will attract the attention both of the student and urban community. With the help of the “Park of Innovations” which encourages entrepreneurship and creativity among students, the Board will create a single pool of VSU co-workings which will become venues for start-ups, master classes, and other events. These projects will not only make student life more diverse, but will also contribute to the development of educational environment.
“Although the Joint Students’ Board is a public body, in terms of experience and challenges that we had to solve, I consider it my first employment. Here, I learnt how to organise events, prepare grants, and work with people. Therefore, this period of life provided a good foundation for my career and professional development. My student days were full of memorable events: trips to forums, visits to other regions, and meeting new people. Many of these experiences proved to be very useful for my career. Currently, I try to stay tuned. I can see that new projects are emerging and the structure and the format are changing. I can see that the surrounding environment is changing, still the association continues to live, and this is the most important thing. It is important that people who are engaged in the Joint Students’ Board understood why they are doing it. It is also important that they had enough energy to achieve their goals for the benefit of the student community”, said Kristina Kuleshova, former chair of the Joint Students’ Board, Deputy of the Voronezh Regional Duma.
Every year, the Joint Students’ Board demonstrates the creativity of students and their ability to make the student life at the university more diverse and productive. One of the leading strategies of the Joint Students’ Board is to strengthen interactions with the university's administration through regular meetings and exchange of views. This helps the board to better represent the interests of the students. The brand of the Joint Students’ Board is strengthened due to its participation in media campaigns, due to high-quality content in social networks, and active work aimed at improving student life, developing an inclusive environment, taking measures to eliminate barriers for people with disabilities, conducting training events which involve all students in the educational process. This strategy is aimed at providing students with versatile experiences, improving their educational and social environment, and forming an active community.
“I was attracted to Joint Students’ Board because it offered the opportunity to actively participate in the public life of the university and to develop leadership skills. Currently, as a Deputy Chair, I see a lot of progress in the patriotic, project, career, and media spheres. The foundation for this was laid in the past and since then these areas have never stopped to develop. In the Joint Students’ Board, I met reliable colleagues and loyal friends. In the future, we plan to increase the number of the members of the board, to continue developing the areas we are working on now, and to strengthen partnerships with other organisations”, said Nikita Shelopugin.
The Joint Students’ Board expresses its sincere gratitude to the university administration, Dmitry Endovitsky, Rector of VSU, Oleg Grishaev, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs, Ekaterina Tsebekova, Head of the Department for Youth Affairs, deputy deans for student affairs, academic staff, and everyone who supported, instructed, and coordinated the work of the organisation all these years.
