“KROK” University has joined the consortium of “UP University” within the European University Initiative as an associate partner. The coordinator, Artevelde UAS has submitted its UP University proposal to the EUI 2024 call, together with 9 other universities and universities of applied sciences.

Founded in 2021, UP University is an alliance of 10 universities and universities of applied sciences strategically uniting 125.000 students and 10.000 staff members among the four corners of Europe.

The consortium mission is to empower individuals, igniting a spark within them to instigate positive transformations not only in their regions but also far beyond. We believe in the transformative potential of active citizens who drive regional innovation, shaping a future that is not just sustainable but also inclusive.

Our focus extends to crucial areas, including health and wellbeing (SDG3), sustainable communities (SDG11) and responsible production and consumption (SDG 12). Strengthened collaborations between the partners, intensifying institutional integration of the consortium, and partnerships with other EUI consortia have encouraged the consortium to seek formal recognition and funding in the 2024 European University Initiative call.

As Ukraine gained EU membership candidate status, for “KROK” University being the part of alliance of other EU HEIs is the sign of strong support and commitment.

We are grateful for such a unique opportunity!

On March 02, 2024, «KROK» University hosted an eSports tournament in two games - DOTA 2 and League of Legends - that was expected by many fans of computer games.

Fans of these games actively arrived at the University at the specified address. The tournament organizers met the guests and led them to the shelter, where fans and participants sat comfortably in a special room, watched the broadcast of the matches and waited for their turn to play.  Sometimes it was loud and noisy, but it was all the emotions of the audience.

League of Legends fighters were the first to face off and the winners were determined as a result of the matches:

1st place - Danylo Shumenko from Professional College, group PR-23k.

2nd place - Oleksandr Savchyn from Educational and Scientific Institute of Psychology of «KROK» University, group PS/EKP-22.

DOTA 2 part of the tournament aroused a little more interest at the registration stage, so the participants actively responded to the start of this game. The broadcast room was filled with comments and discussions of players' tactics. And when another participant defeated the opponent at the decisive moment of the fight, it was like a "Goal!" at a football match. Eventually, the tournament resulted in the final battle between the two best fighters and the winners of DOTA 2, namely:

1st place - Artem Sirosh from Professional College, group KN-22k.

2nd place - Mykyta Lishchuk from  KROK preparatory courses.

All winners were awarded diplomas and prizes.

This is not the last such tournament, so stay tuned for announcements.

See you next time!

On February 29, 2024, the University hosted an extremely important and productive meeting with an «old» friend and reliable partner of «KROK» University, who shared not only interesting and relevant information on trends in AI and IT, but also made a gift to the University in the form of drones.

Mykhailo Dvornychenko, a solution architect, founder of R&D company SK.AI and the educational project SK.AI Academy, co-founder and head of the charity foundation Save Ukraine Life, visited the University.

During the meeting we discussed the plans to strengthen the educational and practical component of AI. Mykhailo drew attention to the growing demand in the labor market for specialists with experience in using AI in a broad sense. But special attention was paid to the launch of a project at «KROK» University to master the trendy area of drone use. Two main areas of focus have been identified. Firstly, it is the acquisition of skills and experience in the use of drones and the direct accumulation of flight hours among those who wish to do so. Secondly, it is the engineering component of drone use.

In general, we aim to increase awareness and practical experience in the use of drones among students at the University. With faith in Victory!

On March 07, 2024, Institute of International Education of KROK University held an informational event onlinein the frameworks of the ERASMUS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS program in Ukraine.

Webinar was organized with the support of the FolkUniversity, Sweden, for the members of association of Ukrainians in Sweden. The event gathered 35participants.

"KROK" University was represented by the team of the Institute of International Education:

• Andrii LOTARIEV - Director of the Institute of International Education;

• Halyna BOHACHENKO - Director of International Project Office;

• Svitlana OLESHCHUK – Project manager of International Project Office.

The event program included the following activities:

• Presentation by KROK University on how to participate in the program and what is required for it;
• Online speech by Representatives of the Union of Ukrainian Economists in Sweden. They highlighted details about some economical aspects for Ukrainians of the procesess of oppenning and running a business in Sweden, and shared important advice to make their business legal and successful;
• Q&A session with organizers;
• Networking.

