University-labor market partnership ties get stronger

Focus group discussions of representatives of private and state organizations are regularly held as part of the research on "Problems and Prospects of University-Labor Market Cooperation". This initiative is a collaboration between the YSU Faculty of Economics and Management and the Alumni and Career Center. The discussions aim to explore the organizations' willingness, motivation, and concerns regarding the development of various cooperation formats with universities. In pursuit of this purpose, YSU Vice-Rector for Development and Innovation Mikayel Hovhannisyan, Dean of YSU Economics and Management Faculty Karlen Khachatryan, Deputy Director of YSU Alumni and Career Center Karine Nazaryan met with representatives of finance, banking and service sectors at the event organized at YSU.

"Over the past few months, cooperative relations have been established with numerous partners. We attach importance to strengthening relations with partners; hence we propose creating another institutional framework: the YSU Partners Club, which will enhance comprehensive cooperation and provide a platform for partners to communicate with each other. We are committed to implementing this initiative. The idea for the club emerged from observing and analyzing the opportunities provided by the "Learn & Work" Expo, which has been held for two consecutive years. We have already held several meetings and discussions with partner organizations regarding this idea and have received positive feedback," said Mikayel Hovhannisyan.

At the meeting, several issues were discussed with representatives of partner organizations, including the value their organizations place on cooperation with universities, the factors influencing their choice of cooperating universities, the formats of cooperation planned within the framework of university-organization cooperation, and whether they have undertaken joint research, development, and consulting projects with universities in the past five years.

Karine Nazaryan, Deputy Director of YSU Alumni and Career Center, speaking about the importance of the center's feedback and communication component with colleagues, emphasized, "Our main mission is to understand all the problems of the labor market, listen to their demands and proposals through daily contact with employers, and record them, present all the problematic issues to faculty officials and management, and ultimately become the connecting link in solving all these problems. To end this, we regularly organize meetings and discussions, raising all the issues that are important for both the employer and the university." 

Karlen Khachatryan, Dean of the YSU Economics and Management Faculty, emphasizing the importance of strengthening connection with the labor market, noted that the regulation of university-labor market relations is based on three main stakeholders: the university, the student and the organization. Therefore, raising everyone's ideas and expectations is crucial for increasing the efficiency of future cooperation.

"The YSU Faculty of Economics and Management has always attached importance to strengthening the connection with the labor market. Perhaps that is the reason we received thematic financing from the Higher Education and Science Committee of MoESCS RA three years ago on the topic of strengthening the university-labor market connection. Within the framework of the research project, we assessed universities' readiness for cooperation and explored students' perspectives. Now, it is very interesting to hear the views of labor market representatives. I should mention that today's meeting aims to define clear and mutually acceptable directions and formats for cooperation", said the faculty dean.

Similar meetings provide an opportunity to maintain feedback between YSU and partner organizations and understand the challenges students face, which can be solved by revising the educational process or courses.    

"Our main expectation is to increase the educational and research level of the university through this cooperation, while also fostering closer ties. This cooperation will contribute to the improvement of the quality of our education, as we will take into account the feedback from our partners, guiding revisions in teaching content and methodologies," said K. Khachatryan, emphasizing that paying attention to the mentioned problems and finding their possible solutions may enhance the competitiveness of YSU students in the labor market.  

The representatives from the financial, banking, and service sectors discussed new collaboration formats with the university. The participants talked about the key obstacles to seamless cooperation and proposed various ideas, including organizing lectures to be delivered by specialists of the field.