Effective Contract in Higher Education: Some Results of Project Implementation

Abstract

The article describes the results of changes in the academic contract of lecturers of the Russian universities, which occurred under the influence of decision-making on the implementation of an ``effective contract{''}. It is shown that the transformation of an academic contract is a global trend that reflects deeper social-economic processes. Their results are generally negatively evaluated in the academic community. Changes in the academic contract were initiated from above in Russia. The forced and accelerated transformation of an academic contract was subordinated to the achievement of quantitative indicators of the growth of salaries of university lecturers established in the May Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation 2012. The characteristic of the results of the project implementation of an effective contract is given according to the parameter of the growth of the level of salaries of university lecturers. It is shown that the consequences of the implementation of the project of an effective contract in higher education are significantly different from the expectations of expert designers. The statistics on the growth of salaries of university lecturers revealed signs of a ``fake economy{''} as well as the extent of the reduction in the number of lecturers and their regional aspect are described. However, such a result of the implementation of an effective contract project in higher education such as strengthening the power of the Russian bureaucracy and taking the administrative control of the academic community is quite suitable for reform designers, because it significantly reduces the bargaining position of the academic community in discussing higher education reform.