Many thanks to all the participants for interesting networking and to our partners for sharing invaluable insights, which will greatly contribute to the successful implementation of the project at KROK

Results of Survey of Applicants on Implementation of educational programme «Management (English)» at KROK University in 2023

The Educational and Scientific Institute of International Education and International Business Department of «KROK» University conducted a regular anonymous survey of students of the department's educational programmes on their satisfaction with educational services, university activities and interaction with the teaching and administrative staff.

In December 2023, a survey was conducted among first-level (bachelor's) students studying in the speciality 073 «Management», the educational programme Management (English). The survey was conducted using the Microsoft Forms platform. The survey was taken by students of 2-4 years of study, with the most active being the 4th year students, who accounted for 48% of respondents.

The questions in the survey covered the curriculum, teaching methods, professional competencies, student assessment, academic freedom, educational environment, communications, and general impressions of the study programme.

The survey results show the following:

1. 83% of respondents are fully satisfied with the content of the study programme, which is 4% more than last year.
2. Respondents were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with the teaching and learning methods of the programme on a 5-point scale (1 point - dissatisfied, 5 - completely satisfied). 70% of respondents are fully satisfied with the teaching methods and approaches to teaching, 26% of respondents rated the teaching methods as «4», and only 4% of respondents rated them as «3», which indicates a high level of training of the teaching staff and the use of appropriate teaching and learning methods.
3. Among the proposed professional competences that students noted that they had acquired during their studies, the leader is «the ability to form and demonstrate leadership qualities and behavioural skills» - 78% of respondents;
   • ability to identify and describe the characteristics of the organisation - 47.8%;
   • the ability to lead the organisation and its divisions through the implementation of management functions - 60.8%;
   • ability to evaluate the work performed, ensure its quality and motivate the organisation's staff - 65.2%;
   • ability to select and use modern management tools - 60.8% of all respondents.

1. In the survey participants unanimously answered «Yes» to the question about the possibility of choosing elective educational components. The Educational and Scientific Institute of International Education and International Business Department actively work to implement the right to academic freedom of applicants and the possibility of forming an individual educational trajectory. The sources of information for students on elective educational components are:
   • Moodle platform - 28%;
   • the official website of the University - 28%;
   • programme coordinators - 44%.
2. When being asked whether applicants have faced the problem of biased assessment by teachers, 100% of respondents said that they had not.
3. 91% of all respondents said that the forms and criteria of assessment were clear to them.
4. To the question: «Do you think that the measures to maintain academic integrity (including anti-plagiarism) in your programme are sufficient?» - 100% of respondents answered positively.
5. Also, 100% of respondents are satisfied with the advisory, organisational and social support received during their studies at «KROK» University. The service unit of the educational programme pays special attention to the psycho-emotional state of students, as well as the socialisation and integration of foreign citizens into the educational space.
6. Distribution of students' opinions on the means of communication with them:
   • e-mail (office 365) - 78%;
   • social networks (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) - 17%;
   • messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, etc.) - 74%;
   • organisational meetings - 74%,
   • individual consultations - 26%.
7. Respondents noted that the educational environment of the University fully meets the needs and interests of students. The higher education institution has managed to create safe conditions for study and work, comfortable interpersonal interaction, promoting the emotional well-being of students and teachers without any manifestations of violence, racial and any other discrimination and the availability of sufficient resources to prevent them.
8. The Educational and Scientific Institute of International Education is working to involve students in international credit mobility. The result of this work is the answer of 100% of respondents «Yes» to the question about the availability of international academic mobility programmes for students of the study programme. In 2022-2023, 6 students were nominated for participation in academic mobility programmes.
9. The students' impressions of studying at the educational and professional programme Management (English) at «KROK» University, wishes and suggestions for improving the educational programme (examples):

It's very interesting to learn new subjects with new group.

My impression regarding the university and lectures in general is very good. I like what they teach us, each lecturer and share the knowledge they have. In a word, I am in a very good mood with everything.

No claims. Smart lecturers. Fully satisfied.

All is good.

In addition to regular anonymous surveys, the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Education and International Business Department hold an Organisational Meeting every semester to discuss current issues with students and periodically review the content of the study programme. Thus, in 2023, the subject «Foreign Language» was added to the curriculum of the educational programme due to the increase in the number of Ukrainian students in the educational programme and the desire of applicants to improve their English language skills. The teams of the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Education and International Business Department continue to work fruitfully to improve the educational programme and the level of services provided!

The leading international higher education directory and search engine containing reviews and rankings of more than 13,600 officially recognized universities and colleges in 200 countries, UniRank University Ranking has published a new ranking. So, we are happy to share our successes, which once again show that «KROK» University is well represented in the media space, and all this is possible only thanks to the coordinated and hard work of the team.

The authors of the online ranking note that its results are designed to help students, lecturers and researchers find out how popular a particular university is in a particular country. For this purpose, the UniRank rating uses independent webometric indicators that characterize the attendance of university websites and the mention of the university on the Internet.

We are proud that our social networks and overall Internet presence were rated at a fairly high level (2nd place among the twenty private universities and 45th place among Ukrainian universities).

We sincerely thank everyone involved in the information work on the website and social networks!

January 25, 2024, is a significant moment in the history of our alma mater: Educational and Research Firm «KROK», on the basis of which «KROK» University was founded, celebrates its 35th anniversary.

On this occasion, we would like to congratulate our esteemed founders - Sergii Laptiev, Yulii Hukailo, Liudmyla Parashchenko, and Taras Finikov.

Your contribution to the establishment and development of the educational institution is impressive, and we express our sincere gratitude for your invaluable work. May your wisdom and dedication to education continue to inspire and resonate with students and colleagues. Thirty-five years is just the beginning of new, bright achievements and prospects, so we wish you success and inexhaustible inspiration!

Everything will be Ukraine!

We are deeply pleased and proud to announce that Career Development Center of «KROK» University has received a high award from the leader in IT technologies, SoftServe.

As part of the extremely fruitful cooperation and significant contribution to the development of students, our Career Development Center was awarded the prestigious EDUCATION PARTNER 2023 award.

This award recognizes the high quality of education and the important contribution of KROK University to the training of qualified and competitive specialists for the modern IT environment. Our Career Development Center continues to be committed to supporting students in choosing and realizing their careers, and this award is a confirmation of its success.

We sincerely thank the SoftServe team for the high appreciation of our joint work and the opportunity to educate future leaders of the IT industry. Together we create the future, unleash the potential and shape the best career prospects for our students!

On January 17, 2024, Olha Karpova, Executive Director of KROK Business School, took part in the Summit on «The Challenges of Educating Responsible Leaders for a Better World», organized by the Positive Impact Rating Association for Business Schools at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Such meetings and events are a platform for meeting colleagues from different educational institutions and representatives of business and international organizations, exchanging views, identifying trends and key areas of activity. The Summit was attended by more than 50 people from over 20 countries, including Deans, Directors of Business Schools, Presidents and Vice Presidents, representatives of international organizations and businesses, and student ambassadors. Ukraine was represented at the Summit by Olha Karpova, Head of Business School, and Alina Badina, student ambassador, who were the only representatives of business schools from Ukraine.

During the event, the results of a survey of 12800 Business School students from around the world on the topic «Can business schools become organizations that truly develop responsible leaders and become a positive force for society?» were presented. The key topics identified by students in the PIR 2023 survey that should be addressed by the administration and faculty of educational institutions include the integration of sustainable development topics into curricula and making these topics mandatory for study in all programs, involvement of various stakeholders in projects and learning spaces involving and led by students, diversity and inclusiveness among students.

The second part of the event included roundtables with Deans, Directors, Business Representatives, and students discussing the topic «How a business school can become a school that truly develops responsible leaders and becomes a positive force in society» in a brainstorming session. The discussions were moderated by student ambassadors, who summarized and presented the results of the discussion.

Thus, it can be summarized that KROK Business School is in line with the trend of modern development directions outlined by international experts and professional communities.

On February 22, 2024, Institute of International Education of KROK University held an informational event onlinein the frameworks of the ERASMUS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS program in Ukraine.

Webinar was organized with the support of the Microfinanza Srl, Italy, for the members of Coordination center of Ukrainian associations in Italy. The event gathered about 50 participants.

"KROK" University was represented by the team of the Institute of International Education

• Andrii LOTARIEV - Director of the Institute of International Education;

• Halyna BOHACHENKO - Director of International Project Office;

• Svitlana OLESHCHUK – Project manager of International Project Office.

The event program included the following activities:

• Presentation by KROK University on how to participate in the program and what is required for it;
• Online speech by Elisa Ferrari, project manager of the program at the Microfinanza Srl. Elisa shared details about participation for Ukrainians and important advice to make the exchange successful;
• Q&A session with organizers;
• Networking.

Many thanks to all the participants for interesting networking and to our partners for sharing invaluable insights, which will greatly contribute to the successful implementation of the project at KROK University!